Bob and George
Bob and GeorgePlease Note: All Material below, and in all my "History of Gear" webpages, is copyrighted, and no usage of my material is permitted unless explicit permission is granted by me, Bruce B. Johnson, owner of OregonPhotos.com. Some of the material below is derived from interviews and/or correspondence with George Marks and Bob Swanson, co-founders of Sierra Designs. ....Readers: if you were involved with one of the old-line, vintage gear companies and have a story to tell in these pages, please contact me soon.
GEORGE MARKS discovered my History of Gear project and soon sent me his own lovingly constructed history of his company, full of both Sierra Designs products and his remembrances and praises of those he worked with over the years.
The Beginning: around 1963 George was working at George Rudolph's
Trailwise/Ski Hut in Berkeley,
California.
Soon a fellow named Bob moved into town with job references from
Holubar Mountaineering in Colorado...
Bob got hired on at Trailwise, and they became co-workers. Image:
George Rudolph on the left, with his former employee and long-time
neighbor, Mr. George Marks, picture taken late in Mr. Rudolph's
life. Image contributed by Mr. Marks.
In 1965 Bob and George left Trailwise and set themselves up at 137 Tewksbury in Point Richmond as "Sierra Designs." Soon they were sewing day and night to create enough "product" to keep a roof over their heads. Times were tough for the next several years after their October 1965 official opening. Their very first catalog was produced the following spring and entitled the "66-67" catalog.
Within the History of Gear, Sierra Designs
had a Signature Product for which they became amazingly famed.
Interestingly, it was not part of
their initial line-up of products. Of course we are speaking of
the Sierra Designs 60/40 Parka, which was introduced in
1968. To place this date within the History of Gear,
I will note that this is the year that one of Bob
Swanson's former employers, Alice
Holubar, died...... Recently, I interviewed Mr. Marks about
their famed 60/40 parka and the "60/40" cloth that forms
its essence. His reply about the merits of 60/40 cloth as a fabric
was a bit tongue in cheek, "It was the cloth that made us
famous." He also shared that really the fabric began as a
58x42 blend of cotton and nylon, and he just rounded the numbers
off to 60x40 for convenience.
My younger brother had an orange SD 60/40 parka that he used in his work for the US Forest Service during the very early 70s. For some reason that I cannot remember, I never bought one for myself, but I was always stealing his. It went so well with my Pivetta boots as I stalked around campus as a real climber.... Looking back, I have a very postive "take" on 60/40 cloth and the famous shell garment into which it was made....Here is why--- First, one must place 60/40 cloth into the context of its times-- Goretex was still 8-10 years in the future when the 60/40 parka began to establish its almost cult following. The other shell parkas of the time used materials which had no clear superiority over this newcomer called 60/40 cloth. Sure Ventile cotton was great if sewn with care and precision; sure, the Holubar NP22 cloth was good, too. Reevair had its benefits as a pre-Goretex fabric that had some waterproofness but still breathed to some extent. And in the realm of shells that were designed to be waterproof there was no real competition. Waterproof shells of that era were designed using urethane-coated nylons, but were not as waterproof as what modern consumers have come to expect (remember that this was an era without any modern techniques of sealing garment seams, such as heat taping, etc.). The fact was that 60/40 cloth, in its day, was a great material. Additionally, it was durable, and possessed an ideal "hand" for its intended use ("hand" refers to a somewhat subjective measurement of how the fabric "feels" to the hand and body of the wearer). 60/40 felt like a strong mountain shell, but also had a soft feel that draped well and was not harsh or noisy as one moved in it. Sure, it leaked if the rain was heavy but one could always put a new coat of silicone spray on it. And of course it had an advantage over Goretex-type materials in that a rugged outdoor person could get it plenty dirty and it did not affect its performance!
OCTOBER 2007 ALERT: MY BOOK ABOUT FROSTLINE KITS IS NOW PUBLISHED. IT CONTAINS A GOOD DEAL OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND NEW PHOTOGRAPHY. PLEASE VISIT MY FROSTLINE PAGE IF INTERESTED. NEAR THE TOP OF THAT PAGE YOU WILL SEE A "BANNER" THAT YOU CLICK ON TO GET TO MY PUBLISHER. NOTE: my next two books will cover the stories of Holubar and GERRY, and are already well underway.
George Marks has not had a role with Sierra Designs for a least a couple decades.. He resigned from the company in July of 1984, just under twenty years from when he and Bob Swanson began the company.. The good news is that Mr. Marks' endeavors are still in the area of outdoor gear production. In support of those endeavors, he has lived in China for many years and is Managing Director of a company there.
Mr. Swanson is also no longer part of Sierra Designs and lives in the Northeast United States. Bob and George remain fast friends. Click here for a picture of Mr. Marks in 2007. You will see him with an old friend and fellow gear pioneer named Skip Yowell.
The modern SD company does considerable overseas production in China and Korea, with an official U.S. headquarters location in Louisville, Colorado, and a Canadian headquarters in Brampton, Ontario, plus assorted other "partner" locations worldwide.
