Wednesday, January 13, 2010

3D Patterning has come to Beyond

Beyond recently completed a new investment in technology that allows us to step into a whole new realm in customization. Our new 3D patterning system allows us to create your garments in a digital world before creating it for you in the physical one. Now, not only are we able to create your custom cold weather gear specifically for your measurements, but we are able to verify that it will fit you perfectly. With 360x360 degree rotation (left and right, up and down), tight spots that shouldn't be tight, and loose spots that shouldn't be loose will be able to be recognized before our cutting table ever harms a thread of our state of the art fabrics.

Yes, we do have a Right Fit Guarantee, and thankfully it is not needed very often, but Beyond is dedicated to the fit we create for you, and that is not easy. If it were, more companies than just Beyond, would be creating American Made Custom Cold Weather Clothing. Any chance we have to allow for a better Beyond experience, we jump at the chance.
Here's to your next Beyond garment. May it fit even better than your last.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

A new year...Some new snow

2009 has come and gone, and the snow is slowly making its debut here in the North West. A quick few dumps in November got everyone excited, and then really nothing happened in December. But thats the way it is. Skiing and riding don't really get good until January, and then it stays all the way through the summer. A beautiful thing indeed.
We got up to the Mt. Baker ski area this last Sunday for the first time this year. Our local hills near Seattle take a bit more time to get the base they need. Baker had plenty of great buttery snow, and it was actually sunny most of the day.
During the day I wore a Base Line pant, with the Glacier Shock Pant over it. Great comfort and protection for those tele falls that so often happen, but I couldn't help but notice that a bit more warmth in the rear for the chair ride would have been nice. I'll have to keep that in mind as we redesign the line for a relaunch in June.
My trusty Base Line Long Sleeve, and Grid pullover gave me the warmth I needed on top with Beyond's GORETEX jacket on top. Now I am not usually a believer in waterproof / breathable shells on days when the rain is not pouring down, but I've got to say, that the protection and breathability are beginning to make me change my mind. The 2.5 layer fabric, similar to PacLite, but American Made, breathes well, and feels good while skiing all day.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Road Trip I

This fall the folks at Beyond have seen more than a few rambunctious times and its not even Halloween yet. Liana, Siena (the black lab), and I jumped in the car on one fine September day, and found ourselves (20 hours later) in Teddy Roosevelt National Park.

Now for those of you who do not know where TRNP is, as I did not, its across the very long state of Montana just inside North Dakota on Hwy 94. I’ve heard quite a few folks say how ‘flat’, and ‘uninteresting’ North Dakota is, or the Midwest for that matter. After the next few hours in the park, I can personally say they’re wrong.
We got up to a campsite, which we could not see at four o’clock in the morning a few hours prior, that had warning signs of rattlers and bison. The bison had already made their mark with massive beds flattened in the prairie grass, only yards from our tent. Thankfully none had been there that night, or that morning.

A quick breakfast and a few mandatory emails, and we were on the driving loop. It was hot by 10:00, and since trails in a national park and dogs don’t mix, I decided to jump out of the car and head out for a trail run. 3.5 miles straight through bison and rattle snake country, on a trail next to a creek called Jones Creek (fitting). Liana was going around on the road and would pick me up on the far side.

The day was getting hotter. Being on the road for two weeks was forcing me to be strategic in what clothing became regretfully fragrant. So in running shoes and shorts, I set off. The run was uneventful until 45 minutes later when I could see the Green Subaru at the trail head only 100 yards away. My eyes then traced the trail back to my feet and the area I would have to travel through to get to said car. Sadly there were at least 25 head of Buffalo in that distance, and I would soon find out that I was not going to be let past.

