FAQ - Manufacturers and Brands
Send any comments to the maintainer Roger Caffin.

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Introduction

This is a partial list of the differents brands and manufacturers in Australia and around the world. If you think I have left someone out, let me know. If you can fill in missing URLs, let me know. If you disagree with some of the assessments shown here - OK, so let me know too - but explain why. Specialist overseas companies have been included because we use their gear. The precise order of listing has absolutely no significance at all, except that I have put local firms first and overseas ones later. Australian shops in different major cities are found later on.

One problem which has come up is the competition between 'brick & mortar' shops and web sites ('brick' vs 'click'). The web sites are often cheaper, even after postage, although watch out for overseas freight. The former offer you the chance to 'touch & feel' the gear before you buy, and can provide better support in the event of problems. Importing via the web may not give you a local warranty. This conflict is not confined to bushwalking gear of course.

There is another list of web sites in the DIY page. That one covers local and overseas suppliers of materials which may be of some use to the DIY fan. The reality is that the author has little hope of covering every useful web page out there. If you find one of special interest, let me know.

Ansco
www.ansco.com.au
A Victorian importer of a range of good stuff, including Easton poles and Atsko products such as Snow Seal, Sports Wash and fluoropolymer WaterGuard (DWR).

Adventure Foods
www.?.com.au
Products of the old Australian Defence Department Labs. The troops have benefited greatly (we suspect) from their branching out into the consumer marketplace with their range of freeze-dried meals: they have had to match consumer expectations. The foil packs themselves are just a little heavy. However, supplies have been restricted ever since the politicians committed troops overseas.

BackCountry
www.freezedri.co.nz
A New Zealand company marketing most excellent freeze-dried meals. Their meat dishes can be imported into Australia, unlike the American ones. Roast Lamb and Veg is recommended.

Better Packaging
www.?.com.au, 02 9688 4686
Sydney supplier of bulk plastic bags suitable for waterproofing gear. They will sell to the public at reasonable prices. They don't take a credit card - wierd.

Bunyip
www.bunyipboot.com.au
A much under-rated Victorian maker of leather boots of quality close to that of the best Europeans. However, with the move to lightweight jogger-style gear their future is uncertain - although they should do well on the street market.

Camping World
www.???.com.au
A chain of franchises aimed more at the car camper than the bushwalker. However, they do carry some things of use such as small accessories etc.

ClickClack
www.clickclack.com
Actually a maker of kitchenware, but their rectangular lunch boxes have become extremely popular for field equipment and lunch on day walks.

DMH, TrekLite
www.dmh.aust.com
A few items possibly of use to a bushwalker, but really more into the family/car camping and trekking areas.

Dunlop
www.dunlopsport.com.au, but don't expect any useful info about Volleys or KTs there.
Makers of the famous Dunlop Volleys and KT-26 shoes (and the newerr KT-42), and also the Nuggets (later Ushers, Revolutions, Amazons and Beyonds) which featured in a successful aus.bushwalking Field Trial. The current state of play with models can usually be found on aus.bushwalking. Sadly, the quality of their joggers declined after a while and cannot be recommended (cardboard inner soles!).

Fairydown
www.fairydown.co.nz
Very old NZ company, like a small Macpac. They shrank considerably for some years, but seem to be making a comeback. Good duvets.

Forty Three South
www.43southnz.com, peter@43southnz.com
A very new NZ company making parkas and selling some other gear. Relatively unknown.

Heinkel, Queensland
heinkel1@bigpond.com, Christine (07)3824 3777
Distributor of Atsko products, willing to post them around Australia. (Thank you Peter Harwood)

Hikelight and Recycled Recreation or Outdoors.com.au
www.hikelight.com.au, www.outdoors.com.au
A group of four independent shops claiming to be aiming at the lightweight end of the market. However, they also sell family-camping class gear (they have to, to stay alive), so you need to know what you are looking for. Pricing on some gear remains a sore point as many web sites undercut them.

Intertrek
www.?.com.au
As far as I can tell, this is a consortium of independent outdoors shops. They get some gear made under the Intertrek logo and the member shops sell it. The brand isn't too bad.

