I do think REI's pretty expensive, but it's midrange (see below).
If you do a lot of backpacking, you find you don't really need much specialized gear anyway -- in fact you probably have a lot of what you need lying around the house already. So the overall cost isn't that high. So it was worth buying a very expensive winter sleeping bag for sub-zero conditions, but for the summer I don't even need a bag at all. I wear the same hiking boots for any long walk.
When I say REI is "midrange": they are a great place to get basic stuff (I found the outdoors stuff at Dick's or Bass Pro to me cheap but mostly worthless crap). After the rebate, prices aren't bad and stuff tends to last a long time. They don't sell the super high end stuff (custom boots or sleeping bags) but the market for that is vanishingly small anyway, and like I said, typically you only need one or two pieces of expensive gear.
My locally-owned discount camping place (Redwood Trading Post in Redwood City) is my go-to just because it's locally owned, but they have some clunkers (e.g. their ropes).
One thing I've noticed is that REI do stock a lot of gimmicks (outdoor themed playing cards, heavy stoves for car camping, cheap knives) which I assume are the bulk of their profits. I haven't seen that stuff crowd out the "real" gear. Cabellas used to have really good gear too, but they couldn't make a go of it and the crud-laden Bass Pro bought them so we'll see what happens.
Oh, and another note on "midrange": I am referring specifically to backpacking, cycling and skiing (though I don't buy ski/snowshoe gear there). I am intimidated by the rock climbing gear and have no way of knowing if it is crap or ultra-high end.
If you do a lot of backpacking, you find you don't really need much specialized gear anyway -- in fact you probably have a lot of what you need lying around the house already. So the overall cost isn't that high. So it was worth buying a very expensive winter sleeping bag for sub-zero conditions, but for the summer I don't even need a bag at all. I wear the same hiking boots for any long walk.
When I say REI is "midrange": they are a great place to get basic stuff (I found the outdoors stuff at Dick's or Bass Pro to me cheap but mostly worthless crap). After the rebate, prices aren't bad and stuff tends to last a long time. They don't sell the super high end stuff (custom boots or sleeping bags) but the market for that is vanishingly small anyway, and like I said, typically you only need one or two pieces of expensive gear.
My locally-owned discount camping place (Redwood Trading Post in Redwood City) is my go-to just because it's locally owned, but they have some clunkers (e.g. their ropes).
One thing I've noticed is that REI do stock a lot of gimmicks (outdoor themed playing cards, heavy stoves for car camping, cheap knives) which I assume are the bulk of their profits. I haven't seen that stuff crowd out the "real" gear. Cabellas used to have really good gear too, but they couldn't make a go of it and the crud-laden Bass Pro bought them so we'll see what happens.
Oh, and another note on "midrange": I am referring specifically to backpacking, cycling and skiing (though I don't buy ski/snowshoe gear there). I am intimidated by the rock climbing gear and have no way of knowing if it is crap or ultra-high end.