W.L. Gore (Gore-Tex) Does support greenies.

It's too bad that a great product has to alienate customers with there political views. That is why I will not buy Gore products anymore.

ditto to that.

seized_up said:

Since Spur seems to think that Gore-Tex, the almighty of waterproofness doesn't support the green goups, I though I might post a few examples to the contrary.

So maybe next time you will think twice before sending money to people "who don't like us very much" as John McCain would say. haha

Exhibit "A" Alliance for Global Warming Solutions You will find W.L. Gore on the Partners list among other green groups such as the Maryland SIERRA CLUB.

I will post more examples as time permits.

Click to expand...

Eye opening stuff, I gotta admit, I had no idea, thanks for sharing. Does anyone know if Klim is aware of this just out of curiousity? I would guess they would be, but it must be a kick in the craw for them supporting the gore-tex product, and have to pay dearly for it, only to have gore working against klims business in a round about way, I wonder just how much money goes to the greens that we wouldnt even think about through various purchases, it seems they have their claws in everything these days.

Good to know. I was gonna buy some new Klim pants at the snow show tomorrow. Nothing against Klim, I love their product but I won't support the greenies

Just one more product on the no go list. It is too bad way too many things I once bought, I do not anymore

Smartwool
patagonia
REI
Fat tire beer

Does anyone know if klim donates directly to snowmobile organizations??? saws ect....

Rei, patagonia smartwool those in my mine would have been a given

Like north face, hard corp, and many other ski related hippy companys

Nice info seized_up. That took some work.
I'm going to have to play a little devils advocate here though. Gore-Tex is based in Maryland. (Hometown pressure) The fabric that we know them as is a very small part of the pie. They are very important in the medical field, they have military applications. Computer components, and more than likely some parts found in your car.

They even have a motorcycle right in their rain room. They support Klim which is a snowmobile company. Which supports us. So although they may show support of some greenie interests, by no means do they seem biased.

Think of it from a business standpoint. Say you are getting 80% of your business from group X. 20% from Y. You would be more likely to value X's opinion a little more since the are more prominent in your business.

Remember that snowmobilers are a very small group with very little support behind us. We don't pursue causes and expansions the way Greenies do. We ride when we can and complain when we see something closing. We are very reactive, but not very proactive. Quite honestly most of us are hard workers who don't have the time to commit to such things.

Greenies tend to have way to much time on their hands. It is very easy for them to have a vast effect over an otherwise unbiased population. All they need is an article in a paper trying to save a forest an no one is the wiser what else they may be effecting.

Now for my rant. Why as Americans is it so hard to find a common ground on things such as this. Just because I snowmobile doesn't mean I might no like to mountain bike or hike in the summer. How many sledders started off as skiers? Don't get me wrong, I hate seeing land closures. I'm not keeping anyone else off the mountain, but you may have to share it. Isn't that what we were taught to do since childhood.

Now to flip the coin again. We are fools not to admit that we can be our own worst enemy. Parking lot racers, loud pipes, destruction to privately owned property. People that don't enjoy our sport can find us to be a nuisance very easily. And we do nothing to change their opinion.
Sorry, just some thoughts.
Hey it's Friday :beer;

Not being a smartass but how does Klim support us? We support Klim

Thanks for info siezed_up.
Like it or not folks, we don't have a lot of options for fighting to keep our access and it's only going to get tougher.
It's tough to know where we should draw the line- I guess that's for each of us to decide on our own.
If Klim (or other Goretex products) is out there supporting our state associations/SAWS/etc I guess I would be a little more inclined to support them. If not, there are others that I'm sure are and whom I should be spending my hard earned coin with.
Looks like my vote wasn't overly powerfull this time but I know my wallet is.

Dan Dan is online now
Junior Member

Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 28
Dan has a brilliant futureDan has a brilliant futureDan has a brilliant futureDan has a brilliant futureDan has a brilliant futureDan has a brilliant futureDan has a brilliant futureDan has a brilliant futureDan has a brilliant futureDan has a brilliant futureDan has a brilliant future
Default
I am slightly biased, but I've never seen anything that competes with Klim gear for sledding. It may be more expensive, but it will last much longer (cheaper in the long term) and make riding much more enjoyable.

As far as Gore-Tex donating to the Sierra Club, if you looked into the suppliers of any company you would probably find that some of their suppliers support causes that are anti-snowmobile, especially in the winter outerwear industries. The people at Klim are sledheads and they support the snowmobile community 100%. Locally, I know they have always been huge supporters of the Utah Avalanche Center and clubs in the area.

