RonFrank:
...Columbia is similar. Started in the NE somewhere I believe, they have become so big that they farm out to China for most of the work. At least Columbia is not as overpriced as NF.
I tend to purchase no-name Goretex products (also made in China generally) that cost about 1/2 the price of the NF name. The NF lifetime warranty is rather overrated, and useless for most clothing as it just wears out, and that is not covered.
Ron
You can get a sense of how profitable Columbia is by checking their financial profile. Stock symbol - COLM. QUITE. Columbia, Patagonia, and North face are way overpriced.
I avoid them like the plague unless there is a MAJOR sale. Even then, after traveling more extensively recently, I see no reason to even spend that much on their "sale" prices . Especially when I can buy $5 North face gloves in Shanghai.
![Smile :) :)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
If one has the patience to wait, they could tally up their whole list of new clothes, wait for a trip to Asia and pay for much of the trip with the savings on clothes alone. Electronics tend to be cheaper in the US though.
The gloves look like the real deal in comparison to one in the States. Only suckers pay those prices. It's not as if what they make is some whiz bang new unique technical gizmo despite their technical claims. Once before, today - no.
There is a good reason why CEO pay is so high. Its because there are alot of suckers paying very high prices for everyday "branded" goods.
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As for where things are truly "made" as opposed to just processed. I have an uncle who sells timber. One of his end customers is Wal-Mart. The tree is grown in West Virginia then gets shipped to China to be made into furniture. Begging the question - where is it made? I think better labeling laws should be applied to all products (Starting with gasoline - as a note to earlier comment too - I believe I read 90% of US gas is refined in the US). The further we are from the source of production, the less we see the side effects (Oil,cocaine - civil wars, oil-Iraq, larger homes - deforestation, etc...<this isn't the right place for this discussion, just 1 sentence examples>)
Getting back to how it relates to scuba -- shark finning, overfishing of certain species, the exotic fish aquarium trade, and warming of the waters destroying coral would come to mind as hidden side effects of end consumer demand. None of these are THAT bad in their own right, but it is the scale. Alot more people live on this planet than just 100 years ago. People either accept that or live in denial.
As for Zeagle, I applaud them for still handling most/all (Save for material possibly - a much more difficult thing to track - even for purchasing) of the production here in the US. Though it wouldn't be unprecedented to list the major percentages of where the material comes from.
I've seen dried fruit packages at the supermarket note that xxx fruit came from Philippines, xxx fruit from Thailand, xxx from the US, and xxx from Indonesia. I've seen computers labeled as being assembled in the US, but made with parts from Japan, Malaysia, China, Taiwan, etc... My Canon Powershot S400 notes that the camera is from Japan (assembled at least - some components could come from elsewhere), the charger is from China, the strap is from Taiwan, and the battery is from Japan.
I'm very close to buying a Zeagle Escape. But, if and when the day comes that the BC is entirely made in another country, I would hope that they would remove the US Flag. (Not sure what Canadians or Japanese, etc.. think about the flag possibly representing it being made there)
While per earlier posts it is supposed to be cosmetic, it gives the impression that it is made here. First thing I thought of anyway.