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I have been using those cheap kettles for years now and they are still going strong and I also get the old frypans/pots when we get new ones for the house..Quote:
Originally Posted by p38arover
As long as i can get a cup of hot coffee and cook a feed I don't care if the stuff I am using is old or cheap, As long as it does the job I am a happy camper.
It depends on what the gear is being used for ... if its being carried in a car and weight is not a factor a cheap alternative is fine .... for hiking light weight good quality camping gear is expensive but you can pick up
some cheaper alternatives.
Helinox - do great lightweight camping gear - chair under 1000grams (maybe 600grms) for $168.00c ... I bought a similar style from Aldi ... it's about 1.3Kgs (twice the weight) but at $45.00c suits me fine.
I just have to pack differently on a hike to compensate.
A small gas stove with pot at Anaconda / BCF was $85.00c ..... Aldi had similar in their own brand for $30.00c ..... great value.
Not everything is the same .... I bought a cheap Aldi sleeping bag because it was really compact .... rating 12 degrees ... bought a Sea to Summit Thermolite Reactor liner very sheer and will add extra 8 degrees
(comes in 12 Degree and 15 degree also) to a rating of a bag. Reactor Bag liner itself cost $58.00c
Used it on my last hike ... brought the rating to 4 Degrees which was fine for the weather .... it was the compact size I was looking for ....
Add the Reactor liner to my old 0 degree rated thermolite sleeping bag (not 0 degrees anymore) .... should give -8 degree but I'd be happy getting a -4 rating on any day given its 17 years old.
A -8 degree and lower lightweight quality sleeping bag starts from $500+ ... so the thermolite Reactor was a good investment.
Kmart has cheap waterproof stuff bags ... collapsible plates, bowls and cups ... its a matter of looking around.
Clothing is by far the most expensive .... and when it comes to boots I always look at the best quality I can buy (on special) as I wouldn't want to be on a hike with a cheap pair of boots ... blisters
and sore feet aren't fun.
I too have bought stuff from the cheaper alternative 4 x 4 store and have been happy with my purchases .... they now have two outlets here in Perth that you can check the gear out first which is a bonus.
Baggy
^^ Agreed - but hiking to me is from the front door to the car.
We purchased the Aldi chairs (same size as Helinox Chair One) as a tester for hiking and our limited space in the Poptop ......by the end of our 10 day fraser trip they were toast.Quote:
Originally Posted by Baggy
Have since brought Helinox Sunset as we figured we would take the Chair One hiking....the sunsets have been used 2 or 3 times more than the aldi Chair was used and zero sign of wear. Pretty confident they will give us value for money. Aldi gear suits a lot of users, doubt I’ll ever buy from them again.
At least if you returned them to Aldi, you'd get a full refund.
No receipt......Quote:
Originally Posted by p38arover
I’m not in the ....’if it breaks you can buy three or four for the price of something similar in the store next door’.......group, cheap and nasty adding to land fill problems.
It can be argued that Black Wolf Turbo tents are expensive however I picked on up from their online shop, Turbo Lite 300 brand new current model (the website says it is the older 2 pole awning model, the one that arrived was a newer 3 pole one) for $486.- including shipping. That price required registration on the site as a member which gets an additional discount on the $621 advertised price at the checkout.
Offers are here
Ron
You don't need a receipt if the item was only available from one shop, but you may need proof of purchase, and then a credit card statement would suffice.Quote:
Originally Posted by weeds
Don.
I wanted to return an unopened item to Aldi - had lost the receipt and paid cash so no other record - item was only sold at Aldi, still in Aldi packageing but they still refused to take the return.
Their argument was that I could have stolen it and was just trying to get some cash.
As a result I tend not to shop at ALDI any longer - when no name brand is compared to no mane brand they are no cheaper than Woolies.
Actually ALDI staff must think the same - at my local shops we have Woolies and Aldi and Aldi staff with Aldi uniforms on were doing their shopping in Wollies.
Garry
Hi all
When looking at camping stuff (or indeed any purchase) I think its useful to distinguish between something "over priced" and "more expensive". Over priced to me means something that is priced with a markup that does not justify the materials or manufacturing costs. It may still sell due to better marketing, some brand appeal or high exposure in many retail stores. More expensive to me means it costs more than a similar product but it still be reasonable for its input costs. Likewise a product can be "too cheap" and you can't possibly understand why its that cheap.
Drifta Camping and Wilderness Equipment are examples of companies with products that are more expensive compared to comparable products from other companies. The reason; Drifta is manufacturing in Gloucester NSW and Wilderness Equipment has some manufacturing in WA. I can buy a cargo bag or a tent much cheaper from other retailers that import a cheaper product. The imported product might also be quite acceptable quality and well made, but there is an ethical side to it. I'm not rich, and paying more hurts a bit, but I try to buy locally or Australian where I can. Camping products, especially if sewn, are labour intensive, and the maker has to pay off the industrial sewing machine, and pay Aussie wages.
Likewise sometimes I see products (Bunnings comes to mind) that are just too cheap. Somewhere, someone isn't getting what they should be getting. They don't know why they are so cheap so I just don't buy the product as otherwise I'm contributing to someone getting screwed.
So in summary, yes some camping products may be over priced, but don't pass up looking at more expensive Australian made camping products. It would be nice to still have Australian camping gear manufacturers still around in decades to come.
Mike
PS. My ride on mower is a Greenfield Mower, made in Qld. It was the only mower I could find that was made here.