Cotopaxi the company - soliciting input / feedback

I'm doing some brand research here for a project and thought, what better place to ask this question than THE Project!

Any and all comments welcome regarding the company, their gear, their mission, their stores, etc. 

Thank you,

Look up the podcast "How I Built This" put out by NPR. They do a really great episode with Davis Smith, the founder of Cotopaxi. Lots of good info.

i know nothing of the ethics, but they make the best face mask hands down that i’ve bought! 

When you start seeing cotopaxi backpacks on the trail you know you're getting close to the parking lot. 

I have a really nice double wall bottle I got for free from the vendors at the last ReelRock.  Otherwise, their gear seems expensive.

I'd second the recommendation to listen to the How I Built This podcast.  Really great episode.  I always just dismissed Cotopaxi as some hipster/millennial/influencer stuff until listening to the podcast.  Different view now.

Great feedback so far thank you. Love the close to the trail head comment. I've started the podcast. I did founder's stories so enjoying it and thanks for the link. Spot on for some of what I am looking for. Keep the comments coming please!

I have several of their products, dating back to their Kickstarter or Indiegogo campaign in 2017 for the Allpa travel backpack. I've never had a complaint with any of their gear (couple shirts, couple backpacks, chalk bag, covid mask, sleeping bags, hats) as they all have lasted very well over the years I've owned them.

Call me cynical, but with most companies, I'm skeptical as to the degree of truth behind their claims of social responsibly, environmental activism, etc.  While I haven't done any actual research into Cotopaxi in this regard, for some reason their offerings, website, communications, and initiatives feel sincere and I'm willing to believe they walk the walk as much, if not significantly more than the average outdoor company.  I love their vibrant color schemes and their gear is functional and durable.

I'd love to buy a larger capacity hiking/climbing pack from them (they used to carry the Nepal, a 70L pack but no longer have it) but they don't offer that anymore.  I wish their stuff wasn't as pricey; I basically live in the sale section, but any time I'm in the market for something, I'll usually check Cotopaxi first to see if they've got something functionally comparable to the rest of the industry.  The Questival is pretty cool too.

Hey! Davis Smith here, the founder of Cotopaxi. Happy to answer any questions you have! I'll share below a few key points about the brand that you may find interesting. 

As for the mission of the brand, I moved to the developing world as a four year old and spent all my childhood and much of my adult life in a number of countries known for their poverty. It shaped my life in a major way in that I've spent my whole life, every day, thinking about how I could make the world a little bit better. I started Cotopaxi (named after a volcano in Ecuador where I grew up, and the school I attended) with the dream of finding a way to sustainably alleviate global poverty and inspire others to join us in that movement. Our creed of "DO GOOD" touches every aspect of our company from our giving model, to our culture, to our sustainable supply chain and product design. One of my favorite aspects of the work we do is with refugees (our Refugee Job Club, the hand-written thank you cards written by them that go out in every order, etc.).

As for the comment about our bags being used by people near the trailhead, I hope that's actually true. Day 1 of Cotopaxi with my first five teammates, I outlined my vision for the brand and explained that I didn't want to create another outdoor brand competing for the same customers. We wanted to build a brand that made great technical product, but that appealed not only to amazing and passionate outdoorsmen (like we are), but also to people that are often excluded from the outdoors. It's one of my criticisms of our industry ... it can be very exclusionary and can look down on people that aren't as "intense" or "core." It's something we need to change together. Women, people of color, etc. should all feel less intimidated and more welcomed into our space.

Any way, I'm passionate about our mission, as you can tell. I'm confident that if we approach capitalism differently, no longer focused on maximizing profits, but instead focused on how we can lift those around us, that the world will look very different.

I've got a Cotopaxi down jacket. Love it. No complaints.  : )

Wow, thanks for posting here Davis. And really great points about the trailhead quip. 

So I know the brand and know some people that use it.  However, I've never purchased or used their gear.  Call me cynical but I think their stuff is over priced for the quality.  The colors weird me out little for every day use but for recreation the color doesn't matter to me.

I'm biased and love the Osprey Old Mighty Guarantee!

 Hell Yeah! 

LOve the colours.

Davis, that is awesome. Thanks for responding. I will definitely check out your brand in the future. I gotta say, I definitely liked the trailhead comment,  but your response to it was even better. 

Gumby King wrote:

So I know the brand and know some people that use it.  However, I've never purchased or used their gear.  Call me cynical but I think their stuff is over priced for the quality.  The colors weird me out little for every day use but for recreation the color doesn't matter to me.

I'm biased and love the Osprey Old Mighty Guarantee!

*Reads Davis' post (after commenting)*

...awkward...

I really respect the business model. I have the Tarak and while I like using it for multipitch, I wish I could connect a rope to it better for the approach. It only holds a rope well on top if you have a lot of stuff in the pack, and I usually try to carry as little as possible.

Also if you made a synthetic puffy, I would buy one.

I have a small pack from them I bought for 18 bucks I use as a day pack (shoved into the bottom of my main pack) for longer outings. It's 4 years old as has been thru hell and held up. 

I have an Alpa 35 for one-bagging airline travel by myself and car camping with my wife up to a week and a Batac 16 for cruising around town or short hikes (<10 miles) and they have both been fantastic.

I really like the organization options on the Alpa and find it to be a great size for airline travel. The included waist belt on the 35 makes cruising around airports more comfortable. The construction is excellent and I've had no trouble with it so far. I got my Alpa on sale but would gladly pay full price for another one in the future if I need one.

The Batac is light weight and packs down to almost nothing but lacks any sort of frame or support. It's fine for a couple of hours but my shoulders start to get sore after hour 3 carrying 2 liters of water, a rain jacket, first aid kit, snacks, phone, keys, wallet, etc. Not great, not terrible. It's a good bag to leave in the trunk with some essentials in it but I bring something like my Osprey Raptor instead for longer hikes or all-day trips.

My wife like the fun colors, she is probably more the target of the brand than I am (see comments from the founder)
To me they look like the Desigual of backpacks ... or the US version of the Freitag brand.
I think for the mountain you can find much better options. With a 215 € price tag for 35 liters you are almost in cuben fiber territory!
I guess that most people buying this backpack are more buying the ethic around it and the concept than the backpack itself, that is not to say that the backpack is crap.
To me, as with all my mountain gear, a mountain backpack is a tool (and God knows I love my tools ;)) but they are not a fashion/ethical statement. 

To be clear, I am not putting down the brand, I wish them well, and apparently they are doing well. Just underlining that it doesn't appeal to me.

* I m providing this piece of focus group FOC btw (just kidding :)

To Cherokee- my comment regarding the brand: before you mentioned the name, I never heard of it and I don’t recall ever seeing an ad for the company. But the founder’s comments probably explain why, as I am an older climber and not their target demographic? I tend to keep the things I buy for a very long time. I never buy softgoods online. If I need something like a new pack, I start looking in gear shops when I am on climbing trips and when I find something that fits and has the features I want, I buy it.