I'm thinking ahead to my November / holiday budget, and anticipating the great American tradition of Black Friday! But, this is my first year approaching it as a newly converted light packer. Do any of you experienced BPLers have some tips or things to watch for over the holiday season to catch some screaming deals?

Raquel,

Most of the UL cottage guys and the more traditional REI-type stores will all have some sort of deals going. Be sure to check those usual suspects. I bet GoLite will have some screaming deals. Most of the sales will also be posted in Gear Deals by BPL members so it's pretty easy to keep up with them that way. Keep in mind though, you may have to act fast before the inventory runs out. Happy hunting.

Ryan

Edited by ViolentGreen on 10/19/2012 16:12:29 MDT.

Backcountry.com will likely have a deep discounts on their gear. Also REI stores will give away gift cards to the first X number of customers in the morning (not sure if all stores, but my local AZ ones definitely do this). Those giftcards range anywhere from $5 to $100.

Moosejaw.com has had 5x reward points (basically 50% that you can spend on Moosejaw.com/rewards) on Cyber Monday for the past few years. I'm not sure if it's safe to assume they will do it again, but it is a great opportunity if you know there are some things you'd like.

I was looking for sleeping bags the past few times they ran the sale, and over the past years picked up an Ultralite, Summerlite, Montbell UL Super Spiral, and a few pads on the 5x rewards deal. I ended up keeping only the Summerlite and a pad, but sold everything else on eBay for just about full cost.

This enabled me to profit from all of the points that they gave out with the 5x rewards deal. I still have some points left, but in the past year picked up a WM Antelope and Patagonia Guide Pants with most of the points saved from the Cyber Monday Deals :)

for the tips everyone..I'm hoping for a good deal somewhere. Maybe a 4 season tent? A girl can dream, can't she?

zelphs-stoveworks will be having a sale on stoves if your interested in lightweight cooking stuff. An introductory offer to the Fosters's Flat bottom cans will be part of the sale also.

Raquel, we are fast approaching the long awaited day:-))))

"Do any of you experienced BPLers have some tips or things to watch for over the holiday season to catch some screaming deals?"

Go backpacking. The wilderness is empty.

Thank you Nick.
Black Friday is a great day to get out. Folk are either shopping or laying around the house sick, especially early morning. I plan on surfing a typically crowded break.

Superbowl Sunday is even better.

Shopping Holidays. Meh.

My holiday shopping is done. Thank you Al Gore for inventing the Internet. I will be backpacking the last two weeks of December, except the 25th. Joyce says I have to show up for the family dinner and give her presents.

@Dan

Where will you have your sale posted?

My sale will only be posted here on BPL and my site bplite.com

I'll have a dedicated page at my online store www.zelph-stoveworks.com

ha ha ha. Thanks. Actually, I spent so much time building up my winter kit over the past few months and i'm just about ready to go except for a few tweeks. I'm packing this weekend and heading out to Capitol Reef NP to do Lower Muley Twist over Thanksgiving weekend. You should join me!

Edited by flutingaround on 11/15/2012 07:49:10 MST.

I want a screaming deal on one of those cans! he :)

Well said, Nick. I'll be catching up with my son on the AT for several days. Great time to avoid the crowds and crazies.

Sign up at Sierra Trading Post and monitor Steep and Cheap.

Zpacks is offering $25.00 off some of their gear.