Repair first: what came back last season

We repair anything we made, for as long as it can be repaired. That policy is also our best source of engineering data, because a repair queue is an unfiltered list of everything that failed.

What broke

Zips were the single largest category, and almost all of them were main-entry zips on shells rather than pocket zips. Grit is the usual cause. We have moved to a larger tooth on the front entry across the shell range.

Second was seam tape lifting at the shoulder, concentrated on garments worn under a heavy pack. That is abrasion plus heat, and it is a design problem rather than a manufacturing one. Wider tape at that seam is in the next production run.

Third, and much further down, was face fabric abrasion at the hip from harness gear loops.

What did not break

No membrane failures. No insulation migration. That matters, because those are the two things a monomaterial construction is most often assumed to compromise, and across a full season of returns it did not.

What we are changing

Bigger front zip, wider shoulder taping, and a reinforcement panel at the hip on the mountaineering shells. None of it makes the jacket lighter or cheaper. All of it makes it last longer, which is the only sustainability metric we fully control.