[rch]

Key people left North Face over a decade ago, and some started Mountain Hardware. Then they moved on from there as well.

I like the way Voormi is coming together. Really high quality from a small company. Also Big Agnes for tents, sleeping bags, and the like.

[dwyerm]

Colorado fan, huh? I'll admit it was my desire to buy local that initially directed me towards Big Agnes. I've been very happy with their products, but "Buy Local" starts ringing a little bit hollow when every product I've purchased from them was actually manufactured in China.

At Melanzana the sewing machine is right there in Leadville. My friends were surreptitiously snapping photos of the people sewing together fleeces. There aren't many places were you can actually see your gear being made.

[rch]

I actually found out about Big Agnes while I was living in NYC, but I'd like to see more domestic production as well. Melanzana looks interesting - I'll stop by sometime.

[hackuser]

> Key people left North Face over a decade ago, and some started Mountain Hardware

Mountain Hardware was founded in 1993, per Wikipedia, and purchased by Columbia in 2003. Are you thinking of someone else?

[et-al]

OP might be thinking of Sierra Design guys starting up MH. It's a common cycle for these people to jump ship as companies get entrenched and they lose their creative freedom.

Same thing happened with backpacks: Dana Gleason of Dana Designs, sold to K2, fulfilled his noncompete, he starts up Mystery Ranch.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dana_Design

[rch]

I'm just old - I forget how long ago some of these conversations took place, but mid-90s sounds right.