Outdoor gear 🏔️🥾 (we have so many brands)

Yup

Now that is interesting to know!

I was just reading a review of jackets where the praise the goretex brand. Though I guess there's new technology from gotetex

Also common at hipster/expensive coffee shops in the US.

We bought our bag on a visit to NYC 17-18 years ago, now they’re everywhere. It’s is still working fine though, just little dirty

They did seem very well marketed for a very basic design of backpack. There was a camp supply store on Rozengracht near my family's place that had a full window display of the backpack's in a rainbow array of colours. Thinking back on it, it did feel a bit like the Stanley cup saga USA saw more recently. Seeing so many of them around town and that IIRC they were still around 100euros it seemed more of a fashion item. As a semi-tourist I thought I should get one as a practical keepsake of my trip but in the end I felt happier with my reusable Jumbo and HJ shopping bags.

Sounds like bad corporate decisions more than anything. Lacoste and Ralph Lauren thrived as the epitome of dad brands for decades until they realized they were cool among drug dealers and pivoted to the related aesthetics with shirts that are 80% logos and shit

a “dad” brand "beyond redemption”.

So it's not Instagram-cool anymore, gotcha/j

Jesus 10000,- for a 3 person tent? Bit rich for my blood. I can recommend the one i linked to. It weighs very little and has served us well on several camping holidays in Denmark, Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane. Equally good for wild camping as campsites and easily put up by one person. There's also enough room in the bag to just stuff it in if you're in a rush.

Agree, I'm in Colorado and Mammut is well loved here (I own a Mammut jacket myself). Haglöfs makes top-notch backpacks and I wore exclusively Salomon shoes for over a decade before switching to zero-drop.

Most of these European brands are pretty easily found here if you know where to look. As for the American brands, Columbia is utter trash and Marmot isn't much better.

Agreed, it's much better to ditch "European" brands like Salomon and Arc'teryx which fall under Amer Sports which is owned (besides being 45% Chinese) in part by billionaire/premium asshat Chip Wilson:

In his book titled Little Black Stretchy Pants, Wilson wrote that he is not necessarily opposed to child labour, as "working young is excellent training for life.

In October 2024, a sign went up at Wilson's home in British Columbia, which is the most expensive home in the province. The sign criticized British Columbia premier David Eby, reading "Eby will tell you the Conservatives are 'Far right' but neglects saying that the NDP is 'Communist.'"

In early 2024, Wilson expressed concern over Lululemon's diversity and inclusion policy saying in a Forbes interview: "they’re trying to become like the Gap, everything to everybody." He also criticized an advertisement made by the company featuring plus-sized women models, whom he said looked "unhealthy," "sickly" and "not inspirational." These statements were seen as offensive, with Time reporting them to be "fat-phobic". Lululemon was quick to distance themselves from Wilson's comments, saying, "Chip Wilson does not speak for Lululemon, and his comments do not reflect our company views or beliefs."

Buying ethically is not as easy as avoiding most American brands. Sometimes you have to dig a little deeper.

which country were you working at decathlon in?

I've been to them all over the world, and their manufacturing bases decentralized, so I'm wondering if one country has worse quality items than the others.

can't believe you about better quality elsewhere, decathlon is absolutely my go-to sports store for any equipment, I've been using them for about 15 years without a single product that hasn't met or exceeded my expectations, and that's not smoke.

the first rucksack I ever bought still looks and feels new 15 years later, like not a single buckle has even broken, the hammock I bought lasted for a decade without any tears, and that is a super lightweight material, the day bags last for years, I don't think I've ever got something from decathlon that wasn't great.

shoot I've only worn decathlon quick dry ripstop pants for the past 15 years haha, I love them.

I did try a couple different brands while I was visiting the states, but North face and Columbia quick dry ripstop pants are dog shit compared to decathlon products.

shoot I still have the sleeping bag I bought with the rucksack, haha.

"sometimes they were throwing away some products but always smashed them (like, with a hammer) "

well that sounds bananas.

true, Aldi is the most impressive grocery store in the US(low bar, but still): better quality food, cheaper price.

I've similarly never been in a sports store with better quality items than decathlon, and I visit a lot of outdoor equipment stores.