Best Brand of Camping Supplies

I want to invest, in some high quality gear, not something that will be ruined at the site of a rain drop... any suggestions? (For tents, sleeping bags, any other must have)

 

it depends on the item in question.

 

Coleman always rocks my world. make sure you get some water repellent for the seams of your tent, though. coleman also makes bio-degradable toilet paper, camp saws, and camping accessories. all available at kmart/walmart at good prices.

ps kmart and walmart have a limited supply of coleman tents, you may be better off gettin a tent at gander mountain or dicks

 

all toilet paper is biodegradeable .no use going out and paying a fortune for that ...kleenex tissues and paper towels on the other hand are not always .got that tidbit of information from my uncle who was a senior supervisor for facelle royale ,one of the biggest producers of the stuff in canada

 

if ya just wanna throw money out for a name ,, north face..

 

Eurika and E.M.S make nice affordable tents. I would go to campmor.com they have the best deals

 

Walmart and kmart are not the places to buy tents. On the subect of biffy paper its all all basicaly biodegradable, but be on the lookout for recycled paper, ive wondered how many trees have died for the cleanlyness of my ass.
coleman does crank out some killer classic items everyso often. back when my family still went on camping trips we had this old coleman whitegas lantern, one of those classic red ones, it came in this old green plastic carrier that doubled as a bucket. I used this little coleman backpacking tent for a long time, ive become adicted to the ease of tarps these days, but many a trip that little tent served well for me. Eureka also makes some nice tents. ive been using this lovely lightweight tarp i picked up used. coleman also has cranked out some classic stoves, we had this retro tan and brown coleman double burner, used that baby for yeeeeaaaars, now though i either used whisperlite or my zip stove, it really depends on what level of camping your gonna do. My current sleeping bag was made by REI, its a decent bag, most sleeping bags out there arent as warm as they claim so I'd advice getting a bag liner, they're thin, they dont seem like much but they do make the difference the good ones are silk or synthetic, I got a synthetic, the silk wick up a lotta moisture and like cotton freezes your ass off when wet, the synthetics'll keep you a little warm even when wet but also dry out a lot faster than your silk liners. they're kinda pricey but they're lightweight and and work great. im just rambling now so i'll shut up

 

keep ramblin brother,, all i see is ya got more to say..

sound advice is never ramblin..

luv n lite..

 

armysurplusforless.com maybe not fit your needs but it might be cool to look at

 

i would recommend eureka tent as well

 

My 3,000 mile(give or take a few) hiking experiences have taught me the following.

Backpacks. Lowe Alpine,Mountain Smith, Kelty.

Tents. Eureka,Kelty.

Bags. Sierra Designs, North Face. I got my current bag (north face) on sale for only $99. Its conservatively rated at 20 degrees though I have slept in much colder conditions and have rarely had to close the bag. I allways use synthetic fill. Synthetic will keep you warm when wet and dries quickly. Down? Useless when wet and dry time? Got a spare 5 hours and a nice warm sun? 'nuff said.

Stoves. MSR Whisperlite or Simmerlite.

Do your research. Check out Backpacker magazine espcially the annual gear review issue. and go to www.campmor.com for great deals on great gear. If you'd like in depth advice from lots of experienced hikers go to www.whiteblaze.net

 

Hiya, Hippies!

Just one other possibility, if your camping gear includes a vehicle —

http://www.springbar.com/

Way too heavy for backpacking, but still a strong candidate for "best tent" if wind or other inclement weather (and ease of erection) are considerations. I have owned two, so far, and will buy another.

Walmart doesn't stock them.

 

I'd recommend checking out REI. You can join their 'co-op' for 15 bucks and it lasts a lifetime. Depending on how much you buy during the year and how well they do, you get about 10 to 15% back at the end of the year, plus a 20% off any item coupon in the beginning of the year.

I bought my tent there (the taj) and love it. My gf and I were camping last year at a dmb show. People that were with us had coleman tent and the other had some other tent they bought at target. I had my taj. It rained for three days straight (and it wasn't a drizzle either!), and we were the only people that stayed dry.

