So now some Tilley Hats are Made In China. This is sad news. Also see my Made In USA photos: www.flickr.com... and my Made In USA video playlist: • Made In The USA www.craigshipp... littletreasury... BriFitDance.com
They don't even give you the instruction manual anymore. They expect you to get it on the Tilley website. The North American service office used to be 10 minutes from me, but it has been gone for months now.
It's a shame. A lot of the great brands are becoming a thing of the past. Check out these brands: www.flickr.com/photos/areaguides/albums/72157673043917817
My old one is worn out on top. It's an ltm6, with lifetime warranty. They said they'd send me a new one if I destroy and send picture. Now that they're made in China , I think I'll keep it with the holes. There are lots of identical China made ones for half tilleys price. Americans are making some great hats . I'll be looking in to them.
So I just picked up my Tilley t3. More than half the hats on the rack were only "designed in canada" at REI. It seems they are actively switching all models production to china. I mean, T3 is one of their most popular models. I feel lucky I got a made in canada one. There was one 2 more in my size left. Anyway, I think 1 of 2 things are going to happen; all models will be completely made in china(of corse with no cheaper price to us) and made in canada will be no more. OR they will start selling "special" made in Canada version at 2 times the price. Also, on a random note, i purposely asked for real glass in my glasses in my recent pair lol
3 years later and almost all of them are made in china. The ones they say are made in Canada still are really just assembled in Canada out of subassemblies made in China. Canadian law is pretty lax in how imported parts can be turned into products with minimal finishing. Now their warranty is in question. I am in the process of getting my hat replaced (free for a $20 fee for a $100 hat). I couldn't find a single hat on their website not made in China that fit my needs. This will be my last Tilley unless I can pick one up used that was still made in Canada.
I find it sad that the company could not make a profit selling what is basically$2 worth of fabric for $100. Maybe they could have kept production in Canada if they raised their prices. But I wonder if because of shutdowns during COVID this made it impossible for Tilley to meet demand without simply allowing the Chinese factories to just finish all the premanufacured pieces they were making there rather than going through the show of having them sent to Canada to be sewn together by Canadian "persnickety" workers. I'm on the lookout for another hat brand made in the USA or Canada that makes a similar product since I live on a boat and need a quality wide-brimmed hat whenever I am not down below to protect my head from the sun. I'm on a yearly check up schedule with my dermatologist now after a few things having been cut off and am trying hard to avoid him bumping me to the twice-yearly or even monthly checkup routines that some of my friends are on.
I have looked at custom and hand-made hats and they run about twice as much as a Tilley. $200+ I think I will be keeping my eyes open for a local artisan who hand-makes hats while I am travelling around in our boat and maybe I can find one who I can commission to make me something to my own specifications. I kept my old Tilley Airflow. The warranty process has an option where you cross out the label with a big X inside and write the date of the claim inside so nobody else can claim it again. That hat had the fabric peel badly and fall apart at the top due to UV exposure but maybe I could leave it with an independent hatmaker to use as a model. I definitely want the snaps on the sides because I like to snap up the sides sometimes when they are not needed and will often tuck my clip-on sunglasses under the snap when they are not needed.
Well, iPhones are also made in China… My new Tilley LTM6, made in China, seems to me as well made as those previously made in Canada. Quality control and materials seem the same. I would prefer that most goods formerly made in Europe or North America continued to be made here, but the fact that they are made in China does not automatically mean that quality will be inferior in any way…
@HookahBurdar The difference is that here in the West, we actually have laws and regulations that prevent manufacturers from using children, prisoners, and slaves. They don't really do that in China. Neither do they really care how much industrial waste they produce and how to get rid of it. You don't even know where your hat is from and who made it. Neither does the current company that owns the Tilley brand. And you know what... maybe they don't even want to know. They just order the hats from a random Chinese source that uses hundreds of subcontractors. The difference between buying a hat and a phone is that you know where your phone came from. These gigantic electronic factories in Shenzhen aren't cheap. Apple and Samsung can actually go and inspect the factories and the working conditions. We don't want to find out that our phones were made by thousands of slaves, prisoners, and children who don't receive a paycheck. Buying anything that's just "made in China," like the new Tilley hats, isn't a smart thing to do. Especially when you pay nearly 100 bucks for it, the same as we paid for the Tilley hats that were made in Canada. Buying anything that's made in China supports the Communist Party of China. This government wants nothing but harm to you and our democratic nations. If you're going to spend 100 bucks on a hat... vote with your wallet. Buy from a company that actually manufactures their goods here. These companies still exist. Contrary to a common misconception, not everything is made in China. That's just what the Chinese would love you to believe. Alex Tilley, the founder and the owner of Tilley till 2015, isn't happy with the new owners shutting down production in Canada and outsourcing everything in China. It's not the same company or the hat it used to be.
I know I'm quite young but I've enquired I would say quite an old Tilley hat pass down it's in near-perfect shape all original brass I'm just curious with this one possibly have been made in China previously in the early days of Tilly or is this more of a new thing
