>>2855627
Only a loser cares about brand reputation.

>>2855632
nope

we must only support brands that stay true to the scene

>>2855627
its probably not worth paying 10x the price for 10% better performance unless you are some ultra hardcore retard nigger

>>2855627
The best brand is the one you can afford

>>2855633
>stay true to the scene
Thank you for proving my point.

Also, I'm going to declare that "dirtbag" is now officially a forced meme.

>>2855627
Overpriced and Gore-Tex is debatable depending on the context. I stopped using them for shoes.

>>2855627
Arcteryx is super overpriced, and if you hadn't noticed they literally started a line of super expensive urban street wear, like Balenciaga-level bizarre fashion shit.

Most of the legit stuff is little cottage brands you might find on Garage Grown Gear or even Etsy.

Mountain Hardwear is still pretty legit, they never sold out and switched to street wear like half the other major brands, and aren't stupid expensive. Like, North Face petty much just sells to college girls now. Arc'teryx is trying to go the other way to maintain a "premium" imprint by chasing fashion fags and crazy rich asians. Ultimately the actual outdoor climbing and trekking scene is a limited market and to keep growing you have to start selling to domestic normies eventually or you'll reach market saturation. Marmot is owned by a private equity firm now and their quality has since been trashed. Patagonia is hit or miss: the quality is the same as the other major brands but you pay extra to say it's "fair trade" or something. The REI and MEC store-brands are actually pretty good value for money. I hear Mountain Hardwear dodged a bullet by getting acquired by Columbia, which is an outdoor clothing brand which already catered to normies - so they left Mountain Hardware alone to focus on the premium "alpine athlete" market. Black Diamond and Mammut are pretty good. Outdoor Research is hit or miss but can be good value.

>>2855658
>>2855633
Your motivation is gay but, if you mean brands where I see people wearing them I pretty much assume they actually do some sort of outdoor activity and didn't just buy it as a fashion accessory or a "nice jacket", then:

Mountain Hardwear
Black Diamond
Mammut
Rab
Perhaps ironically(?), REI.

Arcteryx is vastly overpriced but it’s very high quality. It’s a cheap ticket for the rich to into high quality gear without really knowing anything about it. You don’t need to have friends recommending something, you just spend hundreds of dollars more for a brand name that is also performant.

It’s also a nice gift for the rich to give their poor /out/ friends. Or occasionally for the poor /out/ to find as something on sale

>>2855660
>REI
no

for what that arc' nonsense costs you could simply have handmade and maybe even to some extent custom stuff. >>2855658

the reason to buy from a factory is to hopefully get to pay less to take advantage of their economies of scale. Maybe you want the benefit of their naive return and warranty policies (I've still had better luck dealing with actual people when there's a problem though.) When factory crap gets that expensive it's usually the worst of all worlds. Give the rich more money for something less good. And just how fucking good can a nylon jacket possibly get, anyway? For a lot of people it's obviously about the fashion show, but keep in mind that for everyone who thinks your coat is "drippy" there's somebody clocking you as a certain kind of person, whether or not true

>>2855675
>REI Derangement Syndrome

Just because they market mostly to yuppie weekend-warriors doesn't mean they aren't an okay store, and if you want to go physically touch gear before buying, they're often the only option with decent selection depending on where you live.

Besides, I was mostly listing brands where I can reasonably assume the wearer actually has some sort of legitimate outdoor interests. Which usually means you have to buy them from an actual outdoor store or online. Which somewhat ironically means the outdoor "store brand" falls into that set. It's not about it being the most fancy premium kit nor the most esoteric indie cottage craft. It's the likelihood that the wearer is going to feel "called out" if you ask them if they went on any cool /out/ings recently.

I like my Arc'teryx Beta jacket :)

>>2855663
>Arcteryx is vastly overpriced but it’s very high quality.
/thread

>>2855705
How long ago did you buy it, tho?

A lot of the mainstream "A-list" outerwear brands have been experiencing the same trend towards enshittification that is a microcosm of broader late-stage capitalist trends. Especially in the most recent years since covid.

>>2855627
>dirtbagging brands?
Pull your lip over your head and swallow you retard gorilla nigger. Ask your mother for a 99th trimester abortion; play IRL Frogger; do a flip, faggot; take a long walk off a short pier; toaster bath, take 100 Tylenol; drink bleach; rip a gasoline bong; stick a fork in an outlet; suck start a shotgun.

Jesus Christ, stop this retard gorilla nigger from stealing oxygen that the rest of us could use.

>>2855650
>Also, I'm going to declare that "dirtbag" is now officially a forced meme.
It's definitely been getting forced over the last few weeks. What's up with that?

>>2855729
I haven't noticed. "Dirtbagging" has been a thing in the climbing world since at least the 1970's, so I'm not sure if it's a "forced meme". At least in the climbing context it predates "memes" altogether. Go look up Fred Becky, the Valley Uprising, etc.

>>2855660
The other thing to consider is a lot of the other brands that started selling 90% volume to normies, like North Face, Patagonia, etc - they still make serious outerwear, you usually just have to filter for it. The key seems to be to filter by "Activity = Climbing" to get the good stuff, even if you're just hiking or whatever.

Lol I just found my 13-14 year old saga jacket and a level 1 crew neck in my basement. If the saga still had any shred of waterproofing left I’d still wear it

>>2855650
>>2855728
>>2855729
seething posers

you'll never be a true hardcore dirtbagger

>>2855704
Tbh I'm not reading all that

>>2855729
>>2855737
The term "dirtbagging" has been around since before you were born. It has only been used on /out/ in the last few weeks or so, by one person trying to make it a "thing." Hence: forced meme.

>>2855627
>tr00 kvlt core dirtbagging brands
i don't know what that means, but i just buy helikon tex