Billygoat Posted February 19, 2003 Posted February 19, 2003 I was just buying some pitons at REI and the sales clerk told me that she read in an internal company memo that BD is no longer making any pitons. Can any one else verify this? Quote
iain Posted February 19, 2003 Posted February 19, 2003 It wouldn't shock me to find out BD doesn't make any gear at all and just owns a large warehouse in SLC where they collect all the goodies from the companies they buy. Quote
Billygoat Posted February 19, 2003 Author Posted February 19, 2003 She made it sound like they would not be available any more. Yeah, I agree with you Iain, they will be just like Sears. I could not believe it when they bought ascension and then lately they fucked up those Skye bindings...what's next ? BTW, are the Camp pitons made by the same Italian manufacturer as the BD ones? Quote
freeclimb9 Posted February 19, 2003 Posted February 19, 2003 Maybe, just maybe, the sales clerk at REI is uninformed. It happens every now and then. Quote
Cpt.Caveman Posted February 19, 2003 Posted February 19, 2003 Billygoat said: I was just buying some pitons at REI and the sales clerk told me that she read in an internal company memo that BD is no longer making any pitons. Can any one else verify this? Â Just buy Camp. Cheaper anyways.... Quote
Montana_Climber Posted February 19, 2003 Posted February 19, 2003 The only news I see on the BD website is that BD was named a sales partner of the year with REI. Here's a link to the latest BD press releases: Â http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/bd/press.html#021003 Â It also mentions the other companies "associated" with BD: Ascension, Beal Ropes, Bibler Tents, Franklin Climbing Equipment and SCARPA Footwear. Â With a major corner on American pitons, I seriously doubt they would give that up. Grivel is probably the second most prolific distributor of pitons with smaller companies like Leeper behind them. Quote
Montana_Climber Posted February 19, 2003 Posted February 19, 2003 Â Just buy Camp. Cheaper anyways.... Â Â Oops, forgot about them. Quote
cj001f Posted February 19, 2003 Posted February 19, 2003 Given the demand for pins nowadays (getting smaller every day) it wouldn't surprise me. Just make up an extra big production run and store them in the warehouse. The BD Lost Arrows are the same as the camp Lost Arrows - their other pins are not quite the same. Â As for manufacturing - BD actually produces a bunch of stuff on site in SLC - that's why they were hiring machinists. They're fairly unique that way - most companies don't "make" anything themselves anymore. I.e pretty much all of your clothing comes from foreign contract shops nowadays, with the company only handling design, marketing & distribution (liek Cloudveil). Quote
Lambone Posted February 20, 2003 Posted February 20, 2003 Why do you say that demand for pins is getting smaller? There are more people alpine climbing in the mountains, aid climbing is more popular, and more people doing the harder lines on El Cap. Seems to me that they should be selling more pins than ever...or at least since the 90's. Quote
Billygoat Posted February 21, 2003 Author Posted February 21, 2003 I know that I like 'em! That's why I started this thread... Quote
Squid Posted February 23, 2003 Posted February 23, 2003 I talked to the local BD rep today. He was pretty surprised and amused to hear about this rumour. BD is still committed to manufacturing and selling pitons and aid gear. Quote
Billygoat Posted February 23, 2003 Author Posted February 23, 2003 Well, maybe REI is going to discontinue carrying the hardware because they don't move fast enough. Shelf space is $. And REI definitley figured out that soft goods move and the profit margin is huge. Face it, aid and true alpine climbers are a small demographic averaging little disposable income when compared to the pile wearing, latte swilling masses... Â All I know is, she was surprised I was buying pitons and warned me about an internal company memo stating Black Diamond pitons would no longer be available... Â Maybe this reflects REI transitioning from hardware to software and goes along with an earlier thread about sales clerks there not knowing the difference between static and dynamic ropes. Quote
bobinc Posted February 24, 2003 Posted February 24, 2003 It would be less hassle for REI if they would just stop selling most of their climbing gear. That way, the sales staff wouldn't have to worry their heads about actually knowing anything about very technical and there would be fewer of these embarrassing situations. Same goes for their backcountry ski section. I think it must be true that they would make quite a bit more per ft2 of floor space if they just brought in several more racks of pile clothing or cedar dog beds. Quote
Billygoat Posted February 25, 2003 Author Posted February 25, 2003 Dru said: maybe she was trolling you  True. She had that look in her eye and claimed to know a few friends of mine... Quote
specialed Posted February 25, 2003 Posted February 25, 2003 I hear Black Diamond is going to stop making Camalots and only focus on crash pads and hacky-sacks. Apparantly there's just not much demand any more. Quote
Billygoat Posted February 25, 2003 Author Posted February 25, 2003 Yeah. It seems climbers have become soft, spending their days posting and perusing various websites. A Black Diamond exec was quoted as saying " You just have to follow the demographic." Quote
wdietsch Posted February 25, 2003 Posted February 25, 2003 Â All I know is, she was surprised I was buying pitons and warned me about an internal company memo stating Black Diamond pitons would no longer be available... Â a couple of months ago I was at the store in Jantzen Beach and bought a #3 bug ... I had to laugh when the sales guy remarked ... "wow I've never sold any of these nails before" .... I would guess the premise of REI no longer carrying them is what's up ... could be a good time to get some deals during the spring sale Quote
fleblebleb Posted February 26, 2003 Posted February 26, 2003 This just in... Black Diamond is switching their main focus to web software development  Anybody know whether BD buys their pins from Camp? Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.