Pete_Hickey said:
This is somewhat important to me. I don't purchase gear over the net, because I want to support my local stores.
I like being able to try things on.. to pull and tug at them.. to jump on them..
I like talking to the salesman... who may direct me to another salesman who has been using the same product for some time, and I can ask his advice. I like talking to the store's repair shop people, to ask them what kind of problems they see with a product.
You don't get that knid of stuff on-line It's worth it to me, to pay a bit more in order to ensure that the local store will live long and prosper.
Also... local to me, is not just around where I live. It is also around where I hike.
For me, personally, I would love to support my "local store" if I had one. Years of living in Brooklyn and now in Valhalla, NY, the only local store was/is EMS. And now, well, it's not that local.
Besides, if I got the sense that they cared whether or not I supported them...Well, I don't think it would make a difference.
I do buy some things from EMS and I have from Campmor the one time I went there, but the problem I have found is that they don't sell the gear I want to use. If I subscribed to the "local store" mindset, I would probably end up buying what all the "market merchants" want me to buy. Not necessarliy what is good or useful, but what I am told is good and useful. i.e. I would probably have ended up with a $250.00 Goretex rain jacket when I could have bought a $20.00 3M Propore ultralight and super breathable totally waterproof rain jacket that weighs a very small fraction of what the Goretex jacket weighs.
Uh Oh my soap box is creaking again ....
In my previous post I listed 4 on-line merchants. Three of whom, in their most enterprising and entrepreneurial manner design, develop and test gear that BIG Companies wouldn't dream of. They are small enough to cater for custom requests sometimes and smart enough to invent, modify, and sell gear that is largely outside of the mainstream for those of us who are not happy with what the BIG companies try to convince us is what we NEED or MUST HAVE.
Oh, and the next time I mention 3M Propore to a salesperson and my reply is a blank stare......well?
Now, if my local store really cared about what my needs were, I would be happy to support them. However, they can , for the most part, take their labor day sales, their 20% percent off's, the marketing hype and millions of dollars spent in advertising which translates into overpriced items in their 20% still overpriced bargain bins and , well, not have me a s a big spender customer.
Uh Oh, my soap box is beginning to splinter.........
Then again, I have my MSR Snowshoes from Moosejaw, My Golite pack (which by the way, if anybody has noticed should now be called Go-Heavy) from Prolite Gear and My Katoolah Crampons from Backcountry.com.
I also have my Tacoma light tarp from Dancing light gear, my Dri ducks rainwear from Gossamer gear and my pot-cozy's from Anti-gravity gear.
Hey, has anybody seen my soapbox? It was here a minute ago...
Alas, to each his own as long as you get out and have fun.
Zer0-G