A TWO-YEAR WARRANTY. CLOTHING DESIGNED TO LAST MUCH LONGER.
One of my favorite things about SCOTTeVEST is hearing from customers who tell me they're still wearing a vest or jacket they purchased 10, 15, or even 20 years ago. SCOTTeVEST's purchased around the time the articles came out in the image above. Occasionally, I even hear from someone who is still wearing a version 1.0, and I'm reminded just how far we've come since Laura and I started this business more than 25 years ago. We're proud that our clothing is built to be used and enjoyed for years, rather than discarded when next season's fashions arrive.
Which brings me to a reasonable question: if we believe so strongly in our products, why do we offer a two-year warranty rather than a lifetime warranty? The short answer is that a warranty against manufacturing defects and a product's useful life are two entirely different things. Our two-year warranty protects customers against defects in materials or workmanship that arise from manufacturing. It isn't a prediction of how long your SCOTTeVEST should last, and it certainly isn't a suggestion that your favorite vest should be replaced every two years.
The more interesting part of the answer involves something I've spent an enormous amount of time thinking about: product evolution. SCOTTeVEST may be a clothing company, but I've always approached our products more like a technology company would. Every garment represents a collection of design choices, engineering decisions, customer feedback, and lessons from previous versions. We're constantly changing pocket configurations, fabrics, construction methods, and hardware to make the clothing more useful and comfortable.
Sometimes that means eliminating features that seemed like terrific ideas when we introduced them. Take two-way front zippers, which we discussed in a previous Pocket Science story. They offered genuine benefits, particularly when sitting down, but we discovered that their operation could be surprisingly difficult in real-world conditions. Eventually, we moved away from them in our products, sometimes incorporating alternatives such as side-seam zippers. It wasn't because the original components were necessarily defective. We simply learned that we could provide a better overall experience.
Here's where warranties and product evolution intersect. Once a particular garment design is discontinued, the exact fabrics, hardware, or other specialized components used to manufacture it may no longer be available. A zipper from a product made 15 years ago might not be interchangeable with one used today. Manufacturing techniques and patterns change, and replacing a single component is not always as simple as it sounds. Maintaining replacement parts indefinitely for every product we've created over a quarter century would be an enormous undertaking, and in some cases simply isn't practical.
None of this means we expect clothing to fall apart after two years. Quite the opposite. We want our customers to continue enjoying their SCOTTeVESTs for as long as possible. But we believe that offering a clear, meaningful warranty against manufacturing defects, while continuing to improve our products, is a more responsible approach than making open-ended promises we might not always be able to fulfill.
I recognize that some customers would prefer a lifetime warranty, and I understand that perspective. We all want to feel confident that something we purchase is going to serve us well for years. That's why we pay so much attention to quality, construction, functionality, and the feedback we receive from the people who actually wear our clothing.
After 25 years, I'm still finding ways to improve our products. That process requires occasionally acknowledging that something we once considered a great innovation can be improved, replaced, or eliminated. To me, that's not a weakness. It's the essence of Pocket Science. Every product we release is going to be better than the last.
Our warranty lasts two years. Our ambition is to make clothing you'll want to wear for many, many more.
THE CARS WERE THE EXCUSE. THE DOGS MADE IT MORE FUN. MOUNTAIN HUMANE WAS THE REASON.
A 145-mile drive, 20 cars, 11 dogs, and $50,000 for animals in need.
Anyone who knows me knows I have a few passions that occasionally border on obsessions. Cars are certainly one of them. Dogs are another, particularly our three Standard Poodles, Rhonda, Sabrina, and Michael Jordan. And then, of course, there’s SCOTTeVEST, the company Laura and I started more than 25 years ago that has taken us on an extraordinary journey neither of us could possibly have imagined.
But one of the most rewarding aspects of building SCOTTeVEST has little to do with pockets, clothing, or even business. It’s the relationships we’ve developed and the opportunities those relationships have created to make a positive difference in the world. This October, I experienced that in a way I hadn’t quite anticipated.
Laura and I moved to Sun Valley in 2002, and over the years we’ve become deeply involved with Mountain Humane, our local animal welfare organization. For nearly two decades, we’ve supported its annual Paws Up fundraiser, including through SCOTTeVEST’s sponsorship as a Best in Show sponsor. We’ve also contributed personally over the years because we believe passionately in the organization’s mission of caring for animals and helping them find loving homes.
