You don't win them all.

2019 - Bib Straps Snafu

My first winter with the crew, and right out of the gate things got interesting. Our entire production run of bibs (TREWth, Chariot, and Capow) were on their way to our warehouse when we realized an error on the final spec sheets - all of the bib straps were between 6-8" too long. 

The bibs took a quick detour from our warehouse to our HQ basement where we proceeded to spend about 72 hours manually unpacking, altering, and repacking every pair of bibs. The only thing that got us through it all was the good company, some great playlists, and the plethora of takeout that Chris kept bringing our way.

2020 - A Bib Sizing Saga

This one was a bit less dramatic, but it snuck up on us in a way that created a bit of a mess. 

We were well into our November (or December? I don't remember the specifics), with gear selling and customers starting to hit the slopes as snow accumulated....but we were noticing that people were having a lot of issues with finding the right size, with many reporting some massive fluctuations in sizing and measurements. Soon enough, we realized that we had a problem on our hands: many of our TREWth and Chariot bibs had been mislabeled for size on the inside tag.

We didn't quite know the scope of the issue - did it affect all bibs? some jackets? - so we took over a room at our warehouse, pulled every unit of product out from the racks, and individually measured and compared to spec. Chris, Hibbs, and I powered through and pulled all mislabeled inventory (to be sold at our showroom with new tags) and we managed to get it all done in just a matter of a few days.

2021/22 - Capow Snapgate

Now this one may sound familiar to some of you out there, because this was another situation where product was sold before the issue was discovered. 

Amidst the already chaotic times that COVID brought our way (you remember the huge freight delays?), our Christmas + New Years holiday was cut short with the news that our Capow Bibs were having snap issues where the snaps on the chest and sides of the bibs were falling off after little or no use. 

The great news was that it wasn't affecting all of our Capow Bibs. The bad news was that, when it was all said and done, about 8-10% of Capow Bibs were running into this issue. It could have been worse, but it still wasn't great...

We communicated with all recent customers giving them options for repair, replacement or a return, and we quickly pulled all inventory and had all of the bibs altered with updated snaps at our partner repair shop Rugged Thread in Bend. Within a month, all was back to normal - but I will never look at a simple snap the same ever again.

More to come?

These are by no means all of the f$#% ups we've run into since I started here six years ago, but they are the stand outs for me by a long shot. I am glad to say that since 2022, things have been pretty quiet in terms of large-scale mishaps *knock on wood* but maybe by the time we celebrate our 21st birthday we'll have some new stories to share. I'm sure if you asked Chris, he'd share some tales...

From the bottom of all of our hearts here at TREW, thank you for the continued support and for being a part of this weird little family of ours. None of these messes would have been worth getting through without all of you on board for the ride :)

+ don't forget about our Sweet 16 sale going on through 2/28/25!