Swazi Wapiti Jacket; read before purchase

[s1mon]

Hi all,

Just wanted to post some feedback for anyone interested in one of these jackets;

I spent ages contemplating getting one of these jackets and finally bit the bullet. First impressions were great; was really pleased. Had it around 11 months, in which time it only saw fairly light use, when I noticed the inside lining beginning to fail, exposing the outer layer of the jacket. So, particularly given it cost >£400, and the fact Swazi pride themselves on quality and longevity I sent it back, expecting they would see it was failing and they would repair or replace; no big issue, these things happen. They have however told me it has been caused by wear / rubbing on something (it definitely hasn't) and refused to repair or replace, and instead suggested I send it to Scottish Mountain Gear and pay to have it fixed. I would accept this if it had been heavily used, but as it clearly apparent from the overall condition of the jacket it is otherwise as new.

Really disappointed, was genuinely planning to purchased plenty of other things from them. I don't think I have ever left an unfavourable review for a product like this before, but wouldn't want anyone else considering spending this sort of money on one of their products to get stung. Really beyond disappointed by them.

Simon

 

[biffo]

That’s just so shortsighted of the company. If they had sorted it , you would have posted nothing but praise for them on here. Never ceases to amaze me .

 

[pop1]

Last year I bought a tahr through swillingtons. I had it on 2/3 times stalking with guests and found the arms to be not just leaking, but soaking water up, without direct pressure on the ground.
Long story short I sent it back to swillingtons and they sent it to the company that deal with Swazi repairs in the uk (can’t remember their name) They tried to tell me that (similar to you) I had worn the inside off with something rubbing inside. They were talking about the body of the jacket. I replied that the body wasn’t leaking, the arms were.
never heard back from them until swillingtons contacted me to say the tahr was to be repaired and sent back which could take 3 weeks. They’d already had it months. So, swillingtons sent me one the same size from their own stock, I had it the following day. Absolute nonsense re the lining being damaged, but the service from swillingtons was absolutely spot on in every way!!

 

[User00040]

I have quite a few bits of their gear now, all worked OK so far (over a year on one jacket) although can be fragile when crawling (not good for a brand priding themselves on toughness!)

Hopefully not a case of another brand getting too popular and the quality going to pot.

That being said Swillington's own Waipiti XP (has hand warmers in the Tahr position) is a great shooting jacket but the regular Waipiti not so great, handwarmer pockets in the wrong place and cargo pockets only work when standing up and not when crawling/crouching.

 

[Lupus]

I bought a Tahr on the back of rave reviews. Worst £400 I've ever spent. My arms would get soaking wet within a few minutes during a heavy downpour, and the main zip would leave me with a wet patch from belly button to throat after about half an hour. I bought it specifically as my 'very' wet weather coat. I have a couple of other coats that cost a fraction of the price and perform 10x better.

Sent it back for repair and it came back with some random patches attached. Next wet day out and it perfomed as poorly as before.

It just acts as a reminder now to not believe the hype and not to spend more than £150 on a coat.

Fine on a dry day though.

Wolfie

 

[Dawnrazor]

I've avoided, and will continue to avoid buying any of thier waterproof gear down to the continued poor reviews, but I do think thier fleece stuff is excellent.

 

[Dan Newcombe]

My wife had a very similar problem with the inside running away somehow.

We got Swazi to pay for the repair based on the fact that it was worn very little (as per your point and shown on the overall condition), it was only used for picking up so not crawling about and wearing heavily and (most importantly) she has a number of other jackets that have lasted, with the exact same type of wear for a number of years whereas the Swazi had lasted the grand total of 4 months(ish). This includes berghaus, paramo, harkila etc which have performed markedly better and with significantly better customer service - always worth a go!

Having said that - i really like mine, fits really well and keeps the bad stuff on the outside as long as any of the competition does.

Thanks

Dan

 

[gelert]

This is a growing problem with big manufacturers, who charge hundreds for their garment but can't follow through on warranty or general customer service.Nomad and Harkilla are exactly the same, don't want to know when there's an issue with faulty equipment.

 

[Highlander94]

Bought a Swazi tahr last year after my mate having his Swazi for 12 years and still keeps him dry, sent back twice because arms was leaking , was told it was because I lie down shooting/crawling, emailed them back explaning I was unhappy and that it's advertised as a hunting jacket ect, they just stopped replying to me , moved onto bush buck big 4 and been in torrential downpours, and all day rain and haven't had a drop of water in, company is a absaloute pleasure to deal with to

 

[Koenig]

Always very enlightening to know what a given company is like to deal with when things go wrong. It certainly shapes how I spend my cash in future.

