Where do you usually get your gear?

[Hawkshot99]

Even better than proforms is Employee Purchase Forms!

Gotta love being a shop rat!:smile:

 

[hammer]

I actually go to local shops and/or ski swaps for most of my gear. I'd consider buying skis online if I could find a much better deal (taking shipping and binding setup costs into account). Based on my last bootfitting experience, I don't think I'd ever buy boots online.

The risk I see with online purchases is that, even with a good guarantee, you still have to ship the stuff back and pay those shipping costs. For people who know what they want and know the item they are buying, that's not much of a risk.

Also, I think it's worth a few extra bucks to have a "brick and mortar" place to go back to if there's a problem.

 

[ga2ski]

skis and boots: www.telemarkdown.com unless I win it

Poles: tents sales or cheapest possibl place as i break them

Gloves: Labonville or on-line ( Kinco Leather gloves rule)

Googles: tent sales usually

clothes: tent sales

 

[bigbog]

...

Online, local shop(SkiRack) for most...

 

[Phillycore]

Skis - Online

Boots - B&M store fit is everything when it comes to boots, cost is secondary

Bindings - My local ski shop offers $10 discount on mounting if binding is purchased there so it normally offsets the cost difference of the binding and makes it equal. Not to mention they are used to mounting the bindings they sell and I feel better knowing they were mounted and adjusted by someone who's familiar with that binding specifically.

Soft Goods - I'm a big fat dude in a hobby filled with skinny mofo's. I buy what fits Both B&M / Online / Mountain shops

Goggles / Gloves - Wherever there's a good deal on what I'm looking for... normally online



Poles - Bought my last pair at local ski shop because they were the only ones who had the ones I wanted in the size I needed..

 

[o3jeff]

I get a lot of stuff online. I will also look for last years stuff at the local shops and will also check the clearance racks.

 

[Terry]

Local ski shops. I like to have a place to go back to if there is a problem.

 

[campgottagopee]

I buy all my gear at my local shop here in town for three primary reasons. First, they have good stuff and knowlegable staff, second they are customers of ours here and third they are very good friends of mine. In a small town like mine BUYING LOCAL means everything.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

I give Sports Chalet near the route 309/22 intersection quite a bit of business. I actually bought my Elan S-12s there a few seasons back and they were great about shipping them back to Slovenia and getting them replaced when the tip bent. I bought my binders for my Scratches there and they included mounting in the binding price($50 less for the same binding online). I bought a pair of Ride snowboard pants for $75..down from $120. They do a brisk seasonal rental business..which is great for the sport. Unless a kid is a racer..they don't need new gear because they'll outgrow it..and if the kid grows a shoe size..they can exchange midway through the season for different boots. They also will tune skis really fast for me and have repaired quite a few core shots bringing my skeeze back to life.

Nestors is good as well..they're just so pricey. Goggles that you can buy online for $50 are $130. They do have a really good sale in August where I might buy a jacket...A ski buddy bought a $300 jacket for $80 at that sale last year.

 

[AdironRider]

Kinda funny how Im pretty much the reverse of the majority w/ my buying habits. Ive bought all three of my boards from a local shop (various locals really), but almost all of jackets/pants/etc online. Not once have I paid retail for anything, I always stock up on leftover previous year stuff during the summer.

Also, I second the notion that most local in-a-ski-town shops are pretty knowledgeable in the products they sell. Large amount of ski bum locals that know their stuff well enough to not shoot BS.

 

[eastcoastpowderhound]

I actually bought my Elan S-12s there a few seasons back and they were great about shipping them back to Slovenia and getting them replaced when the tip bent.

Newsflash Steeze...they didn't send your skis back to Slovenia for replacement, they sent them to New Hampshire.