Where to buy camping gear

@madpom I am very conflicted by the 100% no questioned asked warranty replacement policy some places have now. While it is great they are doing right by their customer it raises three main issues for me: 1) As you mention, this cost is baked in to their price already. So, in effect, I, as a careful consumer are now paying for someone else to brutalise their product then get it replaced. 2) We are just training people not to take any personal responsibility for their actions. This is a huge issue for society as a whole to me on so many levels. It seems to be the world's culture now to blame someone else for your personal failings/problems and want someone else to sort them out. 3) We have generated such a throw away society where everything is viewed as easily replaceable and thrown on the scrap heap even though their is nothing really wrong with it. As an example, what am I meant to do with the guy who tried to return one of our products because "it just feel apart on the first use". It showed up here looking like it had been dragged across a cheese grater. After some back and forward between us, the store he bought it from and him it turned out he had run it over with his ute and dragged it down the road. Am I really a bad guy for not replacing that? Or, when I worked outdoor retail we replaced a guys jacket for him because he took it home was wearing it around the house, hooked the pocket around a door handle and by his own admission just tried to wrench it off. He tore the pocket, but that was the jackets fault. As I said, we replaced it because that was our store's policy but I didn't even bother contacting the distributor because that is just ridiculous. Or, again from outdoor retail. Had a guy buy a gazebo off me, he was told it is a sun shade, it is not a permanent structure, it can not be left up unattended long term, it will not hold up to high winds or heavy rain. He acknowledged all this then came back about three months later with it all twisted up. As always said, it just fell apart. So, I replaced it explained what went wrong. He came back a few months later with the same thing. He wouldn't tell me what he was doing with it but I again explained what was happening replaced it again and said we would not be replacing it anymore. He came back a few months later on a day a different manager was on and got it replaced again. Finally he came back for a fourth time wanting another replacement. I told him, I would refund his money but I was not giving him an infinite supply of gazebos for the rest of his life and he could go to The Warehouse or Bunnings and get one. He got really upset at this and abusive as he didn't want to go there because their ones fell apart in a week whereas ours lasted a few months. When I calmed him down it turned out he was using them as a shelter over his porch at his batch on the West Coast on the hills by Kawhia. He would just leave it up all the time then come back after being away for weeks, find it fucked and bring it back to town for a new one under warranty. He had been doing this for years and couldn't see what was wrong with it. Again is that really the retailer or wholesalers fault/problem? I can go on with these examples forever. No one wants to admit when they are the ones fucking up and just want to make it some big bad "companies" fault. @blister and as to your example If you think using what the herd is willing to do is a good example of intelligent behaviour I pity your judgement. And I have no idea how your example illustrates who is making what profit. I would love to be enlightened on that.

This has gone so far from the original question. Original question was Where in Blenhiem can I buy some decent gear? Some of the points made are quite valid but nothing to do with the question. I dont know what shops are in Blenhiem. I cant answer the question beyond my original response although the basic clothing its hard to beat Warehouse but forget them for the wet weather boots and pack. As for cleaning bladders even baby bottle stuff is too expensive. Go to a home brew shop and buy a small bottle of bottle sterilizer. 5 bucks buys a lifetime supply with the same active ingredient as the good stuff

if you can get to nelson there will be a better choice of shops there or even better christchurch