College in the 80s meant a trip out to the Comm Ave EMS...
Then running across the street to Wilderness House and then a trolley ride to North Station to check out the upper floors at Hiltons.
I thought that EMS back in the day had some really smart product designs. Lots of gear in my stash bears their logo.
- Dave (a.k.a. pinnah)
" Power corrupts. Absolute power is kind of neat." - John Lehman, US Secretary of the Navy 1981-1987
Forgot to reply a couple of weeks ago, but spot on about Limmer’s. In the late 1960’s when I was putting together my initial “kit,” to quote the Brits, Karl Sr and Francis sold me all kinds of gear that they snuck in with leather from Europe that they used for their boots. Bought my first Eidelrid 120-ft perlon rope, Optimus and Svea stoves, Grivel 10-point crampons (pre-front points), Charlet-Moseur north wall hammer, and lots more. I remember Francis told me that customs was oblivious and they passed along the duty savings to us dirt poor weekend warriors. :-)
Campmor is great, I was in there for a new pair of boots last month. It's only about a half hour from our cabin, but ya gotta remember that in that part of NJ everything is closed on Sundays.
It was amusing when EMS opened a big store right next door to Campmor... it lasted about a year IIRC. Every time I walked over to EMS to comparison shop, I bought at Campmor.