Bargain hunting for outdoor gear
Written: Nov 27 '01 (Updated Jan 08 '02)
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The Bottom Line
You don't have to get ripped off to go for a hike. Bargain shoppers, rejoice.
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| Full Review |
PROS: Incredible bargains on high-quality, name-brand outdoor gear that can't be matched elsewhere, either online or in retail stores. Check out the Bargain Barn.
CONS: Miscellaneous nature of selection, tend to run out of popular sizes and colors first. Sometimes the product description is vague.
I love this site for outdoor gear. Since it's more about function than fashion (at least to me), it doesn't matter that I can't try it on or test it out in person first. You can get some real steals on great stuff, the biggest problem is that you must act quickly because it goes fast. They also tend to run out of the most common sizes first. This place carries discontinued, overstock, factory-seconds kind of merchandise but its quality is guaranteed (for LIFE -- yes for life).
They have outdoor clothing and gear for men, women, and children for almost every need, with general and specialty gear ranging from wetsuits & kayaks to skis to rock climbing equipment. They also carry some general, miscellaneous merchandise like luggage & linens -- always from very elite, high-quality names (the kind you would normally need to fly over to Europe to get). I don't know how they get this stuff for such a low price.
A few of the bargains I've gotten/seen here: $30 Doc Marten loafers (normally hard to find under $100), $60 extra-large internal frame pack (at any outdoor store it'll run you $200), $80 Gore-Tex Asolo hiking boots ($150 at all the stores with similar models), $120 Paule Marrot French sheet set (a whopping $350 for these beauties everywhere else I saw them online), $20 rock climbing shoes (never seen climbing shoes elsewhere for less than $70), $100 Black Diamond skis.
The problem with the physical retail stores for outdoor gear is that they are ALL outrageously expensive -- you pretty much have to go online to get a good deal. You can find a more "generic" brand wicking undershirt at STP that performs just as well as a Patagonia shirt that costs 5 times more. The problem with buying online of course, is that you can't try stuff on. A size "small" by one manufacturer can be more like a medium/large by a different manufacturer, and there's no way for you to tell. I've had a few instances of ordering the wrong sizes, having to pay the postage to return the stuff is a pain but the customer service department is very responsive.
Great customer service - they REALLY go the extra mile to respond to each and every question, concern, or need you may have. They know it's hard to tell what merchandise is like from your computer screen, and will work to provide you with the best description. One example: I was considering a pair of shoes, but wanted to know if they possibly ran big or small so I didn't order the wrong size. The customer service person, who you can chat with online in real time, ran into the stockroom for me to test out the shoes and tell me that they did run a little big. I ended up with the right size. Another time, they found the shirt I was considering to tell me exactly what the print & pattern looked like, since the item description didn't help me a lot.
Recommended:
Yes
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About the Author
Reviews written: 52
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