There were two young ones in the bushes, and the massive grass eating grunters were not going to let me through. Scratch that…growlers. They actually growled at me as I tried to whistle my way past.
Not able to go left due to large tight bushes, I was forced up a ridge with semi tall grass. Walking in large steps keeping one leg above the knee tall grass (yes, a picture would have been good), I proceeded to the ridge where I hoped I could traverse and lower myself down to the road. The bull of all bulls though was chewing his cud up top though, and he felt like he had to show off a bit by getting up. Only 30 feet away, and as tall as me, I ‘scampered on down the other side of the ridge, and found myself on a 45 foot cliff overlooking the road. …..No car…..
Side note: I would find out later that several young buffalo had been wrestling near the car, and had actually used the car as a bumper during their game. Liana, in her infinite wises, left for the other trail head hoping I would be as wise, and turn around on the trail.
Bison
Quite a while later the bison from below found themselves wandering off down to the east, and I was able to make my way down to the road.
Stopping every car I could, I let each know to look for the green Subaru which held water, and more importantly at this point, a shirt. I believe I was on the ‘35th bottle of beer on the wall’, when a beautiful truck with leather seats, and a trailer big enough to haul at least 6 horses pulled up. A man in a Stetson right out of the movies, rolled down the window, and said ‘I’m thinking your name is Scott’. I of course agreed, and he said to hop in.
30 minutes later, after a call to Liana, she pulled up, and for the coming two hours, we stood around hearing stories of his and 8 others horse riding exploits over the last few decades. Chasing Bison, being chased by Bison, creating traditional masterpiece saddles that are so ordained win contests and art competitions where there is actually ‘art’, and how often the find themselves getting into trouble. It pleased me to know that my ‘trouble’ was pretty low on the scale, all told.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Beyond's Version of Philosophy

Is it called a vacation or a trip?

Scott says trip because taking trips is a lifestyle whereas a vacation just means you want to take a break from your life. Seems like a reasonable distinction to me. However after a summer of on and off rain and the last week feeling like December in Seattle with all the gray skies and poor weather, I am indeed ready for a vacation. In particular SUNSHINE!!!

I’ve never gone anywhere warm (unless you count the unfortunate trip to Orlando for a high school band competition. Yes I was a band geek and I’ve already heard all the jokes), but always said I would some day. One day Scott mentioned he wanted to take a full week off of work and had never been to Mexico. So I found some cheap tickets and we head out in October. Our luggage quota has to go to kites and boards so our clothing has to be light and compact to fit the carry on restrictions. To that end Scott is going to produce some new items including a dress and skirt for me.

So check back to see what clothing Scott designs and how it turns out. Also tickets are only cheap because it’s still hurricaine season in the Yucatan that time of year. I’m hoping for an uneventful trip but events mean stories so not all is lost provided you have a good sense of humor.

Stay tuned!

Sea Fair and Skiing in August

Here in Seattle summer means many things, bonfire nights on the beach, kayaking, mountain biking, among a host of other activities. Really the options are endless and most I have embraced with open arms. However there is one tried and true Seattle activity which I have made a concerted effort to avoid for the last eight summers I have been here. So much so that last year found me off backpacking in the mountains with a broken rib, concussion, and hyped up on vicodin (good times - just ask my partner). What could drive a person to these lengths? I have one word for you: SeaFair. Now it isn't so much SeaFair itself which provides a month of neighborhood fairs, celebrations, and events. It's the closing weekend which caps the whole
thing off. In one weekend we get a massive air show complete with the Blue Angels, Hydroplane races (imagine Nascar on water), and a huge fair in one of the largest city parks. We endure closures of the major I-90 bridge over lake Washington, the noise of the Blue Angels taking off several times a day for several days in a row (they actually take off right above the Beyond facility), among other slight if irritating inconveniences. At least that was my feeling as a transplant who had never taken the time to go. So you can imagine my reaction when Scott e-mailed all excited because he had gotten free passes to not only the event but into the
pits where the hydros are. Now I have to admit I was curious and this was going
to be a close-up view but with a ton of snow still sitting on Mt. Baker skiing seemed like a much better use of my time. However it is good to be social so we came up with what we thought was the perfect Seattle summer weekend: riding our bikes to SeaFair with a couple of friends and their son; checking out the fair and the pits; heading to their friends house for a party; then riding our toushes off back to Scott's car, driving to pick up the dog and my car which was fully
packed with camping and skiing gear, driving up to Mt. Baker, camping at 'our spot', and skiing Sunday.

