Sorta a camping equipment review/education

[fzsk4p]

A few observations on several recent purchases/store reviews/camping trip.

First off my experience with Bass Pro Shops, Cabelas, Gander and REI. All the store visits were within the last 30 days in and around the Detroit Michigan area.

1. Bass Pro. Nice store with plenty of Nature Scenes built into the displays. Good selection of supplies with several of the staple items (lanterns, tents etc) to compare. Pricing was all over the board. Some items were reasonable (good tent cots @ $50 on sale) to outrageous (Coleman griddle for the stove/grill combo @ $52 !!).
Purchased
5 cots
Coleman propane lantern
Coleman Expo Kitchen

2. Cabelas turned me right off. While the store displays were great. The selection of equipment good. The prices were high and often in contrast to what was offered online. An example is the Antarctic Chair. Online was 30 bucks. In store was on sale for 45. Same for the Coleman stove. Online 34 in store on sale for 49. Used the ship to store option so was really looking to pick up the ordered items. But could not help but notice the price switching.
Purchased
4 Antarctic chairs
2 loungers
Coleman stove

3. The Gander in my area is a joke. Dirty, mixed up stock, poorly organized. Joe 6 pack at it`s finest.

4. REI has a great website, decent prices (sale items) and a good selection online. The store was a huge disappointment. Clean and well organized it was very small compared to the others. While what they had was decent quality. If you wanted to compare one item to another it simply could not be done. They simply did not have the space in the store.
Purchased
ALPS Mountain folding table

The Kodiak 6055 tent (10x10) is simply awesome. Easy to set up, great quality and very comfortable.

Coleman stove/grill, lantern stand and Expo kitchen worked well.

The grill was touchy on heat adjustment but worked OK.

Lantern stand is worth every penney. Decent quality but the stakes could be better.

Expo kitchen was great. A little low in height but the combined work surfaces, utensil holders and sink made up for the height. With the battery powered water bottle pump (thanks Corey) and a bucket to drain the sink. Everything from washing hands to making meals was much easier. Seemed to be much better quality then the Cabelas kitchen(s).

ALPS table was sturdy, easy to set up and worked fine.

Little Buddy heater was another good working item. Kept our tent warm in low 30* temps. Need to convert the 1 lb tank to a multi pound so it doesn't run out of gas halfway through the night.

FWIW/YMMV.

 

[washington taco]

Stores

I like to find the item I want at a store then google the exact item and often it will list a price and the store and I order it. A very good on line store is backcountry.com they also have a one item at a time web sight called steepandcheap.com that has items at least 50% off.

 

[RHINO]

i find the same with cabelas, decent store but kinda high priced.

bass pro is great for the fisherman, decent for everyone else.

REI can be spendy but they tend to carry upper end top shelf products so its relative, and they do a good job on cool small stuff.

never been to gander.

i really like sportsmans warehouse, seem to be right in the middle of cabelas/bass pro and popular outfitters (if you remember that store).

big 5 is like the circle K or 7 eleven of sporting goods stores.

dicks is just like sports authority, some camping but mostly sports related and kinda spendy.

i also really like sport chalet,, not many big ticket items, but its got the small stuff like REI is good at.

i just went in sheels in reno yesterday. i put it last here because really, its all the above stores rolled under one roof, with a ferris wheel and talking anamatronic presidents. they obviously cant carry everything, but they do a pretty good job. sheels has the feel of the big stores like cabelas/bass pro, but when you get into the nitty gritty they have an REI feel in the bike and hiking/running sections, then a sport chalet/dicks feel in the sporting sections. prices seemed pretty good, they are big enough i think that they can target multiple budgets.

 

[Ghostship]

One thing unique to REI is a knowledgeable staff. In most stores, if you ask a question about a product the clerk will pick-up the box to read you an answer or say "I don't know". At REI, they're likely to speak from experience "While I was climbing the Cascades last summer I used this product and it worked perfectly".

Become a member and get 10% of your purchases back at the end of the year. Member sales are awesome too.

Some stores are bigger than others, but you are assured that they won't stock the shelves with junk.

 

[Backwoods Rambler]

Yeah, I dig having the REI Flagship store here in Denver, much nicer and more selection than their satellite stores. BONUS: I work just 5 minutes from it.

 

[CanuckMariner/Nomad]

You will find the Bass Pro is meant for the hunter/fisher and not much else, but few stores have that selection that Bass Pro has.

Cabelas is best to buy online, as you noted, the price is lower cause they need no brink/mortar or sales person and have delivery to local store for pick up if possible. Price will vary as all stores do, not just Cabelas. Like Washington Taco said, Google the item and you'll find it cheaper but then there is S&H.

REI sells nothing but the best as it was founded for that specific purpose - outdoor adventure gear you can depend on! It is also a coop and hence you get coupons, deals and money back at the end of each year.

Like everything in life, you get what you pay for! Cheap gear usually shows how cheap it is in the first few usages. Buy the best once and cry once and then enjoy forever. Also, remember when you buy cheap gear and go to remote locations and it fails, it can really leave you hanging!

IMHO...my $0.02...

 

[fzsk4p]

Thanks for the support folks. As a newbie I am trying to learn as I go and share my experiences. Some of this stuff is probably old news to many of you. But reading the comments makes me feel confident that we are at least heading down the right track.

Thanks for the addition sources !!