 

[Rusty Gate]

Hi all,

Just wanted to post some feedback for anyone interested in one of these jackets;

I spent ages contemplating getting one of these jackets and finally bit the bullet. First impressions were great; was really pleased. Had it around 11 months, in which time it only saw fairly light use, when I noticed the inside lining beginning to fail, exposing the outer layer of the jacket. So, particularly given it cost >£400, and the fact Swazi pride themselves on quality and longevity I sent it back, expecting they would see it was failing and they would repair or replace; no big issue, these things happen. They have however told me it has been caused by wear / rubbing on something (it definitely hasn't) and refused to repair or replace, and instead suggested I send it to Scottish Mountain Gear and pay to have it fixed. I would accept this if it had been heavily used, but as it clearly apparent from the overall condition of the jacket it is otherwise as new.

Really disappointed, was genuinely planning to purchased plenty of other things from them. I don't think I have ever left an unfavourable review for a product like this before, but wouldn't want anyone else considering spending this sort of money on one of their products to get stung. Really beyond disappointed by them.

Simon

I've few Hoggs Of Fife items now, well made well used & well priced. First purchase was an issue with a hood, resolved in a phone call & recieved within two day's. Can't get myself to part with that sort of money when I can buy these & spend the change on equipment.

 

[Mungo]

So I have had a similar experience with a Tahr, but my experience with Swazi themselves was outstanding.

The Tahr, as others have said, is not a good thing. First, it is very badly designed. The hood does not seal you in properly, the chest flap leaks, the wrist cuffs soak up water that then transmits to your sleeves, and the lack of pockets is an absurdity. It is a complete mystery as to how it has ended up so highly regarded: it is simply not fit for purpose.

Second, it starts to leak quickly - again, as others have said, primarily in the arms and shoulders, and it does not tolerate crawling.

So: I contacted Swazi. They could not have been more friendly and helpful, and repaired and sent it back to me for free. Obviously this does not solve the underlying problems, but I found them a pleasure to deal with.

So - overall, am utterly rubbish product, but better customer support than most other companies. Certainly far better than the UK based companies I’ve had to deal with (don’t get me started on Nomad, Hunter and Higgs of Fife, who all treat customers like a tedious inconvenience).

 

[SimpleSimon]

Very very interesting! I nearly blew a lot of money on a Tahr or Wapiti a couple of years ago, but I was unsure. I hadn't seen much Swazi kit up close and I was concerned about the sizing as well as the fabric. I used to deal a lot with outdoor fabrics and so I'm always skeptical about claims that aren't backed up by data. You can call a garment "waterproof" if it has a "hydrostatic head measure" of 3000mm. That sounds like a lot until you realise that the best performing Gore Tex fabric is more than ten times that! Likewise with breathability, the best fabrics in the industry are FAR superior than cheaper ones. The majority of complaints where breathability is concerned stem from wearing the wrong type of things underneath.
Anyway, Swazi (and many others) don't make those performance tests available so you've got no benchmark on just how good the fabric, brand new, should perform.

Eventually I bought a Shooterking smock. This was also a gamble, but they do have the fabric specs published on the website. It's been brilliant so far, the outer face fabric is very tough. This makes it heavier than many, but I'd rather it was heavy and durable than lightweight and fragile. It's also got pockets in useful places and venting zips under the arms. The design is not perfect and there are a couple of areas where a keen eye can see where cost has been saved, but it's less than half the cost of the Tahr...

 

[John Gryphon]

Advise swazi of your (you leave me no option) intentions of taking it to social media where it will draw poor publicity for their company

 

[Mungo]

Advise swazi of your (you leave me no option) intentions of taking it to social media where it will draw poor publicity for their company

They don’t care.

 

[Mungo]

There appears to be a fairly common marketing model amongst the big name brands:

