tad gear hoodie damn expensive

I mean I love the idea and it seems solid but why so much cash? North face, Mountain Hardware and arcteryx stuff cost that amount of money.

http://www.tadgear.com/x-treme%20gear/apparel%20main/ranger_hoody.htm

Matt

TAD Gear stuff can be expensive, but it is very, very high quality.

This hoodie has Malden Mills fleece, which is the real McCoy -- it is much less likely to pill, much higher quality, and heavier than most other fleece. BTW, IIRC, Malden Mills burned several years ago, and had to be closed until it was rebuilt. Instead of laying off his workers, the mill owner took the hit on his own and kept them on the payroll. Sure, there were a few cuts and some had to go for lower pay, but who else would have done this or anything close to it? If this really is the same mill, I'd be willing to pay a bit extra just because of that. Plus, it's American-made. Very few gear makers use this fleece.

Back on topic, did you scroll down the page? You didn't notice the channel built in for headphones/cell phone headset? Did you see the cuff design that keeps your hands warm for real? The sleeve pockets are pretty well designed, too. All unique features. The other brands you mention have nice outer gear and good quality, but these features and material are why the TAD Gear hoodie costs more.

Yes, you can find less expensive hoodies (heck, isn't a $20 one good enough for most people?), but this one is pretty special, and, yes, pricey, but it is a specialty item. And since I need a fall jacket... hmmm.

chmsam...

yes I did notice all the extra feautres of the hoodie (still cant find the headphones thing you mentioned but that's the least useful feature for me). And I'm aware of Tad's gear quality of marksmanship when it comes to their own items. Something like that would be perfect on the job wear especially for an EMT or Paramedic but still I can't justify the price (especially being on the city salary).

Matt

Somebody told me that paychecks are like closet space -- no matter how much ya got, it is easy to use up fast.

The wire slot gizmo is in the handwarmer pockets -- you put in your IPod, CD player, handheld radio, etc. in the pocket, and run the cord for the headset up the inside of the coat so you don't snag the wire on anything. The electronics are in the pocket where they are much safer.

Scott E-vest's are a geek's dream come true -- up to 40 or more pockets, actual channels to run wire through for multiple electronic devives, and they don't look very different from a normal coat (some geeks view that as a bad thing though). But they are not cheap, either.

Polak187,

if we decide to make our apparel offshore by foreign labor, then we will have the pricing you might be happy with. until then, American labor = $$. for now, we prefer to pay the expensive American labor costs and have it made here in the good ol USA.

we're a very small outfit that tries to place quality first with smaller production numbers. if we were the multi-million dollar corp like the northface making tens of thousands of products in places like china or vietnam you can figure out for yourself the math of production vs qty. there are alot of other business factors involved in production, but that's a class in itself at one's local community college.

for our military & federal customers, they are grateful we choose to produce in the USA with American made premium fabrics.

Please get off the old "made in America" horse... A lot of companies are using it to justify their high production cost. I'm happy with my North Face or MH stuff and yes as opposed to what you are trying to implement they are good quality items. Had my jacket and layers trailing thru Kilimanjaro, Mt Kenya and hills of Andes without any problems. Will you goodie be able to do that? No doubt, but for much more. You trying to target American customers with high American values? Why not make something that is comparable to American salary. I'm all for American values as long as American values are out there for me.

Yes I've been buying stuff from you for years and I must say that you got me out of some pretty tight jams (somehow they all were imported items not American made). I've also been eyeballing many of your American made items which are unaffordable to regular Joe due outrageous costs (another example: your capsule).

And I'm sorry I wasn't able to attend an elective economics course in my local community college… Four years in my college were spend on sticking to the subject and getting job done while working full time. I had no time to "branch out".

Yes everyone in NYC EMS 911 is grateful to purchase what is made in the USA as long as it is tax deductible, company pays for it or they make a decent contribution. Otherwise we are back to square one and I will get what gives me the best bang for my buck. Good old America is paying their servants pennies, while imported job openings are getting paid nice salaries. When I'm making $1500 as an E4 you think $150 sounds reasonable for a hoodie? Or when my monthly Emergency Medical Technician paycheck is $1200 and I'm still paying for my Paramedic school, rent, car and dog you are telling me that good old American made item justifies more than 10% of my income when all I have is that 10% left over? You want to talk about American jobs and stuff made in America? How about members of service who want quality items for affordable price? Or maybe I'm just not your target customer since my disposable American income doesn't meet your American costs? And it's not an issue of sucking it up. It's an issue about buying a product and putting food on the table or just buying a product because it is "American made". I'm not trying to compare importance of my job versus a job of a mill worker or a tailor who puts together you items. Their job, families and life is as important as mine or anyone else. But if you, the guy who markets the item to the public took under consideration what people want , have and are willing to pay than maybe your item will have little different tag price. This was also a part of your lecture in local community college but it wasn't an elective but a requirement (American History).

