Outdoor equipment poll: Thule or Yakima

[shlingdawg]

Which company do you prefer and why?

[DiscGo]

Let me share a story with you that I hope ends this debate quickly.

I went to REI to get a Thule cargo box because they were on sale 20% off. As I compared Yakima and Thule I decided it was worth the extra 20% to get Yakima because it seemed sturdier and of higher quality.

Last summer with 2 days left before I came home from Alaska, I was driving over a bridge on an incredibly windy day, and due to an unknown defect in my lock the cargo box was not completely shut and the lid ripped off the top of my Subaru.

I called Yakima and explained that I was in Juneau Alaska and there were no vendors in the city who carried my Skybox. And Yakima stepped it up. They overnighted me some heavy duty straps to strap my box down, so that I could still drive it home to Utah. They offered to over night a hundred pounds of my gear home for me (so my box could be open) and as soon as I got back to Utah, Yakima had me take my box back to REI and got me a brand new one.

Their gear is high quality and their customer service is awesome. Yakima is an awesome company and they make awesome gear! I still love my heavy duty straps :).

[JP]

I've used Yakima in the past, never any issues with that product. Very happy customer

[REDFOX]

I have used Yakima for the past 10 years. I have never had any problems with any of their products. At the time they offered more items and accesories than Thule. That may not be a factor now.

[BruteForce]

Yakima. Solid products. Never an issue!

[stefan]

have no personal experience with thule, but my yakima products have been great

great company which up until 2006 resided in the midst of the redwoods in arcata, no. california. nice facility there and a great rapport they had with the local community.

i believe it was acquired by another company and has been moved to oregon. hope the quality is maintained at a high standard.

here's a little ancient history for you on this fine company from circa 1995.

Yakima racks are not made in Yakima. They're made in Arcata, Calif. BUT: They have roots in Yakima, the Bowling Trophy Capital of the Northwest.

The story goes like this: Long ago (1970s) and far away (Yakima), an inventor named Otto Lagervall came up with a new sheet-music-stand design that swept the sheet-music-stand world. This freed him to invent other things, such as kayak footbraces.

Eventually, Otto got tired of inventing and decided to sell his company. In 1979, he did so, transferring all of Yakima Industries to some young bucks from California.

The young bucks, who still own the company today as older bucks, called it "Wheels of Industry," for some time, manufacturing crude (by today's standards) roof racks.

Ultimately, the middle-aged bucks decided "Wheels of Industry" sounded too much like a game show or a wagon-train museum. They switched the name back to the catchier "Yakima," a Native American word meaning either, "valley of many bears," or "valley of fat bellies," according to Yakima Products spokeswoman Robin Hashem, who would never joke about such things.

Today, the company has many, many employees, who, when they are not playing table tennis in the California factory, make roof-rack accessories to haul anything from mountain bikes to mothers-in-law. After work, they haul things around on their cars and scoff at their competitor, Thule, which is in a gutter-to-gutter battle with Yakima for worldwide roof-rack supremacy.

[tallsteve]

I've owned both. I have Yakima now and won't ever buy Thule again. My Thule crossbars lasted for about a year before rusting badly. The bars are encased in a vinyl coating which split open thus allowing water to rust the unprotected steel. I've had my Yakima rack on top of the Jeep now for nearly 6 years and never a problem and I use the rack system a lot. Great quality gear.

[Teleken]

I've been hauling on my Yak since 1989. Still using the same sets of crossbars from 1989 and 1991 (thanks to the dry Colorado air they are rusty but still solid).

[Deathcricket]

Let me share a story with you that I hope ends this debate quickly.

I went to REI to get a Thule cargo box because they were on sale 20% off. As I compared Yakima and Thule I decided it was worth the extra 20% to get Yakima because it seemed sturdier and of higher quality.

Last summer with 2 days left before I came home from Alaska, I was driving over a bridge on an incredibly windy day, and due to an unknown defect in my lock the cargo box was not completely shut and the lid ripped off the top of my Subaru.

I called Yakima and explained that I was in Juneau Alaska and there were no vendors in the city who carried my Skybox. And Yakima stepped it up. They overnighted me some heavy duty straps to strap my box down, so that I could still drive it home to Utah. They offered to over night a hundred pounds of my gear home for me (so my box could be open) and as soon as I got back to Utah, Yakima had me take my box back to REI and got me a brand new one.

Their gear is high quality and their customer service is awesome. Yakima is an awesome company and they make awesome gear! I still love my heavy duty straps :).

I've never used either, but based on that story alone I voted for Yakima. Any company that goes that far above and beyond for customers is amazing IMO.

[moabfool]

I'm usint Thule right now, mostly because I picked the load bars, feet, and two bike trays for $75. I've been happy with it.

I can see advantages to the Yakima design though. The round load bars mean that your ski rack doesn't have to sit up in the wind all the time. Rotate them back for a more aerodynamic stance.

If I were buying bike trays I would seriously consider going to a third company, Rocky Mounts. I bought some of their quick release fork-mount skewers and I love them. The best part is that their trays will fit on either Yakima or Thule. It's super nice when you want to haul extra bikes but you don't want to take extra cars.

www.rockymounts.com

[moabfool]

I'm using Thule right now, mostly because I picked the load bars, feet, and two bike trays for $75 at the gear swap. I've been happy with it.

I can see advantages to the Yakima design though. The round load bars mean that your ski rack doesn't have to sit up in the wind all the time. Rotate them back for a more aerodynamic stance.

If I were buying bike trays I would seriously consider going to a third company, Rocky Mounts. I bought some of their quick release fork-mount skewers and I love them. The best part is that their trays will fit on either Yakima or Thule. It's super nice when you want to haul extra bikes but you don't want to take extra cars.

www.rockymounts.com