Kathmandu
www.kathmandu.com.au
A New Zealand company making a range of gear and selling it and other gear through their chain of shops. While having a range of technical gear, they cater a little more towards the trekking and street wear side of the market. They run many "half price" sales, and the (harsh) concensus is that some of their gear is good value during these sales. Mind you, their regular 'sales' give the other shop-owners a real headache. The original owner (a Kiwi lady) sold out a few years ago, but the brand and shops seem to have survived.

Kinetix
www.kinetixsportsclothing.com.au
An Australian company making a range of specialist clothing for outdoor wear, especially for things like XC skiing, cycling and climbing. They don't compete with the Chinese imports, but do make to order. They use a lot of Volesse fabric which is 'a two way mechanical stretch polyamide fabric. Tough and very long lasting as it doesn't contain any elastane. It is breathable and quick drying and resists wetting by snow.' Lots of colours and patterns.

Macpac
www.macpac.co.nz
New Zealand company which was known around the world for quality gear, including tents, packs and clothing. The Cascade pack and the Olympus tent were classics, albeit neither cheap nor light.
At the end of 2004 Macpac moved most of their production from New Zealand to off-shore. Economics, as usual, had forced this. Clothing and sleeping bags went gone to China, tents to Vietnam and packs to the the Philippines. This caused some changes in design and materials, and the market place was not impressed. Then the outdoors enthusiasts lost control of the company to the marketeers and money-men, who tied to exploit the reputation the company had built up by moving the focus to street wear. This didn't work (of course), and the company collapsed completely. It was taken over by some NZ enthusiasts and a company called 'Mouton Noir' (black sheep), who have promised to revive the 'real Macpac'. This seems to be working.

Mont Equipment
www.mont.com.au
Queanbeyan company making a range of good gear, including packs, sleeping bags, clothing etc. Known for some good sleeping bags, including (at one stage) lightweight summer ones. Off-shore manufacture these days.

Mountain Designs
www.mountaindesigns.com
Queensland company making a wide range of gear and selling it and other peoples' gear in their own shops. They have a tendency to put a lot of frills on their gear and some readers claim they are targeted more towards the affluent street, trekking and tourist industry, despite the glamorous mountain pictures.

One Planet
www.oneplanet.com.au
A very good Melbourne-based Australian manufacturer of a wide range of bushwalking gear. Formed by the merger of three previous Australian companies: Adventure Designs, J&H and Aiking (I think I have that right). At the time of writing (2004, 2008), this may be the only company left actually manufacturing their gear in Australia. All the rest have farmed it out to Asia. Their factory burnt down in 2005, but they have since recovered.
In 2008 they started to move seriously into the lightweight arena with some interesting new designs in packs and sleeping bags and tents. They can also do a bit of custom work on request, including custom sleeping bags. Hidden away on their web site are some interesting Antarctic gear too - that is not light gear!

Oringi
www.oringi.com
NZ company making 'farmer-proof' wet weather gear using Flexothane fabric. Doubtless very waterproof, originally quite heavy stuff, but getting a little lighter over time. They also have a Vic office.

Outdoor Agencies
www.??.au
One of our larger importers of gear. You may not come into direct contact with them, but you may well see their logo on other imported stuff.

Paddy Pallin
www.paddypallin.com.au
Probably the oldest brand of bushwalking gear in Australia, started by Paddy Pallin making japara tents on his mother's sewing machine. (I've still got one of the early green japara tents.) There are many "Paddy Pallin" shops selling a full range of summer and winter gear, but these are run as franchises, not as branches. The 'Paddy-Made' gear sold in these shops is made by the background Paddy Pallin company, and is usually good, but they all handle a huge range of other brands as well.

Patagonia
www.patagonia.com
American parent company which used to have local outlets, specialising in a wide range of outdoor clothing, although the local branches do have other gear as well. Some outlets seem to have closed.

Gondwana, Rainbird
www.gondwanaoutdoor.com.au
Australian company with their own brands of low-cost gear Gondwana (clothing) and Rainbird (raingear). The Rainbird Raintec gear is seam sealed and breathable, and is light and cheap. If you can't get the Peter Storm rainwear, you could try a carefully selected waterproof/breathable Rainbird model.

Remote Equipment Repairs
www.remoterepairs.com.au, "Ray King" , 03 9670 2586
This company is one of two major independent repair companies in Australia. They look after all Macpac repairs, and I understand they also look after many overseas companies as well. But they are happy to look at any gear: packs, tents, sleeping bags and down clothing, rainwear and other minor items, and to quote on maintenance and repair. I have dealt with them several times: they were helpful, prompt and efficient. Yes, they still support the new Macpac.

