Ryan Stuart, explore's gear editor

Ryan Stuart's tell all blog spot on his gear addiction and life and times as explore magazine's gear editor

Forget Buy American: Buy Canadian

As the American Senate debates the merits of a "Buy American" clause in their epic economic stimulus package and NDP leader Jack Layton suggests similar measures here in Canada, I thought Canadians pondering gear purchases in the next little while might want to do their part to boost the Canadian economy by doing their patriotic part and buy Canadian. Remember, hording your savings in these times of economic hardship is anti-Canadian and hurts our economy. So, go buy that tent you've been dreaming about - when your partner asks what you were thinking, just blame it on the economy. Everyone else does.

Here's a cheat sheet on some sources of Made in Canada gear:

Chlorphylle - A Quebec company with a great line of outdoor clothing and accessories, both fashionable and very functional. We're a fan of their proprietary CHS waterproof breathable fabric, which they can fuse together to eliminate stitches.

Backcountry.com - the online retailer will be releasing a couple of their own jackets this spring, the Stoic line, built in Vancouver. We've been testing the hardshell Stoic for a while and love its cut and function.

Arc'Teryx - This one time Canadian owned company is now part of Amer Sports, parent company of Salomon and Atomic among others. They're still based in Vancouver and manufacture much of their higher end gear in their Lower Mainland factory.

Westcomb - A small outdoor apparel company that is always riding the cutting edge. Their gear is always high tech, attractively cut and 100% made in Canada.

Beta Clothing Designs - The winners of Ford's Taking Style to the Edge clothing design competition and clothier for Canada's sport climbing team, this Toronto company designs functional and fashionable clothing geared towards the climbing community, but accessible to everyone.

Mountain Equipment Co-Op - You know who they are and they have lots of Made in Canada gear.

G3 - North Vancouver based backcountry, telemark and alpine touring gear. We're fans of most of what these guys make. Check out their asymetric skis - sweet!

Integral Designs - Based in Calgary, this specialty lightweight backpacking gear maker produces good quality, reasonably priced gear designed to perform. It's not always the sexiest, but it always works for a long, long time. We've had one of their bivy sacks for more than 10 years and hundreds of nights out, that still works.

Obviously this list is not exhaustive. So, fill me in: who am I forgetting?

nayo (February 4, 2009 at 10:56 p.m.)

If you're looking for not too technical snowshoes, there's GV snowshoes. Lots of retailers carry their shoes and they are made in Canada.

http://www.gvsnowshoes.com/

nayo (February 4, 2009 at 11:08 p.m.)

Regarding Cholorphylle, I offer this quote from the Louis Garneau website:

"In June 2003, Louis Garneau Sports Inc. bought Chlorophylle h. tech, a company that specializes in the design of hi-tech, high-end outerwear for climbing, mountain and water sports and kayaking. This partnership allows two innovation and quality product leaders to continue their growth in different market segments and continents."

http://www.louisgarneau.com/company/h...

While they do have an assembly factory in Vermont, I'm not sure where they manufacture the bulk of their products.

And from the Cholophylle website, I found this:
"Why are your products manufactured in a foreign country ?

Chlorophylle products, as well as all related activities, are entirely Canadian. A team of nearly 40 people work in our Saguenay offices. Although a significant part of the work is done in Canada, it goes without question that a large part of the manufacturing is done in another country. The changes brought to the production process give Chlorophylle the opportunity to remain competitive on the market."

http://www.chlorophylle.net/info.php?...

I still love Chlorophylle, just wanted to add to the accuracy of the post.

Jeremy Bessey (February 5, 2009 at 10:38 a.m.)

In the paddling world, Swift, Langford, Nova Craft, Scott, Esquif, and Souris River are just a few of the canoe companies that our Canadian. Also some great paddle companies like Grey Owl, XY, Red Tail, and Teal are 100% Canadian.

Jeremy

Brent Robillard (February 6, 2009 at 9:24 a.m.)

If you want the low down on Canadian made gear, go to www.canadianmade.com. They’ve got a list of manufacturers organized into categories, such as “Bikes & Accessories,” “Camping Equipment,” or “Canoes, Kayaks, & Boats.”

For outdoor clothing beyond Chlorophylle, try Conifere, Far West, Mistaya, Pacific Trekking, Sierra Designs, or Tilley. You can even go to the Canadian Apperal Federation ( www.apparel.ca ) and use their search engine.

nayo (February 6, 2009 at 1:41 p.m.)

I actually checked out and emailed Far West earlier this week regarding where their products were made, their response was this:

"Our products are manufactured overseas however our Head offices, design team and retail stores are all in British Columbia."

(I'm sorry for being the Negative Nancy of this post, eep!)

nayo (February 6, 2009 at 1:44 p.m.)

I do realize the manufacturing element is not the whole of the picture, but it is nice when it is designed and made in Canada so I just want to help.

Add your comment to “Forget Buy American: Buy Canadian”

To post a comment, you must be logged in. If you do not have an account you can register now—it's free, and it takes only a few seconds. If you have an account, log in now.

Note: Neither the author nor Outdoorsica necessarily agree with the comments posted here. Read our privacy policy.