I have only quality gear from several, over the years.
I am not new. A warning to others is entirely appropriate.
I have been cheated, and lied to, incessantly, since early November.
He only had to say, I don't have size 42 in the argon "down bundle" at the special price. Size 42 is Medium in North America. If he sews, he would know that.
It was never a "custom order". There is no indication he has to start sewing with each order. He had small mentiom he will do "custom work" in a separate place.
I have no obligation to accept the wrong size, actually "jumbo".
I have no obligation to accept mismatched colors: grey vest, black and copper sleeves and hood.
Now, he has removed the argon "down bundle" at special price.
He has made a number of changes to his website.
Meanwhile I found a vest, he claims he sewn to special order for me, for sale at Borah Gear. Borah Gear also claims to do their own sewing. I sew. It looks like high speed production piece work to me. I had ordered a side zip bivy at Borah Gear. Borah gear sent a standard chest zip. I sent an email. The response? They insisted they sent the right one. Luke's Ultralight sent the wrong size. I never ordered XL. Luke denied it was the wrong size. I coukd pick up six inches extra on each side seam. I made photos. Borah Gear refunded my money. Luke has not. He only made a partial refund, claiming he had a "restocking fee" and his hours all over $100 yet his website says nothing about a "restocking fee".
His website has "100% satifaction guarantee".
I did not make a "custom order" for clothing.
My income is severely limited. It is nonsense to think I would make a "custom order" when he insisted he had all grey pertex for my order. I never ordered a vest separately. For one thing, I have a down vest. He sent the mismatched vest, sleeves and hood.
Then, he tried to get me to place another order. His thinking is a lot like that I saw at the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, where I lived 18+ years. In fact, a lot of the thinking and rationale I see in White Blaze forum is identical.
This is a "need to know". If others comment here, then I will comment here.
The request of this thread is to support these people.
I happen to think the first obligation is to the readers of this forum.
Last edited by Connie; 01-13-2015 at 12:44.
Lazarus I think you need to add.
Trail Logistics.com to your list, I think they are a great company and offer an excellent service.
I don't think you have Superior Wilderness Designs out of Michigan on there yet. New company as of October 2016 focusing on UL packs and shelters. Just ordered a custom pack, and the customer service was seriously spot-on. Will report back when I have product in hand.
Received my new pack from Superior Wilderness Designs today. Really awesome craftsmanship. Brandon worked with me to add some custom features that I'm really excited about, and it turned out beautifully. I wasn't able to load it up with my regular kit, since that's stored away for the winter, but I added some weight and bulk to see how it fit -- it fit like a glove. Absolutely can't wait to put all of my regular stuff in it and get it dialed in for the spring. SWD is really worth a look if you're in the market for a new UL pack and want a company willing to tweak its product to your specifications.
There is a fairly new "cottage gear" industry just now getting off the ground that might be interesting. They have a website but it is a work in progress, that website is: www.damtough.com
There is a lot of grey area about what is and isn't Cottage but looks to me that DAM gear is just a name on some imported products.
(I could be wrong...)
DutchWare Gear: Light Weight Hammock Camping & Backpacking Gear
https://dutchwaregear.com/
Sorry , unintentional bad spelling.
DutchWare Gear