Kifaru Product Flush?

[Hal M]

Checking in on a Kifaru pack I ordered on 9/3 (Shape Charge) and I noticed the other pack I was looking at is now gone, seemingly with a bunch of other packs. As in it looks like they may have discontinued 5-6 packs within the past 3 weeks. Does anyone have any insight on this? I really liked that Whitetail pack...

 

[jhayes6405]

Thats what happens when you have several products that overlap each other and then clearly rush them to market. I'd be on the lookout for hybrid 'designs' to come in the near future. Something where they take two or threee packs and condense them to one.

 

[kravguy]

Make sure you search through all the bag selections. I noticed if you pick "all packs" not all the bags show in there. I'm not sure what exact bag you are looking for, but make sure you search under all the bag tabs.

 

[tdot]

It seems like the Cargo Panel disappeared too. I've been lamenting that for the last week.

 

[LMT66]

When I view “all packs” on a phone or iPad I have to pinch the page down to see the last column of packs.

 

[rhunter424]

Yea it happens unnoticed. Got burned a couple times in the past. Never sure if a product is getting discontinued for good, re-designed, or stock is down for a particular color.

Current examples w/ limited colors available:

• Hellcat
• 22 mag
• Native
• Quandary
• AMR

Noticed recently that the cargo panel and tarryall have gone missing too.

I searched for "Eastern" on Kifaru's store to get the eastern ruck and got this message below. But no item was actually available to click on.

Search Results

You have searched for eastern. 1 product was found.

 

[Hal M]

I went with the Shape Charge and I pretty much love it aside from a few little gripes, but that is me... I've tried almost a dozen packs looking for the grail... This one is a close as I have come.

 

[amp713]

They have said a few times they are cutting back on the slow sellers as well as the bags they plan to update or change... they are growing faster than they can build

 

[Tuscaoka]

I think the 22 mag is being updated. Gonna look like the 44 mag without zippered side pockets but with the stretchy water bottle pockets like sc. from what I understand.

 

[Poeschel]

Is the Hellcat gone? I can’t seem to find it. Thanks.

 

[Mad Mountain Mike]

I truly wish Kifaru would invest a little more capital on inventory instead of new bags every other month. Extended lead times are fine for start ups but once a company is established orders should ship with in days not weeks.

 

[Bender]

Morning guys. I usually balk at interjecting in threads along this vein because it riles up the crowd. A lot of these threads go unanswered for that reason and you guys should get the skinny on what and why we do things so damn weird.

We have a pretty different way of doing business for sure. We still sew our bags in small batches locally and have a large factory in California making the high demand items. This means we have constantly fluid stock of our bags on hand and it takes our small team of assemblers time to put all of this stuff together, especially with all the options we offer. We have shipping down to about 2 weeks now which is a big improvement to the 5+ weeks we used to take when we did things differently in the past. Because we make things is small batches, we can adjust the line up based on sales vs. storage space (we're in a small warehouse, not a whole lot of room). If we are sitting on a bunch of packs for a long time and we keep getting feedback on what people like or don't like about that pack, we are going to make changes or roll it into a new idea. Because we make things in small batches we can make new bags pretty often with a 1-2 month lead time in production as opposed to a 12-16 month lead times other companies face with factory produced gear. Sometimes bags take me a few prototypes to make, sometimes they take months of tweaking the patterns and getting them right. Each of those prototypes then hit the trail and get put through the wringer. Other companies will send tech packages to factories where their tailors will make production samples that go back and forth between office and factory which takes much longer. This adds months to their development and is why companies usually do yearly releases. This has become the norm for 99% of companies and is what customers have come to expect. And that's boring, takes too long and isn't that fun for me.

The part that takes the longest is that we have a line of orders waiting to go out the door with a small team putting them together. Its a line guys, just like the DMV. We have 8-12 people fulfilling orders any given day and some of those people work multiple jobs in the building such as cutting fabric, stamping out plastic pieces or making the stoves and sleds. I don't know of too many of our competitors that do things the way we do and that may seem strange to you guys. Hell, sometimes it seems strange to us too. But its a system where we can keep our small family cranking out new gear and we're getting better at it every day.

I don't know if that answers any of your guys questions, hopefully it gives you an idea of why we do things so weirdly. We are always trying to bring you guys new gear that we believe will make a difference out in the woods. If you guys have any questions you can PM me or email me at [email protected].

 

[onderz]

Yea it happens unnoticed. Got burned a couple times in the past. Never sure if a product is getting discontinued for good, re-designed, or stock is down for a particular color.

Current examples w/ limited colors available:

• Hellcat
• 22 mag
• Native
• Quandary
• AMR

Noticed recently that the cargo panel and tarryall have gone missing too.

I searched for "Eastern" on Kifaru's store to get the eastern ruck and got this message below. But no item was actually available to click on.

Search Results

You have searched for eastern. 1 product was found.

Eastern Rucks are 40 % off currently but you have to call in and there are only Highlander or Multicam left.

 

[Mad Mountain Mike]

Thanks for the reply Eric. I want to be clear that in my original post I was not railing against the product but merely the lag times. Alot of us buying your products are working stiffs and our purchases sometimes involve more than a years worth of expendable cash. I currently own multiple Kifaru products including the Tut. The quality is second to none, I beat the hell out of my first gen bikini frame with a nomad 2 mounted on it and it shows no sign of giving in. Hardly a week goes by that this pack isn’t thrown in the truck, tied to a quad or on my back for a weekend trip in the mountains (backpacking or hunting). My go to bag for extended trips is still the old reliable DT1. In my opinion this bag has never been topped, and I see nothing in the Kifaru line up that spurs me to replace it.
Anyway, Merry Christmas, I hope all working there have a great holiday season.

 

[ozyclint]

My go to bag for extended trips is still the old reliable DT1. In my opinion this bag has never been topped, and I see nothing in the Kifaru line up that spurs me to replace it.

i agree. the timberline series was the bomb. i love my internal frame T2.