Re: [Paddlewise] Patagucci PFD's

At 06:53 PM 12/11/99 -0800, Steve wrote:
>Someone who was disappointed in Lotus wrote:
>+AD4- disappointed with the company. 
>
>+AD4-I seem to remember reading in r.b.p that Lotus was bought out by a
bigger
>+AD4-company and there were fears that the product would suffer.
>
>FYI Lotus was purchased by Patagonia.  +AD0-O  Scary thought.

That someone was me. I'm not disappointed in Lotus as a corporate entity -
bought out or not. I'm disappointed with some of the regional disparity
with respect to dealer support which obviously affects me as a consumer. I
was also disappointed with their R&D man who did not seem interested in my
"paddler input". The R&D guy was also dishonest with me. I was wearing my
heavily modified Lotus Straight Jacket PFD with customized back pocket
arrangements and double tow-line with bungee (an integral setup). He asked
me why I had modified the PFD, what other improvements I would like to see,
and then more importantly, what other manufacture's PFDs did I like or
prefer, and why. I told him that the Palm Equipment and the Kokatat brand
stuff was far more superior in terms of sea kayaking and towing/storage
needs, and that these other  companies seemed more interested in real-world
liason with the touring paddler (my impression from Palm's advertising).
After my lengthy discussion, he *then* informed me with a big grin that he
worked for Lotus (Patagonia, I guess). My specific beef with the guy was
that some of the issues I raised were *safety* related, and I feel
important ones. These include the poor methodology the company employs for
securing the 'biner to the front pocket (it simply clips onto a pocket web
strap, so that when you open the pocket, the 'biner just falls to the deck.
The 'biner can also clip to something you don't want it to because unlike
the Palm PFD for example, it doesn't have a nice little pocket to secure
the 'biner). I could go on, but I get back-channel e-mails about my
gabbiness, so I'll sign off, but not before mentioning I'm sending an
e-mail to the Lotus company about all this. I should also mention the Lotus
R&D man could have just been on holidays, so he had a right to be so
disinterested in my concerns. While he did listen and ask questions, he was
really put-off with me near the end and walked away in mid-conversation.
Fine, I'm nobody - just a paddler looking for lovely gear in all the wrong
places.

BC'in Ya
Doug Lloyd   
***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not
to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission
Submissions:     paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net
Subscriptions:   paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net
Website:         http://www.paddlewise.net/
***************************************************************************