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 'Quick Tips' Category
Visit the Two-Heel Drive Site for Great Backpacking and Hiking Info
Looking for hiking news and a good summary of hiking trails, how to’s, or even snowshoe info? Check out Tom Mangan’s – Two-Heel Drive website. It looks to be a great source of links to hiking and backpacking info from all over the web.
Of course, I found the site because Tom mentioned and linked to Hiker Deals site recently. He thinks the deals and commentary here “looks to be generated by a real person rather than cut ‘n’ pasted from catalog copy”. Thanks Tom.
36% Off the Marmot Pinnacle Down Sleeping Bag, 15-degree and 800 Fill Power for $210
The awesome Marmot Pinnacle 15-degree-rated down sleeping bag weighs only 3 pounds (for the 6 ft., 6 in. length) – and it’s marked down to just $209.93 at REI-OUTLET.com.
Since there is now direct-linking to REI-OUTLET.com sale items, just click the link to visit the site and search for item #733418.
Polar Heart Rate Monitor Watches on Sale at Polar Clearance Store
In a past review of long-hike training plans I mentioned how useful heart rate monitors are to keep you from pushing too hard and ending up slowing down the one or two planned hard workouts each week. Some of the most durable heart rate monitors are the Polar brand – normally they’re a bit expensive, but Amazon.com is hosting the Polar discount store
- 34% off the Polar S120 heart rate monitor watch
- 30% off the Mio Wave Heart Rate Watch
Big Shopping Comparison Sites Reviewed by Consumer Reports
All the biggest shopping comparison sites (Yahoo Shopping, Froogle, Shopping.com, PriceGrabber, etc.) are reviewed here by Consumer Reports. For the most part I agree with their ratings, although both Froogle (a Google site) and Yahoo Shopping have been upgraded since the review was completed.
One thing worth noting is that these big review sites are often just a waste of time when you’re trying to find a one-off product or looking for the BIGGEST deals. The smaller, human-edited sites do a better job of staying updated with the one-day sales and other limited coupons. My favorites include:
- Ben’s Bargains for electronics, stereo, and camera deals
- Deal Coupon for the latest coupons
- Anandtech Hot Deals forum for electronics and outright free stuff
Hanging Table and Gear Hooks are a Great Idea (but Keep Using a Bear Bag Too)
This Coleman hanging table
One warning about using the gear hooks from this Coleman table setup to protect your food from bears and other animals: Hanging you backpack or food bag against the trunk of a tree with food in it won’t keep the squirrels out, plus even Yao Ming probably isn’t tall enough to get the strap up & out of a bear’s reach. Make sure your pack, food bag, or “bear container” hangs in mid-air (2-3 feet from branches above, below, and to the side) to keep the smaller critters out of it. Yes, that plastic or metal canister may be bear-proof, but odds are a squirrel or marmot can find their way inside if they can get to it easily.
Internet Shopping Bargain and Deal Sites: Master-List
Pete Freitag, blogger & Cold Fusion programmer has posted a great list of websites listing deals and bargains. I’ve used many of them myself, but beware that most of them focus on electronics and computers (it IS the internet…).
I’ll add a few of my own favorite shopping sites:
- Google’s own Froogle price search has one of the biggest selections of tech and non-tech equipment (and it seems to be biased toward paying advertisers).
- One camping or outdoor gear Deal-a-Day at Steep and Cheap.
- Looking for a new toaster oven or anything else non-techie? General purpose price-search sites like Shopzilla and Shopper.com work OK.
- And, of course Hiker Deals – for camping bargains, but you’re already here.
My favorite bargain-finder sites from Pete’s list are Ben’s Bargains, Anandtech’s Deal forum, and Woot’s one-deal-per-day.
eBay Coupons Again, $5 and $15 Off Any Item
More coupons for eBay. Haven’t tried these, but they probably require using PayPal to bay for purchases:
- $5 off $50 purchase code C22-GIFTGUIDE
- $15 off $100 purchase code C23-GIFTGUIDE
- 10% off, $25 maximum savings code C1-HOLIDAY2005 (only works for 50% of users …? Try to find out.)
- $5 off $50 purchase code C2-HOLIDAY2005 (only works for 50% of users …? Try to find out.)
- $15 off $100 purchase code C3-HOLIDAY2005 (only works for 50% of users …? Try to find out.)
Coupon: eBay 10% Off ANYTHING (…almost anything, $25 maximum savings)
Anyone ever use eBay? If you pay for any eBay purchase with your PayPal account you can use the coupon code C11-GIFTGUIDE to get 10% off (maximum savings $25, expiration unknown).
There’s plenty of new gear on eBay for those of you who (like me) wouldn’t ever buy a pair of used boots. Several camping equipment stores sell their new and overstock gear at reduced prices.
Thanks to RyeBlog for finding this deal.
Picking a Good Floor Pump – and 50% Off Planet Bike SSX Stainless Steel Pump
Anyone getting a new bike as a gift, or on a great year-end clearance? Make sure to get a real pump and not just a compact mini-pump. Even better, stay away from lightweight and high-volume floor pumps with aluminum bodies – they can pull-out of the base and stop pumping if the body gets dented in a trunk. Hint: If the pump body is silver & not painted it’s either aluminum or stainless steel. And, if it’s stainless it should be marked on the tag.
A good quality pump is still easy to find. The Planet Bike SSX Stainless Steel floor pump is 50% off, just $24.99. It’s stainless steel and pumps all the way to 200psi. Even if you never pump a tire to 200psi, a higher top-end pressure usually means stronger and longer-lasting seals.