Roman
www.roman.com.au
Mostly synthetic sleeping bags in the lower price range, but their product line seems to be growing.

Sea To Summit
www.seatosummit.com.au
Make a range of pack covers, pack liners, (good) silk sleeping bag liners, gaiters, dry bags etc. Now they seem to have merged with Wilderness Equipment of WA, although Ian Maley is still running WE.

Settlers Food Products
www.nevsolent.com.au, ph 07 3351 2181
Makers of (dehydrated) Settlers beef mince and a range of dehydrated beef mince products. They can be a bit hard to obtain in shops, but can be bought at a very reasonable price direct by the boxful. The bags are well-sealed and keep very well. A little bit of meat makes a huge difference to a stew. Does not contain artificial preservatives, artificial flavours or colouring. The plain beef mince is a bit 'plain', but the beef casserole and the Bolognaise are not bad at all.

Snowgum
www.snowgum.com.au
A brand in its own right, but linked to the Boy Scout shops. A range of branded equipment, but origins unknown. Some of it is good (I like their thermals).

Spelean
www.spelean.com.au
Not a retail outlet but a major importer and distributor of gear. They handle Cascade Designs (including Therm-A-Rest, MSR, SealLine, Platypus & Tracks), Petzl (Charlet), Chaco sandals, GSI Outdoors, Bluewater, Omega Pacific, Wild Stuff, ROK Straps, SnowClaw , CMI, Dobi, Fox 40 & Gibbs.

Summit Gear
www.Summitgear.com.au
Small company based in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, NSW which started making rather rugged gear in 1981. Since then they have opened up a full-service shop in Katoomba and another in Glenbrook.

Trekka & Gasmate
www.sitro.com.au
Sitro is a large company mainly handling car camping gear, but their small cheap steel gas stoves work quite well and are very rugged. They are branded either Trekka or Gasmate.

Venus Packaging
www.?.com.au, 03 9428 1652
Melbourne supplier of bulk plastic bags suitable for waterproofing gear. They will sell to the public at reasonable prices.

Wilderness Equipment
www.wildequipment.com.au
WA makers of a range of very robust gear, but perhaps a little heavy as a result. However, it does last. Now merged with or taken over by Sea to Summit. The web site may be limited.

Wilderness Wear
www.wildernesswear.com.au
Victorian makers of a range of outdoors clothing. They seem to have moved from making just 'street' gear to some quite respectable bushwalking gear using quality fabrics, especially Polartec. They also make a lot of socks, many of which are quite suitable.

AlpineAire
www.?.com
American brand of freeze-dried foods available from some shops. You can't get the ones with meat in them because they don't pass some Customs regulation (unknown), so the ones available here are all rather strange concoctions. They tend to be expensive.

Atsko
www.atsko.com
Their main claim to fame is Sno-Seal, a well-tested beeswax mix unequalled for the protection of leather boots and other leather goods.
They also make Fluoropolymer Permanent Water-Guard, claimed to be a superior fluoropolymer DWR in a non-flammable solvent-free non-Volatile Organic Compound formula which (they claim) can exceed the performance and durability of some factory applied DWR's. Also makers of a specialised washing liquid/soap called Sport-Wash, the prior use of which which they claim will make DWRs work and bond much better because they really clean the surface and do not leave traces of detergent behind. Tester reports at www.BackpackGearTest.com have been very enthusiastic about all products. I use it quite a lot.

Backpacking Light
www.backpackinglight.com
This is a combination of a technical web-zine for ultra-lightweight walkers and a source for ultra-light (UL) gear. They are directly in contact with the leading UL designers in America, and have reviews of all that sort of gear.
Disclosure: the author is the Senior Editor for Technology and Online Community Monitor for this web-zine.

BackpackGearTest
www.backpackgeartest.org
Not a vendor at all, but a totally volunteer group dedicated to testing gear under real bushwalking conditions, and writing full reports on the gear. Open to anyone to join at no cost. There is a qualification process. You keep the gear after completing the test.
Disclosure: the author is an Editor for BGT, and an enthusiastic Tester.

