cirpich Posted October 18, 2004 Share Posted October 18, 2004 I wonder is there a good paper magazine to subscribe where I can check the latest gear news and read non-biased gear reviews? What are your favorites? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracked Posted October 18, 2004 Share Posted October 18, 2004 no Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
korup Posted October 19, 2004 Share Posted October 19, 2004 Â No sireee, it is all biased product placements, sadly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jordop Posted October 19, 2004 Share Posted October 19, 2004 (edited) http://www.outdoorreview.com/ #1 No writer/climber will ever trash anybody who gives him free gear lest that may infringe upon future acquisitions of schwag. #2 The industry is so small that no publication can get away with making enemies. Â Why read reviews when you can buy stuff at MEC and then return it when it sucks? It's more fun that way Edited June 7, 2021 by jordop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted October 19, 2004 Share Posted October 19, 2004 I hate gear reviews in the rags. they never go out on a limb and say "this product sucks, dont buy it" or "this product is the clearly superior choice" They just want to give you a comparison, typically based on price (like REI fact sheets). Lame. I can do that with Google. Â Not a huge surprise, since gear manufacturers are paying for the advertisements and the rags dont' want to loose their revenue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted October 19, 2004 Share Posted October 19, 2004 If the Mags do abuse gear it's always small market share stuff like the time Climbing flunked Camp Woodpecker icetools. Which fully sucked anyways with the triple-curve and negative clearance (shaft stuck out further than knuckles did, try hooking mushroom with that) Â Every once in a while Climbing will pull something like that. Never on BD though even though BD has made some truly shitty, highly breakable gear over the years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lummox Posted October 19, 2004 Share Posted October 19, 2004 I wonder is there a good paper magazine to subscribe where I can check the latest gear news and read non-biased gear reviews? What are your favorites? no way. but cc.comers will give excellent gear reviews. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gearup5000 Posted October 22, 2004 Share Posted October 22, 2004 Just look at the review sections at magazine stands, or at Chapters or Borders stores. Â For reviews online (independent) try: www.trailspace.com www.backpackgeartest.org www.outdoorreview.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cirpich Posted October 22, 2004 Author Share Posted October 22, 2004 Not many options, but thanks anyway! Â I cannot find a magazine review that I like. They all talk about the same brands from year to year and never discover anything revolutionary. For news, I really like places like this forum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted October 22, 2004 Share Posted October 22, 2004 "revolutionary"? you talkin about BASK there cirpich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marylou Posted October 22, 2004 Share Posted October 22, 2004 Writing negative reviews doesn't actually make it so they won't send you samples anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gearup5000 Posted October 23, 2004 Share Posted October 23, 2004 Comparitive reviews and "shootouts" are few and fare between. Also, some brands get omitted. Â The best "reviews" are summaries that are done in UK magazines. I have seen 2 to 4 pages of only shells. The price, rating and pros and cons were all done nicely. Don't remember if it was AT trekking or not... Â But check UK mags if they are available - or online Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted October 23, 2004 Share Posted October 23, 2004 Uk magazines are even more worthless than American ones. Except for Andy Kirkpatrick's column and even that is pretty ditzy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ziffh Posted October 27, 2004 Share Posted October 27, 2004 BAckpackgeartest.org is a fraud. No surprise to you guys. But look at their review of the Bibler winter bivy. i have one and it is great as a sleeping bag cover under a tarp but they suggest its good enough to use as an actual bivy sack in the rain! i'd like to see them try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robpatterson5 Posted October 27, 2004 Share Posted October 27, 2004 Can't say I agree with your statment ziffh, I've done some reviews with them and defidentley havent padded my reports. I think the reviews are preaty fair, the trick is to read what condishions people put the gear through (a good point about their system that you can), and take everything you read (online or on a mag) with a grain of salt. Besides differnt users, and or different uses = different experinces. Cheers: Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marylou Posted October 27, 2004 Share Posted October 27, 2004 Rob's right. Except for lab testing, most gear testing is extremely subjective, as it is tested by actual people. Doesn't make it less legit unless they are actually not testing the gear, and usually you can tell by reading the review if that is the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gearup5000 Posted October 27, 2004 Share Posted October 27, 2004 Dru: The edge I give to the UK magazine's "roundrups" is that they show a LOT of gear, with the prices. So if you want to look at say alpine packs, there's 4 pages worth of 20 packs or so with