Outdoor Kiff
Mar. 31st, 2011 03:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kiffieI've been getting stuff together for a weekend hike with PolyEscapes (a school-sponsored outdoors club) for a little while, now, and have run into a few... roadblocks? That's not the right word. "Confusing standards" is probably better.
Frex, I dislike manmade materials for clothing. Specifically, I take issue with acrylics -- I don't particularly like the feel of them against my skin, and I'd prefer to avoid petroleum products if I can help it (lol, car-nut is a tree-hugger derp derp derp). But most of the camping gear I've found has been acrylic. Indeed, even PolyEscapes recommends we take acrylic or high-acrylic content clothing. I know this is probably done to keep people from wearing cotton on the trails, but surely silk or bamboo would be just as workable? And isn't acrylic a fire hazard when working near flames, as I'd assume you would be, camping and all? I'd wear wool, but the cost for anything beyond socks is annoyingly prohibitive.
And don't even get me started on the horrifying number of things that companies are making in plastic now. Bleh. If you buy metal, you buy ONE. Period.
Further, I was very dismayed to find out that practically everything in Coleman's catalog is made in China. I had been planning to buy most of my supplies from Big 5 (Coleman's most prominent, perhaps even only, retail supplier), but when I checked for country of origin, everything had been produced across the sea. I admit to caving to a $30 Coleman sleeping bag (on steep, clear-the-house discount), but I sincerely doubt the company will get any more of my business. There are better-quality products made here -- for a slightly higher price, yes, but I'd feel a lot better about it.
Frex, I dislike manmade materials for clothing. Specifically, I take issue with acrylics -- I don't particularly like the feel of them against my skin, and I'd prefer to avoid petroleum products if I can help it (lol, car-nut is a tree-hugger derp derp derp). But most of the camping gear I've found has been acrylic. Indeed, even PolyEscapes recommends we take acrylic or high-acrylic content clothing. I know this is probably done to keep people from wearing cotton on the trails, but surely silk or bamboo would be just as workable? And isn't acrylic a fire hazard when working near flames, as I'd assume you would be, camping and all? I'd wear wool, but the cost for anything beyond socks is annoyingly prohibitive.
And don't even get me started on the horrifying number of things that companies are making in plastic now. Bleh. If you buy metal, you buy ONE. Period.
Further, I was very dismayed to find out that practically everything in Coleman's catalog is made in China. I had been planning to buy most of my supplies from Big 5 (Coleman's most prominent, perhaps even only, retail supplier), but when I checked for country of origin, everything had been produced across the sea. I admit to caving to a $30 Coleman sleeping bag (on steep, clear-the-house discount), but I sincerely doubt the company will get any more of my business. There are better-quality products made here -- for a slightly higher price, yes, but I'd feel a lot better about it.
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no subject
Date: 2011-03-31 11:24 pm (UTC)I'm gonna look there as well. For non-camping stuff. ;D Because I am afraid of getting radiated by household products. D:
-§parky
no subject
Date: 2011-03-31 11:37 pm (UTC)And as far as radiation -- you won't get that from products, generally. Food can be irradiated, and some metal products can be made from hot steel-- steel that's been stored or used near uranium or plutonium --but it's extremely rare. Granted, China's lax regulations make hot steel more likely, but even there the chances are teeny.
If it helps any, I buy Russian army surplus goods sometimes, and I've yet to encounter any hot steel in anything I've bought.
no subject
Date: 2011-04-01 01:58 pm (UTC)