Brands that you fondly remember not being shit

Northern England.Yobby,dreggy dump these days.Few honourable exceptions of course.

I also still have a Karrimor Jaguar from circa 1987 in my loft, the one without the side pockets but with rails to attach the extra ones if you wanted to an 80L backbreaker… had to get this one as really wanted the Alpiniste but my mate had one in the purple and just had to be different. Anyway, it would still be perfectly usable today – and one of the reasons for that if my early stage product obsessive geekery serves me right is that it was made with Cordura fabric. This fabric was so good, so tough and felt pleasing to hand, even today I would regard these types of fabric as a gold standard. And yet the reason modern equivalents disappoint is the unnecessary light-weighting of any outdoor products for marketing goals, to the point that you rarely see fabrics like Cordura being used- and instead get a ‘high performance’ pack that gets a hole in the base on your second trip out just because you took it off near a rock.

Ehh? Our Fiesta is about to turn 21 and the only rust is just starting to appear on the inner door skins.

sample size of 1 ?

Our Fusion (tall Fiesta) is also 21 and rust free.

Sample size = 2

Rohan when it was all about a pair of bags and or a pair of superstriders.

The North Face, it all went downhill after they shut the Port Glasgow factory. The factory sale gear was proper outdoor gear, tents s/bags etc. Now it’s designer gear catering for casual wear. Still have lots of the old gear, a guy from Ni had a shopping list from his hill walking club 2 grand bill  .

The factory sale gear was proper outdoor gear

I’ve still got a North Face ‘Wasatch’ backpack bought at factory sale in early 90s. (Ab)used daily through high school, then through uni, then on various travels/holidays. Still going strong although relegated to weekly rather than daily use. Highly doubt the replacement NF ‘Router’ bag I bought in 2018 will last as well.

Roach made some great riding clothes and protection when there wasn’t much else available. Got bought by raceface and it all went rats.

Our Fusion (tall Fiesta) is also 21 and rust free

My 53 plate Mondeo was effectively dead from rust (doors and sills) 12 years ago.

Findus. Raleigh. ITV.

I gave a Karrimor Jaguar away. It weighed about 2.5kg empty.

The mental gymnastics people do to make excuses for cost cutting, corporate greed and blatantly ripping people off is the funniest thing. Keep those straight faces boys!

The phoenix from the ashes of what was once Karrimor proper is Lancashire Sports Repair in Burnley,

I did not know the latter was spawned from the former. Karrimor went bust as *someone* was fiddling the books and they got a bit overextended. The brand was then snapped up by the Ashley and joined the rush to the bottom. ME used to be a proper rufty tufty outdoor brand, made in Glossop, used on Everest. They also overextended and were bought out by an Italian fashion/outdoor conglomerate (IIRC). Their gear is still decent quality but a bit fussier than it used to be – and not used up Everest quite so much.

Another hot ice here in red/grey and have some pouches that fit (deep purple and never sat very well).

Yes I’ve got a Karrimor rucksack that is maybe 30 years old that gives good service……once a year if even that.

It’s easy to get nostalgic about kit you’ve had for years because you rarely use it. Like whoever it was ^ that has the twenty year old walking boots, only one way that comes to pass.

Old people always think things were better in the past. I think I prefer a modern rucksack with a breathing back, such as something by Osprey. Half the weight also.

Fogies!!

endoverendFull Member
I also still have a Karrimor Jaguar from circa 1987 in my loft, the one without the side pockets but with rails to attach the extra ones if you wanted to an 80L backbreaker

mine dates from about 92. Went round the world with it for a year. it fell out of the luggage compartment of an overnight coach and was recovered (not everyone whose bag fell out got them back). So it’s got some over stitching in the top pocket. Still gets used for festivals (I’ve had an couple of different travel backpacks with stashable straps since). although when I tried to use the side pockets for the first time in decades found I’d only got one of the four clips needed. The fabric is still in good condition and th3 coating is still intact.

While I appreciate that karrimor are no what they once were in terms of bags etc, I feel they’re being a little hard done by on here.  I’ve had multiple pairs of walking shoes from them over the years, waterproof and comfortable, hammered daily and last about a year.  I’ve had merrels and brashers over the period, which cost 2-3 times as much. And didn’t last any longer or were materially an improvement.  The Merrels we’re particularly bad. With the outsole wearing smooth in c6 months and the mid-sole basically collapsing.

So yes, not what that were but id rather buy a £40 pair of karrimor shoes each year. Rather than an £80+ “quality” brand every 6 months, that end up ruining my feet!

For example, something like a t-shirt that would have lasted me from age 18-21 seemed like a long time, after all so many things happened in that time. If a t-shirt lasted me from age 41-44 I’d perceived it to not have lasted very long

The three years 18-21 are about 15% of your then elapsed life, but the three years 41-44 are about 7% of your then elapsed life, thereby promoting the sense of ephemerality.  It’s the same reason that summers, when you were a kid always went on for ever, and now they seem to last about three days

Used to like my Vans shoes but the last 2 pairs I’ve bought have been shite. Both of them have had the same problem where the sole “sidewall” (not sure of the official shoe term) comes away from the main body material of the shoe within a month. Considering how expensive they can be if you don’t buy in the sales the quality is terrible. And they take forever to wear in and become comfortable, mine haven’t even softened up yet and now this has happened. I’ll be going back to Adidas.