Hey sc/out/s,
can any ausfags out there help,
I live in victoria and there's no decent places to find proper outdoor gear.
Places like Kathmandu, Mountain Design, Mitchells Outdoors, Rays Outdoors, Annaconda, they all have the same, overpriced luxuries people buy to make a camping trip more like a living room in the woods.
I wouldn't care but it doesn't leave room for anything useful, and if there is theres never a good range of anything useful.
Can anyone recomend some good stores, I just want to enjoy the outdoors properly, but commercialism has screwed up. you yanks don't know how lucky you are.
>inb4 online shopping
I prefer to hold and personally check out before I buy the product, things you can do irl that you can't online.
>>607580
Aussie disposals to some extent, maybe. They won't have the same range of stuff and what's there is more likely to be milsurp though obviously. On the overpriced front though, their gear is often a bit cheaper. The ones near where I live often tend to carry maps and stuff like that too.
Gun shops, sporting goods stores and archery pro shops that cater to bowhunters have some general outdoors stuff, but again, limited range compared to the ones you mentioned.
Similarly I envy the Americans - second hand canoes aren't anywhere near as cheap here as they are there and the "Australia tax" & exchange rate re: archery gear is a true pain in the ass.
>>607580
Can you list any stuff you're looking for in particular?
There's a site called Wild Earth which typically has prices cheaper than most.
I think they have a real store too. In Brisbane.
I found this site the other day:
http://www.findsports.com.au
It looks like they have a real warehouse store, but how much of it is on site to have a look at? I don't know. Their prices are also really fucking cheap.
As for handling stuff irl? You've said it. There's no place that's going to have the range of big US chains here.
Have you tried Little Bourke Street in Melbourne and Smith St in Fitzroy?
LB has Bogong, Paddy Pallin, Platatac, Backpacking Light, One Planet, I think a couple of others. Between those you can see a lot of gear irl.
I've not been to Smith St but I think all those guys have their clearance stores there.
>>607580
pally padin is alright. got a fair bit from them.
>>607580
They all have decent stuff, especially Mitchells. I was recently at Ray's and they had plenty of decent hiking stuff, what did you want? Take a look at Macpac as well they have some good gear. In Vic I have dealth with Bogong who has top-tier gear.
Tried shopping online bro?
Army disposal stores too
Don't knock of the shit in those commercial stories too. The quality does vary in those stores too. Some is shit, some is ok, other shit is pretty good, just gotta have a good eye for it. That said, don't buy anything from any of them unless it's on sale, ever. It's never worth their standard prices.
Also, you haven't really given us much more info than "outdoor gear". What kind of outdoor gear? Clothing? Shoes? Cooking stuff? Tents? etc..
Aussie disposals struggles to get good milsurp stuff nowdays. All the ones near me havent had any good stuff for years.
Noe op, dpending on what you want, online might be your best option, ive been looking to buy the things i want and its soooo much easier, and usually cheaper.
>>607830
>struggles
ie. Does not even try because they'd rather get unimpressive chink shit.
Also, I don't want to knock them too much because I've gotta assume they know their business better than I do: but their surplus selection really puzzles the shit out of me.
It's like they do not even try to pick cool stuff that will sell.
I'm not saying it's garbage: it's more like "meh, don't need it. meh, don't want it."
They could have made bank when hipsters were on the rise, for instance.
I'd have had a dummy with shemagh on it highlighting a pile of shemaghs in every store.
>>607850
Yeah, i remember when they used to get really good stuff though, i suppose thats why it sucks, because i saw them go from actual military surplus to the chink shit.
And the range of goods never changes, its just all the same stuff all the time. If i want something specific and they dont stock it or get it in, of course im going elsewhere to get it.
>tfw you have Macpac and Bivouac Outdoor stores in New Zealand
Feels good man, just good ol' technical gear. I thought Macpac was in Aus too?
Also, Earth Sea and Sky make some cool outdoor clothing.
RIP R&R Sport, Torpedo7 can choke on a bag of dicks
>select all bodies of water, e.g. lakes or oceans
based captcha giving me beautiful landscapes on /out/
>>607917
>Macpac was in Aus too?
Most certainly is. Any Melbourne fags should head to the bottom of Smith Street in Collingwood, not quite as far as the Officeworks. Paddy Pallin, Patagonia, Macpac, Kathmandu and another one but can't remember - a few of them are outlets with cheap as chips things (got all my thermals from Patagonia for 10-20 marked down from ~100+).