Black Diamond
www.bdel.com
Makers of cross country and Telemark ski touring gear and ice climbing gear. Owns several other good brands.

Campingaz
www.coleman.com
Compact French gas stoves, but not compatible with the common screw-thread canister. Rather heavy and clunky stoves compared with the best/lightest of the screw-thread ones. Arguably a better and longer-life connection system though. Now part of Coleman.

Caribee
www.caribee.com
While their stuff appears to be very much in the K-Mart category of gear, some of it is worth looking at. Their small cheap steel gas stoves work as well as the very expensive "bushwalking" brand ones. They are just a little heavier - and correspondingly more robust.

Cascade Designs
www.cascadedesigns.com
Best known for the Therm-a-Rest air mattress, but their many subsidiary companies also make canyon sacks, water carriers, Sweetwater filters and the Packtowel. They also own MSR now.

Coghlans
www.coghlans.com
American makers of a huge range of little camping goodies, but especially known for their pentavalent iodine tablets for water purification, their self-adhesive nylon cloth patch kits and their conspicuous orange toilet trowels (seen around the world!).

Coleman
www.coleman.com
While they sell a wide range of family camping gear, they also handle excellent liquid fuel and gas stoves, and even own the French CampingGaz brand now. Their PowerMax series of gas stoves (eg Xtreme) are unequalled for the coldest of snow conditions. Why is it that a 'family camping' company make the best winter gas stoves on the market?

Darn Tough Vermont
www.darntough.com
This company actually makes their socks in Vermont, USA, rather than importing them from China. Their 'In-Country Merino Wool Boot Socks' are arguably the finest socks I have ever met. The knitting is far finer and thicker than any others, and they seem to last forever without degrading. At present they don't have an Australian distributor, so try buying them direct from the company. They are very reasonably priced when bought from the company too.

Eureka
www.?.com
Boy Scout and K-Mart class tents and other gear, but international.

GoLite
www.golite.com
One of the ultra-lightweight manufacturers in America, well known for their "tarps", but expanding their range. In my humble opinion, most of their tents would not suit our conditions as they lack good insect proofing and the groundsheets, when they are included, seem to have no side walls. Conditions in America are different - apparently most American only walk in the dry summer months. They also make a wide range of light-weight clothing such as the Whims and Wisps. Multi-Sport Imports Pty Ltd in Brisbane claim to be distributing GoLite in Australia.

Katadyn
www.katadyn.com
Swiss company making ceramic water filters available around the world. They now also own the Pur and Exstream brands.

Kovea
www.kovea.com
A 'new' entrant to the stove scene: a Korean company. A wide range of stoves which could remind you of many other better-known brands. Known to be the contract manufacturer for many well-known 'brand' names like MSR. Stoves and gas fuel canisters are now available in some shops or via the web under their own brand, at very good prices.

McNett
www.mcnett.com
A range of polyurethane goos, glues and seam sealers, and a silicone-based seam sealer as well. Useful stuff.

Montane
www.montane.co.uk
A wide range of UK outdoors clothing, including extremely light windshirts with DWR which are very popular with the UL crew. Sold through www.wildside.com.au.

Mountain Hard Wear
www.mountainhardwear.com
Sold through Snow Gum: a range of imported gear.

MSR
www.msrcorp.com
Mountain Safety Research make a range of technical hardware: stoves, tents, cooking gear and even some climbing gear. Now owned by Cascade Designs. They also make water filters and purifiers, but some of these have been less than satisfactory.

Nalgene
www.nalgene-outdoor.com (Note: NO 's' on the end of 'outdoor'!)
They started as a manufacturer of unbreakable and leak-proof laboratory containers in a range of plastics, but more recently they have produced a range of such containers designed for outdoor use.
Have a look at their history page at http://www.nalgene-outdoor.com/about/history.html and check the paragraph "But there were rumors floating around ... stories about scientists taking the smaller, more convenient bottles out of the lab and using them on hikes and excursions." That was the author of this FAQ! I suggested to the local sales rep that he put some Nalge bottles in outdoors shops - and the rest is history.

New Balance
www.newbalance.com, http://www.nbwebexpress.com/
Well-known maker of runners and joggers, much liked by the marathoners and so on. But their joggers are also good for bushwalking, and the company features a far wider range of shoe sizes than most. In particular, they actually specify the width of their shoes (unlike most companies), and their EEEE fittings are very suited to Australian feet! But the same shoes also come in other width fittings too. The second web site mentioned is the better one to use: they have a superb search facility on it.

