Mt Whitney Zone Forums Gear Heads Kayland USA RIP

I called Kayland to complain about a second pair of their eVent lined Contacts leaking after their first extensive exposure to water (snow). Both pairs leaked during the winter after not a lot of wear, the current pair were used less than 150 miles, most of which was on snow.

After the claim was denied because they were outside the 1 year warranty period, I started to climb the ladder to see what could be done. This is where I found out two things Kayland is shutting down operations in the US and they have switched to Gore-Tex to line their boots.

My experience with Kayland has soured me on anything eVent. I certainly would not trust it out in the winter. It's back to Gore-Tex for anything costly because if the retailer or the manufacturer fails to take care of the problem there is always W.L. Gore.

I had to use Google to figure out you were talking about hiking boots!


Kayland Contact Hiking Boot

I only know them from pretty much permantent sales on SierraTradingPost - not a brand with any history. Italians just don't call their companies "Kayland: unless some marketing genius comes up with it

KAYLAND - divisione sport di Novation S.p.a. - Via G.Ferraris 56, 31044 MONTEBELLUNA

Novation is a company that makes plastic injected stuff and in the 90s they became part of Nike to make ice skates and the soles for soccer shoes. Since 2004 they have mostly been owned by some investment group, and I bet that is when they started making hiking boots, motocycle boots, work safety gear, etc - and a lot of that is manufactured in the Ukraine.

I now know more about boots I don't own than those I have been buying for many years (La Sportiva [like]). Actually, I just did a quick google on La Sportiva and it looks like they have been making boots since 1928.

current Kayland sale:
http://www.sierratradingpost.com/kayland~b~11325/

I sold shoes for 7 years in my 'ute; therefore, I know good deal about quality footwear. These are good boots compromised by a poor quality sock.

If I had purchased this pair from STP they would have been in the mail back to them on Monday, since their return policy is the same as REI's.

I have contacted eVent a few times on this matter and they've been less than helpful, to the point I called GE and GE Energy, both of which had no clue they made a waterproof breathable product or had a wholly owned subsidiary by the name of eVent.

Based on my experience, I would never purchase eVent clothing or footwear for extreme conditions. Both times they leaked was in the spring conditions like Saturday. I worn these boots because they are more comfortable for long approaches than my La Sportiva Trangos, which means they are wet most of the day. I have never had this type of problem with Gore-Tex, jackets, pants or boots.