D
Deleted member 67185
Guest
A friend of mine who hosts his own blog posted this latest entry I've posted below.
Given discussions about gear and clothing we've had on the Forum, I thought this might be of interest as a commentary on the increasingly sad state of backpacking consumerism as it has now evolved. Now, I am all for the free market and I love capitalistic success stories, but I also cringe at marketing products at the expense of true innovation.
This is a separate issue from that of gear and clothing costs which, for specialized backpacking gear, can become quite pricey - despite the ultralight advantage in many instances - for singular Camino use.
This is of special concern to me as one who may be hired to gear test products. . . am I contributing to snake oil and hype by what I do? Would my concerns even matter to those who hire me? After all, quality control and gear testing is a bit removed from the folks who market the stuff. For me, this smacks of an ethical dilemma that I may need to deal with; so far this has not been an issue.
If it ever does, just shoot me. . . please
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<Begin Quote>
Joan and I hosted a well-known person in the backpacking community who designed gear in the past. He stayed the night with us, and we had some great talks about various outdoor topics, and then I shuttled him to the start of his multi-day trip the following morning.
One topic we discussed over our kitchen table that evening? How much consumerism drives the outdoor marketplace.
Itās nothing new, of course; people always want the latest article of clothing for various reasons. You buy another 3oz fill puffy to replace yet another 3oz fill puffy. And the cycle continues.
But what our guest brought up is how this consumerism is now taking hold in the hard goods category as well. A standard idea is purchasing another expensive tent to replace a few grams heavier shelter. Or to get āthe latest and greatestā piece of gear, or how manufacturers are always āupdatingā their packs seems somewhat newer in our small niche community of long-distance hikes and lightweight backpacking gear.
In short, manufacturers are typically coming out with ānewā gear for the same reason Gatorade has so many flavors of their sugary beverage: Shelf space in a grocery store.
Except for the gear and clothing shelf space is room in our closest, or more appropriately, our credit card limit.
Mind you; gear does get updated and innovated. And we all get new equipment on some level. Myself included. You wear out clothing or tools, or you want to try new techniques and ideas. But buying for the sake of buying? Thatās a whole ānother ball oā wax.
In short, gear and clothing as fashion.
Something to discard when you are bored and need a dopamine fix. And not something to replace when worn or needs updating.
I made a note to write about this topic on an electronic sticky note, and kind of forget about it over the months.
Then I see a three-hundred (!) response thread about a new grid fleece on Reddit that closely mimics the storied Melly fleece Note by me: (Melanzana - a cottage manufacturer out of Leadville, Colorado).
An earlier thread about a similar piece of clothing has merely (ha!) seventy-one comments.
I remembered the sticky note buried in Google Keep.
For those not familiar with this piece of clothing, the Melly fleece ends up being a well-made, reasonably priced piece of clothing made in the USA that has a cult following. Assuming you can get one as you canāt buy it online, Melzana has limited stock, and people scalp this item for up to three times the price on eBay.
All for a modest grid fleece.
I saw the thread on this topic and went, āHoly ****!ā
I wrote my nickelās worth of thoughts on a separate thread and remembered my conversation with a friend a few months ago.
I find the whole marketing and consumerism aspect interesting: How a simple, if well-made, grid fleed fleece hoodie became an icon.
Not just in ultralight and thru-hiking circles, but also among climbers and #vanlifers (among others). When I took my WFR course this past November, many Melly fleece hoodies abounded.
Itās just a fleece at the end.
However, as with many consumerist items, the purchase and wearing of the piece became a statement in itself. Rather than what you do with the said item in many ways.
<Snip of stuff about living in vans>
But aspirational things sell. You can purchase something and become part of a lifestyle. Practical reality? Not-so-much.
A Melly fleece, at one point, found a niche as mainly a comfy piece of clothing to ward off the chill while camped out or walking in a mountain town, getting your next batch of supplies between climbs. Now, it is an item that costs twice the price or more, on eBay vs. its retail price.
For many people, not all, purchasing a Melly sends a specific statement about your lifestyle, aspirations, or ābeing in the know.ā
A Melly Fleece is the tulip craze of the outdoor world in many ways. And the tool itself has become more important than the experience where you use the tool for many.
Though Guy Waterman wrote the following text about mobile devices, I feel the last sentence can easily apply to fetishizing gear:
<snip of Harley Davidson analogies>
So we buy the clothing or gear often because we want to be in the know, live a lifestyle, and aspire to do things when time is scarce, but disposable income might be more abundant.
And by making gear and clothing the equivalent of Gatorade with marginally different sugary water flavors at times, manufacturers are happy to help with this goal.
<End Quote>
https://pmags.com/the-quiver-a-plethora-of-puffies
Given discussions about gear and clothing we've had on the Forum, I thought this might be of interest as a commentary on the increasingly sad state of backpacking consumerism as it has now evolved. Now, I am all for the free market and I love capitalistic success stories, but I also cringe at marketing products at the expense of true innovation.
