HikeArizona.COM

Not to take this too far off course, but traffic is down on Old Baldy this summer as well. Finished up my hike this morning around 10 AM and you could still find a handful of parking spots. 4-5 years ago at 10 AM you'd be circling around in hopes of finding an elusive spot. Saw an earnings report from REI and it wasn't pretty, their CEO said the two demographics that bought outdoor gear in the past have stopped shopping there the past two years. Baby Boomers are aging out and Millennials are buying houses & baby clothes, not outdoor gear according to REI.

This thread needs a new rant!

I recently shopped at REI using a 20% off coupon I had received in the mail. The coupon didn't come close to making it wise to make a purchase there. REI's own house brand "Sahara" zip-off convertible pants are now retailing at $99. This is the same price that REI sells Prana zip-off pants for. If they can't make their own house brand more affordable than Prana, they're gonna lose more customers than just me. Bass Pro had a pair for half that price. You'd have a difficult time explaining to me what features REI branded pants have that justify a retail price twice as high as another pair of similar pants at Bass Pro.

chumley wrote:Bass Pro had a pair for half that price.

By chance did you notice if they unzip around the back first?

I ask because that is the only way it makes sense to me... I never unzip the pants all the way, just partway around the back so I have (some) protection from vegetation in the front while allowing heat to escape out the back. Works particularly well when off-trail/cross-country biking.

I have 4 pairs of Redhead convertible pants (2 for hiking and 2 for biking) and the hiking ones are getting pretty much worse-for-wear, but every time I look, (whether Bass Pro or pretty much ANY other stores) they only have ones that unzip around the front first, which I think has been the case for over 2-3 years now.

I also could not find anything I wanted to use the 20% coupon on. The last pair or REI pants I purchased (2 years ago on sale) lasted two hikes before the catclaw tore them up. The pair I had from 10 years ago are in better shape then my "newest pair".

CannondaleKid wrote:By chance did you notice if they unzip around the back first?

Nope, they unzip around the front. No go. (FWIW, Redhead doesn't even make zipoffs anymore — at least none in store or on the Bass Pro website).
@tkknc It's precisely that reason why I refuse to spend $100 on a pair of hiking pants. I hike offtrail in ARIZONA! lol.