I’ve been using Outdoor Research products for over two decades. They offer they gold standard in handwear. What’s more, it’s Berry compliant. The company has always made clothing, but when told me they wanted to expand into tactical clothing I was super excited. Their initial stab at it included new colorways for their most popular commerical items and proved promising, but I was blown away but what I saw earlier this year, at SHOT Show, 2017.
The Integrated Apparel System offers some fantastic components. In particular, I’m impressed by their adoption of GORE-TEX Fabric with Stretch Technology for the Infiltrator Jacket and Pant. It shows a lot when a company invests in a new technology to introduce new capabilities, and without a requirement from the field.
Times are tough for the tactical clothing industry. Demand is down. The supply chain is feeling the pressure. This is when companies fold. I’m happy to see OR’s continued commitment to making the most of their industry partnerships to offer innovative tactical clothing systems and accessories.
Seattle-based Manufacturing for Military and Tactical Markets
SEATTLE, Wash. (August 7, 2017) – Outdoor Research, Inc. (OR), a leader in the outdoor and tactical apparel industry, announced today the company’s expanded commitment to U.S. manufacturing and additional investment in R&D efforts focused on the tactical market. As part of this growth, Outdoor Research will be adding new personnel with a primary focus on military and tactical business development.
This commitment comes simultaneously as the brand releases its most sophisticated apparel program to date in the tactical market, the Outdoor Research Integrated Apparel System™ (IAS). The IAS is a 13-piece tactical apparel collection designed so that it each piece layers well on top of the other, allowing complete freedom of movement. It can be used as a complete layering program or mixed and matched as needed to accommodate a huge range of temperatures and environments.
Highly respected in the outdoor industry for developing functional solutions for extreme environments, Outdoor Research has a history of successfully leveraging the best commercial market technologies to serve the needs of the armed services and first responders. Over the past year the company has conducted a comprehensive review of the U.S. supply chain and is in active development with textile mills and materials providers to expand and elevate the capabilities of products that are 100-percent American-made.
The Outdoor Research company mission is rooted in mountain environments and OR products are purpose-built for the rigorous physical demands these landscapes require. Since 1981, Outdoor Research has engineered products to help outdoor adventurers respond to the challenges presented by the wild outdoors. OR’s decades of first-hand experience developing and manufacturing products that provide capability in uncompromising situations has provided the backdrop from which the tactical team was born. OR tactical products, including the new IAS line, have been improved through cross-pollination from user groups, including the elite communities of military, law enforcement, and government agencies.
The Outdoor Research Tactical Team is dedicated to developing product through the lens of the Elite end user, focusing on solving problems and engineering mission-specific capability across all categories: handwear systems, apparel, and accessories.
Over the last two years, OR has made significant capital investments designed to improve and modernize its Seattle factory. These investments allow Outdoor Research to take advantage of the company’s global knowledge of design, materials, and innovative manufacturing techniques while producing the next generation of tactical and outdoor products at its facility in Seattle. OR has continued to accelerate its product-development cycle, allowing the latest innovations to be rapidly fielded to the end user, and helping increase the mobility and protection of soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and law-enforcement officers in the process.
The latest examples of this rapid innovation process are the Integrated Apparel System™ and the launch of the Modular Glove System™ (MGS) with 3D Fit Technology™. The IAS system is a complete apparel system – waterproof shells, insulation, softshells, windshells, and base layers. It includes the paradigm-shattering Infiltrator Jacket™, which is designed for maximum athleticism, comfort, and user protection. The Infiltrator employs an innovative new GORE-TEX® waterproof/breathable stretch fabric. With the Infiltrator, Outdoor Research is one of the first to use this material.
“Developing cutting-edge Military and Tactical products was a key part of the business back when I arrived at Outdoor Research in 2003, and it’s been an integral part of what has allowed us to maintain and build upon the domestic manufacturing capabilities that OR has always had,” said CEO Dan Nordstrom. “We’re proud of the level of innovation we’re bringing to Military and Tactical, and we are proud that we’ve been able to bring American manufacturing to the table to support those markets.”
Outdoor Research’s competitive advantage lies within the human resources in Seattle that design, develop, engineer, and manufacture the company’s offering. Outdoor Research is committed to expanding its Tactical Team to bring more focus on the end user and will continue to create jobs while investing in American manufacturing to answer the diverse needs of the warfighter and peacekeeper.
“This investment underscores our ongoing focus at Outdoor Research on how we can continue to build better products for the Military and Tactical markets,” said Michelle Wardian, President of Outdoor Research. “We look forward to continuing to seize opportunities tied to our longtime commitment to American manufacturing.”
Learn more at www.outdoorresearch.com/gov/us/en.