This is a separate issue from that of gear and clothing costs which, for specialized backpacking gear, can become quite pricey - despite the ultralight advantage in many instances - for singular Camino use.
This is of special concern to me as one who may be hired to gear test products. . . am I contributing to snake oil and hype by what I do? Would my concerns even matter to those who hire me? After all, quality control and gear testing is a bit removed from the folks who market the stuff. For me, this smacks of an ethical dilemma that I may need to deal with; so far this has not been an issue.
If it ever does, just shoot me. . . please
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<Begin Quote>
Joan and I hosted a well-known person in the backpacking community who designed gear in the past. He stayed the night with us, and we had some great talks about various outdoor topics, and then I shuttled him to the start of his multi-day trip the following morning.
One topic we discussed over our kitchen table that evening? How much consumerism drives the outdoor marketplace.
Itās nothing new, of course; people always want the latest article of clothing for various reasons. You buy another 3oz fill puffy to replace yet another 3oz fill puffy. And the cycle continues.
But what our guest brought up is how this consumerism is now taking hold in the hard goods category as well. A standard idea is purchasing another expensive tent to replace a few grams heavier shelter. Or to get āthe latest and greatestā piece of gear, or how manufacturers are always āupdatingā their packs seems somewhat newer in our small niche community of long-distance hikes and lightweight backpacking gear.
In short, manufacturers are typically coming out with ānewā gear for the same reason Gatorade has so many flavors of their sugary beverage: Shelf space in a grocery store.
Except for the gear and clothing shelf space is room in our closest, or more appropriately, our credit card limit.
Mind you; gear does get updated and innovated. And we all get new equipment on some level. Myself included. You wear out clothing or tools, or you want to try new techniques and ideas. But buying for the sake of buying? Thatās a whole ānother ball oā wax.
In short, gear and clothing as fashion.
Something to discard when you are bored and need a dopamine fix. And not something to replace when worn or needs updating.
I made a note to write about this topic on an electronic sticky note, and kind of forget about it over the months.
Then I see a three-hundred (!) response thread about a new grid fleece on Reddit that closely mimics the storied Melly fleece Note by me: (Melanzana - a cottage manufacturer out of Leadville, Colorado).
An earlier thread about a similar piece of clothing has merely (ha!) seventy-one comments.
I remembered the sticky note buried in Google Keep.
For those not familiar with this piece of clothing, the Melly fleece ends up being a well-made, reasonably priced piece of clothing made in the USA that has a cult following. Assuming you can get one as you canāt buy it online, Melzana has limited stock, and people scalp this item for up to three times the price on eBay.
All for a modest grid fleece.
I saw the thread on this topic and went, āHoly ****!ā
I wrote my nickelās worth of thoughts on a separate thread and remembered my conversation with a friend a few months ago.
I find the whole marketing and consumerism aspect interesting: How a simple, if well-made, grid fleed fleece hoodie became an icon.
Not just in ultralight and thru-hiking circles, but also among climbers and #vanlifers (among others). When I took my WFR course this past November, many Melly fleece hoodies abounded.
Itās just a fleece at the end.
However, as with many consumerist items, the purchase and wearing of the piece became a statement in itself. Rather than what you do with the said item in many ways.
<Snip of stuff about living in vans>
But aspirational things sell. You can purchase something and become part of a lifestyle. Practical reality? Not-so-much.
A Melly fleece, at one point, found a niche as mainly a comfy piece of clothing to ward off the chill while camped out or walking in a mountain town, getting your next batch of supplies between climbs. Now, it is an item that costs twice the price or more, on eBay vs. its retail price.
For many people, not all, purchasing a Melly sends a specific statement about your lifestyle, aspirations, or ābeing in the know.ā
A Melly Fleece is the tulip craze of the outdoor world in many ways. And the tool itself has become more important than the experience where you use the tool for many.
Though Guy Waterman wrote the following text about mobile devices, I feel the last sentence can easily apply to fetishizing gear:
(Emphasis is the author's)When a new technology is applied to the backcountry, we tend to focus on its practical uses. When someone later points out a gadgetās impact on the quality of the wilderness experience, we tend to classify such ramifications āsecondaryā or āside effectsā of the technologyās application. By taking this view, we preclude questioning the original, intended use of this technology. But in fact the changes that a new technology makes on the wilderness experience are not all secondary, but are intrinsic to the very nature of that technology. The medium is the message. The tool becomes the experience.ā
<snip of Harley Davidson analogies>
So we buy the clothing or gear often because we want to be in the know, live a lifestyle, and aspire to do things when time is scarce, but disposable income might be more abundant.
And by making gear and clothing the equivalent of Gatorade with marginally different sugary water flavors at times, manufacturers are happy to help with this goal.
<End Quote>
https://pmags.com/the-quiver-a-plethora-of-puffies
Last edited by a moderator: