Every industry trade show has its jackass moments. You’ve undoubtedly experienced it for yourself. It’s a moment when you step into an exhibit only to encounter lackluster booth staff who seem to be under the impression that the reason you attend trade shows is to be dazzled by their brilliance, or the sushi. I had that experience at this years SHOT SHOW in the Vertx exhibit.
First off, I like what Vertx has done and continues to do with their product line. I also know the garment industry at sufficient detail to understand their margins and where their cost exist. There’s also a trend by what I will call the retail garment manufacturers to jump on the tactical bandwagon – a trend that began 2006 – 2007. To make a long story short, I did not just fall out of the banana tree.
In manufacturing, especially at higher volumes, it is prohibitively expensive to QA all items on the production line; it simply does not happen, so manufacturers QA samples to draw conclusions about the production run. The key here is how samples are selected, and the size of the samples. So, part of what I wanted to accomplish while at Vertx is to let them know that I had experienced sizing problems along with a number of my readers.
I wear 36 x 30 pant size. I ordered 4 pairs of Vertx tactical pants from an online retailer, and only one pair of the four was a true 36 x 30. That suggests a quality assurance problem to me. Due to the its design there is no possibility to alter them correctly so here’s what had to be done.
I took a sequence of pictures to illustrate the problem. Again, of the four pair purchased three were not true to size…
I had to pay a tailor to remove cloth from the cuff of the trouser to add to the waist band. Only one pair fit as it should.
Now, why I’m writing about this is that some nub at the Vertx booth rather than listing to my situation began to ask me if I was sure I was a 36, and that our trousers have a snugger more modern look across the hips, etc. Granted, this was an older guy that someone dug up out of the garment district and thought he was one of the partners. But candidly guys, the only thing he’s qualified to do is sell panty liners.
In closing, 3 out of 4 pair bad screams Vertx YOU HAVE A QA ISSUE!
FOG HORN 