The whole made in USA really gets under your skin huh? Lol. As long as the big portion of their production is made in the USA, they are following the requirements. Just having some accessories sewn overseas because they couldn’t find enough sew houses here to meet the demand hardly seems to violate the made in USA claim. Here is the link to the rules so you can read and determine if you’d like to file a formal complaint.
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/plain-language/bus03-complying-made-usa-standard.pdf
As far as safety of the gen 1, saddle hunters should use universal precautions like the health industry. Assume everyone has HIV and glove up.
@BayouBeauxhunter. I appreciate the conversation on this. Thanks for the link, I'm actually quite familiar with the laws/regulations around using the "made in usa" verbiage. I"ve never stated that the broke the rules, law , or are not meeting requirements--though they are very much flirting the line in a few places.
Personally, I don't care where the products are made. Its the marketing behind the products that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. They have pushed their products as "Made in the USA" since the beginning as one of their main selling points. To change manufacturing and not list origin of product on the website is shady and misleading. The fact that some people have commented that they received the products EXPECTING them to be made in the USA backs my point. I lumped this conversation in the with the predator issue, not because i'm stuck on the "made in the USA" label itself, but because of the TRUST side of it. The founders of Tethrd were trusted to deliver safe, functional products from the start because of their major involvement and track record in the Saddle Hunting community. This added a lot of value to their brand, and when they went live, a lot of their success was built on this trust. When they were unable to deliver based on time frames advertised, people cut them slack( at first) because of the personal relationships and trust they had in the founders. When the Gen I predator started breaking, people said "no worries, I know they'll make it right" because they trusted them. When you have trust and brand loyalty to a company and you see "made in the USA" all over their site, you trust that's the truth, especially when there are no other origins listed on products.
I"m confident there are many people on this site who are keeping their mouths shut on this issue because they have personal relationships with the founders of Tethrd, even though they may not agree with their business practices. That is another piece of leverage they have over the customer base, whether they are intentionally taking advantage of it or not.
My point is you have to TRUST a company to buy products that support your life, whether its a "Positioning aid" or a "tree stand platform" or whatever. People are starting to see through the marketing BS, and questioning their own loyalty and trust. This is even more so when their personal safety is a factor. Sure, you MAY not fall to your death IF the platform breaks at height, but you can still get seriously hurt even if you're tethered in. What if they are using a screw in step as a backpack hanger and it breaks and you get stabbed in the ey by a slight drop and swing? , or it happens when they have full weight on it and are adjusting their ropeman, or a "drop shot" behind them when they are fully weighting it and have slack in their tether(right, no one ever has slack in their tether)...the scenarios are endless.
Tethrd has the social responsibility to their consumers to deliver safe products and and communicate any possible safety concerns, or changes to their products to their customers. Not just with an announcement on FB. They should be going out of their way to proactively reach out to every customer they know bought a Gen I predator and alert the public so they can be educated about the different Tethrd platforms they may encounter in the used market. Many of their customers that are most effected are the ones that supported them from the beginning and helped get them off their feet-they owe it to them at the very least.
I think enough people are starting to be concerned about the Predator and other issues that we will see more threads and comments moving forward. Especially as their customer base grows to those who weren't around when Tethrd didn't exist. I think its important those opinions and experiences are shared freely so that everyone can make their own decisions and be a conscientious consumer. I want to make it clear that as much as the Tethrd team may think I have a vendetta against them that is not the case. Coming from an area of risk management I just find it important that facts and details are discussed openly and people are made aware of the issues and potential risks involved with a product when a manufacturer isn't necessarily telling the whole story.
