EMS, was [pct-l] ice axe length

[robin.morath@xxxxxxxxxxx (Robin Morath)]

While I agree that retail staff sometimes don't know much about the products
they are selling, I wouldn't generalize that to all EMS stores or employees.
As a part-time EMS employee and a 2002 AT thru-hiker, it's exciting to talk
to customers who are really interested in the details about the gear, but
those customers are not nearly as prevalent (in my area) as the ones whoey
just want a cool fleece jacket or a daypack.  I do find it heartening that
EMS is beginning to carry more of the lightweight gear such as the Gregory G
pack or silnylon stuff sacks.  There's more in the store now that I would
take on a thru-hike than there was when I was buying gear last year.  :-)
OTOH, I was in EMS in Boston after my hike looking at a new pair of Merrell
Chameleon Ventilators (the shoe I hiked from PA to ME in) and the
salesperson tried to tell me that the shoe wasn't sturdy enough for anything
more than dayhiking.  Oh well.

-Robin

----- Original Message -----
From: "Brad Wilson" <BWIL5272@postoffice.uri.edu>
To: "Gary Wright" <at2002@earthlink.net>
Cc: <PCT-L@mailman.backcountry.net>
Sent: Sunday, February 16, 2003 11:44 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] ice axe length


> Yeah I guess you're right, but I've had so many bad experiences with
them...
> In fact some of my friends and I make a game of it. We basically go in and
> ask them simple questions - all stuff right in the catalogs, and see what
> they answer. There's no point system (yet) but we see who can get the
sales
> person to make the most outrageous claims about gear.  The claim that the
G
> pack can handle up to 60 lbs would have been hard to beat!
>
> Maybe we have too much time on our hands... But it keeps us out of
trouble.
>
> -Brad
>
>
> On 2/16/03 8:11 PM, "Gary Wright" <at2002@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> >
> > On Sunday, February 16, 2003, at 11:05  AM, Brad Wilson wrote:
> >> I'm from RI - there's not a whole lot in our area in regards to
> >> classes. I
> >> would look into classes offered in the Whites (or even Berkshires) by
> >> the
> >> AMC. I've never taken a class with the EMS school, but after some of
> >> the
> >> lies and BS I've been fed by their sales staff, I would not go to them
> >> for
> >> advice or instruction.
> >
> > To be fair I don't think that the staff at the climbing school has
> > much if anything to do with the staff at their retail stores. In fact
> > other than outfitters on the AT, I pretty much ignore the advice of
> > clerks at retail outfitters--unless they happen to be ex thru-hikers!
> >
> > For example, I stopped by a store the other day to see the new Gregory
> > G pack.  I asked the clerk what the recommended max weight was for the
> > pack and he said "oh, maybe 60 lbs.".  Hah!
> >
>
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