Don't get me wrong. I'm not criticizing the actual product. I think it is a great item from what the description says since most likely I will never be able to handle one. All I'm saying it is too expensive for people who can really benefit from it.

Matt

Wow. If you're angry because you don't get paid much (and can't afford the Super-Hoodie), don't take it out on TAD Gear.

I'm not going into a tirade about labor costs, economic differentials per geographic area, estimated cost vs. target customer, manufacture costs vs. mark-up in relation to retail pricing, etc.

I'd guess the profit off these isn't that great. And last I heard, buying American isn't supposed to be a bad thing.

Nothing on TAD's website, nor any product on it is geared towards a specific person in relation to cost. That's the classic retail model (i.e. Target, Wal-Mart) that TAD doesn't fall into.

--dan

I'm not taking it out on the tad gear. I just hate companies who patronize people with "american made" speeches (especially after last weeks convention). As far as I'm concerned this conversation was over with Sam's response.

Matt

Matt, I have bought all kinds of overpriced clothing, I just wait until it goes on sale, especially a clearance sale. I just bought a windpro jacket from REI that sells for $89, I got it for $35 on clearance.

When I look at new clothes, I figure that there is a good chance that if I wait, I will get a better deal. I have noticed that Tadgear also has closeout sales on stuff.

Go checkout www.511tactical.com

They got some new outwear that's about the same price or cheaper but with better pockets and etc for all your EDC needs.

Countycomm's got a nice ECWS II jacket.

[ QUOTE ]
polak187 said:
Something like that would be perfect on the job wear especially for an EMT or Paramedic but still I can't justify the price

[/ QUOTE ]

polak187, as I find myself in the same boat, I sympathize. But us not being able to afford something doesn't mean we're entitled to a lower price, it means we either don't buy it or buy something cheaper. If you respond that none of the cheaper stuff has the features you want then I suspect we might have found a correlation with the price of that particular hoodie. You're on solid ground saying that something's too expensive for you, but then you go on to give Tadgear grief when he explains why he priced it the way he did. Don't worry, if Tadgear's pricing is out of line, he'll pay when he doesn't sell enough to justify what he originally paid for them. And unsold inventory, American made or not, doesn't pay the server bills.

The problem doesn't seem to be Tadgear's pricing, it seems to be you want something you can't afford. I have the same problem with the Lexus I want, but instead of complaining that a Lexus' price should be lowered to what I can afford, I bought a Saturn. A lot of people on this board want a Sebenza, but instead of giving Chris Reeve grief they settle for Gerber. Life's kinda like that.

Chumley's right, watch for the sales.

MichiganMan,

as you can see in my first post I said it was a nice piece but expensive. Sam (guy who responded next) did an excellent job in explaining what the deal was. Nowhere in my entire post had I said that I'm "entitled" to cheaper stuff due to my occupation or prior service. Originally the issue was cost justifying the item and not affordability. What always had bothered me is that somebody will come along and fly American flag up in the air to justify the cost of an item. Also when you opposed them out of the sudden it is you who is not patriotic enough.

And when you have a conversation with Chris Reeve first thing out of his mouth when he talks about his blades is steel quality, design features and durability. There is no mention of "made in America" stuff. I have my Sebenza , Microtech just like I had no problems buying my Arc lights (as a matter of fact my LS was bought from TAD). I asked why the item was expensive and got an answer. TAD came along and got on defensive instead of explaining his product like every manufacturer would.

Matt

I like most of polak187's posts, but I think he is wrong here. Patrick (or whoever posted for TAD) simply presented the reason for the cost, something he didn't have to do. I have reread this several times, I don't see him waving the flag or being all that defensive. It was polak187 that brought up his pay and what he did for a living in great detail. TAD is a business and negative comments - that are very subjective - could hurt TAD's business. If I was still a moderator here, I would consider locking this one.

This is not a flame on polak187, I like his posts, but I think this is out of line. Even if slightly.

I think the cost makes sense. For any of us that have made things, we all know the economics of scale. For a small production run, made in the US, it's going to be expensive.

Yes, things made in Taiwan, China, etc can be decent quality these days. However, keeping jobs in the US is nothing to laugh at. At the current rate of outsourcing, we'll all be in the low-paying service industry soon enough.

Compare this to REI's products. Anything that REI carries is going to be a similar price, and they make their stuff in Canada in much higher quantities. Further, the brands REI carries are all typically made overseas, and they cost about as much, if not more.

Now, if you're comparing it to a Walmart made-in-China hoodie that costs $20, yeah, it's more expensive. But no one has a gun to your head forcing you to buy this one. 99.99999% of the people ARE going to buy the Walmart one. But for the small minority that wants something more, that is the market segment that Tadgear is addressing. If you're not part of that market segment, just be like everyone else and buy Chinamart.

This isn't the place.

I'm not even sure "the place" for this thread exists. Don't like the price? Don't buy.