I love REI. The place is like paradise, like a candy store. Given my recent return to the great sport of mountain bike riding, I found myself there this afternoon. I had bought an American made climbing rope there before the holidays. So I assumed there would be some American made bikes and bike products there. With no less 43 gorgeous mountain or road bikes displayed beautifully in the store, I got that feeling one gets when they're about to buy something brand new.
  Cannondale = China  REIs house brand, Novara= Taiwan.
  Ok. There ARE bikes available of American manufacture so i wont cry or preach here. That's not what this log is for. I figured while I was there I could get some riding gloves or a Camelbak. Man we don't manufacture shit in this country! Of the more than thirty choices in gloves, none of American manufacture. The best Camelbak could do? Assembled in America with imported materials.
  There, at the king of all adventure goods stores, I was struck with a question. Is there any benefit to me buying only American made goods? I mean, if Americans en masse started buying only American made goods, a lot of stores like my precious REI would be in real trouble. Aren't I trying to help the American economy at large? What's the point?
   Pause.
   The point is, we could use a trend. A trend of citizens going into retail stores and leaving empty handed BECAUSE they could not find goods of American manufacture. Just a trend. A trend of people politely telling sales associates "I love everything about it, but it's not made in the USA." A slow smoldering trend. And when upper management and corporate ask employees at the store level what has happened to the numbers, as they are wont to do. They'll learn about the trend. In the great words of Fugazi, "It's not what they're selling, it's what you're buying."  



   One item I did find at REI, a bite valve for my Camelbak. $4.00  

  A few weeks ago a I was loaned a high end mountain bike from a friend who'd be out of town for several months.Yeehaw! I hadn't ridden a mountain bike on proper single track for over twenty years.
(jeez! I just reread that sentence) Anyway the bike uses SPD clipless pedals.

 If i was going to enjoy a ride on the bike at all I'd need a pair of SPD cleated bike shoes. You guessed it. Not a single cycle shoe is manufactured here. Wamp, wamp, waaam. So i set out to find a pair at a thrift store. Which is a chicken-shit loophole to my resolution, yes. However buying second hand merchandise IS supporting local business AND keeping money here AND does not require a diesel powered shipping vessel to cart it across the Pacific.
   I checked all the Goodwill and Salvation Army stores. As well as Thrift Town and Community Thrift in the Mission. I rechecked them days later. My first ride was on a rapidly approaching Saturday and I had no shoes. "This is gonna suck." I thought.
  I went to a local bike shop to see if ,by the grace of god(or more simply, an spd shoe manufacturer), I had missed something in my web search. Oh the shoes were beautiful. Specialized. Shimano... Fold the tongue back and, MADE IN CHINA. Sheesh.
  Damn resolution. I'm trying to enjoy my life, right? 
But there are greater things at stake here. I could very easily have purchased a nice pair of those imported shoes and began stoke process for the upcoming ride. I was VERY tempted. But alas if this is the kind of suffering I have to do than it's not really suffering is it? And it's not really suffering anyway.
  There I was on a Friday afternoon, the eve of my great return to mountain bike, with out a very important piece of equipment. "This is gonna suck." So I did what any self respecting tradesman with no spd shoes would do. I made a pair.

  After stealthily measuring the geometry of cleat placement on a pair of Specialized bike shoes with a tape measure at a local bike retailer, I took an older pair of my Adidas and drilled out the bottom.(In retrospect this was a mistake because I won't be getting any NEW Adidas and I love them). I cut out some flat plastic in the shape of my insoles doubled them up and glued them into the bed of the shoe.  Set T-bolts from the inside out in the appropriate position. And layed the whole thing up with shoe goo. Voila!
   The Saturday morning ride was a blast! Ten miles plus of single track in the Santa Cruz mountains.

One mans case study on the reality of buying only American

   I'm a new years resolutionist. Each year, with great enthusiasm, i choose to make a change in my life that will make me, what i believe to be, a better person. I see the resolution as a tool, a change conveniently implemented at the start of a new year where one can easily recall how long new, good behavior has been a habit. I don't always succeed. I usually do. The resolution is ones opportunity to strengthen discipline and resolve, to focus ones chi, if you will.
   New years 2012 I resolved to buy only American. Yeah. Good luck right? As a surfer, rock climber, plumber and, admittedly, an aging hipster replacing worn out tools, gear and stylish clothing with American made products will not be easy/possible.
   But look around you. Does anyone of us need to write another check of ANY size and mail it to another country, effectively eliminating that money from our economy forever? Our government can't dig us out of this hole. The banks can't dig us out of this hole. Our culture of need for hyper-inexpensive goods and shameless outsourcing over the last couple of decades has bled this country dry.
   Last week I payed $35.99 for an American made hammer instead of $5.99 for one made in Mexico.
That's a $30.00 check written and reinvested in the good 'ol USA. Nothing against Mexico, China, India or any other country.
   In a nut shell, my intent here is to explore the reality of buying only American made goods by American owned companys. It's going to be expensive and inconvenient and I might not always succeed. But at this point I'm willing to do without a good if it's not MADE IN USA. This should be interesting. My wet suits wearing out, and this iBook is not getting any younger.
   Maybe this will inspire some of my fellow Americans.