This really annoys me sometimes

[libby]

See i disagree with you guys, i dont think paying more does get you better quality in the majority of cases, I have both 'brand' boardies, heaps of 'em from when i was in NZ, Roxy, Billabong, Ripcurl and i have primark shorts, have to say there is absoloutley feck all difference in quality, i have had brand named shorts that fall to bits in 2 seconds and cheapy ones that have lasted years of abuse, and vice versa.

I here what you are saying on the profit margin Northswell but do you genuinely believe that Roxy etc are passing that on to the workers? I doubt it very much. In an ideal world i would only buy clothes i could ethically source but thats just not feasible at the moment, i have a serious lack of funds and no prospects for that changing in the nxt 5 years at least.

Like you Sar i like to have some 'quality' pieces but for shorts that are just going to be used for messing around on the beach i really dont see the point. Its like a few of the wetsuit threads - Stone Fox got a dirt cheap Kangaroo Poo wetsuit that he found to be working just fine, whereas neumerous people have had problems with relatively expensive Ripcurl suits.

I think there will be a move in the next 5-10 years of 'things' in general having to be made to last, clothes/TVs/Phones etc that arent built to last (regardless of how much they cost) wont be so feasible in the future. I hope.

[Milo]

Don`t let the fashion industry pull you in, buy from companys that give a little back. Like surfers against sewage, ok some of there gear is a bit high priced.
But the local people who make there gear get payed much better, well i hope they do ?.

Just remember most of these so called surf brands are owned by money grabbing wanxers who have never seen a surfboard let alone riden one.

I feel so much better now, stuck in doors with nothing to do, can`t even molest the misses, in one of those moods. She keeps saying, why don`t you go to the beach if your bored, (it`s flat).

[northswell]

Most of the surf brands are/were started by surfers.

As for surfers against sewage i'm giving 5% of my online sales profits too them.

[Sar]

I think there will be a move in the next 5-10 years of 'things' in general having to be made to last, clothes/TVs/Phones etc that arent built to last (regardless of how much they cost) wont be so feasible in the future. I hope.

I understand that manufacturing will become more expensive but I am not entirely convinced of this. There is a small movement towards this but I dont know how far this will continue. It is certainly nice to hope though.

[libby]

Yeh i wouldnt have had much hope too, but after a recent lecture on sustainablity with a guy called Tim O Riordan (ex UEA guy) who is a world leader in the field, goes to all major summits etc and works with big BIG businesses he seems pretty optimistic (which he didnt 3 years ago). Its a glimmer of hope, but who knows.....

[northswell]

I have some organic lines coming in this winter, all manufactured in the uk. This is definately a trend in the clothing industry and elsewhere like the supermarkets.

On the white goods side i'm pretty dubious that the manufacturers will change there ways. I think the only way that that could happen is if they were responsible for the scrapping of the old ones, but even then they would just raise the prices accordingly.

[Surfing-Innovation]

Just remember most of these so called surf brands are owned by money grabbing wanxers who have never seen a surfboard let alone riden one

Actually - most of the 'big names' are actually quite small companies, in terms of staff, etc - and most, if not all, were founded by, and are staffed by, out and out surfers.......

That aside, I tend to agree that the margins in most (but not all) brands are on the high side - but that's down to demand being so high ('surf' brand clothing is now on the high street) coupled with the amount of fake stuff plastered all over E Bay (from the Far East) - but let's face it, if any of us had the chance to make some money out of our hobby, would we turn it down???

As for quality issues - again, when something goes from being 'niche' to 'mainstream', quite often the quality control can suffer as the quantities produced increases.........

Personally, I have always donated to the RNLI (they pay our lifeguard's wages) and we (as a company) now continue to do so. We also try to keep our prices (where possible) as low as we can without becoming a charity..........

Oh - and we'll have a small range of T-shirts available soon at more than reasonable sums of money..........