1. Generate a lot of interest in the product and launch it as a 'premium' product, with much fanfare and some high impact endorsements by Big Names in the field.
2. Price it at the upper end.
3. Rely on the fact that many people who buy it will tend to use it lightly; not be experienced enough in the field to really understand the acceptable parameters for a product at this price point; and not be able to afford multiple items from different brands for comparison.
4. The majority of these people will either never encounter problems (because they don't use it often or hard enough); or may not recognise that they are genuine problems, because they have no frame of reference.
5. These people will be entirely happy with the product, and will say so. That is fine - they have got what they wanted, but they may not be using it the way you want to.
6. Often, because of the expense and cachet of the product, the people of who are happy with it will be quite vocal about how good it is.
7. A minority will encounter problems, and recognise them as such. A substantial proportion of these will be unwilling to broadcast that they have the problem, primarily because they are unwilling to fully come to terms with the fact that something they spent so much money on (and which may have formed part of their 'identity' as a stalker/mountain climber/photographer etc) is not fit for purpose.
8. Therefore only a very small proportion of the total number of people who bought the thing will actually complain or post negative comments. A simple browse through the reviews section of ANY high end recreational equipment manufacturer's website will show this vividly: the vast majority of reviews give 5 stars, fewer give 4 stars, very few give 3 stars and almost none give less than 3. That ALL products manufactured by ALL companies have a mean quality of around 4.5 stars is a statistical impossibility. The corollary to this is that if you actually want a realistic review of a product, only ever read the 3 star and less reviews.
9. Therefore the tiny number of negative reviews that appear are drowned out by all the positives. Sometimes this is even active: people can be extremely defensive of their pet thing, and can be very reactive when someone posts a negative review (witness the ugly little cat fights that can develop on here).
10. This means that the manufacturer can afford not to care - and they generally don't. The majority of their customers are either happy or don't complain, so why worry about a minority who come across as cranky axe grinders?

 

[hendrix's rifle]

There appears to be a fairly common marketing model amongst the big name brands:

1. Generate a lot of interest in the product and launch it as a 'premium' product, with much fanfare and some high impact endorsements by Big Names in the field.
2. Price it at the upper end.
3. Rely on the fact that many people who buy it will tend to use it lightly; not be experienced enough in the field to really understand the acceptable parameters for a product at this price point; and not be able to afford multiple items from different brands for comparison.
4. The majority of these people will either never encounter problems (because they don't use it often or hard enough); or may not recognise that they are genuine problems, because they have no frame of reference.
5. These people will be entirely happy with the product, and will say so. That is fine - they have got what they wanted, but they may not be using it the way you want to.
6. Often, because of the expense and cachet of the product, the people of who are happy with it will be quite vocal about how good it is.
7. A minority will encounter problems, and recognise them as such. A substantial proportion of these will be unwilling to broadcast that they have the problem, primarily because they are unwilling to fully come to terms with the fact that something they spent so much money on (and which may have formed part of their 'identity' as a stalker/mountain climber/photographer etc) is not fit for purpose.
8. Therefore only a very small proportion of the total number of people who bought the thing will actually complain or post negative comments. A simple browse through the reviews section of ANY high end recreational equipment manufacturer's website will show this vividly: the vast majority of reviews give 5 stars, fewer give 4 stars, very few give 3 stars and almost none give less than 3. That ALL products manufactured by ALL companies have a mean quality of around 4.5 stars is a statistical impossibility. The corollary to this is that if you actually want a realistic review of a product, only ever read the 3 star and less reviews.
9. Therefore the tiny number of negative reviews that appear are drowned out by all the positives. Sometimes this is even active: people can be extremely defensive of their pet thing, and can be very reactive when someone posts a negative review (witness the ugly little cat fights that can develop on here).
10. This means that the manufacturer can afford not to care - and they generally don't. The majority of their customers are either happy or don't complain, so why worry about a minority who come across as cranky axe grinders?

Funny you should say this, whilst not related as such to the OP I bought a deer hunter game keeper jacket, advertised as water proof and resistant to thorns/hard wearing. First thing i did was jump into a thorn bush to see if it was right, if it wasn't id have sent it back lol. They were right, just didn't think far enough ahead to protect my legs i wouldn't spend that much on a jacket anyway when a gortrex jacket will do all I need

 

[s1mon]

Just an update;

Swazi have continued not to accept any responsibility for this issue and I am having to arrange and pay for a repair, despite the jacket only being 11 months old and having had very light use.

So far and whilst i have been given the run around on this, I have been without the jacket for 5 months waiting for a resolution (of the now 17 months I have owned the jacket)

Any recommendations of an alternative manufacture of good quality stalking clothing who I should turn to in future?

Thanks,

Simon

 

[zambezi]

I've few Hoggs Of Fife items now, well made well used & well priced. First purchase was an issue with a hood, resolved in a phone call & recieved within two day's. Can't get myself to part with that sort of money when I can buy these & spend the change on equipment.

Another hearty endorsement for Hoggs of Fife products and services: I bought a jacket+trouser combo some years back. Very well designed and fabricated. Too warm for summer use, it really only sees action in the winter. 2nd winter the jacket zip went. Hoggs replaced without qualm. The replacement has lasted years.

The jacket+trousers have now had a season of beating added to the usual stalking, and it is still performing like a champ.

 

[Feugh]

It's threads like these that keep me in army surplus gear. Crawling through icy puddles and heather after the hinds in a surplus gore-tex and buffalo mountain jacket is fine - I may be a bit damp but always warm, and I don't care if the jacket fails or rips because £35 will get me another.