REI Guidance

[atsent]

I agree with others that REI is a crap shoot. I've gotten I'd say about 90% of my gear for my upcoming SOBO from REI, but it's been through MANY trips, returns, and different sales people. I cannot stress enough to find gear that works FOR YOU. Buy the gear that they recommend-- if you think they're qualified to make a judgement, oftentimes you can tell right away they have no idea what they're taking about-- then go out for a few days and see how you like it. That's the beauty of the REI return policy-- they'll take anything back-- pretty much the reason I've bought most of my stuff from them. Like I said, take it out for a few days, return what you don't like, keep what you do. You'll acquire all of your gear that way through trial and error (and a lot of patience to keep going back to the store a million times) but you'll end up with a set of gear that's great for YOU. Good luck!

[Lyle]

While they may provide you with gear that will allow you to complete your hike, I would think that you would have found many lighter alternatives while perusing the posts here on WB. REI carries adequate gear in most cases, but not the ideal gear, especially when you consider weight. If I were planning a thru-hike, I would not want to depend solely on REI as my source of equipment.

[SteveJ]

Lot of REI haters on here ... I guess I've never had a bad experience with 'em but I've never tested gear on a 2200 mile trail.

Question: Anybody ever gotten any of the major purchases (tent, bag, pack) from one of REI's garage sales? I've heard you can get discounts of up to 90%, and I was thinking of buying at least a down sleeping bag and a one-man tent. I know the stuff is used, but cheap is cheap!

I have made several major purchases at REI, and will continue to shop there because of their excellent customer service policies.

* Gregory Whitney pack (prolly worst purchase decision of my life - but that was before I realized I could get my pack weight below 40 lbs, and that was actually a good thing)
* Marmot 0 deg bag (which I "returned" and re-purchased a year later when they marked it down $100)
* many pairs of hiking shoes and boots
* Marmot precip pants for son
* Marmot rain pants for me (forget what they're called at the moment)
* SD Clip flashlight tent (bought for son at annual sale - even tho it was a return, I couldn't tell that it had ever been taken out of its bag)
* several headlamps
* several pair of hiking pants

...all I can think of at the moment...

Several times I've had to return things - wrong size, stupid purchase decision on my part, toe rand on hiking shoes delaminated after short period of time, etc...

In no instance have I ever had a problem.....I value and will reward companies that implement intentional policies that are customer friendly and that empower front line staff to make their customers happy. Unfortunately, the list of companies that I have experience with that do these things is very short.

Steve