Australian made section

[threshold]

Hi,

Could we get an Australian made and owned hiking gear section. I like buying Australian gear.

If I have missed it please let me know.

Glen

[simonm]

Well that's a bit of a disappointing response so far. I think it's a good idea.

[Mark F]

I am agnostic to the idea but would like to know what sort of content the section would contain and where would it sit in the current structure. The equipment section already has 4 subsections and adding more will make it a bit too busy and fragment discussion. For many threads Australian gear is part of a comparison with os brands and knowing where to start a thread becomes more problematic.

There are already a few sub sections that get almost no traffic. See the NSW and ACT section where the Six Foot Track subsection has only seen 62 posts in 3 1/2 years and the Bushwalking NSW Inc subsection with 51 posts in the same time and nothing in the last 2 years.

[Lophophaps]

Mark has identified the issues relating to the idea. I'll ask other mods and Matt, see what the consensus is. When we created the AAWT forum there was discussion before the idea was made public. Then there was a public discussion about stickies, names and a few more things. Mark and others gave good input, and these were adopted. While it takes time and consultation to get things right, the preparation pays off nicely. See the AAWT discussion at
viewtopic.php?f=64&t=21818

[Neo]

As is or move to equipment would do, as a search of any of the title words brings up this thread.
Member makers can plug their own gear and link.
I can think of Simon, Scotty, Evan and Mike.
There are also some Aussie brands that are made elsewhere if someone wants to point them out.

[whitefang]

I don't think there needs to be an Australian made sub-forum. In the scheme of things there isn't a lot of Australian outdoor gear makers that would bring a lot of discussion to one. The makers that are active on this forum either have their own posts about their products or are active in a lot of threads and openly discuss their products.

I think the easiest way to find a big group of Australian outdoor gear makers would be to join the Outdoor Gear Makers Australia group on Facebook.

[simonm]

Well after giving it a bit more thought spurred on by the comments above I do think the content would be fairly minimal for this forum over a period of time so I would have to agree a separate forum is probably not warranted. Those vendors that want to use the forum for advertising can do that already, and other questions with regards locally made gear can easily be asked and answered in the various sub-forums.

[wildwalks]

Howdy
I think the topic of Australian Made is a good one.
The best way to test if it has the potential for a subforum is to start up a thread something like "Best Australian Made Gear?". And see how to discussion goes.
I suspect the need will be fulfilled with a just a few threads rather than a subforum.
(eg Best AU sleep systems, Best AU tents & packs....)

At the risk of been controversial, I was interested in starting a thread on "Best lightweight kit for under $500 from aliexpress" And see what are the best rain shells, sleep systems etc we could find. I like AU made gear as well -- I will hold off on my thread until you get the AU one established .

thanks

Matt