Interested in finding cheap Snowboard gear - Rebel sports? Aldi?

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  pop on 25/06/2013 - 21:39

  I think rebel is the place to go for your time limit. I wouldn't risk buying overseas just to have it not arrive on time. You can try to ebay some jacket/pants locally. Thermals/gloves u can get from kathmandu/snowgum. COTD often have goggles for sale or u can just use any sunglasses. And i wouldn't recommend buying a new snowboard if ur a newbie. All the branded stuff from US won't ship directly to you-you will need a mail forwarder service. Some local sites you can look at are torpedo7 (have some decent branded stuff at low cost). And i haven't seen any aldi snow sales start yet. And don't forget thick-long socks

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    humdingaling on 01/04/2014 - 00:13

    **not all…but most branded stuff

    ^^ dont even bother about the board until you get your boots first
    boots is the single most important piece of equipment that will determine whether or not you have a good day

    avoid cotton socks for a very uncomfortable day if they get wet

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  KKraig on 25/06/2013 - 21:52

  http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/107932

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  deal88 on 26/06/2013 - 07:59

  I noticed gear at Costco Melbourne the other day. Did not take much notice, but if it is near you, may be worth checking out.

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  2ndeffort on 26/06/2013 - 14:18

  I've bought thouands of $$ worth of high end ski and board stuff, almost all from overseas. Be aware that they rate ski/board clothes by waterproofing and breathability. High end stuff made of something like GoreTex rates around 20K+ for each. In Australia it is common for it to rain at the snow or for the snow (or man made snow) to be very 'wet' as opposed to some overseas places where the snow is very dry and 'powdery'. The reason I mention this is that it may be false economy to get a pair of snow pants with very low ratings. Snowboarders tend to spend a lot of time sitting in the snow either doing up bindings or getting up from a fall. They also spend a lot of time sitting on chairlifts! If you have leaky or non waterproof pants things can get uncomfortable quickly. The same goes for a jacket if it is raining. Also look for something that has 'sealed seams' or 'critically seamed seams', this refers to some waterproofing they put on the back of where the stitching is. If you dont get this, the material may be waterproof but where the stitches are, the water seeps in! My recommendation is 10K+ for each rating and critical seams sealed as a minimum requirement! Admittedly i bought from overseas but I've bought GoreTex for the prices you are quoting!

  Low end cheap jackets are normally about 5K ratings for waterproof and breathability, anything less and you might as well wear a Glad Bag with arm holes ripped in the sides! Forget the brand name, the rating will be of more use to you if it howling a gale on the mountain!! I bought some Aldi kids clothes years ago for one son when he was a toddler. It was pretty good for the price but it was only 5K I think and useful for some snow play and maybe a lesson or 2. I wouldnt want to be out in the backcountry wearing it when the weather closed in!!

  Locally I would checkout eBay. You'll often find somebody's high end pants with 15 - 20K ratings that they bought for a trip 2 years ago and paid $300 for, wore for a 5 day ski trip and have sat in a wardrobe ever since. They'll be on eBay for $50. Often you find the same pants somebody bought for a trip that they never ended up going on and the things still have labels etc on and are unused. You need to be a little careful as there are loads of pirates selling counterfeit ski clothes as well. Look for something with 'home-made' photos and avoid anything written in broken english! Be careful but the pirates normally sell the same 2 or 3 designs. If you have a look you will see the obvious adverts with loads of the same design from 2 or 3 different sellers. They are often packaged up as a whole outfit in a massive array of colour choices, all written in bad english. Dont be tempted by these, aside from the legal and ethical reasons, they are normally made with cheaper materials and dont have things like seam sealing etc I have sold loads of ski gear on eBay, sometimes because I bought a jacket from OS then whilst waiting for it to arrive saw one I liked more! I have 3 or 4 I'll be selling whenever I get around to listing them up!

  I've never seen anything I would remotely consider a bargain in Rebel sport outside of their post season sale. Torpedo 7 is a good suggestion.

  I have bought from a US site called levelninesports.com I once bought my son a snowboard, helmet and bindings, paid for it on a Thursday and it arrived the following Tuesday! I've bought a few things from them, all good. They normally have good deals on helmets, my son's helmet was $250 in one of the local shops and $50 from Level nine, exact same thing in the same packaging etc. I have also bought loads of ski clothes from sierratradingpost.com If you buy in the next day or 2 I reckon you would be OK. I've normally had my gear inside a week but I understand if you dont want to chance it. Sierra can be great if you get one of their discount codes for 30% off etc (look on retailmenot.com for a code). At Sierra you will get the whole outfit, pants, jacket, thermals and socks for probably less than Rebel pays to buy their stock! Postage is normally around $50 so not worth it for a pair of socks and a thermal top but OK if you were buying it all. Both Sierra and Levelnine will post directly to you and you dont need to use a mail forwarder. If you find a good deal I would consider buying a helmet. I used to ski in a beanie and I only bought a helmet to set a good example for my kids, now I wouldnt ski without one. They are much more waterproof, much warmer and much much safer than a beanie. Also, the thought of having my head in a manky hire helmet with a skanky chinstrap that has been sneezed on and sucked by all and sundry is not appealing at all. If you can get one for $50 to call your own I would recommend that. I bought moine from Sierra, measured the circumference of my head with a tape measure and bought accordingly, fits like a glove.

  Final word on overseas ski kit, there is a strong and enthusiastic discussion and a sticky full of links for OS bought gear over on the forums at ski.com.au

  Last option for me would be the factory outlets. Not sure where you are but I have seen the odd bargain in the outlets. Icebreaker make the best Merino thermals and they often have sales (but can still be double the price of Sierratradingpost). SOmetimes the Surfwear outlets have a couple of jackets/pants in odd sizes hidden down the back of the shop somewhere. Occasionally there are ski sales advertised in the various city outlet areas, I'm not aware of any right now but this is the time of the year!

  Final advice I would give is to get good gloves. Aside from bad fitting ski boots, there is nothing worse on the mountain than bitterly cold and wet hands! You can normally get cheapish gloves with a GoreTex insert. Dont worry about things like 'nose wiper' or 'goggle wiper' built in, get something waterproof and warm for your hands. Unlike skiers, boarders seem to spend more time fiddling with bindings and having their hands in the snow.

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  Riczter on 26/06/2013 - 15:12

  Can someone TLDR the above. That is a MAMMOTH block of text.

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    2ndeffort on 27/06/2013 - 14:17

    TLDR?

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      Riczter on 27/06/2013 - 14:21

      http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=tldr

      I used to cop TLDR a lot coz I used to send my mates massive essay txt messages haha

      In this instance I'm just asking for a summary coz I'm too busy/lazy to read all of it myself

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        humdingaling on 31/03/2014 - 23:59

        australia is overpriced as per usual
        australia has sh!t conditions - very wet
        you get what you pay for - generally speaking cheap gear = cheap material = your will likely get drenched
        ebay is full of scammers

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      fusion17 on 13/05/2015 - 11:11

      Bit late but thanks for the info.

      Levelninesports seems great but they cant ship any of the low end boards here, and other than that theres only a choice of 2 boards =/
      great for skis tho it seems.