I've mentioned before that boat folk would be smart to look outside the marine gear world for a lot of reasons. And, while I am one seriously frugal dude, there are more important reasons than just cost...
Take backpacking and climbing gear for instance. A lot of work goes into designing gear for many of the very same needs we have on boats. Yet, more often than not, there is very little crossover between the backpacking camping world and sailing. My coming from the climbing world (I used to design climbing gear for a living) this has always surprised me, especially so, as so many climbing and backpacking products work well on boats.
Sadly when they do tend to crossover it is in the guise of a rip off of some marine trader selling off a stock $29 climbing harness for $129 as a "Bosuns harness" or "Foredeck harness". Or even worse, a "marine" company making a climbing harness knockoff in some third world sweatshop that simply falls apart like my Harken Bosuns chair... As the adage goes... Buyer Beware!
So a lot of the stuff on the boat tends to come from places like REI, EMS and, as we have a serious Moose hangup on our boats, it's not surprising that Moosejaw is a much shopped location.
For those not in the know about Moosejaw, now is a great time to check them out as they have a killer deal on their rewards program which is one of the best around at anytime but seriously PFA at the moment...
Check it out: CLICK HERE. Coupon Code: 3XREWARD
Gorge Express
11 hours ago
