A challenge

Ok so I may be Los and grumpy etc but I don’t want to buy stuff made in china. Nowt against the Chinese but I doubt they’re the best at the environmental stuff nor is their record brill for human rights. Plus I don’t see how the world can sustain shipping stuff round like we do at the mo.
So a challenge find me a coat (winter warm and waterproof) which is made here in the uk from materials which are made in the uk too
Cheers

Barbour. Am pretty sure the original ranges of wax jackets are still made in South Shields.

Mmm it is on the list to research properly, I’d heard some stuff went overseas though.

What about snugpak? Anything of theirs, or combinations thereof, to fit the bill? I have a softie jacket and I can guarantee it meets your ‘warm in winter’ requirement.

montane?

Harris tweed

Not possible, and stupidly, it is cheaper (cost and environment) to ship it in, unless you are gonna open up a new factory in UK.
(read the Patagonia ‘let my people go surfing’ book for more on this topic…)

So a challenge find me a coat (winter warm and waterproof) which is made here in the uk from materials which are made in the uk too

Barbour. Am pretty sure the original ranges of wax jackets are still made in South Shields.

Are they made from cotton grown on the famous cotton fields of Northumberland?

I believe all the montane kit is now made in china, used to be made in Northumberland but moved overseas a while back.

Nice kit though

Rab ?

Finisterre[/url]???

finisterre stuff isn’t made in the UK as far as I’m aware. I see no reason why anything is morally better for being made here.

http://www.finisterreuk.com/initiatives/i-spy

If you go to that Google, and put in “made in (insert country with environmental and human rights record that you agree with) coat”

you will be greeted with a myriad of choices…

Ok so mattoutandabout, I’ve read it fully understand it and live by the theory that one day I’d like to make a difference. Cost is not an issue, I’m not rich by any means but the next coat I buy will probably last me the best part of the rest of my life, had my current one for 14 years and in all honesty it’s still fine and there is a high likelihood of me wearing it for another 14!
I’m sorry but I don’t understand how something in china can be as environmentally friendly as something made and used in this country. The other thin is and his maybe my big bug bear, what happens if the Chinese put up their costs, or the exchange rate goes mad, not being funny but if we lose our skills we’re going to be royally screwed.
Cheers to all who’ve suggested, I’m a big fan of finisterre but I’ve set my aim for made in the uk.
Cheers all

Bear in mind that clothes are made all over the Far East, not just China. And many people’s livelihoods depend on those industries and many are run ethically and favourably to the workers. What are they going to do when you deny them of business? Go back to hand-to-mouth subsistence farming?

deny them of business? what about the people in this country that are sending their manufacturing overseas because the skill doesn’t exist over here. whats going to happen to their livelihoods?
what was wrong with farming? living a simple life yes and maybe it was a poor life but then who’s to say that it wasn’t a poor life that was their own. rather than the life of living on a production line where dropping components is a past time as it breaks up the monotony of the day.
i think everyone should have a choice of how they live but in reality what choice does anyone have because of constraints put on them by external factors.
all i want is to buy a coat made in the uk because i want something that has not travelled round the world because i want something that puts food directly on a table in the uk.

Your argument is flawed in that you seem to value the welfare of people born in one country much more than people born in another.

Only on here does someone get hammered for wanting to buy locally sourced produce.

STW, where you’re wrong whatever side of the fence you sit on, even if it’s both or neither.

No person is better than or worse than another at a given point in time. I value the world I’m bringing my kids up in and I want them to have choices. Damn it I want a choice other than made in china.

jackthedog – Member
Only on here does someone get hammered for wanting to buy locally sourced produce.

Sent from your Chinese-component-filled comms device of choice….

cheers jack.

Sent from your Chinese-component-filled comms device of choice….

You might be mixing me and the OP up as i’m not asking for anything, but I’d guess that comeback probably backs up his point somewhat.

Merrell?

Only on here does someone get hammered for wanting to buy locally sourced produce.

To try and buy local products only really works with food and maybe a few products made from wood.

Other than that raw materials will have been shipped around the world and thus defeating the environmental gains and stopping it being ‘local’ in the true sense.

Not really sure if they have coats in their range but don’t Lusso boast of being ‘Hand made in the UK’?

There’s also Vander
http://www.vander.co.uk/

http://www.flying-jacket.com/product-details.aspx?id=1

reasonably waterproof if you treat the leather.