Little Secrets to Keep Hands Warmer in Extreme Cold
These three little things will keep your hands much warmer no matter how long you’re out or how fancy your gloves are.
Despite all the fancy insulations and waterproof fabrics used in modern gloves it’s still hard to keep your hands warm on long days outside. Most of the problem is because hands both move and sweat a lot. Yes, even you – unless you’ve had laser surgery to remove the sweat glands in your hands they do sweat some. So, if your hands don’t sweat much count yourself lucky, but pay attention to the rest of the tricks.
Keep hands really dry: This doesn’t just mean waterproof gloves or not planting your palms into a puddle, but getting any sweat off your hands fast. Using waterproof or Gore-Tex gloves is just half the answer. Since they end up trapping all that sweat inside the glove it just gets harder and harder to keep your hands warm as the day goes on. The easiest way to solve this is to wear glove liners and use glove or mitten shells. Wearing a base, insulation, and shell layer on the rest of your body helps to maximize warmth and breathability, and wearing shells with removable insulation layers and glove liners works even better for cold hands. Carrying a spare pair of liners and insulation layer weighs less than half a pound, but lets you change out the wet, sweaty layers at lunch and replace wet stuff if it gets really nasty outside (or if you fall on your tail too many times and get snow in your gloves).
Always keep hands covered: This one is simple. Don’t pull your hands out of your gloves or mitts. And, since you did wedge the lip balm in some tiny pocket that a glove can’t reach into – wear liners.
Trap warm air (or stop moving your fingers and hands): Every time you use your hands the insulation in your gloves gets compressed and, unless your gloves are covered in plastic and act like balloons, warm air gets squeezed out of the insulation. This is a big part of why mittens are warmer than gloves – there’s more warm air inside and more space for that warm air to go when you grip something. So, what can you do about this? First, wearing mittens helps – but while they’re mildly cool in recent years they’re a pain in the butt if you need to play with your bindings. So, the other thing you can do is to buy your gloves a bit roomy so they trap more air and make sure to wear liners under them, since knit liners don’t compress the way that fluffier glove-insulation does.
Other reasons for shell gloves or mitts includes being able to buy different weights of insulation to customize for the weather and that it’s cheaper over a few years to replace just the shells with seam/rope-burn holes or worn-out liners. Thin liner gloves are great for running, or keeping in a jacket or pack pocket for some lightweight backup warmth during the fall and spring. I don’t have much of a preference for shell gloves, mitts or insulation layers. All the materials are pretty good and the only thing to worry about is size. I do prefer wool glove liners, but that’s because the synthetic ones always feel slimy and stink after a few days without doing laundry.
Kelty Cloud “White Pack” Backpack Actually on Sale
Kelty’s famous, white Cloud mountaineering pack is made from Spectra (similar to Kevlar, but different brand-name) cloth and is just 4.5 pounds, including the detachable gear pockets. The Cloud is a 4500 cubic-inch pack with memory-foam belt designed for 3+ day trips where weight is the biggest concern. I’ve never actually seen one of these marked down below retail, normally $625, but BackcountryOutlet.com has it 17% off, for “just” $519.96. If you don’t want to spare any cost to stay ultralight – this may be somewhere closer to a normal climber or backpacker’s budget.
Coupons: REI.com $20 and $30 Off Coupons
$20 and $30 off coupons for REI.com – the biggest coupons I’ve seen from them all year.
- $30 off $150+ orders
: coupon code FABCC
- $20 off $100+ orders
- $30 off $150+ orders
- $20 off $100+ orders
The $20 and $30 coupons can’t be stacked since they use the same codes, so I’m guessing that REI won’t let you use both coupons on the same hiking/camping gear order either. If you’re doing all your shopping at REI or picking up something big (like skis and boots) remember to split the order so you can use a coupon on each order. Both coupon codes expire on 11/17/2005.
Mesa Long Sleeve Shirt from Mountain Hardware Just $43.97
Camping in Red Rock Canyon, NV this weekend was a good time, but the desert weather reminded me how hard it is to find camping clothes that can handle 45° mornings and 75°, blazing-sun afternoons.
Unless you’re going to hang around camp all day put on all the clothes you’ll need all day in the morning. Stick with light layers, since it’s a pain to carry half a weekend’s clothing on every Red Rock hike or excursion into Las Vegas. Lightweight long underwear over a short sleeve shirt will work for backcountry days, but if you’re planning to try to get free beer at the tables in a casino – stick with shirts instead of long underwear tops. Likewise, stay away from fleece or shell jackets, because they’re just baggage after the first few morning hours.
One piece that served me well on hikes and on the Vegas strip was an older version of this Mountain Hardware Mesa long-sleeve shirt. The light, synthetic fabric stays pretty wrinkle-free in a pack, stops wind better than fleece – without the profuse sweating either, and it doesn’t pick up dirt or stink quickly either.
Carry Tent Poles Outside Your Pack to Save Space & Weight
Seeing an Outdoor Research tent pole bag at REI marked down 61%, to $3.83, reminded me of an easy way to save pack space and cut some extra weight on backpacking trips. Tent poles are some of the only backpacking gear that isn’t collapsible or, like a cooking kit, stuffable with other gear. The best thing to do with hard-to-pack items like that is to strap them outside your pack. Strapping tent poles to the sides of a pack is tough, since most packs don’t have the right pockets or straps on the sides to keep poles from poking through or snagging on branches. A tent pole bag can easily be strapped to the outside of a pack and keep them protected from damage.
No direct links to REI products, so click & search for item # 676412 to pick up the bargain.