I'd also recommend checking out the backpacking magazine. Every year they do a review of the best products. But just my overall experience is that I am extremely happy with REI and their products.

 

I try to stay away from REI, kindaf the walmart of outdoor supplies, i stick with the little places, i went into an rei the other day, shopping for a new ice axe, well like the dude in charge didnt even know the proper ice axe lengths per your height, anyways, too somthing i dunno, unexperianced staff, very comercial.... yada yada, wells ya see, support your your small local outdoor supply place.

 

I dont have much to add in way of gear as everyone's said their part and given good advice. What I will say is if you live near an EMS its a good place to get your gear. Sometimes they're a little bit pricey, but their return policy is great. Basicly, if you bought it their and it breaks, they'll either fix it, replace it, or give you store credit (if I remember correctly). I lost the bottom 2/3s of a trecking pole snowboarding down Mt Washington and when I brought it back to them they just went out back and slapped some new parts on it and gave it back to me fixed, free of charge.

 

Im also a fan of homemade equipment, I tried making a pack once but it was major crappy, but other things have gone ok, making alcohol stoves outa beer cans, saw a homemade zip stove once, that was pretty killer, it was at the same speed as my comercial one, which is the most killer stove i ever bought, being the equipment whore that I am i have bought a lotta stoves mainly used ones, low on funds ya see, well i must say my all time favorites are the optimis svea stove and my zip stove, gotta have the little pump for the svea or else it doesnt work worth shit, but it's light, sturdy and incredibly retro and cute looking. The zip stove is nice for when your... uh where trees are, not well suited for certain deserts or above the treeline, but its a well rounded little stove, burned dry cow pies in it once, that stuff makes for a dandy fuel. uh... the whisper light's a good one, but i sold it off to buy some other crap, seem to remember it was a pair of boots.... Im seeing a lotta people these days out hiking in a pair of sneakers, for some reason whenever i see that i get a gut clench, im stuck on a pair of clunky boots, lotsa ankle support, whenever i go boot shopping (which is rare) i try to get used resoled used boots, the leather and part of the sole are pre broken in but it has new tread, can ppick up some otherwise pricey boots real cheap this way, its just hard to get them in your size (size 13 I have) my feet are pretty big, so like yeah, have trouble finding big boots cheap, so like when i have a good pair and they begin to deteriorate I just start glueing it back together, duct tape a shoegoo. um.... ive tried hiking in sandles it was fine until I had to cross a long strtch of snow nd soon gave up on the concept of hiking in sandals, tried withought shoes, didnt much like that either.... tried carrying water in a trashbag once, but that royaly blew, I carry a couple nalgene bottles, picked em up used at like 99 cents a piece which i thought was decent, know a lotta people who take a 2 liter soda bottle, epoxy a strap on and use that as a water carrier, i did that for a while but i prefer a more solid bottle. I cant really name the best brand o' boots, its more like whats in your budget and feels "right"

 

berghaus stuffs good ,Im a great fan of goretex , rohan make nice lightwieght clothes most of my camping gear is secondhand and didnt cost much money .
buy slowly and look after your equipment ,be tight when spending money .

 

I think it depends on what REI store you go to and who you get. I'd say about 95% of the time, when I walk into REI, the people are extremely friendly and know what they're talking about. This was in the bicycling department, clothing, and shoes. But I do admit, there have been times that I've gone in there and the sales people were rude and did not know a lot about the equipment. I guess it just depends on what day you go.

Also, what I like about it is that the salespeople (if you get the right one) will recommend a product that actually has everything you need and try to save you a few bucks. For example, I was looking at rainjackets, north face in particular. The salesperson said that you don't need armpit vents because the onlytime they work is if you lift your arms up and walk. He was right.....

Anyways, look around and check out gearfinder.com. Also, backpacker magazine just came out this month with the 'best of' that has awesome advice in it. Good Luck!

 

Thank You!!!!

 

Gore-Tex is overpriced and overrated. If you want go rain gear that will keep you dry and actually breathes get Frogg Toggs.