Are our hiking clothes really 'Made in China?'

[gunwharfman]

I read a very interesting article in the Guardian today, it seems to pose the question to me where does anything come from?

 https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/sep/16/food-fraud-counterfeit-cotton-detectives-untangling-global-supply-chain

It made me think about where some of our hiking clothes actually come from, 'merino wool' for example, is it really 'merino wool' or are some products just called 'merino wool for marketing and profits purposes? And do I care as long as I'm happy with it? And if its labelled 'Made in China' is it really 'Made in China?' Again, do I care, should I care if I'm happy with my product?

[pauldawes]

I guess you wouldn’t care IF you were happy with it in the long term.


But that’s a big if!


Wouldn’t you be peed off if you bought something described as “merino” that looked like that, but actually proved inferior in the long term, in terms of durability and other characteristics?


I think if goods are described inaccurately on labels, then it will be to deliberately fool people into believing they are better quality than they really are. Put it this way no one is going to fake a label to make goods appear worse than they really are.

[BuzyG]

I'm very much of the proof is in the pudding camp.  If I try something and it works for me then I"ll come back for more. If it doesn't then I will move on.  The adverts and the views of others are there for the first purchase. But as almost all kit gets replaced fairly regularly, it simply has to work for me. Made in Chelsea or Timbuktu.

[Slogger]

For me it's not about where it's made but whether it's the guenuine article. Wandering the streets of Kathmandu, there are a number of outdoor equipoment shops selling waterproof jackets with top names like North Face,  Mountain Equipment etc at rock bottom prices. very tempting but invariably they are fakes. The internet is rife with cheap boot sales, 3 pairs of Salomen GTX boots for £50.., really good marketing blurb and pictures from China. I'll keep with the shops that I know and shop online in UK.

[richardh1905]

Decathlon's Merino garments are certified to be from flocks that are not subjected to the abhorrent practice of 'mulesing' - the cutting away of folds of skin around the sheep's [censored] and tail, without anaesthetic or pain relief of any kind, to reduce the incidence of fly strike.

https://kb.rspca.org.au/knowledge-base/what-is-the-rspcas-view-on-mulesing-and-flystrike-prevention-in-sheep/

[Perranwell]

I wouldn't pre-judge a product by the country where it's made, because these days reputable western companies such as Patagonia, Icebreaker, and Marks & Spencer have products made in countries such as China and Bangladesh.

One does have to look closely at quality of stitching, which I think is a good marker of quality. But it annoys me that products can be marketed as merino when they actually have only a small proportion of merino in them. Careful label reading essential.

[tomjackliam]

Bangladesh , thats very interesting as only today I noticed a marker  in my Klim motorcycle that says it was made in that country.
Clearly a case of exploitation of the workers as Klim gear is not cheap.