Gregory merging with Black Diamond

I know that it was annouced in May 2010, but I just heard the news that Gregory is going to merge with Black Diamond under the umbrella of Clarus Corp.  I am a hugh fan of Gregory's packs.  I am wandering if this will have a positive or negative effect on the company.  I am curious as to other people's opinion on this merger.

Rambleon  I dont think this will have any negative effect what so ever. yes I am with you. I love Gregory packs love to look at the oldest ones and think of what stories those packs could tell. I remember reading national geographic and looking and see 3/4 of the packs in the articles were Gregory. I think the employee's at Black diamond recognise the history and the high regard for gregory equiptment and they will keep up that history. In regards to the Merger their actually been owned by Clarus group and so is Black Diamond. This is just a paper shuffle for tax purpose. This is just a reversal to the share holder. The Market has become tougher for all outdoor manufacturies and its the hardest market right now with the economy.  Anyway they can show a profit and not huge loss's, Now is the time for them to do it. With that I think good employee's make a company and the name and I see it staying great.

If you're curious, there was some discussion of this topic back in May:

http://www.trailspace.com/forums/climbing/topics/71944.html

Thank you both for your replies.  I will check out the link.

for what it's worth, black diamond's line of backpacks is fairly alpine-oriented, and fits a somewhat different niche than most of the gregory packs, for the most part.  mergers do tend to result in consolidation of models, though, so if you love a gregory pack, perhaps it's time to replace it in case it gets phased out.  for example, it would be a shame to see the Gregory Denali Pro go by the boards. 

The manufacturing for most Gregory packs was shifted overseas a while ago (same with Black Diamond), so i don't see this merge having a huge effect in that sense.  i'm less familiar with their backpacks, but so far as i'm aware, BD's climbing gear is perfectly safe and functional.  my primary ice axe is black diamond, and it's an excellent piece of gear.  i'm thinking about replacing my crampons with a pair of black diamond too. 

I really like my Gregory pack and would buy another in the future.  I just hope the merger doesn't degrade the quality or design of their packs!

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