FirstGear Kathmandu

[jbr7t]

This is a mixture of a review of my jacket performance vs. pavement and the customer service of FirstGear.

 

On Monday morning at approx 7:45am I went down on a lowside crash approx 15mph and my right shoulder/arm took a brunt of the hit. I was wearing my FirstGear Kathmandu at the time of the crash. The jacket did exactly what it was supposed to do. I walked away with not so much as a scratch or bruise. My right foot is sore from the bike hitting it..but that has nothing to do with the jacket. The armor absorbed the impact and the shell kept my skin 100% intact. See the pictures below for the damage to the jacket..then keep reading for an AWESOME customer service story.

 

 

So, Monday afternoon I put a call in to Firstgear to ask if they could repair the jacket. I had just purchased the jacket in November 2013 from motorcyclecloseouts.com. It was a 2011 model jacket. I spoke with Nick and told him about what happened. He asked that I send my purchase receipt and the pictures you saw above. On Wednesday I got an email back from Nick. FirstGear is giving me a BRAND NEW Jaunt jacket! That's right, because I crashed and destroyed my jacket they are replacing it at their cost! Yes, it is a different model jacket. But seeings as how I bought the Kathmandu on closeout, and it was a 2 year old model and the fact that it got damaged was my fault completely for laying the bike down..I'd say that is amazing customer service! So, you'll probably see me in FirstGear apparel from now on!

[Mike]

Glad to hear that you were (pretty much) uninjured.

 

And good on FirstGear! I've always liked their stuff. I have somewhat ape-like (long) arms, and they're one of the few garment manufacturers that produces a wide range of products in "tall" sizes. Their products look good, are comfortable, and, as you have proven, function well.

 

 

[Selden]

Good for FirstGear customer service — positive PR like this is worth far more than paid advertising.

 

I trashed one of their Kilimanjaro Air jackets during an unplanned contact with a deer, and it held up about the same. My jacket had a lot more miles on it, so I never considered contacting them.

[jbr7t]

Yes, I assumed they might have some program where for a fee they would repair the jacket. When I got the email back that they were going to give me a new jacket I was astonished.

 

[OoPEZoO]

I have somewhat ape-like (long) arms, and they're one of the few garment manufacturers that produces a wide range of products in "tall" sizes.

 

Yup....ditto for me as well. Their XLT stuff fits me like a custom tailored suit.

 

I really like my Kathmandu. It is by far the best cold/wet weather jacket I have ever owned. Glad to see it did its job in the other department too.

[jbr7t]

I have somewhat ape-like (long) arms, and they're one of the few garment manufacturers that produces a wide range of products in "tall" sizes.

 

Yup....ditto for me as well. Their XLT stuff fits me like a custom tailored suit.

 

I really like my Kathmandu. It is by far the best cold/wet weather jacket I have ever owned. Glad to see it did its job in the other department too.

 

Yea, I'm going to see how the Jaunt does. From it's description it has a waterproof liner instead of the garment actually being waterproof. Not sure my feeling on that at this point.

[jbr7t]

Got the Jaunt Jacket in and finally had time to check it out. So, far I like it. It is a little stiffer than the Kathmandu. 600 cordura in some places that the Kathmandu was 300. I think it will be a comfortable fit once it breaks in a little. Haven't tried it on the bike yet. Still debating if I'm going to keep it or sell it and get another Kathmandu. decisions decisions.

[rolandj727]

Well I hate my Kilimanjaro Jacket. I have had it for 10+ years and use it almost everyday in cooler weather. The damn thing will not die. I am tired of looking at it, but can't find any reason to replace it.

[Kathy R]

I think it will be a comfortable fit once it breaks in a little.

 

My Olympia AST was very stiff at first, but it learned to bend where I needed it too. I no longer notice the stiffness, except when I attempt to fold it up It seems the higher the denier the stiffer the jacket? That's fine with me.

 

The damn thing will not die.

 

Good for you. Thank your lucky stars.

You can always run an ad. Somebody, somewhere, will buy it. My first synthetic jacket, a Kilimanjaro, is hanging in the closet. I'm strangely sentimental about it and all the places I went with it. What's left of my first AST is nailed to the garage wall, where I can pay homage to it every day.