Cascade Design's MSR and Therm-a-Rest - is it possible to be Made in USA or Europe in 2024?

Cascade Designs - Deep Dive

My first interaction with Cascade Design was probably two decades ago, when sleeping on one of their Therm-A-Rest sleeping pads in Ireland. I didn’t take much notice at the time, but I did later learn that the mattress was probably manufactured in Midleton, Co Cork, Ireland (a town well know to expensive whisky consumers!). That did surprise me. I had always assumed that all textile and textile associated manufacturing had moved offshore to the east - and certainly was not happening in Western Europe or North America. It turns out I was wrong - kinda.

First, I’d like to dive a little into Cascade Design, the company. As usual, we’ll start at the start.

Cascade Designs is an American company, based in the Pacific Northwest - specifically in the Seattle area. There is obviously something in the air up there because between Seattle and Portland, they have given birth to a huge number of outdoor brands, such as REI, Columbia, Leatherman, Yakima and a host of others. Anyhow, Seattle is famous for another iconic brand, in a very different industry - Boeing. And Boeing played a significant part in Cascade’s inception, believe it or not. In 1971, two Boeing employees who had been furloughed decided to start their own company, based around, believe it or not, a gardening cushion! That was the inspiration behind the now synonymous self-inflating sleeping pad brand Therm-A-Rest. The company that Jim Lea and Neil Anderson started along with friend John Burroughs, went on to become Cascade Design, which now owns - along with Therm-A-Rest -six other outdoors brands.

These individual brands of the family are MSR (acquired in 2001), Plattypus Hydration Systems, Tracks poles, and PackTowl which specializes in highly technical towels. So quite a diverse portfolio which share two traits - high quality, and innovation at their core. Although not a guarantee, this seems to be a must in the outdoors gear market. Make good stuff and

There are many self proclaimed ‘fanboys’ of Cascades’ stuff and I love to see companies like this thriving. Not least because it’s the best kept secret in Ireland’s outdoor industry! OK, maybe a stretch, but they are made here and the company in Europe is actually Irish! So, while their North American HQ is in Seattle, the European one is in Cork. And this ‘in market’ manufacturing is a big part of Cascade’s mission. They simply feel that they have to make the products themselves, to ensure quality, and to ensure they could build trust with the market. Normally I think this rhetoric with a pinch of salt, but Cascade had put its money where its mouth is. Although, I have to add that they do most if not all of their tent manufacturing in Asia. I checked one I have at home and it’s made in Vietnam.

So, having looked in a bit more depth, I have seen that Cascade has indeed made huge efforts to manufacture in market. Primarily in Ireland (Cork) and the US - mostly Reno. The move to Reno was no doubt to find a more manufacturing friendly environment. So the company is clearly committed to Made in the USA and Europe. Which is refreshing. Particularly their hard goods such as MSR snowshoes, liquid fuel stoves, radiant burner canister stoves, and water treatment systems are made in Reno. It would seem that their textile based goods such as tents and sleeping bags still come from Asia. And this is understandable.

We also tried to look at US and Irish alternatives and the numbers just didn’t stack up. So, huge kudos to Cascade for sticking true to their foundations. Disclaimer - I have no affiliation whatsoever to them - in fact we could consider them a competitor (us being wayyyyyy smaller!), but I like to give credit where it’s due. Strategically, they build what they can in market - and there are of course huge advantages to having designers, engineers, testers, and manufacturers, all conveniently housed under the same roof. I’d imagine taking out the middle man also was the only way to make the P&L stack up. And it has - 2022 (Irish/Europe) accounts show a revenue of €54m, up from €47m in 2021. Although it’s notable that the pre-tax profit was down, in no small way because of foreign exchange losses (from Companies Registrations Office):

Another highlight from the public accounts (companies house website) is that the stock-holding increased enormously. This is a common issue in the industry, but it’s interesting to see it in black and white:

This is a real American-Irish success story, albeit one that stays in the background. They have been in Ireland since 1085, and very few know this locally, even people in the industry. The advantages are plain to be seen - as is the fact that the business is being run very prudently, always with and eye around the next corner.

Which got me thinking - is the the blueprint for bringing (some) manufacturing home?

Is it possible for outdoors companies to manufacture close to home, or in market?

What a question. I bet there is more than one of you that have asked this questions during and post covid. CRUA included. We looked at other parts of Asia, North America, and Europe. And here’s whet we’ve come up with so far:

USA - yes for certain products, but not textiles. The math just doesn’t add up from what we saw - even after shipping, mostly down to labor costs. Again, this is specific to tents. But I’d imagine there are a number of segments within textile that have the same feeling. I know of an Irish company, for instance, that sells Irish Wool Sweaters which actually come from Asia! More than a little ironic. I think, as outlined above, there is more of a case for hard engineered goods, with the middle man removed. But we’ll examine it more closely in a future chapter. One place that the US can win with now is when tariffs from China are calculated.

And what of China? Is it in danger of becoming caught between two stools? I was assuming that the rising wages in China meant that the edge in price is diminishing when compared to the rest of Asia. Here’s what one partner said, who has factories in China and Vietnam, when asked about the price difference: “Our Vietnam factory is near Haiphong port. I think it benefits more on the tariff. The FOB price difference is not huge, could be 0%-5% depending on different style and spec.”

So again, not that much difference - until those tariffs…

Manufacturing in Europe is similar to the US I think. May work for certain categories, and then only without a middle man. Again, we’ll examine further in a future chapter.

What about Mexico or other central American countries? Well, we looked at this also, even visiting some factories. And logistically, this would in theory be a dream for North American sales. Obviously, there is a land link, so no ships or planes! And visits could be easier and thus more frequent. But Mexico is not set up like Asia. It has quite a splintered manufacturing industry, which means a lot of the parts still need to come from abroad, and may need to change hands a few times. Also, in textiles at least, the expertise is not easily attainable. Again, I’d like to examine further. But, you do benefit from the ‘United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement’ when applicable. Another element to calculate.

So, my plan is to do a comparison of China, Other Asia, US, Europe and Mexico from a manufacturing POV, in another chapter. Let me know if this would be of interest in the polls below?

And, let me know what you thought of this week’s chapter.