August 10, 2007 Why does American-made matter?
If you wanted to wear nothing but made-in-the-USA clothing you’d have a hard time filling up a closet. And you’d go broke paying for it. How about USA-made electronics? Forget it. But luggage is a different matter. The serious traveler can buy high-quality, high-value, handmade luggage that is made right here. Why does it matter? There are several reasons and they have nothing to do with xenophobia or parochialism. If you care about your neighbors and fellow citizens having good jobs, made-in-the USA means something. Ditto if you don’t want to support sweatshops staffed by children, inmates, or overworked/underpaid women. Maybe you want a bag that won’t fall apart. Or maybe you have a complaint and would like to speak to the owner/designer.
OBOW will always support the quality USA luggage companies. We’ll be putting together a page devoted just to them. Please suggest any companies that should be on the list. Here are four good ones to start with: MEI, Red Oxx, Tom Bihn, and Tough Traveler. Another worth checking out might be Bailey Works, though they are more about messenger bags than luggage per se. Tumi and Boyt are US luggage companies on the higher end of the price scale.
Reader Comments (6)
1. Let's not protect inefficient industries that have lost their competitive advantage. That is just long term economic suicide.
2. Not all or anywhere-near-most foreign manufacturers are immoral sweatshop owners by any means. Conversely, some off-the-books US manufacturers are.
3. Bags must meet specs set by the US licenser who inspects and accepts/rejects the product. It's irrelevant where they are made or who by if they meet the specs.
4. With modern communications and technology, geography is not relevant to complaint adjudication, witness all the call centers in India.
5. Consumers who Buy American pay a "tax" in the form of higher prices and it should be seen as that.
6. If a foreign government wants to subsidize my purchases by offering lower prices, I'll take it.
7. You borrow items to review and so have a serious conflict of interests. You have made yourself dependent on these companies for products. How many bad reviews do you think it would take for these companies to stop loaning you their products? (That is exactly why Consumer Reports purchases all the products they test.) Wrapping yourself in the flag simply does not disguise this underlying truth.
Nancy,
Thanks for your comment. It is interesting that you feel so strongly about this matter. Since you have taken it upon yourself to question my motives and integrity, I will venture to say that you sound like a lobbyist for some foreign government or trade association or an employee of a company that sells goods produced overseas.It seems a little unusual that an average consumer should become so incensed about a post that merely points out that quality USA products are available. I'll take your points one by one:
"1. Let's not protect inefficient industries that have lost their competitive advantage. That is just long term economic suicide."--No suggestion of protectionism was ever made. I believe the US luggage companies are healthy and successful because they provide high-quality, high value products. And they were doing so long before I wrote about them.
"2. Not all or anywhere-near-most foreign manufacturers are immoral sweatshop owners by any means. Conversely, some off-the-books US manufacturers are." -- I never said all overseas companies or products were bad. I own lots of products made all over the world, like everyone else. The US luggage companies I'm aware of are very transparent and open about the way they do business.
"3. Bags must meet specs set by the US licenser who inspects and accepts/rejects the product. It's irrelevant where they are made or who by if they meet the specs." -- If foreign-made products are as high in quality as US-made, buy them - it's up to you. I have a difficult time believing that products that are designed and marketed here and produced half a world away can be produced with the same level of quality control or consistency. Surely there is some value in the fact that the owner/designer can walk through the production room whenever he likes.
"4. With modern communications and technology, geography is not relevant to complaint adjudication, witness all the call centers in India." -- See No. 3. I can call a US company and speak to the owner. I've never met anyone who enjoys the Indian call center experience.
"5. Consumers who Buy American pay a "tax" in the form of higher prices and it should be seen as that." -- Many of the US-made products I have recommended are very close in price to their foreign competitors. I don't buy the "tax" idea, but if it were so, I'd rather pay my tax to the US government (flawed as it is) rather than to China or Vietnam.
"6. If a foreign government wants to subsidize my purchases by offering lower prices, I'll take it." -- You decry a supposed protectionism in point no.1, then laud government subsidies by (often oppressive) foreign governments?
"7. You borrow items to review and so have a serious conflict of interests. You have made yourself dependent on these companies for products. How many bad reviews do you think it would take for these companies to stop loaning you their products? (That is exactly why Consumer Reports purchases all the products they test.) Wrapping yourself in the flag simply does not disguise this underlying truth." -- This is silly. What's the point in reviewing junk or a bag that anyone can go see at Wal-Mart? Our reviews are hands-on so that consumers can use our judgments and opinions th help form their own. I love light travel. I want to help other people enjoy it.
Just FYI Boyt and Tumi don't seem to be making anything in the US anymore. I went to the local store who carries these brands and the clerk and I couldn't find anything made in the US. Everything in the store was from China. (It's a disaster really. Our economic policies suck because China has an artificial currency value that makes it so we could never compete with them honestly. We need something like import taxes to counter their currency falsifications, until they let their currency enter the free market. Have you ever seen the # of Yuan that equal $1 like you do for Euro, Peso, etc.? It's because it's the same everyday-week-month-year.
Boyt and Tumi both still claim on their websites to be making their bags in the USA. I'll be contacting both for clarification. Thanks for the heads-up - Brad
Nancy, I strongly disagree.. I buy American, and EU made products when ever I can over cheap Chinese and Vietnamese made crap that only makes the rich fat CEO's richer while they rape the rest of us in the process. There is no such thing as a free market, there is just the market that is made by those with the money to play!
I very much agree that it is important for Americans to support the US economy by buying American made goods.
I'm glad to hear that good luggage is still made in the United States. For recommendations of American Made products, check out http://america.nmade.info/