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Comment by Bartweiss | Hacker News Reader

> A lot of mountaineering gear costs a lot, but lasts for a really long time.

Precisely. REI has some stuff which is wildly overpriced - I wouldn't buy hiking shorts there. But if I'm buying climbing gear, no one will sell it cheap anywhere. REI dividends and a good warranty make the competitive, because I'm expecting to keep the gear for a decade or more.

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Being cheap when buying climbing gear is like being cheap when getting a tattoo, except the latter won't kill you. Usually.

They changed the return policy on climbing gear to be much shorter. The gear coop has pretty good climbing deals and a good selection and a lifetime return policy(iirc) just don't abuse it.

Edit not lifetime anymore. Both places are one year.

But most other places don't offer return on climbing gear. Even REI said they wouldn't take back my approach shoes if I didn't like them.

That's a bit odd - I wonder if it's just a sanitation issue?

Certainly no load-bearing climbing gear is ever returnable. Harnesses, ropes, draws, and pro aren't (and shouldn't be) returnable or resalable ever. I assume helmets can't be either.

But non-safety gear like chalk bags can be returned, and I'm surprised they won't take back approach shoes since they aren't even used on a wall.

They used to take all gear back. They would be obligated to destroy it in the back if it was safety critical equipment though.

They took back climbing harness a friend bought two years ago but told them that even though it's in their right to return, they would basically destroy/dispose of the harness since it's a critical safety equipment. Other stuff goes to the Garage sales.

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