Most outdoor companies use fit models to help design their standard products, from which all different sizing options are created based on a grading scale. Some companies, such as The North Face, have experimented with user controlled software that matches your personal measurements to the best corresponding product size. Petzl is taking a more proactive approach by reaching out directly to you, asking you to send in your body measurements to help the company better design future product sizes.
I, along with many of my fellow outdoors women, find it hard to conform to mainstream fashion sizing, as most of us have more muscular thighs and skinnier waists than the average fashion conscious female. We also all have different length arms and legs, with limited options in terms of inseam or arm length in our apparel.
Focusing on anyone who uses basic safety gear, Petzl is looking for our help to build better sized harnesses, helmets, and even headlamps. Participating in this study will ensure that your physical characteristics will be taken into account in future product design. This is also a good opportunity to provide your feedback and ideas on future product. Your personal information will remain confidential, will serve for internal use only at Petzl, and will be deleted at the end of the study.
So how can you help? Simply head on over to the this Petzl page and fill out the survey. Available in both English and French, you will need a tape measure, camera, and your personal climbing equipment (harness, helmet, headlamp) on hand. The questions concern your personal profile, the activities in which you participate, and your equipment. The more people that participate, the better data pool Petzl will have to work from.
So what do you think about outdoor companies effectively crowdsourcing their sizing data? I, for one, think it's a great idea, as long as a ton of people take part and the company doesn't just come up with an average or median size they hope will fit the most people, but in actuality, come up with many different size options to fit almost everyone.