Enlightened Equipment is Made in China!

[HoosierT]

Agree with the above. I have a successful career in the software industry and even still, the thought of opening a shop, having it grow to EE's size, and having to manage that business is terrifying to me. Also, for someone who hasn't actually built a down quilt the cost of materials is quite high. Let alone the time it takes to make a product with their quality. My EE enigma was stolen from my hammock two weeks ago and I'm still devastated and disgusted. It was a work of art and I only had the pleasure of using it for four nights. I don't care what EE does, I will own another one when I'm able.

P.S. IMO they have the absolute best baffle design in the industry.

[Rex Clifton]

Well, I just found out that if you order a ready made quilt from EE, it's made in China. They have all the shells made overseas, then stuff them at their shop. It says it right on their site. "Shell made in China. Filled and finished in Winona, Minnesota." I wonder if the made to order ones are Chinese made too? That's really upsetting. I bought from them because I like the small time American shops. If I had known they are outsourcing to China, I wouldn't have bought their quilts. Very disappointing.

I was in their shop a few months ago and they were laying out and cutting the fabric, so I assume they still make a lot of the shells themselves. Last year I bought an off the shelf quilt and it just said made in USA.


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[kitsapcowboy]

My EE enigma was stolen from my hammock two weeks ago and I'm still devastated and disgusted. It was a work of art and I only had the pleasure of using it for four nights...

That is just low; sorry to hear this.

[OneClick]

Now that this is here for the world to see, and also on reddit (pondscum site of the earth) with the exact same title, I can only hope people will realize there was nothing shady going on. EE was upfront about this on their webpage. A great company with so many positive reviews and fast growth.

One could only hope people see the truth, but with titles like this I fear what kind of first impressions will be formulated while googling.

[Brooklyn]

OP or mods should really change the title of this thread as it's very disparaging, untrue and jingoistic. Like OP, someone will see the thread title and just assume that it's true - quite damaging one would think in this MAGA environment. SMH

[arcana73]

Who cares? Almost everything we own is made in China. Good for EE to keep the prices low.

part of the problem, from speaking to others, is the prices aren't low. Why are the mass produced quilts the same price as the custom ones? Timbuk2 sources all their messenger bags overseas, but the custom designed ones are manufactured in the US. However the custom bags are more expensive to offset the costs.

[Muddy Creek]

Didn't take long for the original poster on Reddit to delete his or her post.

I did like the comment that followed by someone who says "I didn't say they are out to dupe people, I just assumed they were still handmade, and I personally feel duped for not knowing."

Apparently EE is failing to force potential customers to read.

Wayne

[QFT]

P.S. IMO they have the absolute best baffle design in the industry.

Why do you think their baffles are superior? Just curious over here. I don't know a lot about baffle design.

[fallkniven]

To be fair, I was first under the impression all of their gear was now being made in china. You guys showed me it's only their one model of quilt, and that was because of a massdrop demand. I can respect that. I was thinking I paid extra (because EE is more expensive than most others) for my 4 quilts, apex jacket, and wind shirt and they had all been made in china. The fact that he doesn't plan on switching all of their production to china is promising too. I'm not against a guy growing, I think it's awesome, but I'm so sick of my made in china crap falling apart right away, stitching coming undone after wearing something twice, that for hiking when I need to count on my gear, I really don't want it to be made in china.
No ones up in arms about patagonia because we know all theyre stuff is made there. I was under the impression when I gave someone over $1000 for some gear that someone here with care and pride in his work made my stuff, then suddenly thought it was made in a chinese factory, yeah, I wasn't happy. If your going to do that, I believe in complete transparency. The "Made in China" I feel should be in bold red font, but that's just me. It's easy to overlook that small print in all those details on their site.

[fallkniven]

Why do you think their baffles are superior? Just curious over here. I don't know a lot about baffle design.

In my opinion, on their underquilts, I think they have the absolute WORST design ever. None of the friggin down ever stays anywhere it's supposed to, every darn time I set it up, all the friggin down is clumped up at the bottom of the quilt. I have a 20* and a 40*, and I hate them both passionately. Constant cold spots, having to re position all of the down every night, oh and the suspension needs to be pulled tight just to reach the ends of my hammock meaning it is impossible to loosen it up to vent on warmer nights. When I asked them about the issue, they just said that they can take my UL quilt back, and just keep filling it with more down, upping the weight and changing the temp range, and offered to sell me a little bit of shock cord for like $10 I think, to try to get their quilt to work correctly. Yeah, anyone want to buy some uq's? haha