don & kelly reith

about this list

While shopping for a tent, sleeping bag, and other camping supplies I was unable to find a definitive list of Canadian retailers with commerce-enabled web sites, especially a list not plastered with banner ads and annoying popups or one not influenced by advertising dollars. The initial version of this list was compiled during that shopping expedition and since then has been updated at least several times a year.

This list contains retailers that sell gear online for hiking, camping, kayaking, and other outdoor endeavours. As I was only in the market for camping and related gear this list does not include retailers that specialize in other types of outdoor gear such as bikes, climbing, skis, or boats, although many of these retailers do sell these types of products.

All links listed here were last verified on Dec 15, 2008.

National

These e-tailers either had locations in more than once province or they did not make their location obvious to me.

• Al Flahertys - Al Flaherty's Outdoor Store has been in business for over 53 years. We pride ourselves in the first-hand knowledge we possess in our areas of expertise. All of our employees are avid outdoors people, who regularly participate in fishing, hunting, archery, hiking, camping, and other outdoor fun! When you ask a question, at least one salesperson on hand will be an expert in your area of interest. (Order form only - no online commerce.)
• Altitude Sports - Since 1984 Altitude's top priority has been to promote outdoor activities by selling and renting top quality equipment.
• Canadian Geographic Boutique
• Canadian Tire - You'll find sporting goods, electronics, housewares, home and garden products, hardware, auto accessories, and other quality merchandise you've come to expect from Canadian Tire. Check with Canadian Tire Online often for great online shopping specials and more!
• eBay.ca
• Le Baron Outdoor Products - Name brand products at discount prices. (ships worldwide *except* if you live near one of their stores...)
• Mountain Equipment Co-op - Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) is a retail consumer co-operative. In its simplest form a cooperative is a group of people who pool their resources together in order to achieve a common goal - this is what you are doing when you purchase your $5.00 membership.
• SportChek - Sportchek.ca is here to help you purchase footwear, athletic and casual clothing and sports equipment online and in-store. Our Web site is fully integrated with Sport Chek stores. You can learn about what we have in our stores on Sportchek.ca. And you can go into a Sport Chek store to see Sportchek.ca at our computer kiosks.
• Sport Mart - Sport Mart Inc. opened its first store in 1984. It is now the second largest sporting goods retailer in Canada, and is continuing to grow. Our company operates 64 successful Sport Mart stores in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario. We focus on seven major categories of sporting goods: footwear, clothing, in-line skates, bikes, golf equipment, skis, and snowboards.
• Tilley Endurables - Travellers have a right to insist upon dependable clothing that can withstand whatever the world has to offer. Function is important also, but not at the expense of comfort, and we've made sure all our Tilleys age ever so gracefully. Simple to clean, too. We aim for clothing you can launder in a hotel sink in the evening, hang to dry, and wear neat and ready to go to breakfast. Not all Tilleys wash 'n' wear this well - but most do.

British Columbia

• AJ Brooks Outdoor Outfitters - For over 30 years we have delivered high quality outdoor products to the Greater Vancouver area under the AJ Brooks name. We now bring our philosophy of high quality and fair prices to outdoor lovers everywhere.
• Deakin Equipment - For those of you who are not familiar with us, let me tell you a little bit about "DEAKIN EQUIPMENT ". Well over thirty years ago, my father, Ross Deakin Sr., pioneered the first ever equipment outfitting company to service exploration crews with everything, "including the kitchen sink". As times have changed with technological advancements such as GPS, the new developments of high tech materials, and of course the Internet, Deakin Equipment is right there leading the way. Whether it's a canvas wall tent, the latest GPS unit or simply a pair of merino wool socks, we are there for you!
• Mount Benson Walking Sticks - Since time began mankind has carried walking sticks. Whether you use your stick for arduous mountain treks, strolls in the forest or just a leisurely trip around the neighbourhood block, you can benefit from the MOUNT BENSON WALKING STICK. The comfort and security of a MOUNT BENSON WALKING STICK can make your outings full of enjoyment. (online catalogue only - no e-commerce)
• Modern Outpost - This is the place to find cool innovations, unique creations, and great adventure destinations! From solar radios and gadgets, to self powered woodstove fans, portable water purifiers, and multipurpose tools, we have some of the most practical camping accessories and emergency preparedness products available. Enjoy your visit!
• NRG Enterprises - Our catalogue includes gear for mountain biking, road-riding, snowshoeing, paddling, skiing, climbing, and bike touring.
• Ocean River Sports - Established in 1982 by Brian Henry Ocean River Sports is one of the original and most important kayak specialty stores in North America. It's a kayaker's emporium.
• Rocky Mountain Direct - We are a Canadian merchant of quality outdoor apparel and accessories. We keep our overhead low and pass the savings on to you. Our pledge to you, is good value, good quality, and your satisfaction guaranteed! We carry jackets, pants, shirts, shorts, packs, bags, sleeping bags and anything else we think you may be interested in.
• Surplus Herby's - Surplus Herby's is rated one of B.C.'s most unique stores. We buy and sell distressed merchandise, fire damaged goods and bankruptcy claims. In our fishing tackle department, we have the largest selection of tackle anywhere. And if you are an avid outdoorsman, you will find everything you need in our camping department.