SeaFair wasn't exactly what we hoped but it was interesting to see the boats up close. However all I kept thinking was "I wonder how much the fuel bill is?" I'm guessing this guy was thinking the same thing:





May be time for a new sport


After experiencing all SeaFair had to offer for us we headed up to the party.
Our host loves the Blue Angels. Conveniently his house is located up on a hill
right above the fair and right in the path of the airshow.




He has a great view which is made even better by the fact he installed a full
set of bleachers on his roof specifically so people could come watch the show.
I can't think of a better way to see the Blue Angels. Kegs of beer, tons of
great BBQ, an endless assortment of sweet treats, comfy seating, and the best
part; a real bathroom! Some people may have been inclined to linger but we were
on a mission to stick to the plan. We managed to pull it off and found ourselves
installed at our campsite by 9:30pm. It wasn't one of our finest car camping
excursions what with no happy hour or camp chairs but we did manage to get through
a chapter of the Monkey Wrench Gang which we read on every tenting excursion
and I made the best camp pillow ever out of my Beyond (black jacket help) wrapped
around a Beyond Primaloft vest. The jacket has to go inside out so as to help
reduce slippage on the Therma-rest pad.



The next morning we headed up to our breakfast spot which is
when we noticed the dog was actually injured. She had managed to completely
expose the quick of her nail and had a couple of torn pads. Now Siena loves
the snow more than any dog I've ever known so there was no chance of her taking
it easy. But we were up there and figured we had to get some August turns in
and I needed to give my L2 Grid its first active test. So we headed out to Blueberry
Chutes which is just a short jaunt from the Artist Point parking lot. It was
perfect spring skiing conditions.





Unfortunately Siena is one vocal dog and whenever one of us
went out of sight she would start barking and pulling wanting to run after.
We had gotten a night in the tent and time in the mountains, and a tenth straight
month of turns.


10 months of skiing and trip 1 in my L2. A great day. Apparently being able to nap the whole ride back to Seattle isn’t good enough.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Beyond Blogger: Liana Herron
A couple of Fridays ago Scott met me for dinner and brought with him my very own Beyond L2 (grid) pullover. Now while I knew this was in the works as we had taken measurements and talked about what clothing I wanted I didn’t expect to see the first result so quickly nor did I know what to expect. To back up a minute; when you meet a guy on the chairlift and he starts talking about a custom clothing company he owns you think to yourself “that sounds pretty cool”. That said it’s still kind of hard (at least for me) to imagine exactly what it would mean if I got a custom made something or other. Scott’s extremely passionate about what he does so I figured the clothes had to be pretty good and I have worn a few items of his which were not custom made for me. Read: I continually steal his fleece hoodies under the premise I forgot to bring a sweater with me. In fact there’s one in my hall closet now but still I’ve never owned a piece of custom gear before and have been fine.

So to continue, I pull the shirt over my head and………….SOLD!!!! You know those kids who decide they are going to stay in their jammies for weeks on end? Yeah that’s me in my L2. It’s been in the 70’s and 80’s here in Seattle and I’m looking for any excuse I can to wear my shirt. Out of the last 14 days I think that shirt has seen wear at least 11. Don’t believe me? Just ask my co-workers.

You might be thinking to yourself what could be that great about a shirt. Well let me tell you; first and foremost it fits. Not it fits okay, not this will do, but it actually fits and frankly it makes me look pretty dang good. At least I think so and that’s really all that matters. Just because you are in the woods or on the slopes doesn’t mean you don’t want to look at your best. Take it from me; chairlifts are a great place to meet people.

Now to the serious bits; for the women out there who have been graced with curves you will understand the difficulties of getting a top to fit. An ample chest means those shirts designed around a more boyish female figure all of a sudden are two inches shorter in the front, there is extra fabric billowing in the hollow of your back, and nothing manages to find its way over your hip bones but instead bunches up around your waist.

With this shirt the front comes down past my waistband, it skims my hips instead of bunching up, I don’t look like a box, and there aren’t bunches of fabric floating around my lower back. I wish someone would have told me about custom earlier.

