Kim Kinney has not had a conventional career path. By Age 18, Kinney knew that college wasn’t for her; she dropped out and took a Greyhound bus across the country where she would spend the next winter skiing in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. She chased the snow to Utah the following year where she began working at Wasatch Design, a tailor shop at Snowbird Ski Resort. By age 19, Kinney owned the business. This would be the foundation for a successful and innovative career in the gear repair industry.

Kinney now lives in Bend, Oregon where she operates Rugged Thread. What started as a tiny business in her garage is now a leader on the outdoor industry’s path to environmental sustainability. For over a decade now, her team has been working with brands and individuals to repair technical outdoor gear such as zippers, backpacks, outerwear, tents, motorcycle gear and sleeping bags that might otherwise be thrown away. Kinney wants to change the psychology of consumers by encouraging thoughtful purchases; she wants people to ask, “What are we buying; why are we buying it; do we need it? Are we buying quality goods that can be repaired and can be resold?”

Valued at $454 billion, the outdoor industry champions environmental stewardship, yet still produces and discards millions of tons of textiles each year. Most of the outdoor gear is made from petrochemicals and will likely take hundreds of years to decompose in a landfill. The permanence of these items is a necessity; quality gear needs to be impervious to bad weather and rough treatment. While Kinney notes that one day we likely won’t be making petroleum-based products, we’re not there yet. In the meantime, Rugged Thread is working to change perspectives about what can be repaired rather than replaced, and how to purchase items with longevity. “I think our market is consumers who care about what they’re buying, [and] they want it to last,” Kinney says. “They’re willing to put the resources in to keep it in good condition.”

“We’re building a repair economy,” Kinney says. And to her, the employees are just as essential to this economy as the repairs they make. Rugged Thread has successfully proven that gear repairs are profitable, and there is enough demand to stay in business. Still, Kinney is committed to placing higher value on labor and creating an even better workplace for employees. “I think that’s really important,” she says. “I’m trying to change the stigma of sewing as a legitimate career path.” Amid Bend’s worker shortages, a lack of affordable housing and rising cost of living, many workers are struggling to get by. Kinney is looking to move beyond paying living wages to her employees and is working towards paying family wages and offering more benefits.

With most of the United States’ sewing jobs outsourced to other countries, sewing is often overlooked as a career opportunity. But like other trades, sewing is a craft that requires creativity and problem-solving skills with endless room for growth. “It’s really a part of the story that I love that I’m really starting to learn how to tell,” Kinney says, regarding her own start in the sewing industry. “Not everybody has a propensity to go to college. Not all of us like to sit at a desk behind a computer. It’s a hands-on craft and skill, and there’s a lot of knowledge needed.” At Rugged Thread, environmental sustainability is made possible by a sustainable business. “Its really people oriented,” she emphasizes.

Looking ahead, Kinney hopes to expand the company’s recycling capabilities, and to further collaborate with brand partners. In 2022 the company began holding “Design for Repair” workshops with brand partners where they spend an immersive few-days finding ways to improve their products’ repairability. “The designers want to design something that can last and is repairable,” she says. By collaborating with brands to build repairable products, Rugged Thread is changing the psychology of design and consumerism in the outdoor industry.

“How viable is [the repair economy] for us as a culture and a society?” Kinney reflects, “And do we value the people that do the work, and are we willing to pay them? What’s our consumerism? Where are our values falling?”

Rugged Thread currently repairs gear for individuals and brands such as Burton, Trew, Cotopaxi, Scott and Kuiu, among numerous others. They are located at 2525 NE Twin Knolls Dr Suite #9 in Bend and accept both in-person and mail-in repairs. Call (541) 306-8727 or visit ruggedthread.com to learn more.