8 Shops That Will Repair Your Outdoor Gear
Reposted from Gear Patrol by Lou Dzierzak Well-designed technical apparel and equipment will keep you warm, dry and comfortable on the trail. But accidents happen. Torn mesh on a tent’s door might lead to a swarm of biting insects inside your tent, a tear in a sleeping bag lining will produce a flurry of down feathers, a broken buckle on a waist belt can render a backpack nearly unusable — you get the idea. Outdoor brands can help in selecting new replacement gear or directing […]
The Rest Day
By Eric Angus Primo and I awoke to bright clear skies of Yosemite October and previous plans of a day off the stone evaporated. Hotcakes and saskatoonberry jam, mugs of coffee and hickory brews appeared briefly and we lazed bout, stretching in the streams of sunlight trickling through the trees. I quickly scrawled out the topo for Snake Dike, packed some water, rock shoes and chalk bag then roared out of the camp through the chilly morning. Stashed the bike at the trailhead at 1030 […]
Where to Send Your Gear in for Repair
Reposted from Amy Jurries Rips, holes, and zipper fails are a fact of life with our outdoor gear. But this doesn’t mean the end for an otherwise functional item. Many options exist nowadays for repairing gear, like Patagonia’s Worn Wear program or the cool Repair Lair store in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Joining the ranks of these rapidly growing gear repair services is Bend-based Rugged Thread. No one wants to spend hard-earned cash replacing a piece of gear that can be easily fixed by someone with the […]
Tribe Pilot and Locals Compass Win unConference Cash
Reposted from Bend Chamber of Commerce by Stephanie Shaver Lots happened at the BendTECH unConference Tuesday afternoon: A line of founders camped out to snag pitch spots, 18 people pitched their best business ideas, the crowd cheered and laughed, and some founders won cash and prizes. There was also a row of people making it rain on the winners. Good times. 2017 unConference winners with the BendTECH board The quick recap: Tribe Pilot founder Matt Smith won $2,500 in a close race for first place. If […]
Source Spotlight: Kim Kinney, Master Reviver of Outdoor Gear
Reposted from The Source Weekly by Richard Sitts “I consider myself an artist, an engineer and a craftsperson with some business savvy. I have a love for people and I love my customers.” —KIM KINNEY When your garage workshop is home to seven different industrial sewing machines, you better crank up those tunes. During our phone call to set up this interview, outdoor gear-repair extraordinaire, Kim Kinney, sounded like she was talking from the floor of a factory going full tilt. So a couple days […]
Caring is Repairing
Reposted from Cascade Business News By Julie Furnas CBN Feature Writer Rugged Thread employees working the mobile event at REI of Bend’s Garage Sale As Central Oregonians, our outdoor gear gets used a lot and we get attached to it. Whether it’s camping, skiing, hiking or river clothing and gear, there’s constant wear and tear — this is where Rugged Thread comes in. Specializing in sewing technical repairs of outdoor clothing and gear for over eight years, Rugged Thread offers unique repair services and believes […]
The Outdoor Apparel Doctor Is In
Reposted from Bend Magazine Written by Eric Flowers Photos by Alex Jordan To walk into Kimberly Kinney’s two-car garage turned sewing shop is to experience the antithesis of America’s disposable culture. Outside, a string of Tibetan prayer flags greets visitors along with a modest sign for her business, Rugged Thread. Inside, racks of coats, ski jackets, pants and other pieces of gear flank a cluster of sewing stations, each of which is centered around a mid-twentieth century cast iron sewing machine. These are little relics […]
Check out our very own bootfitter!
Reposted from America’s Best Bootfitters Outside junkie, nature lover and owner of Rugged Thread, a technical outerwear and outdoor gear repair facility located in Bend, OR. Kim dropped out of college to follow the snow and ended up at Snowbird where she skied religiously and followed a passion in product design and development, merchandising and sourcing of outerwear soft goods. Now her home mountain is Mt. Bachelor and she is passionate about building a sustainable company focused on repair innovations in the outdoor industry. Got […]
Fix Your Gear
Re-posted from Renee Patrick The fire spread in a blink of an eye and soon feathers were floating down around me like fat snowflakes. My down sleeping bag was the casualty in my momentary lapse of judgement that morning. I simply hadn’t let the alcohol dry on my hands when I lit my beer-can stove, and the moment my hand was on fire I waved it around (note: don’t do that) and splattered flames onto my sleeping bag. It was day 100-something of my PCT […]