Creating an ALL USA MADE UL Gear List

[EndoftheTrail]

I don't normally shop gear by country, but thought it could be fun and enlightening if we can put together a 3-season UL gear list comprised only of gear pieces made here at home. I think shelter, packs and bags (esp. quilts) are no brainers, thanks to the healthy ecosystem of boutique gear makers. Clothing and shoes may be more challenging?

1. Shelter – large selection of tarptents and tarps
2. Pack – large selection – from heavy duty McHales to uber light frameless
3. Bag – quilts, yes, but what about sleeping bags?
4. Pad – foam pads, yes, but not sure about self inflating or air pads
5. Kitchen – wonder if the ti pots/mugs and utensils are USA made?
6. clothing – base layer, insulation layer, shell, socks???
7. Boots – ??
8. Hydration system – Platypus are made in USA, I think? Filters?
9. Etc., etc.

[Sumi Wada]

>> 3. Bag – quilts, yes, but what about sleeping bags?

I believe both Western Mountaineering and Feathered Friends bags are made in the US.

[Jerry Adams]

wait a second – I thought you were opposed to buying American : )

or maybe that's a chaff question

[Dustin Snyder]

> Pad – foam pads, yes, but not sure about self inflating or air pads
I know that thermarest pads are made in the USA.
Dustin

[Stephan Doyle]

Thermarest is USA-made. Just another reason to go for the NeoAir!

Edit: Dustin beat me by eight seconds.

To add: Ibex makes their stuff in the USA I believe for wool base layers.

[Kiyoshi Young]

I definitely think the hardest to source will be the kitchen if your looking for ti, another hard one will be footwear thats not minimal like mocs or heavyduty like redwings. For clothing I'd like to suggest Melanzana out of Leadville, CO great stuff.

[David Drake]

Danner Mountain Lights are still US made. I love mine, but rarely hike in them anymore–60 ounces for the pair! Some NB shoes are still US made, I think–not sure if any of the trail runners are.

[Ryan Elsey]

Packs are probably pretty easy, unless you want to go down to where the materials were made as well.
ULA
Mountain Laurel Designs
Zpacks
McHale?

Neoair, and Neoair trekker are american made as well

Platapus Platty bottle is usa made

[>> Bender <<]

Hey Benjamin Kooka Bay airmats & pillows are made in the US. The materials are almost all made in the US as well. The nylon and Climashield insulation is made here. The goose down is Canadian but I'm sure you could convince a few geese to migrate south.

[Keith Craigs]

for a stove I'd go with a homemade alcohol burner / walmart mirro grease pot

boots/trail runners : wiggys or new balance

[BlackHatGuy]

I wouldn't think this would be terribly hard, but I like the concept.

I'd love to see our overseas friends come up with a list that's either ALL German/French/Scottish/etc. made, or EU made. I'd think we might find out about a lot of gear that we rarely, if ever, hear about. Would be educational and fun!

[Barry Starrfield]

Most of MSR's stoves are made in the US, along with their water filters.

– BTW, I wish BPL would list the country of origin for every item they review.

[D G]

Open Country Aluminum pots (and I think the AGG anodized pots) are made in the USA.

And of course, the Backcountry Boiler is made in the USA.

Lots of USA cottage gear alchohol stoves (too numerous to list) and wood stoves around.

Also go to REI.com and towards the bottom there is a "gear made in USA" button that lists various USA made gear.

[Dan Briggs]

I've been trying to make that switch gradually myself. Just wish I had thought about it before I got into backpacking! Not only buying American, but buying from the little guys like Kookabay, Zpacks, Gossamer Gear, Tarptent, etc.

Living in Florida I surf a lot. In the surfing community it seems most people buy boards from local shapers and the mass-produced Asian-made boards are looked down upon. Great to see. There are a few large companies that control a lot of the market, like Channel Islands, but their factory is in California- so all is well.

Now if I could only get my poor, college student-self to stop shopping at Walmart…

[Matthew Black]

Wickers has base layers all made in USA.
wickers.com

[Rick Dreher]

If it's of help, the MEC Web site lists country of origin of their extensive inventory. I though y'all might like to outsource the task. ;-)

Cheers,

Rick

[Robert Devereux]

Base Layers: Rambler's Way. They take the "made in the US" thing a few steps further than most, even getting wool from US sheep. Ibex makes some stuff in the US, and Outlier.cc also has some US made wool shirts.

Socks: Darn Tough

Insulation: Wool – Ibex or Outlier. Synthetic – BeyondClothing

Shells: Beyond Clothing, Outlier makes some good but expensive softshells.

Shoes: A simple search didn't find me any trail runners that are made in the US. New Balance makes some stuff here, but the Minimus is definitely made overseas.
If you want to go with leather boots or shoes, there are plenty of options. Probably the most similar to trail runners would be one of the minimalist shoes from Russell Moccasins.

[Konrad .]

