Bushwalk Australia

Well, Im off to Canada this year [ July/August ] be there for about 4 weeks. Did the U.S. last year, and bought a heap of stuff while there, mainly because I could get it cheaply and quickly delivered to the hotels we stayed at. Unwrap it all and throw in suitcase to save some coin.

So the question is [ and I have been googling without much luck ] is who sells/makes lightweight "cottage" gear in Canada?, I might try and do the same and pick up stuff while there rather than pay for posting home. Yes I figure I can get U.S. stuff to Canada pretty quick, but since were seeing a lot of the bigger cities and moving a lot I thought I might buy some Canadian gear if it's available. No great need I guess, just curious. Exchange rate is evenish at the moment.

And the good wife WON a trip to London as well, but we will save that for 2018 I think. Shopping in Europe......

I have a young mate in Canada
i just pasted the question link into his Facebook page so i may have an answer in the next few days

can't think of a single canadian cottage manufacturer.
As for shopping in Europe, European brands are often less expensive in the US. ( less tax, lower wages, higher volume)

Franco wrote:can't think of a single canadian cottage manufacturer.
As for shopping in Europe, European brands are often less expensive in the US. ( less tax, lower wages, higher volume)

A little strange isn't it? I mean it's Canada.......... Epic mountains/lakes/forests/wilderness/snow/wildlife, drive 5mins and you're in the backwoods, but no-one seems to make UL gear.
Maybe the Americans had tied all the little niches up.

There isn't as much call for ultralight gear, since its either winter expedition grade, or mountaineering stuff, hunting stuff, basically there is always another factor/sport besides just hiking. Canadian manufacturing has also dropped off quite alot. Apart from Mountain equipment co-op, which I love to bits, and arcteryx, I can't think of any real "canadian" stores for general camping gear, and most of their stuff is made overseas like everyone else. That said, there is a lot of canoe and kayak touring companies, ski gear, that sort of thing. Ultralight comes from long distance thru-hiking, and there isn't as much of that in Canada.

Gadgetgeek wrote:There isn't as much call for ultralight gear, since its either winter expedition grade, or mountaineering stuff, hunting stuff, basically there is always another factor/sport besides just hiking. Canadian manufacturing has also dropped off quite alot. Apart from Mountain equipment co-op, which I love to bits, and arcteryx, I can't think of any real "canadian" stores for general camping gear, and most of their stuff is made overseas like everyone else. That said, there is a lot of canoe and kayak touring companies, ski gear, that sort of thing. Ultralight comes from long distance thru-hiking, and there isn't as much of that in Canada.

Nailed it. Nothing UL about hiking when it's 0F outside....in spring.

Part of it is also that anything from the (massive) cottage industry in the US is basically just a 2 day mail trip away anyway.

Get them to ship to the last hotel you're staying at, and start your shopping now! Lucky sod

Steve Evans (Suluk 46) used to be pretty active at BPL (USA Forum) but I either I did not know or had forgotten he is based in Toronto.