For some sorts of supplies you might start by heading down to the wholesale restaurant equipment, bulk food warehouse, building supply outlets that are found in most major cities.

What your looking for won't be labeled, packaged or sold for survival, or even home, use and you will be dealing with bulk amounts with an expectation that your purchase will be handled entirely by you and that you have everything ready to move it.

If you buy 200 pounds of rice or beans in fifty pound sacks your expected to get it off the dock and into your vehicle without any help. If you want them to load it or use the forklift be up front about it and expect to pay for those services.

There will also be virtually no guidance or help deciding what you need. These places are set up for contractors and people who know what they are looking for. Most of what they have will not be displayed. Usually the everything is done from the counter.

There is also an expectation that you have an account with the company and this how they like it. Most will allow you to use a credit card but they aren't typically set up to handle it smoothly. Cash transactions are even more an issue because of a lack of internal accounting and fear of robbery. Most large supply houses won't take a check. Let them know how you intend to pay before before they get the warehouseman to pull your order.

For backpacks, sleeping bags and similar items that are pretty much used only one way your best shot is contacting the manufacturer. They might sell to you directly but minimum orders is usually several thousand dollars.

Most brand names and established entrepreneurs contract their production and don't actually sell 'wholesale' to anyone not an established distributor. Becoming a distributor means establishing an account, credit line, an agreement to buy a minimum amount of product, and often an agreement on minimum price. Once enough commitments have been made this triggers the brand to order manufacturing to commence. The system is set up to prevent people from undercutting prices or lowering reputation of a brand by flooding the market.

A way around this is to establish your own manufacturing connection. The good news is that this is far easier than it used to be. Five to ten thousand dollars seems to be the entry price for short production runs. First timers are best served to use a broker to handle details.