I prefer to do business with the "cottage industries": Six Moon Designs, Tarptent, Ti Goat, Gossamer Gear, Oware, Integral Designs, Mountain Laurel Designs, Western Mountaineering, ULA, Feathered Friends, Antigravity Gear, Z-Packs. Not necessarily in order! (There are probably some I've left out and I apologize.) I don't have gear from all of these, but I've found they are reputable, very willing to answer lots of my (undoubtedly) stupid questions and have great customer service. Among the big guys, Montbell, at least for clothing--they generally have the warmest items for the least weight, which IMHO are worth the extra money. I also really like "Patagucci" base layers although they're awfully pricey--I watch for their sales and have gotten really good deals on their base layers, even though the color selection on sale items is awful. I ended up with hot pink bottoms and nauseating purple tops, but since I wear them under other clothes or in the sleeping bag, who cares? I just try not to look at them! They are soft and cozily warm!

I avoid the "standard" gear brands like North Face, Kelty and Sierra Designs like the plague--too heavy and pricey. I still haven't recovered from 10 years of misery with the SD Clip Flashlight, which had far more internal condensation than my current Tarptent and SMD Lunar Solo tents, and required 10 stakes, not included in the advertised weight, of course). I have an old TNF Cat's Meow sleeping bag (used only for car-camping and weekends at son #3's vacation home to save my WM down bag for backpacking) and an old Kelty external frame pack (5.5 lbs.) which is sitting around unused. If I can adjust the Kelty to fit son #3, I might whack off the heavy nylon bag and give it to him to use just the frame with silnylon stuff sacks tied on (sort of a homemade cheapo version of Luxury Lite). My experience with it, though, is that, in addition to being too heavy, the pack has a life of it's own and insists on zigging when I zag--unless my son falls in love with it, it will probably end up with the Salvation Army). Last spring I gave my Clip Flashlight away to a fellow whose gear was stolen from his car (no theft insurance and low-income budget)--I couldn't in good conscience sell the stupid tent, but this guy was desperate and I was glad to help him out. I also avoid mainline stores like Really Expensive Items (don't get me started on them, please!), although I do watch for their very occasional deal. Since I first joined REI in 1985, I've consistently gotten far better deals on standard and "house" brands from Campmor. That's probably why I've never had more than a $1 REI dividend!

By far my favorite gear/clothing store is BackcountryGear.com in Eugene, OR (available through the TLB Portal). I've had awesome service from them--they even found an amply hipped (or so they implied) female employee to crawl into a sleeping bag I was interested in to see if it would fit me! I order one day, and "Brown" leaves the stuff on my doorstep the next afternoon (that's because I live in the Portland, OR area, but it does mean that they normally ship the day the order is received). I've gotten one or two good items from the backpackinglight.com store, but they are awfully pricey unless you want to sign up for their paid subscription, which I refuse to do. I did get a nice Ti pot with frying pan lid from them, just the right size for going out with the grandkids.

My pet peeve with a lot of firms is that once I order from them, even on the internet, my mail is replete with paper catalogs in perpetuity. That's one of the many reasons why I prefer the "cottage industries" and BackcountryGear--no junk mail afterwards!
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May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view--E. Abbey