I've liked a few of their items... The Guide gloves, soft shell pants and hooded down jacket are all nice. My wife has the Downlight jacket and loves it, she wears it in town more than the mountains, though.

My wife and I have a whole bunch of their stuff. Let's see, I think we both have:

1. Hangfire Hoodie
2. Igniter Jacket
3. Peak XV Jacket
4. Rainier Storm Shell Jacket and Pants
5. Mountain Guide Pants
6. Guide Gloves
7. Sandstone(?) Jacket
8. Downlight Shirt Jacket
9. Downlight Vest
10. Their long underwear, whatever it's called

I think that's it. We originally bought most of the stuff for winter packpacking. It's rather funny because at the time we had never heard of Ed Veisturs so we looked him up and as a result, ended up obsessed with mountaineering and climbing. So if it weren't for FA we would have stuck to backpacking trips.

Anyway, The FA stuff has been through sub-zero blizzards, 4 day monsoon rainstorms, and some nice weather too. By far my favorites are the mountain guide pants, hangfire hoodie, igniter, and Peak XV. None of it has ever failed on me or torn, and it's always performed as advertised.

The only thing I was somewhat disappointed with was the downlight shirt. I got one and the down leaked out quite a bit. I was on a 4 day WV backpacking adventure when I noticed it, got back, took it to EB and they just gave me a new one on the spot (plus I got a better color and they gave me the 'long' size since I wasn't happy with the fit of the regular). The new one has been awesome, doesn't leak at all. The Guide Gloves also get wet very easily, but in dry cold conditions they rock.

Fletch wrote:

ExcitableBoy wrote:Remember this?

My first car as a 16 year-old (in 1996) was a 1986 Bronco-II EB edition. To this day it was still my favorite non-motorcycle vehicle I've owned. The perfect size with great off-road capability. It had 128k on it and the floor was rusting out all over the place, but I swear in 4-low it would climb a tree. I really wish they'd make something like that again...with some better rustproofing.

ExcitableBoy wrote:

Josh Lewis wrote:

ExcitableBoy wrote: Full disclosure, I've been mad at the Whittakers ever since they told me I had to cut my hair to guide for them.

Really? Either you had some crazy hair (not that I would care) or they have no sense of style for personal appearance.

They are very conservative: no long hair for men, no earings for men, no visible tattoos. Here is what I looked like back then, you can decide if it is crazy or what. Bear in mind this is during a 14 hour CTC climb of Ice Cliff Glacier on Mt Stuart.

Not quite sure who would find a long-haired, tattooed climber offensive in this day and age. Seems about as offensive and edgy as a long-haired, tatooed surfer, which is to say neither offensive nor edgy. The only job I needed to cut my hair for was a nice seafood restaurant. What the hell? Does RMI make the guides serve their clients their freeze dried dinners on silver platters and crystal goblets? I see you have a REI harness on, back in the day when they still made technical gear instead of trendy clothes.

I just bought a First Ascent polo shirt. It should help me to look well-dressed at work and around town. The ones I bought at Express and Aeropostale will look nice, too.

I tried on the Guide pants. Like most other mall store brands, the waist/inseam combinations they make would be more likely to fit short and fat people than somebody that would be likely to use these pants as they are marketed.

On the other hand, my wife really likes the women's line of FA. She has several tops (baselayer and fleece) and would buy the guide pants if she needed another pair.

Can someone fill me on the history of EB here?

I seem to recall that after they went into mass-market retail they still for some time were [custom-] manufacturing top-of-the-line heavy-duty expedition gear (maybe twenty/twenty-five years ago??). Is that correct and can anyone fill in the time-line?

Their FA catalogue arrived to me just today, first time, and I must say some of the prices are well below a good bit of the competition (maybe low-balling for their first year?). I have no investment one way of the other here--bought one very used EB down jacket (ex-military) some thirty+ years ago, wore it for more than a decade plowing road in blizzards and such, strong as an ox. Otherwise have never touched their stuff, but drooled over it fifty+ years ago.

Even back in the '70s they were never state of the art for climbing gear/down gear although they did supply/support a number big American Expeditions.

No custom gear that I know of from the early '70s on.

I think you have it right with "heavy" duty gear but nothing top of the line by any standard back then. More "work" gear than climbing gear.

I don't know if this means squat, but Eddie Bauer himself designed and patented the first down quilt jacket. Of course the company has been bought and sold more than Indian Motorcycles. Just a fun fact for those who care.

Tinman27 wrote:I don't know if this means squat, but Eddie Bauer himself designed and patented the first down quilt jacket.

Pretty much, although this is often misconstrued, conveniently for marketing, that Eddie Bauer 'invented the down jacket'. He did not. Down jackets were used since at least the 1920s, notably on Everest, started by a guy named George Finch.

EB filed for a US Patent. The actual document states he was patenting the 'ornamental design'.

In 2006 I tried on an Eddie Bauer down jacket used on the first ascent of Vinson 40 years earlier. It was a good jacket and still in good condition.

I wore my First Ascent polo shirt to work two days ago. A co-worker wore his The North Face polo on the same day. It was quite embarassing that they were the exact same color.

jdzaharia wrote:I wore my First Ascent polo shirt to work two days ago. A co-worker wore his The North Face polo on the same day. It was quite embarassing that they were the exact same color.

Next time if you know he is going to wear his NF shirt wear a dead bird and blow him out of the water. You'll look good around town also

Eddie Bauer's first down jacket was made in 1936 after an almost deadly fishing trip with a man named Red Carlson. It wasn't until 1940 that he actually patented his down jackets. He actually was commissioned by the Army Air Corps to produce down flight suits and flight jackets for the pilots of WWII.