New Kifaru clothing

deserthunter2016

deserthunter2016

WKR
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Aug 18, 2016
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Location
Washington
Anyone have experience with any of it? Look like some good options and variants of pieces that are already on the market by others.


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I couldn’t find anywhere in the description that specifies where it’s being made. One reference to “Japanese” 20D rip stop nylon on their new Primaloft gold jacket. But nothing in terms of where it’s being sewn. Also still no listed weights on anything. Which is mildly annoying, but that’s an aside.

LPP stuff is on sale BTW. Looks like there’s a possibility it’ll be phased out? I’d be unpleasantly surprised if so. That’s still the best synthetic puffy on the market IMO, and there’s nothing really close to it.


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Jake Larsen said:
I couldn’t find anywhere in the description that specifies where it’s being made. One reference to “Japanese” 20D rip stop nylon on their new Primaloft gold jacket. But nothing in terms of where it’s being sewn.

LPP stuff is on sale BTW. Looks like there’s a possibility it’ll be phased out? I’d be unpleasantly surprised if so. That’s still the best synthetic puffy on the market IMO, and there’s nothing really close to it.


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Click to expand...
Discontinuing the LPP would be surprising considering a lot of them were sold to various branches of the military. Maybe sales have dropped?
 
FrankieP1988 said:
Discontinuing the LPP would be surprising considering a lot of them were sold to various branches of the military. Maybe sales have dropped?
Click to expand...

That’s all I could figure. Why else? It’s widely considered one of their best products, and stands alone in its category. I guess if the corporate number crunchers aren’t seeing X amount of growth though….

This is why buyouts suck. Investors want to see their share of growth, and rightly so. Good products sometimes get in the way of the numbers

Hope I’m wrong, and they’re just doing some sort of updated version that’ll drop soon. I have seen that pattern in the past from them.

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That's a no from me, not that I was going to buy any anyway. I have no idea why so many companies insist on putting those metal post style waist buttons on lightweight pants. All they do is dig into me. I am sure they are cheaper.
 
I have no experience with it, since it just came out.

But let's be real.
  • $300 for a pair of 100% recycled polyester pants.
  • $310 for a Primaloft gold jacket, with 133g of insulation.
  • $170 for a pair of 100% recycled polyester pants.
  • $180 for a grid fleece. ("But....but.....but.....it has thumb loops! And a 'shooter neckline'!"......)

They can give the clothing and materials all the cute names they want.

Jumping the shark.

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Longtime Kifaru user here. Like others, my first thought was damn that's expensive. Seems like they haven't been the same since Aron left. I wish them all the success, but it's hard to justify the price tag for non US sourced products.

Curious to see how these pieces perform in the field. Not their fault, but the PFAS-free materials aren't too appetizing either.

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FrankieP1988 said:
I'll be interested to see some independent reviews instead of reviews by folks that have some stake in the sale of the gear. I'd like to know why someone would buy $300 pants over Sitka, Kuiu, Firstlite, etc.
Click to expand...

I noticed they say the Torlander has a full membrane. Can’t imagine that’s proprietary, but they also don’t say what it is. I’d hazard a guess that’s what the $300 price tag is about.

There are other high end soft shells in the mountaineering/alpinism market that land right at the same mark. The Eiger Norwand stuff from Mammut comes to mind…most of the high end Schoeller stuff lands in that range. On the other hand, if these Kifaru pants were using Schoeller (or something like it) I’d be a shocked if there wasn’t some advertising about it.


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I haven’t bought anything Kifaru in many years and I got two packs in Multicam, before they discontinued that color. Seems odd that their foray into the clothing market offers multicam patterns. I know they’ve had a lot of changes, maybe even recognizing mistakes that have been made.
 
Jake Larsen said:
I noticed they say the Torlander has a full membrane. Can’t imagine that’s proprietary, but they also don’t say what it is. I’d hazard a guess that’s what the $300 price tag is about.

There are other high end soft shells in the mountaineering/alpinism market that land right at the same mark. The Eiger Norwand stuff from Mammut comes to mind…most of the high end Schoeller stuff lands in that range. On the other hand, if these Kifaru pants were using Schoeller (or something like it) I’d be a shocked if there wasn’t some advertising about it.


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Click to expand...

Schoeller didn't seem to sell well for Kryptek in their altitude line. Seemed like the price point was too high for most folks. Clothing seems like a tough market to be competitive in for new comers considering the amount of money the more established brands put into R&D. Will be interesting to see how it all pans out.
 
Maverick1 said:
I have no experience with it, since it just came out.

But let's be real.
  • $300 for a pair of 100% recycled polyester pants.
  • $310 for a Primaloft gold jacket, with 133g of insulation.
  • $170 for a pair of 100% recycled polyester pants.
  • $180 for a grid fleece. ("But....but.....but.....it has thumb loops! And a 'shooter neckline'!"......)

They can give the clothing and materials all the cute names they want.

Jumping the shark.

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------------
----------
Click to expand...

I want to know what a “shooter neckline” is?! Hopefully guarantees more tags and dead animals


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thisguy said:
Kifaru got bought out?
Click to expand...

I was just referring to the private party purchase in 2020. Kifaru hasn’t gone through an “Acquisition” like SG and others have. But even in a case like this where multiple private individuals purchase a company, they’re going to be interested in maximum growth and profitability. Which sometimes means decisions get made that aren’t necessarily about producing the best possible product for end users, and nothing more. That tends to be the driving ethos of a company that’s a passion project when it’s under the control and ownership of its original creator. That’s what we had with Patrick/Kifaru and Aaron for many years. There seems to be a bit of a life cycle with these boutique companies that goes something like this:

The founder phase: all about the product, focus is 100% on creating the best possible gear. That’s the passion. The money will follow, but it’s not really about that at first.

Growth phase: figure out what works and what doesn’t, and scale up while maintaining quality.

Innovation: now there’s money to innovate and do some really cool stuff.

The buyout: founder gets older, starts looking for a way to slow down and exit. Somebody makes an offer they can’t refuse.

The investor phase: now you’ve got interested parties who have purchased an investment. Investments need to grow. Now the focus is on x amount of quarterly growth. New products sell. In many cases, the old but tried & true stuff doesn’t move that many units, once the product has been on the market for a while. The problem is, new isn’t always better. Quality starts to slip in favor of scale. Gear doesn’t get tested the way it should, because that takes time, and you’ve got to get products to market in order to show quarterly growth. Customer service drops off - you’re no longer talking to the owner of the company, or someone from the inner circle. It’s just a hired representative. On and on, you get the idea.


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