UKH

Seeing the umpteenth Jöttnår advert on my Facebook timeline got me wondering how they actually make money: as far as I can recall, I've never met anyone wearing a Jöttnår product apart from mountain rescue, outdoor professionals and sponsored people. Double checked with a friend: yep, his experience too. Is there anyone out there who has paid full price for a piece of this gear and actually wears it? 

In reply to Tricadam:

Yes.

In reply to Tricadam:

2 jackets and two pairs of trousers. All purchased at prices comparable to less “exclusive” brands.

In reply to Tricadam:

I have a full set of waterproofs, great stuff even though the pants are full of holes. 

In reply to joe.91:

Ive got the neoshell bibs. They are nice and trim but wears very fast. For sure the fastest wearing and least durable bib Ive ever used. Bought it on sale but still questionable value

In reply to Tricadam:

Yes, great kit so far......

 

In reply to Tricadam:

I've known two mountain guides who rave about it and influenced clients to pick it up.

I've got friends who use it. I happened to live near one of the rare stockists (Up and Under) when it first came out and, after about 6-8 months, you saw it with some frequency at the crag / walls.

In reply to BnB:

I find the use of the word 'exclusive' interesting. What makes it exclusive? 

In reply to galpinos:

The OP said he never saw anyone but "mountain rescue, outdoor professionals and sponsored people" wearing it. That's pretty much the definition of exclusive, isn't it?

In reply to DanielJ:

All of the holes are from crampon strikes, the patches don't offer much protection tbh.

In reply to galpinos:

The price?

 

In reply to Tricadam:

I have a pair of Jottnar Vanir salopettes and love them. I would have liked the Asmund jacket but the ME Tupilak was in the sale so teamed them up

Mate has the mid layer as well, I agree its expensive but it is really good kit. My main bug bear is you cannot really try it on anywhere now they are online only. They will post it out and take it back but it's still not the same as wandering into a gear shop and having chat and trying stuff on.   

In reply to BnB:

Ha! You are right of course, I didn;t read it like that at all, I took it to mean only those who got it for free would actually wear it.

In reply to Tricadam:

Not full RRP, wouldn't do this for any other brand either, but bought some items in a shop sale. Good stuff, and apparently a bit more common here on the continent (similar to e.g. Mammut).

CB

In reply to joe.91:

Yeah Ive stumbled as well once and got a hole in them. More worrysome is that the knees are really worn and totally wets out when Im out iceclimbing. Its gone to the point that they almost freeze to the ice when Im putting screws in and the knees are against the ice. The ass is also pretty worn due to some glissading. I havent used them a lot so they are not durable.

 

Still I like the pants and are planning to DIY with a reinforcement over the knees.

 

 

 

In reply to Tricadam:

If you've got something that "Jöttnår" it's a fake, although admittedly even the ö does seem a bit of a heavy metal umlaut than an actual letter, because I don't think Norwegian has ö as a separate letter does it?

In reply to TobyA:

The original umlaut was already taking it too far. I've simply taken the name to its logical marketing conclusion. Add 50 quid per item for each faux-Scandic letter. 

In reply to Tricadam:

Got one of their waterproof jackets in a sale.  Well designed, fits nicely, keeps the rain off, and breathes remarkably well.  One time I sweated like a pig in it and stayed dry.  Impressive.  Can't be sure what the membrane is, but IIRC it's Polartec Neoshell.  

In reply to Tricadam:

Has the brand upset you in some way?

In reply to Tricadam:

It's not an umlaut in Finnish (and Swedish as far as I know) it's a different letter. This is important to language teachers for a reason I never fully grasped. But it can confuse the simpleton foreigners. I remember being confused by my Finnish teacher going on about her holiday seemingly somewhere sleet (räntä) a major issue. I didn't know then the word for beach is ranta!

In reply to TobyA:

It's telling that you know the word for sleet but not beach...

In reply to Jon Read:

Very true. It was September when I moved there are I learnt it looking at the newspaper forecast and using a dictionary! There are nice beaches as well though. My favourite ones are clean smooth granite slabs. No sand between your toes or in your sarnies.

In reply to Tricadam:

I do

In reply to BFG:

Sadly, nowhere stocks Jottnar anymore as it is EXCLUSIVELY online through their website.

The main reason I believe you don't see many people wearing it now is because it was only 'widely' available in shops for a year and heavily advertised during that time. Now, the business is still small in terms of staff members and outgoing costs as it's just one building in Cardiff to pay for. I believe, but may be wrong, that they rely on these contracts of mountain guides etc and word of mouth that their gear is amazing to make sales.

I have heard from one of the few employees that they're looking to expand back out to "real world" shops in the next couple of years. Again, rumours.

I like to think of Jottnar as similar to Crux, where Carol refuses to expand the business too rapidly and the demand and hype for it has outgrown the supply.

I've never owned Jottnar but have only heard great things about the workmanship, design, quality and customer service.

In reply to TobyA:

Yeah I can't take a brand seriously that is British, but claims to have Norwegian heritage apparently, yet spells its name using the Swedish (or Icelandic) alphabet. The basic branding resembles some sort of fake Norrøna knockoff to me.

In reply to Mr. Lee:

To each their own, but their branding choices make absolutely bugger all difference to me. The only thing that matters is whether or not the gear is any good, which in my opinion, formed after three or four years of using it in Scottish Winter and the Himalaya, it is.

In reply to planetmarshall:

I would normally agree but with Jöttnar, the fact their products are only available online and the website feels like a branding exercise means it’s all most of us have to go on. The whole British brand born in Norway just sounds like marketing bo**ocks to me and that makes me think their products might be as well so I stick with tried and trusted stuff I can actually get my hands on in the shops that I know will actually fit.

In reply to Tricadam:

I own a couple of items of jottnar kit it's not cheap but its some of the best designed kit I own (and i own loads of kit)

In reply to Tricadam:

I have one of the first generation Hymir pull ons, which I like, it’s seems generally well designed although could use a few tweaks. I won’t buy another one when I need a replacement though, as they no longer use neoshell (the only reason I bought it) and the price still seem to be the same for their own fabric. They seem to have dropped all the good colours too, and now it’s exclusive to their website the pricing is too high.

i can’t see anything particularly innovative to justify the prices either, I don’t mind splashing the cash on good quality products, but nothing really stands out about Jottnar anymore

In reply to echo34:

Agree that Neoshell is great. Less sweaty than the Gore alternatives. I've got a Westcomb Switch that has held up well. Unfortunately, difficult to get hold of this side of the Pond. I had them send it to my bro in the States and collected it when I visited him a few months later.

Westcomb clearly put all their cash simply into making excellent gear. No Nordic pretensions, OTT marketing, colonialistic straplines ("Conquer giants". Seriously?) I suspect that the Jottnar kit is indeed decent, but I won't be paying more than it's worth to cover the costs of some silly marketing.

In reply to Tricadam:

I’ve got their down jacket which I have found to be excellent but other than that their selection of women’s gear is very very limited 

 

In reply to galpinos:

I thought the British company with Norwegian heritage comes from the founders being Royal Marine Mountain Leaders. They had therefore spent a lot of time in Norway in winter and built their understanding of what was needed from that. 

In reply to Phil4000: maybe but born in Norway by commandoes ticks a lot of boxes.  The recentish price rise has taken it right out of my consideration