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Best gear shops in the Adirondacks

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  • #16
    Not living in the 'daks, I dont have expeience with the shops there, but I do LOVE Campmor. I am about 1 1/2 hrs from the store, and a visit there is a worthwhile road trip, especialy before an outing. There are deals in the store you wont get by catalog/net (such as blemished Old Town Canoes at GREAT prices). I have found the salespeople helpful and knowledgable, and it has been that way for years.
    One other note... they have an in-house repair department, that is very reasonable, and from my experience, very good.

    I am going to stop in at Mountaineer when I am next in the area.
    It's all fun and games until somebody loses an eye!

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    • #17
      St Regis Canoe Outfitters has an incredible selection of gear for canoeing/kayaking. Most places cater to hikers.

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      • #18
        Originally posted by C4C View Post
        There is a little outdoor shop in Saranac lake just south of the little weird intersection near hotel saranac. Acouple doors down from Blueline sports. Kevin Clark is the owner/manager/salesman/janitor--you get the idea. He is a local. His shop used to be Lake Placid Mountaineering but he moved due to high rent in Placid. He is in the process of a name change (for obvious reasons) stop in and chat. They carry climbing gear, camping gear, mnt bikes, snowshoes, clothes etc.
        Update: this place is toast.

        And having lived until a couple of years ago a half-an-hour north of Campmor, I would add my vote for them, though I would agree that some of their staff seem to push stuff that I wouldn't think of buying (though that can happen in any store).

        Now we're living in Saranac Lake, and buy a lot of stuff from Blueline Sports and St Regis Canoe Outfitters. We've also used Adirondack Lakes And Trails Outfitters New York Canoe on the eastern end of town from time to time.

        And although we've gone into the Lake Placid EMS, we've rarely found what we're looking for there.
        The Adirondack Wilderness ... is a vast natural park, one immense and silent forest, curiously and beautifully broken by the gleaming waters of a myriad of lakes, between which rugged mountain ranges rise as a sea of granite billows. -- Verplanck Colvin

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        • #19
          Mountain Man in Old Forge Area and St. Regis Outfitters are great for paddlers. If you need something like a fuel pump or stove you are probably out of luck unless you are in the vacinity of them or in Placid or Keene.

          From home, it's Campmor catalog or EMS & Dicks in town (Ithaca)
          How lovely is your dwelling place O Lord.
          Better is one day in your house than a thousand elsewhere.

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          • #20
            +1 on Mountainman and Wooden Ski & Wheel. Both are run by great people.
            Member

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            • #21
              Originally posted by lumberzac View Post
              The must have changed things at the Saratoga store they frustrated me enough that I haven't stepped foot in there since last August.
              They gave Val a hard time on an exchange of a pair of barely used gaitors that had the strap break. It soured both of us to that particular store, and generally I stick to the EMS in Albany because they:

              A) Know us, especially Val, who willingly signs her paycheck over to them every few weeks

              B) Actually know the gear and engage in outdoors activities (versus being cute and cuddly, sometimes slightly clueless, but well dressed like outdoors people *cough* saratoga *cough* ).

              Limited experience with the Nisky EMS, but they were always friendly. It's just not a large store and it's out of the way for me most of the time.

              I suspect the staffing issue at the Saratoga store is a product of the immediate job pool (kids of upper middle class professionals who climbed Cascade and think they're mountaineers, or who bouldered once or twice at the rock gym and give advice about climbing). I know of one or two exceptions but they're never working when I'm there, and are the minority of employees that are (IMO) qualified to be working at an EMS.

              The Lake Placid store aint fooling around and has some very diehard employees. Unless my plans got cancelled or something went wrong I rarely find myself shopping there though.

              The Mountaineer has won me over on their level of service and quality of gear, though they still sour me with organizing the trail running race they avoid addressing publicly. It does matter to me that they support it, but not enough I've maintained my boycott. My business at the Mountaineer is mainly because of the employees there. Once they've moved on, so will I (thankfully I live someplace where I have options when shopping for gear, and there's always that internet place too).

              ______________

              If anyone who knows something about computers has been to a Geek Squad and talked with the kids working there you'll notice the same thing. Retail sucks, and what's worse is they pay crap and expect to hire/retain professionals to keep the image that they have a clue. The few who do know something are watered down by the majority of employees there for reasons other than their skillset.
              Last edited by Kevin; 08-10-2008, 05:54 PM.

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              • #22
                out of curiosity - who do you have an issue with? we usually hang out @ the mountaineer whenever we're in the area and have never had any issues with the staff. there's a couple guys who have always been really helpful and friendly, even when trying on trail runners with 3 day old socks on
                hope to get back there soon, I want to pick up a granite gear pack for climbing.

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                • #23
                  Originally posted by Anita View Post
                  out of curiosity - who do you have an issue with? we usually hang out @ the mountaineer whenever we're in the area and have never had any issues with the staff. there's a couple guys who have always been really helpful and friendly, even when trying on trail runners with 3 day old socks on
                  hope to get back there soon, I want to pick up a granite gear pack for climbing.
                  I clarified the one section I think confused you... It was mentioned because, for some people, who you're buying from matters.

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                  • #24
                    woops. my bad

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                    • #25
                      Originally posted by Kevin View Post
                      Limited experience with the Nisky EMS, but they were always friendly. It's just not a large store and it's out of the way for me most of the time.
                      The Nisky store was right down the street from my work - I think I was in there every week. Definitely a small store. It seemed like the staff was about half knowledgeable people and the other half not so much. The manager did know me by sight which allowed me to return a year old pair of boots that had lost their waterproofing...

                      Steve
                      Hike Always.
                      http://dunbarsm.wordpress.com

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