Gossamer Gear is also American

For midlayers and alpine oriented clothes, NWAlpine is american made (amazing service and product by the way)

Wearbap.com also has some clothing offerings that are american made

For stoves: minibulldesigns.com, http://www.woodgaz-stove.com, backcountryboiler.com,traildesigns.com

[Eric Blumensaadt]

The Caldera Cone stoves are all U.S. made and, IMHO, the most efficient alky/ESBIT burner setups around, not to mention their Inferno woodburner option.

What gets tricky is the "electronics gear". Is there ANY topo GPS made in the U.S.?
Likely no cameras are, even Kodaks.

And then there are clothes. Nice synthetic clothes are all made offshore except a few sox companies products like Thorlo. But I wouldn't mind buying a Canadian Tilley hat… when I hit the lottery.

What we need to see is PAN American products made in this hemisphere to strengthen our North and South American economies. Colombia (the country, not the clothing manufacturer) now makes a lot of clothing but most of it is designer stuff. They COULD make outdoor clothing if the U.S. companies like REI would channel their contracts that way.

BTW, when I think of it I do have a fair amount of USA-made backpacking products like:
WM Megalite bag, TT Moment tent, Thermarest (3 self-inflators), Caldera Cone Sidewinder/Inferno, 2 MSR stoves, 2 Camelbak bladders, Dana Terraplane pack.

But I also have a decent amount of items from "Yurp". Swedish Primus & Svea stoves, Norwegian & Austrian backcountry skis, German walking poles, Swedish compass, Austrian Dachstein wool mittens, etc.

[Franco Darioli]

My main bits are made in the USA .
So Tarptents, Thermarests,ULAs, Western Mountaineering (I have multiple of those…), Caldera Cones (pot made in China) now the Backcountry Boiler.
However I love my BD (made in Taiwan ) poles , the Ice Breaker thermals (NZ/China) and my shoes are made in several countries, none in the US that I can think of
(OK, the Neos are made over there…)
Oh, MSR snowshoes (of course)
Franco
yesterday I was given a Buck knife (boy it is tiny and sharp), made in the USA, but still like the small Opinel (it's French you know)

[Ross Bleakney]

I can almost make an all Seattle list:

Bag — FF
Sleeping Pad — NeoAir
Backpack — McHale
Tent — MSR*
Stove, Cookpot — MSR
Water Container — Platypus
Clothes — Outdoor Research and FF

I'm not sure if MSR and O. R. makes all of their stuff in Seattle. I get stuck with the shoes. If nothing else, you could get your boots repaired at Dave Page's place, but you have to give him something to start with (or buy used, but that still wouldn't count).

[Zachary Zrull]

Shoes: New Balance M498, MR993, MR749 (some are made in USA), MT625, and WT572 trail runners for women. The running models, like the 749, are probably the lightest.

And boots by Altama, Danner, Belleville, Corcoran… Not necessarily UL, but they do make cordura jungle boots that might be light as far as boots go.

Chaco sandals are made in USA, I believe.

Hats: Henschel hats are USA made, and they have at least one lightweight, UV blocking model, the 5300.

Gear: And some general gear by Equinox might be made in USA, like this daypack

And Therm A Rest!

[Angelo R.]

Col d'Lizard (http://www.coldlizard.com/) – Various apparel.
Ragged Mountain Equipment (http://www.raggedmountain.com/) – More apparel.
Wild Things (http://www.wildthingsgear.com/) – Packs, duffel bags, apparel, etc.

[Stephan Doyle]

Chaco's are no longer made in the US. They still do repair work in Colorado though, AFAIK.

Filson makes a good (cotton) hat.

[Terry Trimble]

Most of the large outdoor companies that have military divisions or want to sell to the military make their product in the USA. Most of them have to have all fabric ,hardware,insulation made in the USA for the products they make for the military.

Mystrey Ranch back packs,Kifaru packs,Gregory backpacks military line and some of their other top of the line packs, Camelback military,

Arcteryx leaf line is made in Canada but U.S. military considers them USA made and I have been finding Arcteryx expedition packs covered in Afghanistan dust in the local army navy store $199.99 used. Arcteryx 3 day Assault packs a 30 liter day pack for $40.00 used covered with stinky sweat, dust and most of the packs have holes in them from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Wiggys for synthetic sleeping bags,Outdoor research,All Cascade Designs sleeping pads, Some Sierra Designs I bought a black 40 degree dual 1/2 zip tactical synthetic sleeping bag with montbell licensed elastic baffle system made in the USA for $40.00 at Gi Joes in Oceanside,ca.

Source Water bladders that are non USA made but issued to the troops because they are the superior water bladder system are made in Israel.

Danner boots was already mentions but I loved them had the first pair of gortex /leather boot made By Early Winters and Danner. The USA military desert boots have a light brown or gum rubber colored sole and light Eva mid sole so it does not absorb sun heat and the sole will not become de-laminated in the hot desert sun. I had this happen to a pair of Asolo boots at Joshua Tree national forest heat looked like a cartoon with my sole flapping off the boots.

The desert warfare equipment from Iraq and Afghanistan at the used military stores look like they have been to hell and back.
Compared to the Vietnam era equipment that we lost more lives in that war.

Then we have are favorite ultra light backpacking cottage industry.
Terry
Terry

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