HikerDeals' Best-of-the-Best Outdoor Gear Deals:
- Sierra Trading Post: Extra 15% Off Fishing, hunting & Work Gear
- Moosejaw: 10% off with coupon code MOOSE, extra 10% off sale items with code SUPERSALE
- Sierra Trading Post: Extra 10% Off Boots, Shoes, Gear, and Workout Apparel + January Coupon 10% Off $100+ Orders
HikerDeals Bargain, Deal, and Sale Archive for March, 2005
Stop Scorching When Cooking on Backpacking Stoves
A good heat diffuser for your camp stove will save more than it’s weight in food and fuel. Stop having to pull a skillet off the stove, and wasting fuel, or even worse – burning the food. Weighing only 1-2 ounces, something like the West Peak Camp Stove Diffuser will help save weight and your reputation as a decent camp cook.
Get a Low-End Digital Camera for Backcountry Trips, Save the Good One
We’ve constantly had problems, and breakage, of digital cameras on tought trips into the backcountry. The thing is we don’t want to spend the extra money on a separate film camera, so our options have either been to risk the digital or take a disposable & hope the pictures turn out …until recently. I picked up a cheap digital camera (less than $100) from Overstock.com. Their stock changes often, so I can’t point to a single model, but if you have a “good” digital camera already try to get a cheap one that has the same type of memory card that you already use. It’s nice on big picture days at big-picture destinations (like Yosemite), because you can always use the backup if the other camera’s batteries die.
$5.95 Shipping (Even Heavy Items) at PETsMART.com
Save money on heavy items like dog food and travel crates with $5.95 shipping on your whole order.
Remember to use the coupon code DISCTEN at checkout to get 10% off a $50 purchase.
Metolius “Crash Pad” on Clearance – Climbing & Bouldering
Altrec.com has the Metolius Crash Pad, in 2004 colors, on a clearance sale. Since Mike really doesn’t care what color the pad he falls on while bouldering, he thinks this is a great deal. D thinks some people may not think it’s a good deal because they don’t like Metolius’ pads, although she does want to know what colors are left anyway… Regularly $138.95, is on sale for $99.97 & qualifies for Free Shipping. This is the Regular size pad, measuring 36 in. long, 32 in. wide, & 3 in. thick.
10% off & Free Shipping at Activa.com
Imagine a shop specializing in womens-specific athletic gear – that’s Activa!
10% off with $75 Minimum Purchase at Activa Free Shipping with $75 minimum purchase at Activa
10-15% off & Free Shipping at RoadRunnerSports.com
We’re both big fans of Road Runner Sports. Aside from saving the time and hassle of dealing with shoe store clerks, Road Runner always has the shoe we want in the size we need. After all, wasting 2 hours finding a pair of trail running shoes is bad – finding out they don’t have your size is even worse. One more bonus from Road Runner Sports is their “classic” shoes section. They have a big selection of popular running shoes that were discontinued – but they’ve managed to get the manufacturers to keep making enough to stock on their website.
Current promotions include:
Save 15% with $125 minimum purchase Save 10% Off All Purchases at RoadRunnerSports.com Free Shipping on all purchases over $100
Katadyn Guide Water Filter
We think the Katadyn Guide water filter is the best deal for the money right now.
We own two Katadyn filters and one MSR filter. While the MSR filter is a high-quality item, the downside to their side pump design is the necessary pumping speed, plus the ceramic filter clogs more easily on the fine silt we encounter frequently in streams in the Southwest. The long pump-action of the Katdyn design keeps you from feeling like a spastic jackrabbit and the non-ceramic filter material has a large enough surface area that it’s much less likely to clog than smooth-faced MSR ceramic filter. The one downside of a Katadyn versus an MSR filter is the leverage that the MSR handle gives you. In a really muddy stream both filters will jam up enough to require some extra muscle. In case like this, where both filters get clogged quickly, the long handle lever-action on the MSR filters never seems to require as much effort as the Katadyn pump-action does.
Putting aside our preferences and the type of water we hike near – the biggest advantage the Katadyn filters have over MSR filters is the buy-in price. Unless you are a professional group-guide, or taking a 4-month trek the Katadyn Guide has the best balance of weight, size, and speed to keep you from getting frustrated and not filtering your water.
Here are the best deals we could round up on the Katadyn Guide Filter (regularly $79.95):
$62.99, at Amazon.com $59.50, at Sierra Trading Post, limited quantities $39.95 (search for “Katadyn Backcountry”), at BassPro.com . The ‘Katadyn Guide’ and the ‘Backcountry Guide’ are the exact same fitler, but the “Backcountry” model is $40 less than the Guide is at BassPro.com
Guide Replacement filter cartridge $22.40, at Sierra Trading Post, limited quantities
Our favorite accessory for the Katadyn Guide is the Bottle Adapter. It screws onto the bottom of the filter and replaces the hose that pushes out clean water. The base of this adapter is sized so a wide-mouth Naglene bottle (or a Platypus or Naglene bladder) can be screwed onto the filter unit. It’s easy to overlook the convenience of attaching the water bottle to the filter, but we forgot this on a trip last year and while trying to pump water from an unstable stream-shore. While trying to keep my own balance I realized that either growing a third hand or attaching the bottle to the filter would have saved me from spilling and starting over several times. The second bonus point for the water bottle adapter is that by removing the clean water hose it’s easier to keep the dirty water hose away from the parts of the filter that touch clean water – that’s right, smaller odds of contaminating the clean water side with the very stuff you’re trying to remove.
30% off Women’s Osprey Packs
Osprey’s women’s packs are contoured to fit . Right now both the Osprey Luna 75, for weeklong trips, and the Osprey Luna 60, for long weekends, are 30% off at BackcountryOutlet.com.
Saving the Car From the Dog
On the way to a friend’s place in Big Bear last weekend the switchbacks on the drive up from the desert proved too much for our dog, Taj. She ended up getting carsick in the back seat. I’m going to get one of these Pooch Pads to cover the seat and seat backs for the next trip.
iPod Mini 4GB: Only $179 with extra cables
I’ll never understand why Apple is selling brand new iPod Mini’s from it’s own site for $20 less than they sell for at their own site. $179 iPod Mini 4GB! FYI: this is the older packaging that includes USB & FireWire cables – limited colors and stock (I’m sure).
PetCo.com, 15% off $45+ orders
PetCo.com is offering 15% off on online orders of $45 or more. We’re not opposed to a bit of competition, so look below for $10 off $50 or more at PETsMART.com.
10% off $50 and $5.95 shipping at PETsMart.com
Get 10% off a $50 purchase by entering coupon code DISCTEN at checkout, plus buy all those heavy items and get $5.95 shipping on your whole order at PETsMART.com.
Goggles on Sale at DogFunk.com
Yes, I said goggles and not Google the search engine… DogFunk.com is offering 30% off and Free Shipping on goggles by Oakley, Spy, Smith and Dragon.
Keen on Keen shoes
Saw a pair of Keen shoes in a breakfast cafe in Bakersfield, CA a few months ago. They looked cool and the guy wearing them raved about them, but it had been a long weekend and I forgot about them on the drive back. About two weeks ago I was in REI trying on shoes, and I remembered the Keens enough to try them on: Keen Bronx shoes
I’m wearing them now and they’re one of the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever worn, plus they’re built sturdy enough that I won’t tear them up like I do a lot of other brands. Just be ready for week or two break-in period. It’s nothing bad, they’re just stiff as a result of how sturdy they are.