Beginning today, Ortlieb is offering customers an alternative to the usual Black Friday consumerism by encouraging them to repair their old gear rather than replace it, and they’re offering 40% off repair services through the first of December. Find details on how and where to send your gear in more than a dozen countries here…

Enduring waterproof bag brand Ortlieb from Heilsbronn, Germany, just started its biggest sale of the year, but rather than offering details on products, they’re giving customers a 40 percent discount on repair services to help get their old gear back in tip-top condition. Reinforcing Ortlieb’s core belief that longevity and repairability are key aspects of sustainability, we applaud their decision not to push new items ahead of the holiday blitz. Having used many Ortlieb products ourselves over the years, we can confirm that the need for repair is relatively uncommon with their gear, but the brand’s third annual Repair Weeks window offers a great opportunity to fix anything that may have been damaged through heavy use or bad luck.

  • Inside Ortlieb
  • Inside Ortlieb

Josh and I had the chance to see the repair process in person when we visited Ortlieb’s headquarters and production facility in Germany a couple of years back, and we were both surprised to see how minor of repairs were typically needed and how small the repair team was relative to the rest of the operation—a byproduct of the brand making a quality product from the onset. They keep spares on hand for at least a decade after an item has been discontinued from the collection, and their waterproof fabrics are easily patchable.

Inside Ortlieb

There are participating repair facilities in Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States. To have your gear repaired, you’ll first email your local facility to get an authorization number, then send your gear in, and it will be returned to you by mail once the work is done. Repair times vary, but expect to wait a few weeks.

Find full details on Ortlieb Repair Week over at Ortlieb.com.

Further Reading

Make sure to dig into these related articles for more info...

FILED IN (CATEGORIES & TAGS)

Dispatch

Please keep the conversation civil, constructive, and inclusive, or your comment will be removed.