UKH

Described as "suitable for day-long mountain walks on well-marked trails, easy off trail sections and regular slopes without the dangers of exposed falls", would this boot be up to scrambles, bogs and Scottish Munros? Alex Berry pushes its remit...

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In reply to UKC/UKH Gear:

Glad to see you reviewing kit from different manufacturers.

My only gripe is the lack of a photo of the sole, especially as the Dolomite website doesn't have one either. IMO an essential for a footwear review...

In reply to UKC/UKH Gear:

Where are they made ? Just as if I needed to ask...........in the same factory that's turfing out hundreds of similar products, sold under a different name. Produced under near slave-labour conditions that we wouldn't tolerate on these shores.

But all this has been said so many times before....................................................

In reply to Pyreneenemec:

Hi,

Just checked with the UK distributor, and this particular boot is made in Romania. So that would be under EU labour conditions. I can't tell you if it's a factory churning out generic crap for all sorts of brands, but having seen the quality of Dolomite stuff i would think it unlikely.

In reply to Pyreneenemec:

I'm confused, do you know where these boots are made or is your point rhetorical and you are suggesting you suspect that's how they are made?

In reply to TobyA:


I thought the wording of my post was clear enough and obviously rhetorical !

In reply to Dan Bailey - UKHillwalking.com:


I've no problem with being corrected ! The last boots like these that I bought were made by Meindl, they were much more expensive but they were made in Germany. All other similar boots I checked out ( Merrel, Asolo..........) were made in Vietnam, Indonesia, China.

In reply to Pyreneenemec:
But do you know that those brands use "near slave labour" in their east Asian factories? Lots of firms manufacturer in Asia but are also very careful about the labour and environmental standards of the factories they use. As the CEO of one new small clothing manufacturer told me "we couldn't survive a scandal", they had a strong vested interest in making sure workers were treated well.

In reply to TobyA:

Well, changing sectors, Apple have survived all the bad publicity surrounding suicides and working conditions at Foxconn. Many leading clothing retailers denied having anything to do with the factory that collapsed in Bangladesh killing 1 129 people in 2013 until investigating journalists found garments with their labels on them. Perhaps China does not employ young children as in Bangladesh but working days of 10/12 hours spread over a 6 and often 7 day week are common if not the norm. Just scratching on the surface will not reveal the truth surrounding these manufacturers and many companies are happy to turn a blind-eye providing the goods are supplied on time and at the right price. Don't forget the sole reason to relocate production to these countries is to maximise profits.

In reply to Pyreneenemec:

Massively.

As ever, there was more to that story than the headline, particularly after Mike Daisy was found to have fabricated his visits to Foxconn and just made up other facts. It was one of the great journalistic scandals of that year https://www.thisamericanlife.org/blog/2012/03/retracting-mr-daisey-and-the-... Of course there were known to be issues at Foxconn before, but the 'fake news' (to use this years favourite term) probably ended up harming worker rights in that company rather than improving them. https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/this-american-life-ret...

But like I said, that's a very different sector to outdoor equipment.


Again, a different sector. I don't think I've ever seen "technical" i.e. expensive, outdoor gear made in Bangladesh, I'm sure there is some and I guess some branded t-shirts and the like might be made there, but of my clothes probably its far more likely that the shirts I buy from supermarkets for work come from places like you describe, not outdoor kit.


Again, having asked outdoor companies exactly that question, they say the opposite. It was for an article in Climb so it's no secret - it was one Jottnar's co-owners, Tommy, who made that comment about them not being able to survive a scandal if they were found to be using unsafe factories and that is why they pay for specialist consultancies to do labour conditions and environmental audits on their manufacturing partners. Patagonia have gone completely the other way, turning their ethics into part of their marketing.

Again, it more complicated than that - it might be a reason, but it is not the sole reason. Sometimes there simply isn't the manufacturing skill, technology and capacity in the UK, so manufacturing abroad is the only possibility. Other times it is that this is the only way a firm can stay competitive on price, and continue in business.

Of course people are trying to run successful businesses and make a profit, but that doesn't mean they are willing torture children and burn rainforests in the process. I think firms should absolutely be held accountable for their labour, animal welfare and environmental practices (look at the criticism of many outdoor firms for their down sourcing a few years ago) but throwing out unsubstantiated claims when you don't have anything to back it up, which is what your first post did, seems very unfair.

In reply to UKC/UKH Gear:

Not cheap then. They should cover alot for that.

In reply to UKC/UKH Gear:

thing with kit nowadays is that where its finalyl assembled and where the components whic go into its final assempbly are themselve made and assembled will no doubt be continents away from each other

so a made in china/taiwan sticker only really means "this was finally assembled in china" and doesnt mean "everything and all components in this product were made in china"

so similarly a made in england sticker doesnt carry much weight if every single component was made in the worklds worst factory......

In reply to wannabeagoat:

Well, this is nothing new. I think the important difference is that the UK have lost the ability to manufacture.

I'm not sure about the UK but for a product to be considered "Made in France" for customs purposes, 45% of the items' contents need to be manufactured in France. As you said, the "Made in France" label could be genuine or just a marketing ploy. Genuine "Made in France" products are enjoying a renaissance, for example "Le Slip Français" that manufactures and sells on-line ( plus a few shops) men's underwear :-

https://www.leslipfrancais.fr

I've bought a couple, they're certainly not cheap, but just like Tesco "every little helps" !