Manufacturing

We don’t just design equipment. We don’t just sell it. We build it. For more than 50 years we’ve been getting our hands dirty and our backs sore building the tools you need, from the old-school days of YC banging out pins on his backyard anvil to the new-school times of making award-winning carabiners in our cutting-edge hot forge. We have always, and always will, strive to build all of our gear using the latest in technologies and materials, and that unrelenting commitment has resulted in the most widely used, widely acclaimed line of skiing, climbing and mountain equipment in the world.

In 2006, Black Diamond Equipment Asia, a wholly owned subsidiary of Black Diamond Equipment, was established in southeast China. It’s important to note that the manufacturing in China is being done in our factory. Black Diamond Equipment Asia is a Black Diamond built, owned and managed facility that is operated and staffed by Black Diamond employees. The manufacturing standards that we apply to Black Diamond Asia are identical to those that we apply to our Salt Lake City workshop: We pull test each piece of gear to half its rated strength at our Salt Lake City workshop; we do the same at BD Asia. Several units from each manufacturing batch are tested to destruction in our Salt Lake City facility; again, the process is identical at Black Diamond Asia. We rely on thoroughly documented systems and procedures to ensure the consistent quality and safety of every piece of gear we put our name on—we use those same systems and procedures at Black Diamond Asia.

In short, we apply a single global standard to the manufacturing quality of our product and the environment in which our employees make it. This is our gear. We build it. We use it. We’re damn proud of it.