Microsoft and Google are two of the Sierra Club's largest supporters, so unless you stop using your computer then unfortunately you are indirectly supporting the Sierra Club all the time.



I pulled that from The Why is Klim so expensive thread. Sawyer, sorry I wasn't clear. I was only trying to indicate that Klim is a snowmobile company in business for snowmobilers. Basically, a representation of the snowmobile community. And Gore-tex has association with them.
I know us as customers we are supporting Klim.
I personally wouldn't base too many buying decisions on beliefs such as this. Don't get me wrong, stand for what you believe in, but you may find yourself in nothing but your birthday suit. So many companies have influences in different countries, interests and aspects of our lives that we just can't control it or possibly avoid it. Like I said, most of us likely have Gore designed products in our daily driven automobiles. More importantly, items that could possible save loved ones lives. How about the things that are helping our troops overseas?

American made cars aren't even American made. Or made with all American parts. I feel Klim is a superior product (jmo) I would hate to never have purchased that product because Gore-Tex supports something I don't entirely believe in. Again, just throwing it out there. These can be some of the best threads. They bring out some very good perspectives and really get us thinking. And obviously by the leg work that siezed_up did. Some interesting facts as well.

Fat Tire beer.... damn it. I love that stuff.

So I guess we should role over. Maybe if Klim offered another waterproofing we would have a choice of what we wanted to support. Reima used to. They had there Reimatec. Full Monte, I see that you have a vested interest in supporting Klim. Is that why you are supporting them like you are? We are a small community in the big picture and I think that companies like Klim could make a good statement by offering us an alternative. Until then, I will choose to spend my money with companies that are helping me to keep open the few riding areas that we have.

Well??

That is really sad to hear! Bummer on my end! But here is the really bad news and we all can choose not to buy GORE products but GORE is in products that we may not be able to choose such as medical products. The GORE medical products really do provide life saving technology to patients with all sorts of medical conditions. GORE is a very diverse company and it really is sad to see they are so active in the anti groups.

Makes me wonder with the pressures of the past few years ( the false claims of global warming) about the oil companies? Are they as active?

I did learn from the above post about Microsoft and Google, well as a user of both I guess I am screwed as much as all of us using a computer are. It brings me back a few years when Ford was very active in the donations to Enviro wackjobs. Not sure if they still are?

milehighassassin said:

You are going to be hard pressed to find any major company that produces outdoor gear that doesn't support some sort of "Green" group. I would bet Cabellas, Ruger, Savage, Remington, etc all support them.

Click to expand...

Just out of curiosity I would like to see the "greenie" Groups that Ruger, Savage and Remington support?

BigRed118 said:

So I guess we should role over. Maybe if Klim offered another waterproofing we would have a choice of what we wanted to support. Reima used to. They had there Reimatec. Full Monte, I see that you have a vested interest in supporting Klim. Is that why you are supporting them like you are? We are a small community in the big picture and I think that companies like Klim could make a good statement by offering us an alternative. Until then, I will choose to spend my money with companies that are helping me to keep open the few riding areas that we have.

Click to expand...

We carry Klim because I started using it a few years ago out of utter frustration over the quality of other brands. It was by far the best stuff I ever used so we started carrying it. And I am still a firm believer that Gore Tex is the best water proof/ breathable material on the market. Since then I have developed a certain amount of knowledge about the brand and how it is made. Some loyalty as well. I actually just toured the Gore Tex facility a couple months ago so I felt I could offer some insight to this thread.
When Klim first started, they tried using the e-vent stuff Polaris is now using. It didn't work then and still doesn't. Reima had their Reimatec as a lower cost option in their product line. Even they knew it wasn't a comparable material. Since then they sold their company to Scott, dropped or lost their partnership with Gore and now you barely hear of them and their product sits on your racks collecting dust for years. We still have some sitting there from 4 years ago Klim wanted to be the best company out there for sled gear and knew they needed the best materials. Hence the reason they joined in a partnership with Gore Tex. I doubt Klim researched where Gore was spending their money. I'm not claiming to know what Klim or Gore Tex dollars are used to support what. I was only trying to offer some added insight into the company.
For all we know, Gore Tex and Klim may give dollars in support of snowmobiling too. It just may not be published as well. If you really have concerns with Gore Tex, maybe try just dropping them an email. They are a very down to Earth company. I would be very surprised if you didn't get a response. If you like, I can contact Klim on Monday and see where they send support $.