I live just south of fresno Ca. and I was wondering if anyone knew of a good backpack store in the area. All I know of is Big 5, Sports Athority, Sports Challet, and Wal-Mart. None of these stores have what I want. I'm looking for a large variety of many diffrent sizes. I would prefure one with Mountainsmith, maxpedition, Jansport, and Alpine. Any suggestions are welcome.

North of you on Hwy 50 east of Sacto there's an REI. Or you could go to the bay area and hit all of them. Don't know of any closer to you.

Dave

Make a list of brands you are interested in and do a websearch . Contact them for the nearest retailers to your zip. If you need to make a few trips beyond a bank loan of gasoline <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> the trip won't be wasted hoping for brands, colours or sizes being in stock.

Check the store locator function on the websites of any sporting goods stores that seem to be good prospects. My first thought was also REI; but, surprisingly their website indicates it is in San Jose, a 130 mi. drive from Fresno. Some of the other stores might better fit in your travel plans. Sport Mart/Gart might also be worth checking.

Good luck,

John

I like all your suggestion but I have tried most. I seem to be 100-200 miles from any realy big back pack stores.

If you really are going to buy a large variety and many different sizes, then I would say a trip to the SF or LA area would be appropriate. If you decide to hit SF there are multiple REI, Sierra Designs, The North Face (outlet and retail), Marmot, and for Maxpedition there is Tadgear.com (store in SF). In addition to that there are many other outdoor gear stores.

Make a weekend out of it. If you are buying that much gear and don't know what you want, trying them out first hand will be best. Bring your own sandbags or 2 liter water bottles for loading up packs. Most REIs have these for trying gear out while actually carrying weight, but many other stores don't.

It's your $$$ <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I will think about makeing a trip out of it and will definitely take water bottles so that I can test out some prospective bags. For graduation my fiance bought me a black fatboy s-type, m-2 pouch, m-1 pouch, and two cocoons all of course are maxpedition.