Phew! I breath a sigh of relief. I got a reply from Cactus Climbing who assure me that Made in China Cactus gear is only a left-over from the bad old days and that they are now committed to manufacturing in NZ. Good on you Cactus! I'll be buying more gear from you for sure now. I implore everyone else to too. They really do make good stuff --- it would have been sad to have to write them off like I've had to do with Icebreaker, Macpac and such like as they move manufacturing off shore to chase more dollars. Here's the reply from Cactus by the way. I'm pleased I asked after getting my knickers in such a twist about them (apparently) deserting NZ.
Hi,
Not to worry, Cactus used to make a few items off shore in earlier days. A few years ago we stopped making these items off shore and brought all the manufacturing back to NZ.
Cactus gear is now entirely NZ made but I guess there is probably a few items floating around out there.
Items like the Portal pack which used to be made in China we now have an NZ made version. The WP Dreadnought has undergone major redesign and will be available in a few months, this I think is the garment you were going to purchase.
The Wilbur which was our travel pack we simply no longer make it.
Thanks for checking the facts first. Cactus certainly feels strongly about first world environmental and labour issues and we are doing our bit here.
Made in NZ = happy Kiwi's all round
If you have any further questions please feel free to ask,
Kind Regards,
