Columbia calls 'B.S.' on Outdoors Industry

Hm … sounds like Columbia is going after the TNF SteepTech customers. It’s hard not to call bullshit on their bullshit.

It’s going to be difficult for them to shed the Momma Columbia (or whatever that ad campaign was) image. When I think of Columbia, I think of $50 jackets for 14 year olds that mom bought at Marshalls.

It seems like they’re jumping the gun a bit. Hm … Might be fodder for a blog entry on Backcountry Beacon

Thanks for a great post.

Really?!? I don’t know about everyone else, but the reason I head into the backcountry is to get away from civilization and back to the basics. Jackets you plug into a laptop with electric heaters?? Give me a break.

I don’t know. They have the resources (financially speaking) to throw around and possibly upset some apple carts. People are generally pretty loyal to their brands and I would be willing to bet a bunch of the outdoors “base” wouldn’t pay much attention but they will probably be able to make some waves.

Biggest problem with technology is that it ultimately fails. Fool proof and bomb proof is what I like when it matters.

An electric heating set of gloves sounds like cold hands when your batteries die. But innovation is a good thing when it works out.

If columbia can make their gore-tex killer, I’d buy it, but i’ll pass on anything that requires batteries. Keep it simple, Columbia, but make something new and awesome.

My guess? Gear Junkie is being paid by Columbia Sportswear for this coverage. Guess Columbia wanted the article posted a second time…

Ted,
Gear Junkie does not run for-pay stories. To your second point, correct, it was posted on Outside magazine’s web site a couple days ago. Every week Gear Junkie content is syndicated to multiple outlets (print and online).

Personally I don’t think that Columbia has it in them to compete with the big boys. Marmot, North Face, Patagonia, there are brands that are widely respected, not only by the user end, but by the athletes who live at basecamp. Granted, I work for the North Face, but I work for them because I believe in their brand as much as I believe in Marmot and Merrell, brands that get me through thousands of miles every year. I have people come to me at my site, over Twitter, and at TNF all the time complaining about Columbia gear and how it’s no where near as tough as they claim.

All this being said, fantastic post and I’m going to quote and source back to you over at NecessaryCool. Oh and Ted, I’ve been reading this site for a long time, never have I read anything that would make me think this site is one of those sites offering product plugs for cash.

-Jef

$1,200 for a heated jacket? I’ll stick with my $200 ActiVHeat Heated jacket that also uses carbon-fiber heating filaments. $1,000 extra for the brand name is just a bit of a stretch. Innovative? I got mine heated jacket 3 years ago!

My thought is that after buying Mountain Hardwear, they are siphoning their technology to better Columbia’s line. Time will tell, but I’ve never found Columbia’s stuff to be very good, not even for my kids.

Well at least they showed they were serious by holding this event at the epicenter of the outdoor sports world. The NYC meatpacking district.

You do have to give it to their marketing department, those commercials with the snow and the jacket with DOTS for HEAT are interesting.

North Face is a dinosaur. I walked into a North Face store the other day and frankly it was boring and hardly innovative. The Apex stuff at Eddie Bauer is priced, designed and wears better than TNF. They are now the Columbia of the new century. Bad quality, suburban soccer mom overload, Low end designs and their shoes fit like addidas. That is not a compliment.

NORTH FACE, TAKE A HINT FROM COLUMBIA AND DO SOMETHING!
I hope Columbia gets going. We shall see

I really like Columbia. I’ve owned jackets, pants and shorts, all of which have held up extremely well. Not sure what the others are talking about when they say the products are no good. of course, I’m not a boy rolling around in the dirt every day, gut I am out skiing, hiking or something else almost every day, so I’m pretty hard on my gear. Frankly, I like the old Columbia, but I have an open mind and am willing to give it a try if I can afford it.

Well I’m a Columbia fan from way back and still purchase their gear, most recently a pair of Wildcard softshell ski pants which have been pretty bombproof. Like most brands including TNF, some of the their other stuff has been hit and miss. Not going to be spending $1200 for a ski jacket anytime soon and neither are most people, but I look forward to checking out their new gear nonetheless. You can find reviews of other outerwear at GearGuide.

OK…batteries,cords,charging, OUTDOORS…don’t get it. I’ll stick to my Mountain Hardware that doesn’t need to be charged/plugged in to keep me warm. Thank goodness not everything in outdoor gear/clothing world needs a cord!

5-10 years ago Columbia was so boring and heavy and outdated. The stuff I see in their “Titanium” line now looks like Arcteryx, super nice zippers and seams. Their new waterproof/breathable (which has been BS since day 1 IMO) stuff might actually kinda work according to a dude I know who has it.

There’s only so much compromise you can have between waterproof and breathable anyway – and batteries might fit with some people (ice fishing folks maybe, or snowmobiling perhaps?) but if you’re outdoors in most other capacities, you’re working up a fire inside anyway.

Ii I were Columbia I would just put their money behind Mountain Hardwear and let it be their high end line. Keep doing what they do best with Columbia and sell great value products to the masses. I have ski pants of theirs that have ten years and a few hundred days of skiing in them and they are still going strong.

Columbia is not going to be able to rebrand their low end image as a high end brand. It is as crazy as what Eddie Bauer is trying to do. I buy my outdoors gear from guys with beards as long as my wifes hair. Not from some guy wearing khakis and penny loafers.

Plug in pants could work for people that are deer hunting or something very sedentary. But who seriously is going to pay a thousand dollars for a Jacket just to be the gueanea pig? Arc Teryx is ridiculously expensive enough and it is only half that much.

-bunE
I think you’d have a hard time complaining about something like the Freethinker or Kishtar, both are top of their class in many tests. I see coats go in that are 20 yrs old and the only thing wrong with them are zippers, what does TNF do? The same thing as Marmot, fix it or replace it for free. As far as Eddie goes, I’ve spent my fair share of time in their gear and in fact just got done testing a bunch of their First Accent gear, and it’s not even close to TNF, Mountain Hardwear, Marmot or Patagonia. I destroyed a $250 down coat (that was in a soft shell -the mountain guide) on it’s first 10 mile hike through southern Ohio.

Their stitching is a joke, they use fantastic materials, but fail at the basics like building the coat and stitching. Not to mention their 100 weight fleece starts at $75, 25 bucks higher then Patagonia, TNF, MH, Marmot, or even Columbia. Their softshells are fantastic, but again their not built as tough and they’re only about $10 cheaper then the TNF version. I myself would rather spend the extra $10 and buy a coat I’ll have for 10 yrs, rather then 10 miles. =)

When I disappear in a snow storm for the weekend I have 2 bags, one with gear for testing, one with TNF and Marmot gear to back it up.

BunE
I know you can say what you like on here but so can I. If you say that TNF shoes fit like Adidas, then I’m sold. Adidas run true to size and last a long time. Not the point of this article though.

If Columbia is going to compete with brands that have a more “respected” name in the outdoors arena, they need to stop all the extra products that don’t really reflect that attitude. I don’t want to buy a polo shirt for weekends on the back porch from the same company that is going to make my blizzard proof parka.