love of fuck, stop using this meme template with canadian douchebag/pedo
To be fair, Patagonia is more ethical than some of the EU ones, all things considered.
(Although it’s absolutely ridiculously expensive)
The last time I needed to get a jacket, I did some Internet searches and asked in three different stores, one name kept popping up every single time: Vaude seems to take this whole sustainability thing quite serious, manufactures part of their collection in Germany and guarantees fair conditions for work they outsourced.
Drake is a rapist fuck. Use another template.
Here’s a directory of backpacking/hiking/outdoors vendors that I have bookmarked and have used a few times.
You can filter results by country( to exclude US) but also check out the cottage industry filter. Those are the little guys who are going to be hurting the most and they make the niche and better quality gear.
Decathlon is French I think?
Yes but a lot of their stuff is made under poor and toxic circumstances by people who get paid very little. Not the best imho
Yup
Correct. I can recommend it, their home brands are cheap, and the quality is generally good.
It seemed like every second person in Amsterdam had a fjall raven pack when I was there.
That’s true for most of Netherlands, really.
Some Fjällräven stuff is nice, but the kånken backpacks that are so popular are overpriced garbage. Pretty much any other serious brand offers better features for a lower price.
They did seem very well marketed for a very basic design of backpack. There was a camp supply store on Rozengracht near my family’s place that had a full window display of the backpack’s in a rainbow array of colours. Thinking back on it, it did feel a bit like the Stanley cup saga USA saw more recently. Seeing so many of them around town and that IIRC they were still around 100euros it seemed more of a fashion item. As a semi-tourist I thought I should get one as a practical keepsake of my trip but in the end I felt happier with my reusable Jumbo and HJ shopping bags.
Vibram is also in the list (IT), and it makes rubber soles (or shoes) that are used by many other brands. I love Garmont for hiking shoes.
Tenaya is a Spanish company that makes some of the most comfortable climbing shoes I have tried.
Isnt Arc’teryx Canadian?
Not a recommendation, but just for completeness sake: Supedry Japan is British!
Polish 4F!
Silly me … always thougth Patagonia was from Argentina … but its based in Ventura, California.
I get buying European, but ditching a responsible brand like Patagonia seems misguided.
If there’s anything like an ethical brand, I’m pretty sure it’s them.
Agreed, it’s much better to ditch “European” brands like Salomon and Arc’teryx which fall under Amer Sports which is owned (besides being 45% Chinese) in part by billionaire/premium asshat Chip Wilson:
In his book titled Little Black Stretchy Pants, Wilson wrote that he is not necessarily opposed to child labour, as "working young is excellent training for life.
In October 2024, a sign went up at Wilson’s home in British Columbia, which is the most expensive home in the province. The sign criticized British Columbia premier David Eby, reading “Eby will tell you the Conservatives are ‘Far right’ but neglects saying that the NDP is ‘Communist.’”
In early 2024, Wilson expressed concern over Lululemon’s diversity and inclusion policy saying in a Forbes interview: “they’re trying to become like the Gap, everything to everybody.” He also criticized an advertisement made by the company featuring plus-sized women models, whom he said looked “unhealthy,” “sickly” and “not inspirational.” These statements were seen as offensive, with Time reporting them to be “fat-phobic”. Lululemon was quick to distance themselves from Wilson’s comments, saying, “Chip Wilson does not speak for Lululemon, and his comments do not reflect our company views or beliefs.”
Buying ethically is not as easy as avoiding most American brands. Sometimes you have to dig a little deeper.
It definitely isn’t easy indeed. I’ve found a good European brand that focuses on repairability for my shoes (Think! Shoes), but most of my clothes I buy second hand.
Good that you didn’t include Jack Wolfskin. Had a few things, really shitty quality.
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