Eddie Bauer Gear - Any Good?
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After years of thinking EB stuff was for tubby rich guys who wanted to look outdoorsy, I picked up a couple pairs of their pants and I've been really impressed at their quality and comfort. The clerk explained that they've been trying to step up their game and that their First Ascent stuff is tested pretty extensively. I'm considering picking up a puffy and a shell, but wanted to see if anyone has experience with the gear. Worth the money? |
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I think the advantage of their stuff is you can sometimes get it on a deep discount. If it was priced similarly to something with more pedigree, I would go that direction, if no other reason than for resale value. |
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My experience has been mostly hit with a couple misses. |
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Ironically enough it has the pedigree; it just got lost for a number of years before coming back around to it. I have one of their FA down sweaters and quite like it. (The newer ones might have less loft, like the Patagonia ones.) |
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Dane's always had really good things to say about Eddie Bauer FA gear. |
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I thought that Manhood Camping Craig's list guy recommended it, but it turned out to be Ed Hardy camping equipment. |
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Austin Baird wrote:After years of thinking EB stuff was for tubby rich guys who wanted to look outdoorsy, I picked up a couple pairs of their pants and I've been really impressed at their quality and comfort. The clerk explained that they've been trying to step up their game and that their First Ascent stuff is tested pretty extensively. I'm considering picking up a puffy and a shell, but wanted to see if anyone has experience with the gear. Worth the money?Their new outdoor gear is supposed to be pretty good... They make THE BEST flannel lined khakis, chamois shirts, and flannel shirts imo. |
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I have an Eddie Bauer First Ascent down sweater in trying to sell. I would keep it for myself but I need the money. Great Gear! |
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I have their 4 season tent called the katabatic and it's awesome. I spend a solid month in a MHW trango which is a great tent and I'd take the katabatic over it every day. |
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My girlfriend works there and gets 50% off gear, so I'm a little biased towards them, but I like their stuff a lot. I have two pairs of travex shorts, FA shorts and pants, a midlayer soft shell, fleece lined snow pants, a pair of jeans, and a few shirts from them. Only complaint about any of that stuff is the hemming on the bottom of the shorts comes loose with the travex shorts, I solved it by double stitching them along the bottom. |
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Jake wander wrote:I have their 4 season tent called the katabatic and it's awesome. I spend a solid month in a MHW trango which is a great tent and I'd take the katabatic over it every day.Care to expand on this? I'm going to need a similar tent eventually for Denali plans. I have used a First Ascent (Eddie Bauer) pack before and it was actually pretty sweet. Definitely purpose-designed for people climbing big mountains in expedition style - lots of organization pockets. A very different pack than my Deuter Guide Lite 32+ or Patagonia Ascentionist. |
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I felt the same way about EB for a long time. Then I ended up with a shell and found out it was awesome. Since then I've picked up several insulated jackets and shell and soft-shell pants. Everything has been REALLY good. |
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This thread is the best Eddie Bauer ad ever. |
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Nick Sweeney wrote: Care to expand on this? I'm going to need a similar tent eventually for Denali plans. I have used a First Ascent (Eddie Bauer) pack before and it was actually pretty sweet. Definitely purpose-designed for people climbing big mountains in expedition style - lots of organization pockets. A very different pack than my Deuter Guide Lite 32+ or Patagonia Ascentionist.I used a trango on Denali. I'd happily tAke the katabatic now that I have it. It was designed almost identical to the trango, similar footprint, same pole attachment clips, similar vestibules etc. the improvements over the trango is that it's lighter due to lower denier body, the poles and body are color coded so setting it up is easier, the storage pockets and bigger and there is more of them which is super important in an expedition tent and it's super robust in the wind. The one thing eb added that I don't like is little plastic clips on all the guylines. They're meant to make tightening the lines easier but they're mostly just a pain. But you can easily remove them. I'd pay more for the katabatic than a trango but you should find a killer deal on one of ebs many sales. I got it 45% off |
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Mason & Katie seem to like it.... |
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I had a pro account from EB FA when it first came out. I bought everything in their catalog for 80% off. I returned all of it except a synthetic jacket. I'd rather pay full retail for other brands. |
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Ray Pinpillage wrote:I had a pro account from EB FA when it first came out. I bought everything in their catalog for 80% off. I returned all of it except a synthetic jacket. I'd rather pay full retail for other brands.wow that bad eh? |
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One of the few companies to make both tops and bottoms in tall sizes. Medium tall can be tough or impossible to find otherwise. Arc'teryx makes some pants in tall, and LLBean also makes tall sizes. |
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This also blew my mind. I thought it was rich preppie clothing only back in the 90s. Then I saw their FA gear and thought more crap companies innundating the market$. |
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I jumped on the First Ascent bandwagon early on (~2008). I bought a bunch of their clothing and some of their gear. I was really impressed. I thought the quality rivaled the upper echelons of outdoor gear, such as Patagucci and Marmot. |
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Morgan Patterson wrote: wow that bad eh?Yeah. The spec sheets were great but the design was terrible. I think I paid $45 for their top of the line shell and felt like I paid too much. The only exception was the synthetic belay jacket, which was ok. None of it had consistent sizing either; some was big, some was small. |