Only on here does someone get hammered for wanting to buy locally sourced produce.

We’re not hammering you, we’re pointing out that there are a lot of issues to consider.

what about the people in this country that are sending their manufacturing overseas because the skill doesn’t exist over here

This has already happened, we found other jobs because we have the opportunity to re-train, re-skill, start new businesses and develop our economy in new directions. People in third world countries often don’t have this option.

what was wrong with farming?

LOL! Why do you think people migrate to the cities? We’re not talking farming with wax jackets and Range Rovers here you know…

I’m sorry but I don’t understand how something in china can be as environmentally friendly as something made and used in this country.

I think the argument goes something along the lines of –
Lets say your UK coat factory employees 10 people, all of them are well-paid, have cars, holidays abroad, and massive carbon footprints. Those same 10 people in China don’t. Even taking into account the transport costs, and poor enviromental record in China it may still be less damaging.

Lets say your UK coat factory employees 10 people, all of them are well-paid, have cars, holidays abroad, and massive carbon footprints. Those same 10 people in China don’t. Even taking into account the transport costs, and poor enviromental record in China it may still be less damaging.

So, we better hope that the Chinese coat factory employees are never paid well enough to be able to afford cars and holidays then.

we better hope that the Chinese coat factory employees are never paid well enough to be able to afford cars and holidays then.

rising labour costs are becoming an issue in China as far as competing with other Far Eastern countries is concerned.

similar things have happened with outsourcing stuff from the UK to India – a lot of companies are bringing stuff back now as the costs of skilled Indian labour have risen so much.

Make your own coat? Seriously.

Or reuse one that was made in china, but has already had a good life.
That way we’ll win by stockpiling all their materials! ….mwahahahaha
*strokes cat*

Buffalo?

Between you and the wilderness

or Mardale and those guys based in Uig, Skye if either are they’re still in business…..

The guy only asked for a coat and wants to buy British

good on him, I wish I had the resolve to chase things down like that

molgrips
Bear in mind that clothes are made all over the Far East, not just China. And many people’s livelihoods depend on those industries and many are run ethically and favourably to the workers. What are they going to do when you deny them of business? Go back to hand-to-mouth subsistence farming?

This has already happened, we found other jobs because we have the opportunity to re-train, re-skill, start new businesses and develop our economy in new directions. People in third world countries often don’t have this option.

Do you see the paradox in those two statements?

Er no, not in the light of the last sentence in the second paragraph… Could you make your point a bit more succinctly perhaps?

In simplistic and generalised terms…

Many developing countries have their development restricted because a large proportion of the country works in factories making stuff for developed countries. If you take away the factories there are two pathways for the future:

1 – “Go back to hand-to-mouth subsistence farming” (although that misses the detail of what many countries were like before Western imperialism)

2 – you free up a workforce who can get better jobs, and/or grow a domestic manufacturing industry where the profits remain in the domestic economy, rather than profit being sucked out by transnational corporations.

In the short term the latter pathway is not desirable for us in the developed world as stuff becomes more expensive to make, and a new set of competitors are created. Underdevelopment is useful if you want cheap stuff and want to remain part of the dominant economic order. Having Indians working in call centres is much better for the West’s knowledge economy because people aren’t using their degrees for creative or entrepreneurial ends, or the public good.

UK fabrics on line, are a good source of materials, don’t think many are uk made though.

Fox will make you any wool jacket material you want (for a price)

if you’re going to keep it for ages though, doesn’t that make the shipping from China a bit better?

Well I wasn’t talking so much about India, where levels of education are fairly high in some parts of society. If you have largely uneducated people who only know how to operate sewing machines, how are they going to take advantage of the ‘freedom’ to get better jobs?

I’m not pushing one particular point of view by the way, this is an interesting discussion and I’m happy to learn from people who understand the situation better than I do.

molgrips – Member
Well I wasn’t talking so much about India, where levels of education are fairly high in some parts of society. If you have largely uneducated people who only know how to operate sewing machines, how are they going to take advantage of the ‘freedom’ to get better jobs?

They could do what many Indians do and get an education, then create/get better jobs, improve the healthcare system by becoming doctors and nurses, improve the education system by becoming teachers and lecturers etc.

Are you saying that the opportunities to do those things exist for everyone in third world countries?