Nikwax
www.nikwax.co.uk
Water based reproofing and DWR agents and similar - actually wax based really.

North Face
www.thenorthface.com
American company making a range of gear and footwear. Some of the gear was good, including the lightweight footwear, but the some of the management were in trouble with the SEC in the USA for improper financial behaviour - or so I have read. The UK branch makes a good tunnel tent. However, the company has been taken over by 'investors' and the quality of a lot of their gear has suffered, as thye have shifted focus to the street market.

Optimus
www.optimus.se
Old European stove company, founded in 1899. Their web site has a good section on lighting and using liquid fuel stoves.

Outdoor Research
www.orgear.com
Makers of good ski clothing and other winter gear, including popular Gore-Tex gaiters for ski-touring.

Peter Storm
www.PeterStorm.com
Peter Storm are known for some very light rainwear and good thermal underwear, at very reasonable prices. Not currently represented in Australia, but you can get their stuff over the web quite cheaply.

Petzl
www.petzl.com
Originally a caving gear company, now known in bushwalking circles for a range of headlamps. At the time of writing most Petzl headlamps could not use the new lithium AA and AAA cells for fear of damage. This makes them slightly dinosaur.

Primus
www.primus.se
Primus have been making kero stoves since 1882 in Sweden, and still make some very good light gas and liquid fuel stoves. They also make light cooking gear and used to make the lightest standard screw-thread butane/propane gas canisters on the market. At one stage they may have been taken over by Optimus, who may have been almost taken over by Brunton, but those mergers seem to have fallen apart by 2007. Curiously, they have almost completely abandonded the kerosene stove market, which is where they started.

Pur
www.katadyn.com
Makers of water filters for bushwalking including the classic Hiker, distinguished by the far greater capacity due to the pleated filter element. A 12 month warranty was originally offered with the cartridge; latest is they guarantee 800 litres. Now owned by Katadyn.

Recta
www.recta.ch
Swiss compass maker. Has an interesting compass use manual in pdf on their site.

Sawyer
www.sawyer.com
Water filter manufacturers, using micro-tubing technology derived from the medical dialysis world and gravity feed. This stuff seems to work quite well, even filtering out viruses! Backflushing the filter to clean it also seems to work quite well, and the filter elements carry impressive water-volume claims. Much lighter than the pumps, which don't block viruses.

Salomon
www.?
Makers of a range of good footwear, including 'approach' shoes. Unlike many, they feature a flat inner sole which is far better for you than one with a so-called (mass-market) 'arch support' (not to be confused with custom prescribed orthotics).

Scarpa
www.scarpa.net
One of the oldest Italian boot makers. They do make good boots - if you still want big heavy boots these days. Not recommended for summer use any more.

Snow Peak
www.snowpeak.com
A sophisticated entrant to the stove scene: a Japanese company. Beautiful stoves, effective, very light, very low CO emissions, but horribly expensive if bought in Australia. Buying through the web is possible and much cheaper. Extensive spare parts are also available over the web. Recommended.

SteriPEN (Hydro-Photon)
www.steripen.com
Makers of light-weight UV water treatment devices. No chemicals, under-2-minute treatment time, and effective on all bugs. Possibly the way of the future, displacing tablets and filters. The author has used a Steripen Adventurer, and now favours the Steripen Adventurer Opti.

Svea
www.?.com
An old European stove company, taken over by Sievert, who was then taken over by Optimus. The Svea 123 was a classic, but the design now seems to be available from several companies, eg the Optimus 123.

Tatonka
http://www.tatonka.com/en/index.aspx
German rucksack manufacturer, distributed in Australia.

Thorlo
www.thorlo.com
Makers of superb engineered walking socks, without 'arch supports' or otyher ridiculous frills.

Trangia
www.trangia.se
The name is synonymous with "metho stove". However, they also make an excellent range of light cooking gear, very light titanium pots and especially a couple of superb lightweight aluminium kettles.

For Melbourne we have this list from the Purple Spam Eater.