Alberta

• Camper's Village - Campers Village carries over 15,000 outdoor items, making us Western Canada's largest supplier of camping and outdoor equipment. Although we carry a tremendous selection of camping gear, we're much more than a camping store. You'll find hammocks, outdoor clothing, travel gear, packs, binoculars, footwear, water filters, knives, snake bite kits and more - anything for adventures in the backyard to the backcountry. (downloadable catalog only)
• eTopo.ca - Etopo maps are Canadian topographic maps in digital raster format, packaged together on individual CD-Roms. They are pre-calibrated for Memory Map, OziExplorer, and Fugawi GPS moving map software. They can also be viewed and edited in any image editing program. Etopo maps are colour-corrected so that all of the maps look the same regardless of date of publication.
• GPS Central - Your real Canadian GPS store
• GPS City Canada - Canada's original online Garmin dealer
• Map Town - Map Town has operated a retail map store in Calgary, Canada for twelve years. Our staff are trained experts in the map and travel industry and have an excellent working knowledge of the products. This site offers over 22,000 different products that we keep in stock and are ready to ship around the world. (maps and gps retailer)
• Mountain Magic Equipment - The outdoor gear specialist
• Textile Outfitters - We're Textile Outfitters - the best darned place in the wild west (or anywhere else, for that matter) to get EVERYTHING you need to MAKE your own high-quality outdoor activewear. And we mean EVERYTHING - from patterns to fabrics to accessories to notions to hardware to linings to great information to...well you get the idea!
• Wholesale Sports - Wholesale Sports carries a full line of camping equipment.

Saskatchewan

• Knife Zone - Canada's Premier Online Knife Store - Shopping for a folding knife, hunting knife, kitchen knife, pocket knifes, survival knives, custom knives or fantasy knives ? At Knifezone.ca we have tantos, bowies, samurai swords and many more made by spyderco, coldsteel, sog, united... If you don't see it here, email us and we can get it for you.
• Outter Limits - Outter limits has grown from 500 sqft to over 2200 sqft specializing technical outdoor clothing, equipment and footwear. Outter Limits is committed to providing the best and latest technologies in the outdoor industry at competitive prices. (Online catalog and pricing only - no e-commerce.)

Manitoba

• Prairie Geomatics - Why you should buy your GPS from Prairie Geomatics... competitive pricing, reasonable shipping costs, complete line of GPS units and accessories in stock, ready for same day shipping, excellent product knowledge, we can explain the differences between models so that you get the best unit and accessories for your activity... whether it's fishing, soil testing, ballooning, search & rescue, etc. (online catalogue and pricing only)
• SIR Mail Order - We are Canada's leading full service retailer and outdoor outfitter dedicated to serving outdoor sports enthusiasts. We sell outdoor sporting goods equipment including camping gear, fishing equipment, hunting gear and firearms, hiking, clothing, optics, GPS units and locations, eyewear and more.

Ontario

• Bushtukah - At Bushtukah our mission is simple: to provide our customers with high quality outdoor gear and unparalleled service to help them maximize their enjoyment of their outdoor activities. Whether you're looking for high-performance hiking boots, all season, all-condition tents and shelters, rugged expedition packs or comfortable, long wearing clothing Bushtukah can outfit you with the best.
• Gear Up For Outdoors - Our retail and wholesale outlet endeavors to provide the highest quality and most functionable outdoor clothing, rainwear, footwear, camping & hiking supplies and survival equipment for all seasons.
• GPSSmart.ca - GPSmart provides automotive, marine and recreational GPS to Canadians at everyday discounted prices - with no pricing gimmicks!    We pride ourselves on superior customer satisfaction.
• Forest City Surplus
• Fugawi - Northport Systems Inc, a pioneer in GPS programs, is a Canadian-based company with an international distribution throughout 84 countries. Founded in 1995, Northport’s first unique product was FUGAWI, an affordable moving map software for GPS receivers. It gave users the ability to create their own digital maps using any scanned map or from an existing map database and offered, as well, the convenience of upload/download capability with handheld GPS receivers.
• Harvest Foodworks - Harvest Foodworks makes freeze-dried and dehydrated meals specially formulated for outdoors enthusiasts. Whether you're biking, camping, caving, climbing, hiking, paddling, trekking or just hanging out in the wilderness, make sure you bring us along!
• Lefebvre's Outdoor Sports - No matter what your outdoor interest may be, we stock quality brand name products to help you enjoy your adventure, including: kayaks, camping gear, GPS equipment, outdoor tools, packs, sleeping bags, tents, binoculars, clothing, snowshoes, training videos, books, topo maps and much, much more!
• Radioworld - Radioworld is the largest radio store of its type in Canada, specializing in Amateur, Shortwave, Marine, Avionics, CB, FRS radios, GPS, Communications Scanners and a complete assortment of related accessories.
• Thorncrest Outfitters - Thorncrest Outfitters is your outdoor adventure centre for canoe, kayak, bicycle, hiking, birding and winter pursuits.

Quebec

• La Cordee Plein Air Inc - C'est du côté du mouvement scout montréalais que l'on retrace les origines de l'entreprise lorsque La Cordée voit le jour en 1953. D'abord fondée à titre de coopérative ayant pour mandat la vente d'uniformes scouts à bon prix, les dix premières années de son existence furent essentiellement consacrées à servir les besoins de la clientèle scoute.
• Magasin Latulippe - Le Magasin Latulippe, c'est le rendez-vous de tous les amateurs de chasse & pêche, plein air, motoneige, travail & sécurité... Vous trouverez chez nous des milliers d'articles à prix imbattables dans les plus grandes marques et beaucoup plus: 80 spécialistes à votre écoute, pour vous conseillez et vous aidez à tirer le meilleur de votre équipement.'
• Le Naviclub - (Online catalog only. Le Naviclub is also a Garmin authorized service center for Canada)
• QVN Canada - A series of digital topographical maps on CD-ROM of various scale depending on map series, prepared for use with the famous Touratech QV2. We are the only compagny offering so many maps with so much quality at such a low price.
• Raytech Électronic - Raytech Électronic setting on an honest and fast service. The company specializes in the service and the sale of products of mobile radio communication; Mike/Iden technology; service of personal communication (SCP); message handling facility; products of navigation and maritime communication. (Online catalog only. Raytech is also a Garmin authorized service center for Canada)
• SAIL - Today, SAIL's big family is proud to present its store, which has recently been given a facelift. With its 62,000-sq-ft, SAIL invites you to visit the biggest camping equipment showroom, featuring more than 35 pitched tents. We also have the largest selection of backpacks in Quebec. And let's not forget our new canoe/kayak and camping equipment rental department. In order to meet the needs of fishing and hunting enthusiasts, SAIL has also made it its duty to diversify and increase the lines of products it offers. You'll therefore find the widest selection of hunting and fishing equipment and accessories on Montreal's South Shore!

New Brunswick

• Wheelers Creative Bag Solutions - Welcome! to Wheelers Creative Bag Solutions. Wheelers is a Canadian based manufacturer of high quality bags and accessories, as stated in their 5 YEAR GUARANTEE. Here at Wheelers, we have a full line of products suited for military, medical, industrial or personal use. Take a look inside at our products and you'll see why they last and last!

USA

These USA-based retailers offer Canandian pricing and Canadian-friendly shipping policies.

• Campmor - Your quickest link to the outdoors. (Borderfree)

If you know of a Canadian outdoor gear etailer missing from this list please email me at don @ reith.ca.

Please note that this is just a *list* of retailers. I've made no attempt to determine if these people are worthy of your business. In fact, some of them don't follow my minimal cardinal rules of e-commerce:

• Secure pages are used to capture and display all confidential information. Look for "https" in the URL and the Lock icon in your browser's status bar.
• An "About Us" page to tell you about who you are buying from, including how long they've been in business, and where they are located
• Clear and concise shipping rates and policies
• A telephone number that you can call in case of questions or problems
• No banner adds (why a store would want to advertise somebody else's products is beyond me) or, even worse, popups
• Prices in Canadian dollars

There are several web sites that collect reviews of online retailers, however they tend to be focused on the US, not Canada. So, as they say, buyer beware.