Stuff Sack

[lgsplace]

I am one of the lucky ones who got the test stuff sack (although my grommet isn't bright yellow) . . . It is wonderful and perfect and a good fix for the problem. I've got a new puppy coming in a week and she'll not be able to get to my work in progress because it will be hidden away in my wonderful swift! Thank you. I love promoting your products, love telling people that not only are the FANTASTIC but that they are made in the United States. And, btw, at Stitches West, I had one vendor get quite huffy at me when I asked if her products were manufactured here. She said if they were the price would be outrageous and it would be just impossible. And I said, "Well Tom Bihn does it, their products are well made and quite affordable. And their customer service is the best." Thank you.

[mrae]

Hi Heidi Jill!

I did, and thank you!!

As I mentioned in my previous post, we are having the new releasable part custom-made for us in Japan in bright yellow -- this should make the part a lot easier to see and manipulate inside of the stuff sack. But this also means that it will be a few more weeks before we start making Stuff Sacks with the new part.

As for different colored Stuff Sacks: we plan to add a Yellow Dyneema to our color palette this summer/fall, so you'll be seeing Yellow Stuff Sacks around then.

Wonderful. I'm ready to buy as soon as it's available. (Along with the new backpack that will hopefully be available soon.)

[Darcy]

Update: our supplier has informed us that the new yellow releasable part is on its way to us from China (not Japan).

[Heidi Jill]

Update: our supplier has informed us that the new yellow releasable part is on its way to us from China (not Japan).

With all respect - boo-hiss on the China part! I am sure that the company has its reasons but that is a major bummer for me! I have many reasons for not wanting anything manufactured in China, but this is not the place to go into them. So I'd just like to express my disappointment that a quality company like Tom Bihn is now sourcing materials from China!

[Alicia]

With all respect - boo-hiss on the China part! I am sure that the company has its reasons but that is a major bummer for me! I have many reasons for not wanting anything manufactured in China, but this is not the place to go into them. So I'd just like to express my disappointment that a quality company like Tom Bihn is now sourcing materials from China!

Um, I don't think it was the choice of Tom Bihn. The supplier changed where the parts were coming from, not them.

[Heidi Jill]

Um, I don't think it was the choice of Tom Bihn. The supplier changed where the parts were coming from, not them.

The fact remains that the part is from China.

[Tom Bihn]

I have to agree: boo-hiss on Chinese components!
But here's the reality: with perhaps a few exceptions, anything you buy that is not "Made in China", has components made in China: any manufacturer who tells you otherwise is either unaware of the origins of their materials or is lying to you. That goes for U.S. manufacturers and those in Canada, Europe, Japan, etc. etc. My favorite made-in-Romania hiking boots have parts from China I am quite sure. And pretty much any car you buy these days has at least a few parts made in China.
I promise you: we bend over backwards to source materials and components from the U.S.. And when we can't find a U.S. supplier, our next choice is always #1 a democracy and #2 a country with labor unions, like Japan, South Korea, or countries in the EU.
Sadly, there are a few new components that we have been unable to buy or have made for us outside of China. This is because almost 100% of our type of products (sewn bags and backpacks) are made completely in China, and the thread, fabric, zipper, and plastic buckle factories, which used to be here in the U.S., have moved to China too. These ancillary industries moved to China sure because labor is cheaper, but also it's just logistically easier to have your components made near where the finished goods are made. We now experience the flip-side of this when we order the few parts we do from China: they take freakin' forever to receive!
I suppose we could use exclusively U.S.- made plastic buckles, for example, but the only styles still made here are clunky old styles used by the military (which by law - the Berry Amendment - must be sourced here; more on the effects of the Berry Amendment some other day). If we used these instead of the newest, high-tech sometimes-made-in-China buckles, we could say our products were 100% made with non-Chinese components. But our products would tend to look they were made in 1972. I've decided it's better to make modern, cutting-edge products and stay in business rather than going out of business making a statement.
Is my sourcing a few parts (less than 3% of all of our components) from China a compromise? You bet! Am I happy about that? No.

[Darcy]

I am one of the lucky ones who got the test stuff sack (although my grommet isn't bright yellow) . . . It is wonderful and perfect and a good fix for the problem. I've got a new puppy coming in a week and she'll not be able to get to my work in progress because it will be hidden away in my wonderful swift! Thank you. I love promoting your products, love telling people that not only are the FANTASTIC but that they are made in the United States. And, btw, at Stitches West, I had one vendor get quite huffy at me when I asked if her products were manufactured here. She said if they were the price would be outrageous and it would be just impossible. And I said, "Well Tom Bihn does it, their products are well made and quite affordable. And their customer service is the best." Thank you.

Wow! Glad the new part works well for you. And congratulations on the new puppy: I hope you'll post pictures!! :) And thanks for spreading the word about us and your bag: we appreciate it.

[Heidi Jill]

Tom, thank you so much for your honest reply to my concerns about Chinese components. It is so refreshing to get a truly honest answer from a business owner. I understand the predicament that you are in. I try so hard not to buy products made in China and I have emailed many companies with my concerns. If I ever do get a response, it is a corporate mumbo-jumbo bit that means nothing. So I was very pleased to read your answer.

I've been recommending your bags to all the fiber artists I know, and I've sent a bunch of people on Ravelry to your website, and I will continue to do so any chance I get.

BTW, once the improved Stuff Sack is up and going, you really should consider advertising it along with your totes on Ravelry. Have Darcy check out the site and you'll see what I mean - it is a huge online community for us fiber folks! I'm not affiliated with it in any fiduciary way - just a very happy member!

[rkub]

Hi all, just wanna pipe in for people that have and love the older stuff sack (mother and gf) but don't really use the old grommet for the reasons listed previously... Can we send in the old sacks and have the new grommets swapped out? For a fee of course, just wondering if this will be possible? Also, I actually need to order a few more sacks, but if they're coming out in new colors I've been told I need to wait, any word on a release date for those new colors?

[Darcy]

Can we send in the old sacks and have the new grommets swapped out?

No: doing so would cost more labor and shipping than a brand-new Yarn Stuff Sack. But we are trying to come up with an adapter solution that those with closed grommet Yarn Stuff sacks could use. I'll keep you posted!

As for colors: we'll probably have a Yellow Dyneema in the fall, but there's no guarantee. That's the only new color on the horizon at this time.

[mrae]

Any date when the new stuff sack will be available?
I'm waiting for several new TB products and this is definitely one I want to buy.

[Darcy]

No date yet: I'll let you know as soon as I can.

[Darcy]

indigo, Heidi Jill, lgsplace -- You three should each be receiving Stuff Sacks in the mail that uses another new kind of releasable part(s)/system. We think this new part will work even better than the infamous bright yellow part, but you'll have to tell us what you think. The new part is from South Korea.

[Darcy]

Any date when the new stuff sack will be available?
I'm waiting for several new TB products and this is definitely one I want to buy.

I want to get one of these new stuff sacks to you for testing, mrae! Let me see what I can do.