Stone Glacier bought by Vista Outdoors

[PNWGATOR]

I trust Kurt, his judgment and his passion for design, quality and innovation. If he chose this direction, I‘ll continue to wholeheartedly support Stone Glacier

 

[Kelleyss]

They’ve had a display and section in the local Scheels for a year or so now. I don’t own any of there stuff, but from I saw it looked well made.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's extremely solid gear, just hoping they stick with quality and keep it made in the US.

 

[Kelleyss]

Surprised it wasn't the Chernin Group (MeatEater) actually, if indeed they were shopping it around. Seems like all they were missing was a pack brand, fold the clothing into the First Lite lines. At least then it could have kept it MT based... ahh well, hoorah for corporate profiteering!

I was under the impression they're in cahoots with Mystery Ranch.

 

[MT_Wyatt]

It's extremely solid gear, just hoping they stick with quality and keep it made in the US.

Well considering they already chimed in saying that on here, not sure I'd worry about it.

 

[tdhanses]

Can't wait to see these in Cabelas and Bass Pro Quantity over quality now. Good for Racicot, bad for us. Good thing I just bought a new frame from them.

So do you not buy other name brands sold in these stores? Swaro, sitka, Christensen Arms, Sako, hoyt, Mathews etc? Not sure of your point here, is everything sold here made in China?

 

[canyonhunter47]

So do you not buy other name brands sold in these stores? Swaro, sitka, Christensen Arms, Sako, hoyt, Mathews etc? Not sure of your point here, is everything sold here made in China?

Hoyt and Mathews are at BP/Cabela’s?

 

[tdhanses]

Hoyt and Mathews are at BP/Cabela’s?

Scheels

 

[Dilligaf12t]

Good stuff

 

[Gobbler36]

Having barely dipped my toe into pack hunting, I'm still rocking my old north face for the time being mostly truck camping. Due to all the positive threads on this forum from people such as yourself, I had my heart set on an SG pack, now I'm not so sure. Not because of who now owns them, just the simple fact of the change of hands and with that potential quality values that could change. Not that they will for sure.

get an exo pack youll thank me later it was a hard decision till i read this

 

[TwentyFive-Yard]

This is the future for every company in America. They will either cash out and let the giant corporations buy them, or they will die. Every year it will get harder and harder for small companies to survive.

kind of surprised it wasn’t Steve Rinella that bought them.

 

[HighUintas]

Oh god. Will it never end? I figured something bad was about to happen when I saw every piece of their lineup on the racks at Scheels

 

[Kitten]

Can't wait to see these in Cabelas and Bass Pro Quantity over quality now. Good for Racicot, bad for us. Good thing I just bought a new frame from them.

I think that would be awesome. I am really interested in the sky 5900, but would have to order one to even try it on. Seeing it in a store and being able to check out multiple packs would be great.

 

[ODB]

kind of surprised it wasn’t Steve Rinella that bought them.

Wait till vista buys meateater, mate - then El Plan will be in place...

 

[Kitten]

Wait till vista buys meateater, mate - then El Plan will be in place...

I imagine that price tag would be massive.

 

[Gatorgrizz27]

I trust Kurt, his judgment and his passion for design, quality and innovation. If he chose this direction, I‘ll continue to wholeheartedly support Stone Glacier

I really like the guys at Stone Glacier, but this stuff is rarely good for the brand.

I don’t blame them for selling, I’m sure with the supply chain issues lately on top of years of growing, it was hard to turn down an offer like “We will buy you out for 5 million dollars, keep you on as head designer with a 20% salary increase from what you were paying yourself, nothing will change with the brand culture, we will just handle shipping, distribution, and advertising for you.“

Then in 6 months to a year the old staff is fed up by dealing with the bean counters and being told no, stuff gets made in China and there are Stone Glacier branded energy drinks at Bass Pro…

 

[h2so4]

Just wait until they start “capacity management” on backpacks.

 

[Dos Perros]

Give it 2 years and a good chunk of the original employees will split off and start their own thing, and the cycle repeats.

 

[CCH]

I need some stock tips or perhaps simply lottery numbers from all of you who have the entire future of Stone Glacier charted out based on this purchase. Lots of conflating issues here, especially regarding the product being sold in retailers such as Scheel's (pretty much high end hunting gear all the way around) and Cabela's/Bass Pro where, despite negative changes with the BP acquisition, I can still buy a Christensen Arms rifle throw a Swarovski scope on it and then fill out the rest of my optics kit with more Swaro all while wearing the Sitka clothing purchased there. The biggest thing they lack is quality packs to complete the deal.

You could certainly dispute the business model of direct sales versus introducing a middle man and its effect on cost a la Sitka vs. Kuiu. However, SG is no bargain purchased directly. It probably won't sustain much of a price increase to support retail sales. That is where the idea of foreign construction could come into play, at which point the bean counters and brand managers will need to realize that $700 for foreign made packs is not a sustainable model.

For what it's worth, my very first Kifaru pack was a foreign made Predator purchased on closeout at Cabela's in the 90s. It worked pretty well and as far as I know is still in service. Even at full price, it was substantially cheaper than their U.S. made products, but did the job.

Full disclosure, after seeing some in action and checking them out up close, my latest, and yet to see field use, pack is an SG 5900 after years of HPG, Kifaru, and others. Of course, I bought it used...

 

[Dos Perros]

@CCH I guess, show me a company that has maintained its innovation and quality through an acquisition like this? The list of those that have lost it is pretty long.

Then, look at the list of brands that Vista owns, and tell me which ones are innovation leaders in their respective spaces. I'll wait.

I do think SG will grow their customer base. They'll replace a guy like me with two chuckleducks who don't know any better, after all their money is just as good.

 

[TheTone]

@CCH I guess, show me a company that has maintained its innovation and quality through an acquisition like this? The list of those that have lost it is pretty long.

Then, look at the list of brands that Vista owns, and tell me which ones are innovation leaders in their respective spaces. I'll wait.

I do think SG will grow their customer base. They'll replace a guy like me with two chuckleducks who don't know any better, after all their money is just as good.

Yeah I’m sure the $900 bell moto 10 is a crappy knock off helmet…. Also seems like gold tip and beestinger have pretty much been the same and added new high end stuff since they went to vista. I don’t follow the bullets side as much but I know the engineers at cci are continuing to work on building new product, getting innovative new machines, and the number of people has only increased over the years.