I'm looking for good Canadian suppliers to avoid having to get through customs and pay duty fees and having to deal with exchange rates etc.
I have found that the most difficult things to get is the US mil-spec stuff such as 550 PARACHUTE CORD - MIL-C-5040H Type III and the Spark-lite fire starter. I would like to find these survivor's staples if possible in Canada:

1. 550 PARACHUTE CORD - MIL-C-5040H Type III (For the time being I'm gonna buy some 1/8" ??? lbs braid nylon rope at Home Depot or elsewhere.)
2. Spark-Lite fire starter and Tinder-Quick
3. NATO issue British lifeboat matches (not Coghlan's)
4. DOAN magnesium fire starter (not Coghlan's)
5. Doug Ritter's AMK pocket survival pak.

Here is my list of seemingly good Canadian mail order suppliers so far:

http://www.campers-village.com/CVindex2.html
http://home.cogeco.ca/~aelias/ (Mora knives)
http://www.knifezone.ca/ (LRI Photon II micro-light and more)
http://www.mec.ca/index.html
http://www.sirmailorder.ca/
http://www.wildernessalert.com/

Please note that I'm not interested in suppliers who sell only Coghlan's products besides Nalgene bottles and Fox40 whistles which are raining in Montréal.
thanks in advance.

Don Dickey knives in BC - www.dondickey.com/

The Canadian army uses mil-spec paracord too; I'm pretty sure I've seen it in Camper's Village in the past, but try your local army surplus stores to see if they have any in stock. There's a store here in Calgary that sells it (and I think they do mail-order as well) but I don't remember the name of it. (I know where they're located, they sell mil-spec paracord in 50-foot lengths.) I'll find out the website and post it here.

Lee Valley Tools sells the Volcano/Kelly kettle, or they did last Christmas. They also carry some other stuff that I've seen discussed in this forum, such as Maya wood, fatwood, and some other quite neat stuff.

I haven't found Canadian sites for most of the items you've listed (I've ordered Spark-Lite fire starters and Tinder-Quick from Brigade Quartermasters, Mag-flint fire-starters from Wilderness Survival Institute, and ferrocerium rods from Hoods Woods without any real difficulty, though) but MEC (www.mec.ca) carries a lot of AMK stuff so I'm thinking of starting a lobbying campaign to get them to stock Doug's AMK PSP. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for the link. It would be nice if you posted the website of the store where they sell mil-spec paracord.
What can we do to get MEC to have the survival pak? Should we make a written request or something?

Try www.sealsactiongear.com in Calgary. Last time I went in there was a bout six months ago, they didn't have any of the Olive drab paracord in stock but they did have white cord (I don't think it's mil spec paracord, it's much stiffer but I bought a 50-foot length to weave into a belt). They're a little bit too "survivalist" for my taste but they have some pretty good stuff and their website advertises in Canadian dollars.

I think if everybody who wants a Canadian supplier for the Doug Ritter PSP were to write to MEC asking if they had plans to stock it, they might consider it. I'm going to write to them in the next couple of days; if you write to them, make sure you point out that it's from Adventure Medical Kits, so they won't be dealing with a new supplier (AMK is well-represented in MEC shelves). Probably a traditional ("snail-mail") letter would be more effective than an e-mail, although I don't suppose there's any reason not to send both. <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Update: According to the Adventure Medical Kits website, Mountain Equipment Co-op does carry the PSP. I haven't seen it on the shelves yet here in Calgary, though.

Thanks for sealactiongear link. They are a little bit pricey but it seems to be good quality. They seem to have Doan magnesium bar and also 100 mph tape and other interesting gear. I'm going to post a thread at http://army.ca/forums/ about the parachute cord.

Update: I found this thread which is probably similar to what I would get:
http://army.ca/forums/index.php/topic,4136.0

Frankie

Update: I received the following reply from MEC on July 17th:
------------------------------------------------
Dear William,

Thank you for your suggestion concerning survival kits. As you mentioned, we already have an extensive line of first aid kits, as well as numerous options in terms of emergency equipment. I do not know if we will be adding to this line any time soon.

I have, however, forwarded your suggestion on to our buying team, and they will take it under consideration.

Please let me know if you have any other suggestions or comments.

Regards,
Jochen

Mountain Equipment Co-op Remote Sales
130 West Broadway
Vancouver BC V5Y 1P3
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So contrary to what AMK says on its website, it appears MEC is not currently planning to stock Doug's PSP. Too bad. <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />