Best place to open an UL backpacking store.

[Lori P]

"Lynn reminded me of an observation I held, that there are more UL hikers on the West Coast than the Eastern States. This observation came from talking to hikers from both coasts over the past few years. It seems that a PCT hiker is more likely to be UL than an AT hiker, but that is not an evaluation based on science or statistics, and likely mere conjecture. Still it may be true."

It may be true, but you couldn't prove it by me. The people ultralighting seem to be from elsewhere. Just going by them on the trail and asking, I've run into folks with original GVP packs, or Circuit/Conduit packs, tarptents and other similar gear – they are often not Californians. With all the emphasis on preparing and planning ahead and testing gear, I don't think they'd get the pack or tent here.

The best place to locate a brick and mortar ultralight store in California would probably be somewhere near the PCT or the JMT – I wouldn't put it in Yosemite Valley, as there is already a gear store there (plus gear sections in the grocery stores) to compete with, plus just getting approval to set up shop and lease the place will eat up profits pretty fast, plus 90% of the folks in Yosemite to backpack are not going to outfit themselves in the park itself. I suspect you'd be getting folks replacing damaged gear or stuff forgotten back home – like me, getting a GSI cup in the Yosemite Village store because I left my usual vessel sitting at home.

The best place to get the most exposure is the web and word of mouth. I send links to GG, Six Moon and similar all the time. I'm sure Grant has gotten some orders for Lightreks after I've let folks hold mine. It's easier to pass around a website than expect people to drive all the way to Sacramento to see it in a store, and while there's some die hards who won't buy it if they can't touch it and talk to a sales guy, word of mouth is a great thing. There was a guy in the Yosemite backpacker camp last Friday who asked a million and a half questions about my hammock, and I could point him at Speer, Clark, Hennessy, Warbonnet and many others, all of them online, without even bothering with an URL – Google is for seeking and finding. It helps to have a name people can remember – there was a group with a tipi I ran across and I could not pronounce or spell the brand (some Indian word) and so have been unable to find his website.

[te – wa]

lori im sure there are UL hikers everywhere.. like i said "conjecture"

i just remembered there is a store in Sedona with lw gear. not ul like the several brands mentioned in these posts, but nothing heavy/redundant/gimmicky either.

te-wa is a cherokee word. fairly simple to remember, thankee. te-wa underquilts (say it three times :)

if you do open a brick and mortar, id be willing to offer my products for your inventory.

[MICHAEL FREEMAN]

www and along hwy 15 going into the Utah, Colo, Wyo, Idaho region you would pick tons of hunters as well as conyoneering folk

[Art Sandt]

If you really want to open an outdoor equipment store that specializes in UL stuff, the areas I'd focus on would be:

along the AT
Boulder
many cities in California
Jackson Hole
Seattle
Salt Lake
Portland
inside a national park

[Jack H.]

I'd say that each of those places names with the possible exception of Salt Lake have quality retailers (that carry some UL gear) that would be very hard to compete with.

[Franco Darioli]

Another plug for http://www.promountainsports.com/index.html. (Seattle) nice guys and they did know what they are talking about. Surprisingly they had some SMD shelters in stock (not listed on the web site) as well as lots of ultralite bits of clothing from WM, Integral Design and MontBell. Well worth a visit.
As Doug also mentioned Feathered Friends ( did not realise before how many bits of clothing they have…) also have a good selection of gear from Hilleberg (light for the purpose) as well as Patagonia, MontBell, BD and MSR
Franco

[josh wagner]

only 30 miles or so past the halfway point, the AT passes right through this town, is 30 minutes from harrisburg, and has no outfitter in it. 99% of thru hikers take at least a zero there. most take a nero and a zero.

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

I'm also an enthusiast of dorky recumbent bicycles and in LA there's a great recumbent bike shop. Recumbents are also a cottage industry kind of thing. People come from far and wide to visit the shop, driving hundreds of miles. It's maybe not quite as cottagey as UL backpacking, but it's close. Plus bikes are WAY more expensive than backpacks. People will come if you have a good selection and it's worth the long drive.

Who buys ultralight? It seems from my own observation that it's mostly long distance hikers and older folks who just can't carry the loads anymore and want backpacking to be fun again.

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