Comments on: Field Trip | Arc'teryx Factory Tour

By: Doog

Doog — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:20:21 +0000

Just a quick comment to Tien on Arc’teryx’s predominantly Asian employee base: Welcome to Vancouver, melting pot of the Pacific. In Vancouver, English is now NOT the first language of more than 50% of the population. Chinese, Indians, Iranians, Koreans, Philipino, Vietnamese… and somewhere in there are a few white guys!

By: dan

dan — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 20:29:21 +0000

PS: I worked for a Seattle outdoor clothing company, and as some else posted, we would eagerly walk through Arcteryx’s great booth at OR, too.

Patagucci has the mainstream market but A is closing in.

By: dan

dan — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 20:28:05 +0000

The best Gore product was Activent; I have a “vintage” Patagonia activent windbreaker of the stuff and it is so much better than Windstopper. Thanks to the Arcteryx pr speech above but eVent is truly a superior product aside from it not being quite as durable in the field.

Arcteryx from Canada is a better product than Arcteryx from China; I have several of each and when I’m crammed for space I always choose the non-China stuff from the A company. Other companys’ Chinese/Vietnam/Bangladesh/Mars stuff is still good, too; my favorite is Wyoming’s (okay, China’s) Cloudveil. Found a local sale which was a lot more convenient than waiting for steepandcheap.com

Good post, Michael.

By: Sarno

Sarno — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:21:35 +0000

A lot of their stuff is now made overseas. Worse than patagonia.

By: tien

tien — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:41:37 +0000

Interesting to see that 95% of their staff is Asian. It’s too bad their stuff is so expensive otherwise I would buy so much more.

By: The Descriptionist

The Descriptionist — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:59:01 +0000

I was working for Moonstone a while back (before they went belly-up) and Arc’teryx was one of the brands we always looked at across the aisle at OR every season.

Great product. Great focus, and from what we knew, a lot of good people as well. I still check out their stuff when I can.

Thanks for highlighting this little known world of technical outdoor gear.

By: dan

dan — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:36:39 +0000

Lou, nothing like a $500 umbrella, eh?

By: plaidout

plaidout — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:09:55 +0000

Doog, thanks for the follow-up. I’m planning a mini-test this winter comparing Polartec’s Power Shield, GORE’s Pro Shell, Patagonia’s H2No, and LL Bean’s new Tek material. Like you, I’m a tech snob, and I want nothing but the best. ACL – another killer post. Many thanks.

By: Lou from Louisville

Lou from Louisville — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:22:47 +0000

I have the Theta AR, too. Amazing jacket. Goes with any style. I love walking around in the rain with it, while everyone else has an umbrella.

By: Oscar

Oscar — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:08:42 +0000

Good stuff, my Theta AR jacket is on its fifth year now.