Much of our giving has happened quietly. Certainly, we’ve been recognized as sponsors at various events, but publicity was never the reason we became involved. Anyone who knows Laura and me knows just how central our dogs are to our lives. We simply wanted to support an organization that does extraordinary work for animals who aren’t fortunate enough to have the kind of loving homes our poodles enjoy.
We’ve also found other ways to give back to the community that has given us so much. SCOTTeVEST has sponsored local pickleball events, including the Wood River Pickleball Alliance’s Play with the Pros, and Laura and I recently funded a new public pickleball patio at Atkinson Park. Pickleball has become an enormous part of our lives, and helping create a place where people can gather, socialize, and enjoy the sport seemed like a natural way to contribute.
But sometime over the past year, I began thinking about charitable giving a little differently. Rather than simply writing checks or sponsoring events, what if I could use some of the relationships I’ve developed over the past 25 years to encourage other people to become involved? After all, I’ve spent a quarter century promoting SCOTTeVEST, and even wrote a book about being a shameless, passionate, personal promoter. Perhaps it was time to put some of those skills to work for something other than selling clothing.
And that brings me to the Lead Dog Rally.
I’ve participated in some spectacular automotive rallies over the years, driving incredible roads alongside interesting people in amazing cars. I’ve made wonderful friendships through these adventures, and I started wondering whether I could combine my passion for driving with my love of dogs and our longstanding commitment to Mountain Humane.
The idea was simple enough: gather a group of interesting people and cars, take them on a spectacular drive through Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains, have a fantastic time, and encourage everyone to support Mountain Humane along the way. No competition, no racing, no stopwatches, and no requirement to own an exotic automobile. In fact, you didn’t even need a dog. The only real prerequisite was a willingness to enjoy yourself and support a worthwhile cause.
Of course, anyone who knows me knows that even my simplest ideas have a tendency to grow into something rather elaborate. Fortunately, Laura has been dealing with this particular character trait for more than 30 years, so she wasn’t especially surprised when my little driving excursion evolved into a much larger undertaking.
On October 3, the inaugural Lead Dog Rally became a reality. Twenty cars, 33 people, and 11 dogs gathered in Ketchum for a spectacular 145-mile drive over Galena Summit, through Stanley, and along the Salmon River toward Sunbeam. We stopped for photographs, lunch, conversation, plenty of dog time, and even a soak in the natural hot springs for a few adventurous participants. The weather was glorious, the fall colors were magnificent, and everyone seemed to have an extraordinary time.
But here’s what really made the day special.
Together, our participants and supporters raised approximately $50,000 for Mountain Humane.
No mandatory donations. No entry fees. Just people who believed in what we were doing and wanted to help. Some contributed even though they couldn’t attend, and others gave far more generously than I could ever have expected. What started as my somewhat harebrained idea to combine cars and dogs had become something genuinely meaningful.
And that brings me back to SCOTTeVEST.
When Laura and I started the company in 2000, we were simply trying to build a business around an idea that I believed could change how people carried their everyday essentials. I had no way of knowing that 25 years later, the company would connect us with extraordinary people all over the world. Many of those relationships have become genuine friendships, extending far beyond anything to do with clothing or commerce.
Looking back, I realize that some of the greatest rewards of building SCOTTeVEST have nothing to do with selling another vest. They’ve come from the people we’ve met, the lives we’ve touched, and the opportunities we’ve had to do something worthwhile together.
The Lead Dog Rally crystallized that realization for me. For years, Laura and I had been supporting causes we believed in through our own contributions. This time, we were able to bring together a remarkable group of people and collectively accomplish something far greater than we could have done on our own.
I don’t share this story because I want congratulations for organizing a fundraiser. The real credit belongs to the extraordinarily generous participants and supporters, and to the dedicated people at Mountain Humane who do the important work of caring for animals every single day. I’m sharing it because I find the entire experience deeply gratifying, and because it reminded me that all of us have opportunities to make a difference by bringing people together around the things we care about.
I’m already thinking about the 2027 Lead Dog Rally, and given how well this first one turned out, I suspect I’ve accidentally created an annual tradition. Frankly, there are worse problems to have.
After 25 years of building SCOTTeVEST, I remain extraordinarily proud of our products and the company Laura and I have created. But I am increasingly grateful for something that I could never have anticipated when we started: the remarkable community that has developed around our lives and business, and the opportunity to use those relationships to accomplish something good.
The cars were the excuse. The dogs made it more fun. Mountain Humane was the reason.
And the generosity of our community made it all possible.
