After reading may accolades of John McCann's web site and a post from John himself, I am venturing out beyond my "four walls" when it comes web sites which sell innovative, quality survival gear. I'm a fan of Adventure Medical Kits, having bought a number of their products. What are other recommended sites which sell quality, innovative survival gear?

Jeanette Isabelle

I recommend REI, a buyers coop with a wide variety of outdoor products frequently useful in "survival" applications.

I have been a satisfied member since 1963.

The good news is that you will some be an expert yourself as you see and use and share.

For my money, there are two places to shop: big retailers of long and respected quality and customer service [examples are REI and Cabela's], and boutique retailers who have specialty world-beating, better-mouse-trap products [examples are UST, ACR, and AMR].

About the former, there will be relatively wide agreement which you can detect by reading here and other survival / outdoor fora like ETS. About the latter, debate will rage [and as new products and retailers emerge things will change so will opinions] - detecting these requires personal experience and watching the opinions of those you trust on fora like ETS.

That is a good way to put it. I am on the lookout for the most innovative "mousetraps." By "innovative" I mean the best bang per weight and volume like the original PSP.

Jeanette Isabelle

It sounds like you're looking for sites that sell their own unique products or that put together a product ... as opposed to sites that are selling somewhat standard commercially available products.

In my case when I'm in the market for some piece of gear I read and read ... and read. Once I figure out what I want to buy then I start searching for sites that sell that product, weighing prices with my perception of the reliability of the sites.

I've ended up purchasing gear from all over the place on the web, and can't think of any one side that stands out from the others. There's campmor.com, rei.com, equipped.org (of course), bestglide.com, knifecenter.com, campingsurvival.com, ragweedforge.com, brightguy.com, maptools.com, forestry-suppliers.com, outdoorsafe.com (Peter Kummerfeldt's site - I like his small 72 hour kit so it can always be carried and dress to survive philosophies).

I'm sure there are lots of others, but these come to mind first.

Ken K.

http://www.campmor.com/
&
http://www.sierratradingpost.com/

I'd like to add our site to the list:

LifeView Outdoors

I thoroughly read too. When I discovered the PSP, I carefully examined everything before I bought it. When I see something, and I can't find much information, I carefully examine it based what I have already learned. Adventure Medical Kits has a fancy new toy and while I'm sure it could be used to save a life, it's too thick to comfortably fit in a pocket.

Jeanette Isabelle

I've used and attempted to modify my PSP enough to be familiar with it. However, I guess there is something to be said about building one's own survival kit.

After the survival kit discussion in the "Whistles" thread, I have gone over John McCann's web site and have put together some ideas on perhaps building a survival kit to fit my needs and skill level.

Jeanette Isabelle

My favorite survival gear sources are not specialized in survival gear. This helps avoid the specialized gear markup.

For survival food I favor my local big-box grocery store. Look closely and you can find a wide selection of long-life dehydrated and freeze dried food that is comparable to anything you find at the preparedness sites.

If you are careful, and carefully select the items you intend to buy, you can find good quality camping gear at discounters like Target and Wally. Unsuitable for a summit attempt on K-2, or going to the moon, if you avoid the lowest end items you have suitable reliability and capacity for most situations at a fraction of the high-end price.

Knives and multi-tools I get from the discount or hardware store, both of which sell a smaller selection of the same items I would normally buy.

Generally the less specialized the store you buy any item from; the less you pay.

Campmor is evil. I went there last weekend (their store is about an hour from my home) to get a new sleeping bag and walked out $700 later with a new down sleeping bag, a new pack, cookset, water filter, hammock, Crocs, hiking shoes, socks, liners, another PSP and a bunch of other doo-dads. Wonderful selection, excellent pricing and knowledgeable staff without the slick corporate environment of REI or EMS (not that I don't also shop REI and EMS).

Mark, you and I must NEVER go shopping together.
-Blast

p.s. What cookset did you get?

like a few others, i prefer to look to more general suppliers. as a general rule, the more specialized, the more expensive and gimicky. wal-mart, cabela's, bass pro shops, etc. all have a great selection at reasonable prices. my other favorite trick is to search second-hand stores. there's often great tresures there just witing to be discovered.

You say that like it's a bad thing

I can't go into Cabela's intending on spending X and end up spending $$
Preparedness is a good thing

I do think every good outdoors person needs to make that once in a lifetime pilgrimage to Campmor in New Jersey.

Many years ago, while attending a wedding in the area, I made my pilgrimage. I have to admit that I expected something glitzy and slick, but found a surprisingly small store - almost reminded me of a hardware store - with a somewhat overwhelming density of nice outdoor gear. Not sure if their store has changed since then.

I have to admit that it was kind of funny to see all those products in person that I'd seen over and over again in their catalogs. It would be kind of like coming across Winnie the Poo, Piglet, and Tigger in the woods, being shocked at actually seeing them, but at the same time feeling them to be all too familiar. Hmmm, maybe Santa Claus and the elves would have been a better example.

Ken

Also right up there is the LLBean complex of stores in Freeport, Maine. I find a lot of their current offerings entirely too yuppified and impractical (a lot of cotton!), but their retail stores had an expanded line and a lot of goodies that were quite useful. It was a well run joint with knowledgeable sales personnel.

Funny, but I tend to agree. They are about wannabee looking fashion where as I tend toward fashion following function. Good polo shirts.

I drive right by the Sportsmans Guide warehouse frequently. One of my favorite dead-of-winter activities is to go to their catalog clearance store and wade through the stuff that guys send back for refunds. Some of it is trash, some of it is treasure.

While I'd love to plug my own site, the reality is that 99% of my own needs for survival gear are serviced in one of three places:

www.nitro-pak.com
www.sportsmansguide.com
and www.amazon.com (which all my store is is a specialized amazon affiliate store so that's basically my #1 stop)

Beyond that if you can't find it on amazon, you'll probably have to buy it direct from the vendor.

Best Glide

Red Flare Kits

Survival Kit Component Specialists

Pre-Expedition Medial Planning

CDC Yellow Book

Primitive Technology

Four Seasons

Survival Topics

Ship Captain's Medical Guide

Sawyer Water Filters

Lightweight Fabrics

More Lightweight Fabrics

I have a lot more bookmarks, but these are the ones I use the most.

did you check the list the main ETS site?

You can see why you must become your own expert!

I live about a 15 minute drive from Campmor. My wife refers to it as my "toy store".