Buying Gear in Nepal

Hello!

I am heading to Nepal form September to January and I am planning on doing some mountaineering/alpine climbing.

Would you recommend bringing gear from America to Nepal or just buying in Nepal? Is gear that you buy in Nepal reliable? Are there certain things I should just buy in America?

I can pro deal stuff right now and I am trying to decide whether I should just pro deal it now and carry it over or buy it once I am in Nepal.

The first 6 weeks I am there I am guiding a trip of students and would not like to be carrying quite so much gear so that also is a factor.

Let me know what you think!

It depends what type of gear you mean. I would try to bring most of your gear as things are actually much cheaper with prodeals and online sales in the US. Authentic brand name gear can be difficult to find and is expensive in Nepal. There are (two?) branded gear shops in Thamel (TNF and MHW?) and both have prices that are at least what you would pay full retail in the states. I would bring your hardware and essential items from home, especially boots.

Things you can buy easily in Nepal: duffel and backpack bags, knit goods (gloves, hats), clothing, knock off sleeping bags and trekking poles, cool patches including custom patches. You can get custom softgoods made for reasonable prices and repairs can be good.

Another option would be to bring your gear then find a place to store some of it for the first part of your trip. Not sure if the AAC house in KTM is able to do this for a fee but I have heard of some hostels letting trekkers store duffels for cheap. You can also comb the message boards prior to your arrival and see about buying gear from climbers who are on the way out.

Be ready to haggle.

THere are a ton of outdoor gear shops in Kathmandu. Yes, a lot of the gear are knockoffs. Mostly the knockoffs are clothes and not actual gear or electronics. Some of them are actually pretty good. They tend to use the real materials (GORE-TEX, down) but use local manufacturing, so they may not be quite as nice but tend to be ok for a trip or short season. MIght not expect them to last forever. I prob would buy things at home that are fit-critical, like boots and maybe things I expect to be waterproof like rain jackets. But I think that general outdoor clothes (base layers, fleece, light down, socks, even sleeping bags etc...) are worth buying there. I think most of the equipment and electronics is ok too but the prices tend to not be as low. I shopped here, as did other members of the trip I was on, and got some decent stuff at good prices:

Holyland outdoor shop

Just got back from a climbing trip in Nepal and spent plenty of time in the gear shops, trying to sell some gear I didn't care to drag back with me( I ended up not selling any of it)

Clothing: If your ok with knockoffs that will get you through the trip but may not last you much longer then buy it in Nepal, it will be cheaper. if your looking for gear that you want to use for a few seasons after you get out of the himalaya, then go with the prodeal. The quality will be better and not enormously more expensive.

Buy your rope in the states... I am personally not into buying used rope unless it from a friend I know and trust.

You may be able to find decent used hard goods such as crampons and axes for a good price in nepal, though if you can get a prodeal on them you won't be paying much more for new, higher quality gear.

Buy your boots here and spend the time to break them in, blisters will destroy your trip

Essentially if all you want is to make it as cheap as possible, buy it in Nepal. But if you plan to keep and continue to use your gear, pay the extra 10-20% and buy it here.

What ever you do, have fun!

What valley are you headed to?

walmart trekking store in kathmandu

You can always visit the local Wal-mart.

Seconding what others have said--you can get real gear, but it's full retail or more. Soft goods seem to be ok--I bought a small knockoff Mammut backpack that was still trucking along, until someone stole it.

Just got back a few days ago. I was climbing with Nick. Everything you need you can get in the Thamel neighborhood of Kathmandu some things were cheaper, some were more expensive. We stayed at a super rad hostel named Alobar1000 and they let me keep bags there for 5 cents a day while I was doing non-climbing traveling.

Bud Martin wrote:Just got back a few days ago. I was climbing with Nick. Everything you need you can get in the Thamel neighborhood of Kathmandu some things were cheaper, some were more expensive. We stayed at a super rad hostel named Alobar1000 and they let me keep bags there for 5 cents a day while I was doing non-climbing traveling.

+1 for Great Beta! Thanks, this will help out a lot!!

Bring anything you absolutely need above base.

PS. You might have your clients pack a thing or two for you in their bags.