OP Here,
In hindsight, maybe Im just being picky but the stores we have tend to be over priced and don't cater for the man who wants a real outdoors experience.
Im after these sort of things,
>lightweight tarp
>Japanese whetstone
>quality Packs
>A god damn steel bottle/container
>a steel cup that fits over said container
>Ferro Rods
>Field Sharpener
>Folding Saw
That sort of thing.
I'm not sure but I'm starting to think folding saws are illegal though.
Maybe I should open up my own buisiness...
Pic related, my BK16
>>607613
I second this. Wild Earth is great online store.
They also have a physical store in Victoria i think.
>>608375
>lightweight tarp
Auscam hoochie from Aussie Disposals. About $60. Around 500-900 grams?
>Japanese whetstone
I believe I paid around $130-150 for a set of three waterstones from Carbatec. That's an irl store though, you could get 'em cheaper online.
>quality packs
Osprey and Deuter can be had in multiple stores.
>A god damn steel bottle/container
Kleen canteen from multiple stores. Ditto billycans.
>Ferro rods
Any store.
>field sharpener
Little bit trickier, depending on what you want, I'd probably get this online too.
>folding saw
Three stores selling the folding saw I am looking at:
http://www.redlands4wd.com.au/product/silky-ultra-accel-curved-blade-240mm-lg-teeth
https://www.allmowerspares.com.au/silky-saw-ultra-accel-240mm-large-tooth-curved-folding-saw-446-24.html
http://www.arborlab.com.au/folding-saw/4wding/ultra-accel-240mm-curved-folding-saw.html
>>608392
>They also have a physical store in Victoria i think.
Queensland.
>>608375
Also, I think I saw a Fiskars folding saw in Bunnings last time I was there. Those are probably fine. I just want to be a gearfag and get a Silky.
>>608394
Don't use a hoochie as a floor tarp, use it as a roof, and a normal tarp as a floor. They tear easily.
>>608458
Of coursh. What's the best way to fold a hoochie?
>>608463
There's a few ways, they all end in argument from memories of my cadet days, but the generally accepted way is to fold:
Breadthways in half, then length, then fold square 30 cm parts onto each other until the whole thing resembles a square. You want all the loops and eye holes to be on the edge of your final square.
>>608477
>then fold square 30 cm parts onto each other
I don't follow.
>>608481
Sorry, it's hard to explain, you should end up with a short thin rectangle, fold this upon itself, not in half though, like a stack.
But really, it doesn't matter too much, as long as you've got the loops and eye sockets on the edge, you should be sweet.
>>608375
Black Wolf make good aussie packs. Also most of that shit is easily attainable at most camping stores, particularly disposals and Mitchell's adventure.
>>607613
Yeah LB is pretty good, in addition to what you listed theres a Macpac and a Patagonia.
The trick with almost all the outdoor shops is to wait for the inevitable sale that happens every 3 or so months where everything gets marked down like 30-50%. If you pay full retail at a store like Kathmandu you're a complete mong.
If you're in the eastern suburbs of melbourne you could also try The Wilderness Shop in box hill, they've been pretty good to me in the past.
>>608510
I think Bogong owns that. Or the other way around. I went to Bogong for something once and they called them up and said they had it there, which they did.
>>607580
Kiwi here, got a SummitGear bluegum backpack second hand. It's a solid pack and I recommend it. Made in 'Straya too.
>>607917
MacPac is better than Kathmandu but not by much and is more expensive. I don't mind buying a nonessential item from Macpac/Kathmandu on sale, but I wouldn't buy boots/pack/jacket from them.
I've found Torpedo7 branded products to be a little better but a lot cheaper. They also have better sales on some good branded products.
Earth Sea Sky and Cactus Outdoor are great if you can afford it. I have a pair of Cactus trousers and they have exceeded my expectations.
>>607580
on this topic, where can I find a nice aesthetic waterproof jacket that I can both wear to the pub and wear innawoods
found a nice fjallraven one but it was nowhere in australia and online international stores bumped the price to hell
AJays aka http://www.snow-ski.com.au/
http://www.wildernessshop.com.au/
Have got stuff from both.
There is this mob in western / central vic. I've had no dealings with them but have noted their presence. Looks like more 4wd type camping though.
http://www.lyalealesstores.com.au/
>>609595
I dunno, the sale prices at Macpac are pretty good and for a noob it can be a one-stop shop. Their tents are good anyway. I bought some good clothes there like some thermals, cotton shirt, down jacket for $100 etc. Mountain Designs has pretty good stuff usually too, especially Kuhl brand clothes which are stylish as fuck.
