Beyond the argument of whether or not the company should have left its home in Rock Island, Illinois for cheaper Chinese workforce, both customers and the company say the quality of the product has suffered from the move. Word around the harbor is that XTRATUFs aren’t so tough anymore.
Andrew Moravec, a 29 year-old fishing guide, has been a regular user of XTRATUFs for years. He bought his latest pair one month ago and the boot already shows decaying symptoms.
“I had my first pair of XTRATUFs for two and a half years and they were fine,” says Moravec surrounded by fish oil, a knee on the ground getting the flesh out of a halibut’s cheek. “I got these a month ago and literally within two weeks they started to separate,” he says while inserting his finger right through the brown body of the boot and the white rubber seal above the sole.
Ian Winder, another fishing guide working at the Orca Adventure Lodge during the summer, looks at his colleagues’ boots with frustration and jumps in the conversation. “Look at this, the rubber is chipping off, that’s ridiculous after a month!” Winder wears his XTRATUFs 24/7 throughout the season.
“These are my footwear. I’m going into town in training: I’m wearing these. I’m cleaning fish: I’m wearing these. I’m out on the boat: I’m wearing these. I go everywhere,” he says proudly. (...)
Determined to verify the trustworthiness of such allegations against one of Alaska’s most cherished items of clothing, I called a few stores in Valdez. There, Joe Prax, owner of Prospector Outfitters, tells me of similar problems encountered by men working on oil tanks. Their boots too, have been falling apart as they hadn’t before.
“They need to know it's a big deal. The boots are called XTRATUF and not SORT-OF-TUF,” says Prax over the phone. The owner of this apparel and outdoor gear store says he decided long ago to share his clients discontent with representatives of the brand. “I have really tried to get that across to them.”
So, does this mean XTRATUFs devotees should switch for competition? Not quite yet, say Honeywell - XTRATUF’s manufacturers and representatives in the U.S. “We did not change any of the components, we build the boots in the same way,” ensures Steve Haynes, a sales representative at NorthStar Sales Group.
The problem seems to be coming from the poor training given to employees in the Chinese plant rather than the material or technique used. According to the company, both equipment and molds used in the U.S. were moved to China, as well as a management team from the Rock Island factory to oversee training.
“By moving to China we knew we would be under the microscope, and we goofed with the training of the people making the boots,” says Haynes.
by Diane Jeantet, Cordova Times | Read more:
