[pct-l] ULA Whereabouts

[jeffmoorehead1 at cox.net (Jeff Moorehead)]

Very well put Henry! I just received my ULA Catalyst after the expected 
wait. I was well-informed that there would be a wait and my patience was 
ultimately rewarded by the workmanship, quality and feel of Brian's pack. He 
responded to my order placed online and informed me of the wait. I could 
tell he was extremely busy.
I was a bit dismayed to read some of the critical remarks from the hikers 
here about ULA and other smaller manufacturers. These businesses are part of 
the hiking community and deserve your support and understanding. I went 
nearly every route to support them as I geared up for lightweight packing--  
packs, shelters, stoves, cooking gear, clothing, water filtration. I admit I 
got my sleeping bag from Marmot. I really favor the smaller enterprises. 
They offer products made by hikers for hikers. Bean-counting seems to be a 
small part of the operation. Quality construction, needs of the hiker, and 
membership in the community figure in large. That can't be said consistently 
about the larger gear manufacturers staffed with full-time customer service.
_____________________________________________________

> I'll hazard to say that Brian has hundreds or thousands of customers who 
> are
> a lot more demanding than the typical widget-buying consumer.  A lot of
> care, customization, hand-holding, and bending-over-backwards goes into 
> his
> products and services for what amounts to very low dollars/hour return.  I
> know first-hand that he cares deeply about making the very best gear he 
> can
> and he does it out of love for what he does and what his customers can do
> and experience with his products.  As for "someone else is just around the
> corner ready to make the next best thing", I hesitate to speak for him but 
> I
> seriously doubt that he's too worried because frankly (or is is Frankle-y 
> ?)
> there just aren't very many other people on the planet with his 
> combination
> of design/manufacturing knowledge, trail experience, and willingness to
> serve the customer.  There's a huge disconnect between the large gear
> manufacturers, their design/manufacturing/distribution process, and the
> ultimate end users and that gap can only be bridged by the few people like
> Brian who are willing to devote their lives to making things better. 
> Hikers
> and outdoor enthusiasts are very lucky to have Brian (and his gear) to 
> kick
> around.  Enjoy him while you can.
>
>
> -H
>
>
> on 2/18/06 10:08 AM, pct-l-request@mailman.backcountry.net at
> pct-l-request@mailman.backcountry.net wrote:
>
>> Subject: Re: [pct-l] ULA Whereabouts
>> To: "Brian Frankle" <bdf37@yahoo.com>, pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
>> Message-ID: <20060218053417.2375DE5BC7@ws7-2.us4.outblaze.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>>
>> Wow - all that and kind customer service on top of it all. By the way, 
>> you're
>> not alone with the phone calls, work load, emails and so forth. It's 
>> called
>> life. Most of us have to juggle a lot of things.  If I could get my day 
>> down
>> to that, I'd feel relieved. And I have 27 employees.
>>
>> All in all, you've got a great product going there, but as it is with
>> everything, someone else is just around the corner ready to make the next 
>> best
>> thing. What a cycle!
>>
>> Good luck young man.
>
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