In Elizabeth St:

BakPakka (94)
- Lots of Gondwana & Rainbird clothing and One Planet packs

Mitchells Adventure (295)
- Selection of Hi-tec and military boots

City Centre Disposals (241)
- Typical military disposal store

TW Sands & Co (449)
- Small selection of camping stoves
- Lots of Kerosene lanterns

Mountain Equipment (98-100, The Basement, Block Arcade)
- Wide selection of brand name equipment (Mont, Macpac etc)
- Good selection of tents, sleeping bags and packs
- Test area for camping stoves (ask for a demonstration)
- Stock MSR Titanium cookware and Primus Alpine Titanium gas stoves
- Took forever to get attention of staff (staff were helpful though)

Elsewhere

Aktiv8
- Karrimor Boots, Packs and Clothing
- Good selection of Mont Clothing

Bogong Equipment (http://www.bogong.com.au)
- Wide selection of Macpac, Mont and Wilderness Equipment Gear
- Good selection of hiking boots (including Asolo, La Sportiva and Raichle)
- Good selection of Macpac, Wilderness Equipment, Salewa and Marmot Tents on display
- Very helpful staff who know what they are on about

Kathmandu (http://www.kathmandu.com.au)
- Wide range of clothing
- Have regular sales where most stock is available at 50% off.

Mountain Designs (http://www.mountaindesigns.com.au/)
- Good selection of Hiking Boots including Trezetta
- Excellent website, can buy online
- Staff were very helpful

Paddy Pallin (http://www.paddypallin.com.au)
- Very large range of outdoor equipment
- Only supplier of Bibler tents

Pinnacle Outdoors
- stock Pitch Black waterproof packs
- good range of Salomon boots

Snowgum (http://www.snowgum.com.au)
- Good selection of Aku and Garmont boots
- Have regular sales where out of season stock is available at 30-50% off.

Eastern Mountain Centre at Snowski (emc@snow-ski.com.au)
- 68-72 Whitehorse Road, Balwyn (Deepdene), 03 9817 1477

Ranger Camping
- (various store locations, see their web site)
- http://shop.rangercamping.com.au
- general outdoor camping store, entry level range of gear

Tasmania

For Tasmania we have this list from Steve Cooke

Heading northwest up Elizabeth Street from the Elizabeth Street Mall

Jolly Swagman (107; jollyswagman@bigpond.com): sells a huge range of modern bushwalking, and car camping gear, on three floors. The ground floor in a wonderful example of "cram as much as you can into a small space." The low level of customer comfort (mainly stress at the possibility of knocking some fabulously expensive item of a shelf as you sidle past) is more than offset, however, by the massive range of interesting gear they sell.

Mountain Designs (111; hobart@mountaindesigns.com): the usual range of street (or urban) gear; not much to interest bushwalkers anymore, except, perhaps, some (overpriced?) sleeping bags and day packs. Upstairs is a "factory outlet" - really just a place for them to get rid of previous seasons' gear at a not-all-that-reduced cost.

A brief deviation north into Bathurst Street is the fantastic Mountain Creek Great Outdoors Centre (75-77 Bathurst; mt.creek@bigpond.com): they stock Mont, Fairydown/Zone, Berghaus, Columbia, North Face among many others on two massive floors. Cheapest (and, IMHO, the best) place in town.

Uncle Sam's Surplus Store (117): not quite "just another army surplus store," they now stock the tents and other outdoor gear Allgoods (see below) used to carry in their Glenorchy store (now closed.) Mainly concerned with low budget car camping.

Paddy Pallin (119): a franchise store that does not carry a lot of the gear listed in the Paddy Pallin dogalogue. They seem to stock just the gear they know will sell.

Snowgum (104): stock One Planet, Mountain Hardwear, Columbia and others as well as the Snowgum brand; again, over two floors. See upstairs for the Scouting section, tents and canoes.

Allgoods, 93 Harrington Street, used to sell a large range of outdoorsy type stuff, now they appear to be just a streetwear supplier. They have another store in Launceston that supplies Macpac and One Planet along with other brands. Contact them via email: internetsales@allgoods.com.au

Kathmandu in Salamanca Square has the best location, and two floors. They sell mostly their own brand gear but there is also a smattering of other brands as well (for instance, Thermarest.) Wait for the "half-price" sales.

I've also noticed that Woolworths (Newtown) now stock a small quantity of shellite.