“Made in the USA.” You see it on everything from tools and boots to trucks and Blackstone Grills. As a subscriber of the Huntin’ Fool magazine, I’m making the safe assumption that you know the firm chinned sense of pride that comes from choosing to buy American-made products, especially when there are less expensive offshore options that could probably be shipped to your door for free on Amazon. Whether it’s national pride and commitment to keeping your money
invested in our economy or a belief that American-made products are of higher quality, it’s important to know the whole picture. To paint that picture, I’m going to use a company I happen to know well as an example, Outdoorsmans.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
A growing economy is a healthy economy, we don’t need to be economists to understand that basic fact. To take it a step further, an economy that is invested in manufacturing is an even healthier economy. Recent research done by Deloitte shows us that for every $1 invested in U.S. manufacturing, $1.81 in value is generated in return. American manufacturers contribute $2.17 trillion to the national economy, that’s 12% of our GDP, and support more than 40 million jobs in the U.S. If those numbers don’t mean anything to you, let’s look locally for a minute.
Local small businesses in this country, much like Outdoorsmans who set up shop in Phoenix, Arizona in 1982, have enormous collective power. In The Small Business Economic Impact Study, it was found that U.S.-based small businesses generate $4.8 trillion in gross domestic product (GDP) – equivalent to the GDP of Japan, the third largest economy in the world. The study also demonstrated the cascading effect that occurs from the spending of small businesses and the members of the community they employ – for every 10 jobs at a small business, another 7 are supported in the local community.
In 1999, Outdoorsmans began making an even larger impact in the national and local economy when it invested in manufacturing and true innovation. What started as a local pawn, gun, and hunting gear store began manufacturing aluminum tripods, heads, and accessories with friends at Rim Country Manufacturing, a machine shop just up the mountain.
Did Outdoorsmans begin manufacturing tripods and heads because they felt called upon to stimulate the local economy and manufacturing sector? As much as that sounds like a worthy reason, and it’s definitely a nice bonus, I believe the real reason was far more practical.
QUALITY CONTROL
At the beginning of Outdoorsmans tripods, heads, and binocular mounting accessories was the idea of creating something truly innovative, necessary, and superior to what was available in the market. Prior to the Outdoorsmans tripod system, most hunters hadn’t yet discovered the immense benefits of mounting binoculars to a tripod. Up until this point, photography companies were the only ones producing tripods and heads. Floyd Green and the team at RCM knew that if they were going to put a piece of equipment in the hands of a hunter, it had to be durable enough to withstand abuse, reliable in operation, and engineered specifically to function with the weight of heavy glass optics. Quality and design were how these products would set themselves apart.
Today, 24 years later, Outdoorsmans and Rim Country Manufacturing still work hand in hand on the development of new products, in-line improvements on old products, and continual trouble shooting to meet the needs of evolving hunters and the advancements in sporting optics. The advantages of working with a manufacturer that is only an hour drive away are invaluable. The Outdoorsmans team can be intimately involved in every design concept, prototype, or design change as it’s being programmed in the machines that carve these pieces out of 6061-T6 aluminum.
The end result is a tool, be it a tripod, a pan head, or a binocular adapter, that gets the job done better than anything else you will find because of this attention to detail, this efficiency in communication, and this thought behind function. This type of product development is vastly more difficult and less efficient when you make products overseas. I’m not saying it can’t be done (Apple seems to have figured it out), but it’s not easy to maintain the level of quality and innovation that Outdoorsmans and RCM bring to the market.
PERSONAL TOUCH
If you dial 1-800-291-8065, your call will be answered by either Joe, Kody, or Ryan. And if those guys are busy with a customer, you’ll speak with either Brody, Mark, or if you’re lucky, Courtney. Apart from Courtney, who spends more time spreadsheeting and budgeting than hunting, you will speak with a guy who eats, sleeps, and breathes hunting in the West. If you need advice or want a comparison between gear or optics, there’s a guy here who has used it in the field. And whether you like it or not, he has an opinion.
Of course, it’s nothing novel these days to speak to a real person when you call customer service. There are plenty of solid companies providing good customer service, even if their products are made in some far-off land. What is unique, however, is what happens if you happen to order one of Outdoorsmans latest Carbon Innegra Tripods. Let’s say you decide to pull the trigger and call up Outdoorsmans and place your order with Ryan. Your tripod, with each nut, bolt, and screw coming from the American supply chain, will be hand assembled by Ryan as well. And rest assured, Ryan is American, perhaps the most American one of the bunch.
I suppose the full picture is this – “Made in the USA” is more than just a stamp of material and manufacture origin. It’s certainly more than the company telling you this product is going to be more expensive. It’s a kind of pact of sorts, between customer and company that says if you believe in me, I’ll believe in you. Give me something that’s second to none, and I’ll give you the support it takes to keep investing in me and the American quality of life.
To learn more about Outdoorsmans American-made products, visit www.outdoorsmans.com.
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