Rick Steves' store

[Jason]

Just wondering, I was looking at Rick Steve's online store and he seems to have a lot of good stuff that I need, particularly locks, toiletry bags, sleep sacks, packing cubes, and moneybelts. Just wondering if anyone has an opinion on his stuff vs. Eagle Creek and other brands... his stuff seems to be pretty cheap! (But sometimes, particularly in the case of the moneybelt, a little smaller and I wonder if it's big enough.)

[Eagle]

Jason, a few comments on your Post:

I have been to Rick's store in Edmonds, and have looked at many of his products (and bought a few also). The products I have seen all appear to be good quality. Rick and his guides use many of these items themselves (such as the convertible Backpack), and have been for about 28+ years. I suspect the designs have evolved based on their years of travel experiences.

The Packing Cubes are relatively new, but they seem very close to the Eagle Creek design. I think the silk sleep sack is a recent addition also. The Locks and other products are probably stocked because Rick found them useful in his travel experiences. Incidentally, I think the convertible Backpacks were re-designed considerably in the last few years, and some of the features improved.

I assume your term "cheap" refers to the fact that many of the products are inexpensive in comparison to other sources? They do seem very reasonably priced, but from what I've seen they are good quality.

Rick's products are an even better value on days when he's holding one of his day-long travel seminars (usually twice a year). Everything in the store is discounted substantially on that day. Judging by the numbers of people I saw leaving the store with Backpacks and other travel gear, there must be a lot of satisfied customers! In fact, the line-ups were so long, I wasn't able to get into the store to make my purchases until about 6:30 PM!!! I didn't want to wait in the line-ups, as I would have missed part (or all) of the travel seminars I came to attend.

Don't rule out the ETBD travel gear (Rick's stuff) just because it's inexpensive. Evaluate the products you will need for your trip, and choose the items that best fit your needs, whether it's from Eagle Creek, ETBD or other manufacturers. If you're able to get to Edmonds to look at the products in person, you would have a better idea on whether these would work for you.

Hope this information is of some help. Good luck with this and happy travels!!!

[Jason]

Thanks for your response! Yes, by cheap I did mean inexpensive compared to some of the prices I had seen for Eagle Creek products (and others) elsewhere. I was mostly just concerned because, as I said in my previous post, some of the items seem to be smaller than the Eagle Creek brand, particularly the money belt -- and I wondered why there was such a price differential on certain items. But I'm sure people have been very satisfied with his merchandise, and I will probably end up going with it. Thanks for your help!