Do

Don’t

Winter’s finally here, get yours before I get mine

From light insulator to package neck pillow-The Mannual Warp
Packable Puffy

History already made- TheMannual Legacy Jacket

A 7-in-1 juggernaut- The Smarty Complete
Jacket

Here

January 27, 2012
Reclaim Project-Taiwan Drop

Since our development office is in Taiwan, its great we can get them involved in the Reclaim Giving process. A few hours outside Taipei city, we were immediately in the mix with tons of kids ready to have a good ole time.

Sign in here

Line up here

Get stoked here

You know that

Headed to the temple next to the school and prayed for the kids and their well being

Thank you for caring

Giving starts by letting go

Letting

Go

Trash->Reclaim->Sell->Buy->Donate

If you buy one of our Reclaimed jackets, we promise to Donate one jacket to someone in need.
I’m in Tokyo for several donation drops, however since my time’s cut short, I’m available to be a part of only one of them. We stopped by Chigasaki Farms to show some love for the kids. Line the goods up

Prep the Reclaimed jacket

Have the Director of Chigasaki Farms give the thumbs up

Give

January and February are my busiest months of traveling. This week, I’m in Asia to finish off the donation drops for our Reclaim Project. Internets slow so you’re gonna have to do with more seeing than reading.

The Alps in Austria has stolen all our white stuff. It’s cool you can borrow it, but can you please return the favor next week- We REALLY need it.

Don’t believe me? Check out Peter Sandner snorkeling in the OG Smarty Cargo pants and Smarty Command jacket.

Powder alert in western Austria! from Peter Sandner on Vimeo.

There’s a new kid on the block and they dropped by and said hello

R-Class

Swiss made courtesy of hOme

The 686 Reclaim Project is based upon two things. The first is to minimize the process of bringing product to market by the lowest form of manufacturing. The second is to create a self-sustaining cycle of social and eco goodness. TRASH->RECLAIM->SELL->BUY-DONATE. Check the video for a quick update on what we’re trying to do.

The RECLAIM Project: 2011 Process from 686 Technical Apparel on Vimeo.

Giving is truly better than receiving and 686’s RECLAIM PROJECT’s final cycle is to make sure we can properly donate Reclaimed products from the purchase of Reclaimed products. If you BUY a one-of-a-kind Reclaimed jacket, we will GIVE one away to someone in need. Since we sold a few thousand reclaimed jackets this year, we’re gonna give a few thousand away and the first drop is LA! We all took the day off and headed to Hollywood’s LA Youth Network http://www.layn.org/

We brought them in by the box loads. Kristin leading the charge and wrangling them up

It was a short stop as we’re limited on the interaction with troubled minors under 18 years. We received a tour of the temporary shelter, dropped the goods and peaced out. Only a few miles down the way in downtown LA, we made the last drop to Homeboy Industries. Their motto- – “nothing stops a bullet like a job,” resonates pretty deep.

I’m glad I remembered to bring my own…

Interestingly enough, Homeboy is a stone’s throw from our first HQ at the Brewery arts community. Throughout Homeboys space, you can see how Father Greg’s efforts has made a huge difference to the local community

Father Greg started Homeboy Industries by wanting to offer an alternative to gang violence and assisted at-risk individuals, recently released and former gang members trying to better their lives through employment. The “Industries” relates to the several businesses that “Homeboy” has, from Counseling to Bakery to Screen printing to Maintenance, Education and Tattoo Removal, they got some positive things going on.

Familia

A lot of heads don’t know this, but back in the day we had some sketchy times with heads helping me out in the warehouse. Hailing from LA, I was friends with a bunch of different heads. Some of them didn’t necessarily have the best resumes, but in my mind if they were cool with me and hardworking, why wouldn’t I offer them a job? It turned out that most of them were in some of the hardest gangs in LA and we had some crazy times, which I’m thankful, turned out okay. It made me realize that equality is the standard, but as an owner-operator, it’s also my responsibility to make sure my employees and families are always safe. My gangster employees had my back, but they also attracted trouble from rival gangs, which none of us wanted. I vividly recall the day when the FBI called me while I was at a trade show and said “someone’s been shot , do you know this person?” From that point on, I made an agreement to myself that we had to be legit in every aspect, even if I had to be the asshole to tell them.

I couldn’t agree more

It was mad busy that day as grips of heads were rollin’ in and out, as we started to bring the Reclaimed goods in

Stack em deep

Cita and Drew getting ready for the lineup (no pun intended)

Big man in a small colorful reclaimed jacket=priceless

Our reclaimed giveaway jacket

The ever-lasting cycle

Give and let Give. Thks for the smiles