I was walking through Wally worls and say an Orzark Trail versin of the Thermarest sleeping pad. I was interested in getting it since it will be cheaper and easier to get, but is it better to just get the Thermarest?
I was walking through Wally worls and say an Orzark Trail versin of the Thermarest sleeping pad. I was interested in getting it since it will be cheaper and easier to get, but is it better to just get the Thermarest?
quality never costs...it pays. But I've no experience with WW's ozark line of anything.
Is it a knock off or the exact item rebranded for Wally World? Check the specs like weight and dimensions. It might be worth getting, but I'd want to do a comparison first. Can you access a Thermarest near you? Maybe a sporting goods store or outfitter.
Most of the store brand stuff is made by the name brand manufacturers. One trick I learned is to take the packages and examine how they are made. e.g.: I compared the bottom of the bottle of Advil Geltabs with the bottle of the WalMart brand. The markings molded into the base of the bottles were identical. The only real difference was the $2 I saved by buying the WalMart version.
"To make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from." - T.S. Eliot
I purchased inexpensive heavy self infating air matresses for car camping with scouts. Did not take long for them to delaminate from the foam and turn into big worthless bubbles. Many years later my thermarests have not done that.
I've owned Thermarest mattresses for 20 years. My original ones seem to be just as good today as the day I bought them. They were actually used by a friend this month who is new to the camping scene and said they did wonderful. (Ok, the coating on the Thermarest stuff sacks I bought back then are delaminating... but the pads are still top notch).
Of course technology moves forward, and I've up-graded to the Neoair xlite. Thicker than my 20 year old 2" LE Edition yet less then half the weight (and crazy smaller in packing size).
Just because a product is made by a name brand company for an off brand label does not mean it is the same quality. It is often (always?) a much lower quality item. Like the stuff in the "outlet stores". Most (but not all) is actually manufactured at a lower quality to be sold in those stores. "You gets what you pay for"
Saw it today at Wallyworld, it is a Thermorest product, 'Thermorest' is on the product, along with Cascade Designs'. However this is not the light weight self inflating pad the ProLight and IIRC the weigh is 1lb 8 oz which makes it on the heavy side. (Prolight is 1 lb 1 oz).
Not hiking or camping equipment BUT I worked for a manufacturer of automobile engine parts, and the difference between the OEM and the aftermarket parts we made was the stamp we put on them, so some bargain brand items ARE exactly the same, and some are not. It requires more research to make a statement about it (or a decision).
"You're a nearsighted, bitter old fool."
Lets not forget the principals of the "Dirt bag and deal" our fella dirt baggers before us have laid down. You can patch that thermo/therma-rest a hundred times until it becomes unacceptably heavy to you to continue to carry, all with the quiet inside glow of knowing you only paid a small pittance of a name brand piece.
dont support walmart... Just buy the real thing
most of the things I've bought at Wal-Mart are cheaply made, unless its tooth paste, I would pass on buying any hiking gear at Wal-Mart that isn't a well known manufacture
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"I told my Ma's and Pa's I was coming to them mountains and they acted as if they was gutshot. Ma, I sez's, them mountains is the marrow of the world and by God, I was right". Del Gue