prices and brief descriptions. It's quite handy. Â Not that you should shop so much, but it's nice to see what's available, new, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ziffh Posted October 28, 2004 Share Posted October 28, 2004 Rob, i don't consider it a point of argument, Bibler Epic will leak like a sieve, period . All i need is one ''watertight'' case ,forgive my choice of words, to prove my point absolutely, that these people mean to decieve. there is nothing ''subjective '' about it the stuff leaks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted October 28, 2004 Share Posted October 28, 2004 Dru: The edge I give to the UK magazine's "roundrups" is that they show a LOT of gear, with the prices. So if you want to look at say alpine packs, there's 4 pages worth of 20 packs or so with prices and brief descriptions. It's quite handy. Â Not that you should shop so much, but it's nice to see what's available, new, etc. Â If I want that type of thing I can look in the Gear Guide or whatever. Even though it, like the UK "reviews" is full of untested, manufacturer-supplied bogus weights etc. Â My point is that UK reviews, like Gripped mag reviews, will never say anything bad about a product even if its a bullshit PoS, because they depend on ad revenue. So you can't trust what they say, and have to assume everything sold is crap, even if some of it might be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelawgoddess Posted October 28, 2004 Share Posted October 28, 2004 i think shop owners like jim nelson can be good resources for gear reviews. reviews are probably better taken if you respect the people giving them, and shop owners often know what's coming because the reps will not only bring it by their shop but give them the opportunity to demo it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robpatterson5 Posted October 28, 2004 Share Posted October 28, 2004 ziffh, I geuss I took exception to your BGT calling BGT a fraud (but then again I'm biased). I just read the LTR's on the Bivy, I can sorta see where your comeing from with this, all the tester's dident seem to get too much exposher rain heavy or prolonged rain. If you feel BGT or anyone else mispreprsented that product return it, BD has an awsome policy I've found. Or you can join BGT and publish accurat and realaistic reports, there is ZERO censourship/compney pressure on the form. Another thing to do would be to email the testers for more info, why else whould they publish their email addresses? Personouly I dont know the outdoors industery well enough to claim there is a concerted effort to decive us the consumers, but I'd say in my opinion that its no more then in any other industery. Thats what all these reviews are really, opinion. I've also found trailspace.com to have some good reviews of gear, but ushualy I find I get preaty solid reviews on the gear from shop owners/workers or other users. Not the most accessable, but ushualy I find the best, b/c I can ask spicific questions. Cheers: Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ziffh Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 Rob, the Bibler Epic bivy is one of my essentials, for its intended purpose, as a bag cover in a shelter. I think too much trust might put in our ability to return items. A lot of effort has been put into the impossible feat of combining the opposing forces of breathability and waterproof. to support that effort we all end up paying for things that don't work. I once complained to Integral Designs about one of their leaky fabrics, they were unwilling to do anything of course, but what else , they were using the best stuff they could find are now using something new. Good luck! BPGT is lo grade fun to read sometimes and there were no reviews at the time i bought the bibler, i was just shocked that someone would talk of using it under a hose for example, one of the first tests i did. Anyway enough, cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robpatterson5 Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 lol, I've gone through my share of shitty gear to ziffh. Cool. Cheers: Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhyang Posted October 31, 2004 Share Posted October 31, 2004 BAckpackgeartest.org is a fraud. No surprise to you guys. But look at their review of the Bibler winter bivy. i have one and it is great as a sleeping bag cover under a tarp but they suggest its good enough to use as an actual bivy sack in the rain! i'd like to see them try. Â I wouldn't call BGT a fraud unilaterally. I've met and hung with some of their testers IRL and I do think some of them exaggerate their level of experience. I'd take the tester's background with a grain of salt, and apply the BS filter to their 'results'. If someone sounds like they are full of it, then they probably are. No surprise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gearup5000 Posted November 1, 2004 Share Posted November 1, 2004 The gear guide is OK, but going on reviews only for getting a pack is totally wrong. I like the UK mags as I get to see a bunch of stuff we don't have over here. Â I usuaully ignore reviews on packs as I have an idea of what I like, and prefer certain brands over others. Â Then again, one person can find a pack totally uncomfortable while another could love it. Â Oh, and with the gear guide, you don't see much in a grid format i.e. 6 to 9 items a page. The volume and breadth of gear with ease of access: easy! is why they are handy. ex: want to see 2004 packs all at once? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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