Sitka Rant - disappointed

[dtrkyman]

I have abused tons of gear for years and have not seen wear like that. That response sux!!! What do they think you were wearing a sand paper belt?

 

[brsnow]

No excuse for the wear or response.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Hmmm. Not jackets but some of my favorite hunting pants are picking up wear from pack rub and where I wear my fixed blade knife. I may have missed it, but something you we’re wearing obviously caused that rub. Short of a cordura or Hypalon patch, I doubt anything would hold up to that kind of friction long. Regardless of the sitka interaction, you got to figure out what it was and adjust or it is going to happen again.

I learned that little bit of wisdom years ago when my ALICE pack belt burned through my goretex jacket right where my leatherman sheath was year ago in the army.

 

[netman]

Pack it up and send it back with a note explaining what has happened and what you want from them. Include a return address. I bet they send you a new one.

 

[eamyrick]

I can’t believe what I’m reading. I’ve had a Patagonia down sweater (thin outer shell/down insulation) for 7 years. I’ve worn it non stop when it’s cold including probably 50-60 days under ballistic armor and gear. Let’s call it 300 days easy. Every day I’ve had it on I’ve carried a full size pistol IWB if not not full gear which included a breaching shotgun and bouncing off the back right. It has maybe 4-5 holes 2 of which are from an open pocket knife and the other 3 from a fire. I paid $150 bucks for it on sale. I would be livid with this kind of wear even after a year of wear. The mark up on all this gear is ridiculous. Give the man a new jacket and give this one to one of the 8000 pro staff.

 

[brsnow]

I can’t believe what I’m reading. I’ve had a Patagonia down sweater (thin outer shell/down insulation) for 7 years. I’ve worn it non stop when it’s cold including probably 50-60 days under ballistic armor and gear. Let’s call it 300 days easy. Every day I’ve had it on I’ve carried a full size pistol IWB if not not full gear which included a breaching shotgun and bouncing off the back right. It has maybe 4-5 holes 2 of which are from an open pocket knife and the other 3 from a fire. I paid $150 bucks for it on sale. I would be livid with this kind of wear even after a year of wear. The mark up on all this gear is ridiculous. Give the man a new jacket and give this one to one of the 8000 pro staff.

Yes and Patagonia would replace it no questions asked.

 

[NDGuy]

Maybe Vortex should get into hunting clothes? Make decent gear and just send you a new one every time you breathe on it wrong.

 

[idahohikker]

No excuse for the wear! That is ridiculous, especially with how overpriced their gear is. At those prices it should be absolutely bombproof. What’s the value of the heavily marketed “technical gear” if it wears out in two weeks.

So this $400 jacket will work great in the field. Be sure that nothing touches it. Hahahahaha

 

[alexanderg23]

Sounds reasonable to me. They can’t cover wear and tear. It’s their lightest rain gear so not the most durable one they offer. I’ve got a set and it’s light weight. If I wore it on a trip and rubbed a hole in it, I won’t expect Sitka to send me a new one.

I’ve had good success with their warranty. They’ve replaced a couple zippers for me that wore out.

 

[idahohikker]

I feel like I’m taking crazy pills hearing people say the jacket shouldn’t be taken care of by the company. It wore out in a couple weeks. Wtf

 

[mt100gr.]

Nonsense. Sitka should be taking care of this, fixing the issue in that particular line, and finding a better material for their future products. Not making excuses. I have a ten-ish year old Cabelas space rain pullover that is probably lighter in weight and far more durable.

 

[ljalberta]

I do feel they shouldn’t advertise it as durable. Or at least specify its durable in the sense it can stand up to raindrops, but not durable enough to withstand an evening stroll making contact with a belt loop.

 

[Trevor73402]

Do you all honestly think that abrasion happened from him just wearing it on a stroll thru the woods?? Rubbing against some nice cotton or denim? No.....don’t be foolish. That section of the jacket came into contact with something very abrasive and had a pretty fair amount of pressure applied to it while making contact. It doesn’t matter if it cost $5 or $500, that is not Sitkas fault and they should not have to eat the cost in a situation like this. If that seam had come unsown, or the draw string broke......ok blame Sitka. This is literally the equivalent of “let me go get some 100 grit and rub it across my paper thin rain gear and when it shows wear I’m going to cry foul on the company”. Not trying to be harsh to the OP, but it’s your fault man. Get over it.

 

[duchntr]

This thread is comical, seems a lot of people have a hard time understanding the difference between "user wear" and "manufacture defect". If you do understand the difference and still think the company response is way off base, then you're either delusional or disingenuous. If you truly don't know the difference, read literally any warranty manual and acquaint yourself. If you wrecked your car you wouldn't ask the manufacturer to replace it on their dime, same thing here. Anyways flame on guys..

 

[Anteloper]

Check out Badlands Gear

Everything ive bought from them is awesome and they have an unconditional warranty

 

[mt100gr.]

Giving the OP benefit of the doubt here, I suppose. There's always 2 sides.

Sitka's lightest gear does feel fragile to me.

This would be like buying a pair of Scarpas and having the rand peel in 2 weeks. Maybe you were negligent but hopefully scarpa wouldn't blame it on your YaakTrax when you walked to the mailbox.

I haven't personally had any issues with Sitka products. Great CS and great products - and I haven't paid retail. They make everything from head to toe, including packs. On some level I would imagine they expect these to be used simultaneously. Build products accordingly.

 

[mt100gr.]

This thread is comical, seems a lot of people have a hard time understanding the difference between "user wear" and "manufacture defect". If you do understand the difference and still think the company response is way off base, then you're either delusional or disingenuous. If you truly don't know the difference, read literally any warranty manual and acquaint yourself. If you wrecked your car you wouldn't ask the manufacturer to replace it on their dime, same thing here. Anyways flame on guys..

I think that Sitka would want to get their hands on a piece that was in this condition so quickly. With allegedly no foul play. If for nothing more than to assure there isn't a design flaw or a bad lot of material getting into customer's hands. Look how Exo is handling their frame material situation. Exo is gaining customers for owning up.

 

[ljalberta]

Do you all honestly think that abrasion happened from him just wearing it on a stroll thru the woods?? Rubbing against some nice cotton or denim? No.....don’t be foolish. That section of the jacket came into contact with something very abrasive and had a pretty fair amount of pressure applied to it while making contact.

If it came into contact with something very abrasive with a lot of pressure on it, then yes - user issue. But, that's not clear. And if it wasn't something very abrasive, without significant pressure, then that's a pretty poor product. In my opinion at least. Quite frankly, only the original poster knows.

The thing I find quite questionable is the fact I've wore rain gear by Marmot and OR, that weighs half as much, and I've slugged around with 60lb pack rubbing away, with nothing even close to showing the same degree of wear after such little time. And, unless one is wearing a rain jacket 4 sizes too small or a belt made of sandpaper, then I have a hard time imaging any rain jacket I've ever worn showing the level of wear in the pictures.

 

[ljalberta]

If you wrecked your car you wouldn't ask the manufacturer to replace it on their dime, same thing here. Anyways flame on guys..

No, but if you rubbed your finger on the paint of your car and it wiped away, or it blew off as your drove, you sure as heck might be talking to the manufacturer... I think the point is, he's not saying he wrecked his jacket. He's saying there seems to be premature wear, that isn't up the standard of a hunting product advertised as a durable product.

 

[Yukon Cornelius]

The width of that wear looks like it might be rubbing against your magazine in your EDC?