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Chockstone Forum - Gear Lust / Lost & Found

Rave About Your Rack Please do not post retail SPAM.

Author
Where to go online for climbing gear shopping?
HeidiW
3-Feb-2014
3:20:17 PM
Hey guys, i'm looking into buying some stuffs to start off a rack. Do you know of any website that sell protection gear that is reasonable price and do internationally shipping of brands like black diamond, dmm or wild country ??
citationx
3-Feb-2014
3:38:19 PM
US stores are not allowed to ship any of those brands to australia. You have to get a third party to onforward your purchases.
Admittedly, with the AUD now falling and the relative move towards making prices more aligned, you are almost as well off by checking out local stores (online and bricks and mortar) and comparing for the best deal.
(as referenced in other thread http://www.chockstone.org/Forum/Forum.asp?Action=DisplayTopic&ForumID=6&MessageID=26211&Replies=11#NewPost )

Rocker
3-Feb-2014
3:52:19 PM
Even if you do purchase from overseas, returning faulty items or honouring recalls gets difficult.
On a more serious note, if we continue to buy things from overseas, and not support the local climbing shops, than where will they be when you really need something?
Support Steve at Rock Hardware. He will teach you what gear is best for your situation, and will give you the best price he can :)

Sabu
3-Feb-2014
4:21:04 PM
Hi Heidi. If you can support Steve from Rock Hardware as he supports this site. He also does seriously good deals on gear so give him a call and tell him what you're after.

http://www.rockhardware.com.au/

Drake
3-Feb-2014
4:30:11 PM
Climbing anchors is also really good.

www.climbinganchors.com.au
Damien Gildea
3-Feb-2014
4:38:03 PM
On 3/02/2014 HeidiW wrote:
> Do you
>know of any website that sell protection gear that is reasonable price
>and do internationally shipping of brands like black diamond, dmm or wild
>country ??

I have used http://www.gearexpress.com/climbing/protection.html and they are good. Will ship BD to Australia and you can email them for different shipping options if the auto-quoted price seems too high.

Miguel75
3-Feb-2014
4:44:39 PM
Hi Heidi, I've purchased a lot of gear from overseas, mainly from the following sites;

Backcountry.com
Bentgate.com
Moosejaw.com
Mtntools.com
Alssports.com

Spadout.com can be a good price finder and I'd recommend getting together a list of gear you want, sourcing prices and info from the above sites and then contacting Steve from Rock Hardware to see what he can do it for. I've found prices are fairly comparable of late and (for me) any small price difference buying gear in Aus. is offset by the joy of instant gear gratification;)

P.S. I've never had an OS retailer refuse to send a particular brand to Aus though I have lost the odd package to the aether. (Insurance is good).You don't need to worry about paying GST unless your package has a retail value of $1000....
latch
3-Feb-2014
5:10:49 PM
With the Aus dollar down against the USD you aren't really going to save much on some gear like BD. At the moment in the States a normal C4 1 is around 65 US, I think Steve has them for 68 AUD by the time you factor in the exchange and postage you might find going local about the same or better than buying from the US depending on the gear plus all the other good reasons listed.

This is my local store, they are really good and very helpful.

http://www.mountaingear.com/
Paul
3-Feb-2014
10:40:37 PM
On 3/02/2014 Sabu wrote:
>Hi Heidi. If you can support Steve from Rock Hardware as he supports this
>site. He also does seriously good deals on gear so give him a call and
>tell him what you're after.
>
>http://www.rockhardware.com.au/

Definitely buy from Steve at Rock Hardware, I have been buying gear from him for about 10 years, his prices are always very competitive.

plumb-bob
4-Feb-2014
8:22:53 AM
I recently bought a set of 6 C4s from Steve at RH. I looked at ordering camalots from the states, but with the postage, credit card foreign currency charges and the exchange rate the bank charged it was actually cheaper to buy them from Steve.

Be careful to check what these charges are when comparing prices and know that the bank won’t give you the full AUD to USD exchange rate!

I would also have needed to have it sent via an intermediary as the US stores don’t send BD to Australia.

It ended up cheaper, easier and quicker going with RH. I had local service, the ability to return any items if required and I was supporting a local business that supports Chockstone and the local climbing community.

RH: AU$445 and they arrived in 2days
(AU$435 + AU$10 postage)

http://www.rockhardware.com.au/Order.asp?Action=View&StockCode=BD262161

Amazon: AU$460 all up and they would have taken nearly a month to get here.
(US$368 = AU$425 after credit card currency conversion, + AU$10 foreign currency credit card charge (2.5%) + $25 postage from my mate in LA)

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Diamond-Camalot-Package-0-5/dp/B004A1WILO/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1391461868&sr=8-5&keywords=black+diamond+C4

plumb-bob
4-Feb-2014
8:25:55 AM
Wow, just realised that Amazon set didn't even come with the nuetrinos that the RH one did. Even bigger savings!

2G
4-Feb-2014
10:57:11 AM
Climbinganchors.com.au have great service, good website, reasonable prices and are really quick

I've tried some from OS:

Moosejaw order took forever to come, they stuffed up my order and then took aaaages to sort it out

Gear Express have great personal service and are really fast, used them a few times

Mountaingear sometimes have specials on racks with prices that are too low for anyone else to beat, and reasonably quick

jrc
4-Feb-2014
1:06:37 PM
Go with Steve. He is fast, good delivery service anywhere in Aus, good value and helpful evenif you call him at the weekend (as I have done when the credit card payment played up). Nothing seems too much trouble for him. and the prices especially on gear sets are good!
Howsie
4-Feb-2014
1:17:34 PM
Whilst I often buy in Australia, there are times when the price difference is too great to swallow. These are two very reputable UK companies that are often great on price.

http://www.v12outdoor.com/

http://www.upandunder.co.uk/Outdoor/Climbing/
Damien Gildea
4-Feb-2014
1:22:22 PM
On 4/02/2014 Howsie wrote:
>Whilst I often buy in Australia, there are times when the price difference
>is too great to swallow. These are two very reputable UK companies that
>are often great on price.
>
>http://www.v12outdoor.com/
>
>http://www.upandunder.co.uk/Outdoor/Climbing/

And it's not just price - it's range and selection. No 2011 gear being touted as 'new'.

I've used v12 and upandunder over the years, as well as Facewest. All are good. Note also that UK retailers should subtract the 17% VAT at checkout, so the prices are even cheaper than they first appear, and postage is often less from UK than from USA.
Howsie
5-Feb-2014
6:00:27 PM
Good point on the tax Damo. This saving is often more than the cost of the postage from the UK in my experience although I guess it depends on the weight and bulk of the item versus cost.

Big G
5-Feb-2014
6:29:58 PM
Whilst price differential has diminished in recent years the Australian retailers are often way behind on range. Especially sizes. Being large of foot I really am forced to buy overseas for the item I would most like to buy here.

sliamese
5-Feb-2014
7:22:27 PM
+1 for climbing anchors. Steve is a good guy and gives back a lot in the way of rebolting.

I think in Aus there are now some places that offer the service and advice to justify the small amount extra. As for what to get, C4's are the workhorse of any rack!!

There are 18 messages in this topic.

 

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