About this episode
Send us a text Zpacks is well known for a lot of things. One of which is that they produce all of their gear here in the US. What this means is that they need to hire and train nearly 100 people to make all of this gear. In this episode, we talk to Rob Kibitz, Training Manager at Zpacks about the course that he designed, the techniques they teach, and the attributes he looks for in a sewing machine operator. Check out all that Zpacks does here. Submit your story for Ep. 100 here! Chapters 00:00- Introduction and Rob's Role at Zpacks 01:02- Learning to Sew and Joining Zpacks 06:09- Challenges in Training Sewing Machine Operators 07:50- The Sewing Trail Map at Zpacks 10:36- The Foundation Phase of the Sewing Trail Map 25:13- Attributes of Proficient Sewers and Funny Stories 27:52- Handling Different Materials in Sewing 38:19- The Training Process and Production Goals at Zpacks 42:46- Challenges in Sewing: Curves, Zippers, and Webbing 44:49- Teaching Thread Tension: Visual Cues and Adjustments 50:34- The Importance of Humility and Pride in Sewing 57:10- The Role of Tools, Equipment, and Goal Setting 01:05:31- Pride in Craftsmanship and the Impact on Customers Find Us on Social Media 🚀 @RipstopbytheRoll www.ripstopbytheroll.com