Author Topic: I've made purchasing mistakes. Have you?  (Read 6613 times)

sussamb

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Re: I've made purchasing mistakes. Have you?
« Reply #30 on: 19:12:20, 02/11/17 »
The most impressive thing about the jacket, is the superb hood.


Guess your 4 pertex ones will still stay in their cellophane wrappers then  ;)
Where there's a will ...

fernman

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Re: I've made purchasing mistakes. Have you?
« Reply #31 on: 19:40:18, 02/11/17 »
With Dai's spending habits, if he'd moved from Cardiff to Gwynedd sooner he'd have saved the Gelert store in Beddgelert from closing :D

jimbob

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Re: I've made purchasing mistakes. Have you?
« Reply #32 on: 20:39:54, 02/11/17 »
Dyffran what planet are you living on? Montane is NOT as British, as they come.  In a survey on the "ethics " of the market Grough stated the following "In an outdoor magazine’s latest gear guide, of 154 waterproofs tested, 102 were manufactured in China. Brands sourcing their jackets in the People’s Republic include Berghaus, Columbia, Gelert, Golite, Karrimor, Marmot, Montane, Mountain Hardwear, Patagonia, Rab, Sprayway and The North Face."

The people's republic do not necessarily give one fig to western values of animal comfort. 

If you are going to make such statements in future please check your facts are (a) up to date and not stuck away in that famous wardrobe of yours and (b) true.
« Last Edit: 10:28:05, 03/11/17 by jimbob »
Too little, too late, too bad......

NeilC

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Re: I've made purchasing mistakes. Have you?
« Reply #33 on: 08:49:10, 06/11/17 »
Well they're a British company who, like most manufacturers now, use factories in other countries to get their work done. It's a sad fact of life for almost any product other than the real top-end.


Whether the down they use is sourced by themselves or they leave up to the factory isn't known to me.
Not all Chinese down is suspect. A lot of cheaper stuff is off dead birds. Montane were a relatively early signatory to the RDS so they are clearly trying to source down ethically which is more than many makers can say.


Also live plucking is not confined to China, it's also done in Poland, Hungary and so on - there most of the non-Chinese down comes from, especially the high quality stuff.
So it's not unlikely that many down products any of us have bought in the last decade, from almost any maker, have at least the possibility of live plucked down in it.


So Montane, in the scheme of things, seem to be making a reasonable effort. They're not as British and controlling in their sourcing as say PHD but better than many.

jimbob

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Re: I've made purchasing mistakes. Have you?
« Reply #34 on: 09:32:38, 06/11/17 »
NeilC  O0
Exactly right.Much better worded than my clumsy attempt.

Dyffryn,  please note.
Too little, too late, too bad......

gunwharfman

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Re: I've made purchasing mistakes. Have you?
« Reply #35 on: 10:43:49, 06/11/17 »
In the complex world of global capitalism I personally would suspect any company who suggests they are selling 'British' products. I know there may be actual British small businesses but in the bigger scheme of things, how would we know and really, does it matter? It doesn't matter to me, if its on sale, at the right price and I choose to buy it I will. We now know, I think because of the internet, that so called 'home grown' companies might be based anywhere, their financial base might be somewhere else and I suspect the so called 'British' tag might just be part of their 'honest and open' marketing strategy.

For me, who or what do I believe? In fact I'm not a believer, we live in a world of capitalist conjurors, who's only purpose it to make profits. And as for the poor animals, do I believe their 'caring' approach? No I do not! Only smoke and mirrors I suspect.

Am I in a bad mood this morning? Sorry but yes, I've just had a ding dong with a Care company who are only too willing to take the tax payer's shilling whilst covering up the fact that their client is being allowed to wallow in his own [censored]! I feel better now because at least in my own small way I fought back and refused to accept their phony explanation.

NeilC

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Re: I've made purchasing mistakes. Have you?
« Reply #36 on: 09:32:40, 08/11/17 »
My most recent error was buying a Lifeventure Thermolite sleeping bag liner.
I wanted a warm liner to supplement my summer down bag, to extend its temperature limits so I don't have to make the jump to my much warmer winter bag. Sea to Summit make a big deal about their expensive Thermolite liners. I don't buy their silly claims of adding 15C to a sleeping bag but as lightweight, knitted material goes, Thermolite is about as good as you're going to get even if it's not a miracle fibre. So when I saw the Lifeventure one for £13 I thought it would be a bargain.

The trouble is, when I got it, it turns out it's only 50% Thermolite and the other 50% is something called Modal. I looked it up and they couldn't have picked a less suitable fibre for warmth. Modal turns out to be made of cellulose like cotton is but it actually absorbs up to 50% more more water than cotton does is used for it's "cool feel" in underwear as it has minimal thermal retentive properties. So great for a tropical bag liner, useless for a thermal liner.

In practice the liner adds a bit of warmth - maybe a couple of degrees at cool Summer temps.

fernman

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Re: I've made purchasing mistakes. Have you?
« Reply #37 on: 18:03:41, 08/11/17 »
I'm surprised you didn't send it back for a refund.
It shows how important it is to check things like fabric composition when you can. Even in a shop it's something easily forgotten, although I do it by habit after 28 years as a white goods service engineer. I was looking at baselayers in Aldi yesterday (following on from the recent Baselayers thread in the Gear section) and some tops and bottoms they had were 48 percent cotton!

wobblyknees

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Re: I've made purchasing mistakes. Have you?
« Reply #38 on: 19:05:28, 08/11/17 »
and some tops and bottoms they had were 48 percent cotton!


I've seen that before with Aldi. It is sloppy (sneaky?) work practice and advertising at best and very annoying if I have went out of my way to buy the advertised product.

NeilC

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Re: I've made purchasing mistakes. Have you?
« Reply #39 on: 15:26:59, 09/11/17 »
I'm surprised you didn't send it back for a refund.
It shows how important it is to check things like fabric composition when you can. Even in a shop it's something easily forgotten, although I do it by habit after 28 years as a white goods service engineer. I was looking at baselayers in Aldi yesterday (following on from the recent Baselayers thread in the Gear section) and some tops and bottoms they had were 48 percent cotton!


Should have done really but then they do actually say it's Modal if you look carefully enough so I'd prolly have to have paid the return postage and at £13 it's hardly worth it. I now have a liner that's kind of warm so might come in handy at some point.

 

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