For the guys with long arms, long torsos, and small waists with big shoulders you too can have something with fabric where it should be, like at your wrists, and not where it shouldn’t be, for example bunching up around your stomach.

It’s also important to not forget that at $64.00US it is less expensive than many of the comparable alternatives out there. And yes that is custom and you even get a neck zipper.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Camber Layering System - Level 3 (Fleece)

Level 3 of the Camber Layering System (CLS) includes a versatile set of fleece fabrics. From the Malamute to the Cold Blooded, each of our fleece products are made with Polartec. In 1996 when I started Beyond, we launched the Cold Blooded along with our Classic Line. The Classic line was traditional Polartec 200 fleece, a fine fabric, yet the Cold Blooded went a step ahead. At about the same thickness as Polartec 200, the Cold Blooded is two layers of fleece with a windproof, water resistant membrane in the middle. The inside layer of fleece is treated to wick moisture and disperse it along the membrane to enhance moisture transfer. The outer fleece layer is treated to be hydrophobic (hates water) and beads up water on the outside even before it gets to the membrane. Along with the great water characteristics, the fabric stretches perfectly for comfort of movement. The two layers of fleece along with the membrane allow for the warmest fleece product available.
The Cold Blooded is a great addition to anyone's CLS as their Layer 3. It is not as compressible as some fabrics though. If you will be wearing a wind proof layer (L4 and above), the windproof membrane of the Cold Blooded is not needed, so for versatility, compressibility and weight reduction, the Malamute is recommended. As a high loft fleece, warmth without weight is at the highest level. A loose weave with lofty 'fingers' creates great warmth on its own without wind, and great warmth under Layers 4-7 with any amount of wind. Due to its loose weave (less bulk), and open fingers (less bulk), the compressibility of the jacket is very high.
Recommended locations and uses: As a mid layer, the fleece is to be used as an addition to Levels 1 and 2 when the temperature dips below a comfortable level. What temperature would that be? We are unable to say, as everyone is different depending on their natural 'furnace', age, sex, fitness level, experience level (stress reduces temperature), and if they are wearing a warm hat. What I can say is that the CLS with the addition of Layer 3 will take you anywhere in the world, in any condition, any time of year, with less weight and bulk than ever before.
We've recently added a product matrix that has weight comparisons for all layers. See it here. Product Matrix.pdf <.5 meg>

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Camber Layering System - Level 2

Beyond’s blog is currently progressing through each level of the Camber Layering System. Continuing the progression through the various layers we are on to Layer 2.

The layers progress from long underwear, and next to skin type products in Layer 1 to the warmest, most protective layers in Layers 6 and 7.

Layer 2 includes the Grid products. The Grid, named for its inner fleece that looks like a grid, or waffle pattern, is fleece next to the skin, and smooth on the outer. Even though it is fleece it still includes the same wicking properties as the Base Line in Layer 1, and is still Polartec PowerDry. What does this mean?

1) PowerDry uses a bi-component knit that utilizes smaller yarns on the outside, that creates capillary action to draw moisture from your skin, and the inside of the shirt or pant, and spreads it out over the fabric for enhanced drying.
2) The ‘grid’ pattern is created by cutting away fleece linearly, leaving squares of loft. This increases compressibility, and enhances warmth with more pockets of air to capture your heat.
Otherwise the Grid fabric feels very similar to a 100 weight, one sided Polartec fleece.

I must say that the Grid has impressed me. We offer it in a long underwear style pant with fly, and a ¼ zip shirt. I have used both extensively over the last two years, next to skin and as a secondary layer. The pant as a next to skin works well while telemarking both on lift access, and back country (a Level 5 pant over). The wicking action keeps my warm legs dry, and do not overheat easily.
The Grid Shirt usually has the Base Line T-shirt under it, and has been used in single digit temps with multiple layers over (Layer 5 jacket & Layer 7 vest), and while biking on cool summer mornings (no other layers). The air flow allows for heat exhaust, yet keeps enough warmth to allow for continuous comfort.
The looks are also great. The patterning of the grid texture on the inside shows through to the smooth outer surface. Compliments abound, while it is also easy to transition from the trail to the pub, or bbq without feeling strange.

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