Patagonia vs. Columbia: Everything You Need To Know
You’ve decided to go on an outdoor adventure. Regardless of whether you are hiking, climbing a mountain, camping, or just walking from your apartment to a different coffee shop, you are going to be exposed to the elements. Rain, snow, sleet, or freezing temperatures, you want to be as prepared as possible.
If you are a “brand person,” meaning you like all your items to be from the same company, you have a choice here: Patagonia or Columbia. You may think it’s six of one and half a dozen of another, but knowing the story behind some of your favorite brands can make you partial to one. I know your parents say they don’t have a favorite child (and if they do say that, they are lying to you) but you are absolutely allowed to have a favorite brand. Just have a reason to back it up besides “I like it.”
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Patagonia
Patagonia’s founder, Yvon Chouinard, got his start as a climber in 1953 when he became a member of the Southern California Falconry Club. He was 14. A few years later, in 1957, Chouinard decided he wanted to teach himself how to blacksmith and so he went to a junkyard and bought the necessary tools.
The first thing he made was pitons, which he tried out himself. A piton is a metal spike that is driven into a crack or seam when climbing with a climbing hammer. It acts to either assist the climber or to protect the climber against falling. His experiment was a success and he began supporting himself by selling gear from the back of his car.
By 1970, his piton business, Chouinard Equipment, was the largest supplier of climbing hardware in the United States. Unfortunately, the gear he was making was damaging the rocks due to repeated hammering of pitons during the climb and the equipment was causing severe damage to the environment. As a lover of the outdoors and the environment, he decided to minimize the piton business and introduced aluminum chocks that could be wedged by hand instead of being hammered in and out of cracks.
Within a few months of this decision, the piton business dwindled and chocks were being sold faster than they were being made. The company continued growing, and by 1972, they began selling clothing from other places, such as rugby shirts from England and boiled-wool gloves and mittens from Austria.
Eventually, they decided they needed to progress in the clothing world, so after some trial and error, in 1980 the company came out with insulated long underwear made from polypropylene. This synthetic fiber had been being used to manufacture industrial products, such as marine ropes. These ropes float because polypropylene has a very low specific gravity that does not absorb water.
Patagonia used this fabric for their new underwear as the basis to teach the concept of a layering system for the outdoor community:
- Inner layer against the skin for moisture transport
- Middle layer of the pile for insulation
- Outer shell layer for wind and moisture protection
They found a replacement for polypropylene in 1984. While at the Sporting Goods show in Chicago, they saw a demonstration of polyester football jerseys that had a hydrophilic surface that wicks away moisture from the body to the outside where it could then evaporate. Chouinard thought the fabric would make the perfect underwear, and Capilene® polyester was born.
It was also at this time when they decided to also introduce colors. Patagonia brought cobalt, teal, red, aloe, seafoam, and iced mocha into a bland world of tan, forest green, and powder blue. These color choices made them stand out in other ways than just their innovative products.
Patagonia prides itself on being an environmental company. The distribution center in Reno, Nevada achieved a 60% reduction in energy use through solar-tracking skylights and radiant heating.
They also use recycled content for as much as possible, including carpets and urinals. In 1994, Patagonia made the decision to make their cotton sportswear 100% organic by 1996. They succeeded. They also have a partnership with Fair Trade USA. Everything has an impact on people and the planet and Patagonia takes that impact seriously.
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Columbia
Founded in 1938 as a small hat maker, Columbia Sportswear Company is now a global leader in designing, sourcing, marketing, and distributing outdoor and active lifestyle apparel, footwear, accessories, and equipment. As a public company with almost $1.5 billion in revenue, Columbia is on its third generation of family leaders.
Gert Boyle, the second-generation chairman, now 87, fled Germany as a child when the Nazis rose to power. Her father had owned a hat company back home, so when they came to Portland, Oregon, found a small hat company for sale that he bought and named Columbia Hat Co. She worked there in the summers but moved away to Arizona to attend college. It was there she met her husband, Neal.
During this time, the company moved on to selling some skiwear and other apparel, in addition to hats. Boyle succeeded her father as president after he passed in 1964. While it’s true that the brand is best known for its line of outerwear, footwear, and sportswear, it also distributes other branded items including ski apparel, accessories for outerwear, camping equipment, and headgear.
By 1994, the brand was made even more popular when it was named as the official supplier for CBS Sports in their coverage of the Winter Olympic Games which were held in Lillehammer, Norway. In 2001 they became the largest retailer of ski apparel in the United States. The company acquired boot maker Sorel in 2000 and Mountain Hardware in 2004, the same year it reached $1 billion in sales. In 2006 the company acquired Montrail and Pacific Trail Products.
They now have four primary brands, including Columbia®, Mountain Hardwear®, SOREL®, and prAna®. The company prides itself on these companies complementing each other to address the diverse needs of active consumers. Their products have gained an international reputation for their innovation, quality, and performance.
Choose Your Fighter
Maybe that’s a bit dramatic. You are absolutely allowed to purchase from both retailers. Whether you are partial to friends or family starting a successful business, what really matters is that both companies offer some of the best products in sports and outdoor wear, meaning you can’t go wrong with either choice. Just don’t forget your bear spray!
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