Everybody wants a deal. Houses, cars, beer and of course, climbing gear. Thus an entire industry has emerged over the years to serve this “price sensitive” market online. After all why pay $500 for that down jacket you need – yes you need it – instead of say, $99?
I know I most of my gear online these days. It is safe, easy and convenient. I have about 5o gear sites bookmarked and check them all when looking at a big . I have my favorites sites like Mountain Gear, Spadout and I have come to use Backcountry’s Steep and Cheap more often than I should – more on that later.
Obviously the biggest benefit of shopping online is the ability to compare prices – if you know what you want. And the manufactures’ sites provide excellent descriptions so if you are looking to upgrade or replace an item, there is no need to actually visit the store – unless you are unsure about sizing; especially footwear. Most sites have excellent return policies to encourage us to press that ” now” button so the risk of being stuck is low.
Let’s take a look at these online gear retailers and see if they really offer a good deal – for you.
Full Line, Full Service, Full Prices
The first tier are full service, full line sites that have real humans answering the phone, fair return polices, excellent product descriptions and the capability to compare multiple selections – all this is the bare minimum. Sites I would put here include:
We Don’t Do That
Then there are the more narrow sites specializing in a certain aspect of climbing:
- Mountain Tools – pro, tools, ropes, shoes, etc.
- Climbing Gear – pro, tools, ropes, shoes, etc.
- ProLite Gear – lightweight backpacking
- GoLite – Adventure racing, lightweight gear
The Mother Ships
Of course, there are the manufacturer’s sites. This is where it all begins and an excellent source of first hand product information including construction materials, country of origin and the full catalog. I have found that many of the general sites simply use the same product description from the manufacturers but here you can see their full line and are not limited to what the reselling site carries. Some of the favorites out there include:
- Arctryx
- Black Diamond
- Feather Friends
- First Ascent
- Marmot
- Mountain Hardwear
- Patagonia
- Outdoor Research
- The North Face
Yea, But Where’s the Deal?
Ah, the DISCOUNTERS! This is what you were waiting for, I know 🙂 All the other sites previously listed have plenty of s and some have dedicated outlets (REI, MooseJaw) and others have frequent holiday and weekend s (Mountain Gear). However, the selection is usually very narrow with limited sizes XXS and XXL in Neon Orange so getting what you want is rare.
Finding the Deal
These next sites have made discounting into an art form. Steep and Cheap, part of Backcountry.com, has a loyal following for good reasons: great prices and outstanding customer service but only offer a handful of items each day. I use their notification slider on my PC that shows new deals frequently throughout every day. If it interest you, simply click on the slider which takes you to their web-page with that product. But you have to act quickly since the section is often limited in styles and quantity.
Two new discount sites launched this week both using an interesting approach of having to be invited to join before entering the site. But I requested an invite and quickly received them.
The Clymb is using social networking on twitter and Facebook plus the limited access to build momentum. They launched with a of Ice Breaker wool tops and now are in the middle of a 3 day Sunoto watch . In addition to discounted prices, they have a green theme that encourage ers to reduce their carbon footprint.
The other new entry, is from Backcountry.com and is called Department of Goods. Instead of a limited offering or a short time based of a single item, this site has a full line of products at good discounts -albeit without all sizes and styles available. They have a nice deal of comping your 10th !
- Steep and Cheap
- The Clymb -invitation only
- Department of Goods – invitation only
I Need a Sherpa!
All this can be time consuming and very confusing so a few sites offer a shopping service. The one I have found is Spadout . They have a nice search engine, community and some reviews. If they have what you want, simply ask the site to show the prices from multiple sites and even to monitor it if the price drops. It is a great way of getting the deal you want without spending days switching between sites. Another version on this theme is from Gear Attack and Google’s Shopping or Ebay but they lack the sophistication of Spadout.
A Test Drive
So, let’s do some shopping. Here is my shopping basket with the list price from the manufacturer’s website:
- Mountain Hardwear Men’s Sub Zero SL Hooded Down $275
- Mammut Infinity 9.5mm Single Rope $229
- North Face Dark Star 0 degree sleeping bag $299
- Black Diamond Bibler FitzRoy Tent $699
I won’t bore you with all the details but after getting calluses on my finger tips after searching all the sites mentioned in this post for my shopping list, I found that almost every site offered every item at list price – so where are the deals?
By using Spadout, I found some sites I was not aware of such as Sunny Sports. While I did not actually order any item, I completed the checkout process to see if the final price was what was advertised and it was. But I have no idea of return policies, accuracy in shipping dates so it remains er beware for site new to you.
Here are the results:
| Mammut Rope | FitzRoy Tent | North Face Bag | MH Jacket | |
| Altrec | $229 | N/A | N/A | $275 |
| Backcountry | $229 | $559 | $299 | $275 |
| Mountain Gear | $229 | $699 | $299 | $275 |
| Moosejaw | N/A | $699 | $299 | $275 |
| REI | $169 returned item | N/A | N/A | $275 |
| Mountain Tools | $229 | $699 | N/A | N/A |
| Climbing Gear | $229 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| GoLite | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| ProLite Gear |
N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Spadout | REI $169-returned item | $574 Sunnysports | $239 Sunnysports | $233.75 MooseJaw |
And the Winner?
Well, I think if you put a bit of effort into searching the web, you can find a good deal, occasionally. But I really think the formula is to use tools such as Spadout to monitor the gear you covet. Also to be flexible in your target. I found many sleeping bags that were functionally equivalent of my North Face reference at great deals – 50% off – from other name brands. So if I was really going to that new bag, I would have selected one of the others and saved a ton of money.
Finally, I know there are many other sites that sell climbing gear at discounts and many people have their favorites. Climbing community sites such as 14ers. com, SummitPost and others frequently have a thread on where to get the deal. If you have a favorite, make a comment on this post and let us all in on your secret!
Climb On!
Alan
