For the Misinformed: a List of Gear Brands of Quality but not of Inflated Price

Would anyone be interested in assembling a list of their favorite lower-priced, high quality gear makers?

My 0-degree High Peak sleeping bag cost me $60 and kept me going through a full year of pretty much everyday use. It also weighs less and packs down much smaller than my enormous North Face Elkhorn ($50).

Sure ill put my 2 cents in and ill agree with the High Peak Brand.

I have a High Peak Hyper Lite Tent It has turned out to be a decently made 3 season tent and for the price it can fit in to most any budget $65 - $75

Also I have a High Peak Cascade -5 Bag, I have used it at 0 temps and it kept me warm what more needs to be said.

I have some GSI equipment and the are pretty reasonable also.

I buy a lot of stuff from MEC in Canada, specially clothing. It's cheap, fonctional (going on spartan) and the quality is ok. For example a very good lightweight down jacket is 100$. It's the cheapest place i know in Canada.

I throw my vote in for ALPS Mountaineering. I have been using their products for years, through all sorts of weather and in all seasons.

For my general camping needs, my ALPS Taurus Outfitter 2 is working perfectly for me. A pretty sturdy tent with enough room for me to feel comfortable. Pleasing colours too: Tan and green. Blends in well with the natural enviroment. http://alpsmountaineering.com/ALPSMountaineeringTaurusOutfitter.htm

I use my ALPS Mountaineering Zenith 2 AL (the same tent as the Zephyr 2 AL) http://alpsmountaineering.com/ALPSMountaineeringZephyr.htm for backpacking. It's pretty lightweight and packs up small. Plus I like the fact it is quick and east to pitch-about 3 minutes for me.

As ye know, I also like gear from The Backside (especially their X-fibre bags) http://www.gearforcamping.com/The-Backside-Sleeping-bags-s/501.htm and Cabela's. Their XPG Deluxe tent is well made and holds up to some extreme weather. http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/pod/horizontal-pod.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/pod-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat20075-cat20103&rid=&indexId=cat20103&navAction=push&masterpathid=&navCount=1&parentType=index&parentId=cat20103&id=0024830

Steepandcheap.com is selling a lot of Alps Mountaineering gear at really low prices. Steepandcheap sells one item at a time at a huge discount. Each item sells for about 20 minutes and then a new item pops up. If you watch the site during the day you will see the same items pop up more than once. The site is addicting for those of us at our desks all day. I bought some wool base layers from there at great prices.

Eureka tents are generally priced well. Not the lightest tents but generally storm proof. An Eureka Timberline, for around $100, will weather a lot of storms and last a long time with decent care.

LL Bean's house brands can be good bargains at times.

alan said:

LL Bean's house brands can be good bargains at times.

I couldn't agree with you more.

Have you seen their house brand four season tent? For the price, quality and features it's an absolute great buy: http://www.llbean.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?categoryId=54145&storeId=1&catalogId=1&langId=-1&parentCategory=500105&feat=500105-tn&cat4=1096

It sort of reminds me of an TNF VE-25 tent. Just with pole clips instead of sleeves however. Plus the colours too.

I have aluminum tent stakes and a 2L water bladder from Outdoor Products (the brand wal-mart carries). The water bladder cost me $8 instead of the $25 or whatever CamelBaks are going for these days. It held up well on the one trip I have taken with it, and so far I am impressed with its quality.

The tent pegs are light and sturdy and cost about $0.50 a piece at wal-mart.

east_stingray said:

I have aluminum tent stakes and a 2L water bladder from Outdoor Products (the brand wal-mart carries). The water bladder cost me $8 instead of the $25 or whatever CamelBaks are going for these days. It held up well on the one trip I have taken with it, and so far I am impressed with its quality.

Are you refering to the hydration bladder?

Yeah... water bladder/hydration bladder. What's the difference?

As long as the bladder you're using doesn't have prostate problems, I think you're probably good-to-go.

east_stingray said:

Yeah... water bladder/hydration bladder. What's the difference?

I believe they are the self-same thing.

I always liked this one from Cabela's:

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0045492517527a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntt=Cabelas+brand+hydration+Reservoirs+&Ntk=Products&sort=all&Go.y=8&_D%3AhasJS=+&N=0&_D%3Asort=+&Nty=1&hasJS=true&Go.x=17&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form1&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1

Excellent price too.

Perry Clark said:

As long as the bladder you're using doesn't have prostate problems, I think you're probably good-to-go.

LOL!

I think I may some of the symptoms you are referring to.

I like the Cabelas lightweight tents, too, along with their own branded boots. Has anyone ever seen their Diamond Peak series of Internal Packs? Other experience with less expensive large packs?

EMS BOREAL 20 with Primaloft Infinity sleeping bag..

**SNOW STAKES** - whittakermountaineering.com

$1.50/stake

They come in both 9" and 12" lengths, price is the same either way.

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