If you're one of those that live and play in the mountains, there are two seasons when we pull out our gear to review and make sure we're ready to hit the slopes, the hiking, and mountain bike trails.

Two piles, one for the items we can get at least one more season out of, and the other pile the stuff that no longer fits, or it's seen its day. Tents, jackets, with hideous stains. Sleeping bags too with stains, and lacking loft, that thing that keeps you warm. It's the same story for most of us.

Our sleeping bags still had the stains they had last fall even after washing them before we put them away. The stains we could probably live with, but the lack of loft probably not. I remember freezing last fall up at Saddlebag Lake. After years of use, they were just worn out, time to replace them.

They were both Western Mountaineering bags, the best on the market.
Even though we own a mountain shop, they're pricey bags, but we got a lot of years and heavy use out of them. Then I started thinking about Technical Equipment Cleaners. We have been sending customers to them for years, ski jackets with stubborn stains and grease from chairlifts. Miraculously they always came back stain-free, and customers were happy!

I decided to drop our bags off with Daniel, the owner of Technical Equipment Cleaners. What the heck, he'd get the stains out and we were heading to the desert so being cold because they had very little loft wasn't an issue.

Dan had them back to us within a couple of days. When I pulled them out of the bags I was SHOCKED! They looked like new, no kidding, they looked like new, brand new. Not only were there no stains, but they were literally sparkling clean. The loft of the down was as lofty as the day we bought them, which was some fifteen years ago.

Now maybe I shouldn't be telling you this, after all, we are in the sleeping bag business. At the same time, to Western Mountaineering's credit, they build bags and other down items that are meant to last for a very long time. I thought fifteen years of heavy use was a good run, but I was ready and willing to retire them to make way for new bags. As you've probably heard, due to COVID, many industries in manufacturing are experiencing delays in delivering their goods. So I wasn't excited about taking two sleeping bags off the sales floor.

Not only that, but Granite Chief sells a lot of mid to high-end gear and it's worth it, because of the long lifetime of use our customers get from their purchase. I am happy to be able to share with them that they can get even more years out of their technical equipment by taking it to Technical Equipment Cleaners.

Daniel, not only cleans sleeping bags, but also tents, sleeping pads, skiwear, wetsuits, boat covers, backpacks, and household items like down comforter, furniture covers, and curtains. If that's not enough, they also clean equestrian gear. That's right, stuff that horses and riders wear. DANG!!

LAST WORD: If you're thinking about buying the best in outdoor gear, come in and scope out our great sleeping bags, tents, and outwear. Feel confident that you'll get many years of use from your purchase and even more when you have Technical Equipment Cleaners Cleaners clean your gear at the end of each season.

Technical Equipment Cleaners

10607 West River Street . Bldg 1D . Truckee .

TechTahoe.com