The search for cheap gear continues

Yesterday, the folks over at notindoors let us know about a new price comparison website designed to help you find the best deals on outdoor gear.

notindoors: cheapest gear

If you’re not the spawn of a Rockefeller, Rothschild, or Gates and you feel the need to find the greatest outdoor gear at the best value (read: cheapest price), we have a website for you. OutdoorGearEngine.com, in their own words, ‚“displays updated pricing and shipping information for outdoor gear from top web retailers.”

Since I am always on the lookout for a good deal (read: too poor to pay retail), I thought I would check it out. Unfortunately, OutdoorGearEngine.com looks like it still needs some time to expand its database. I searched for four different items and compared the results with some well know price comparison websites: Froogle and BizRate.

Product	OutdoorGearEngine	Froogle	BizRate
Camelbak MULE	$80.00 USOutdoor.com	$59.99 Campmor	$69.95 C & C Outdoors
Men's North Face Stretch Venture Jacket	$118.15 Moosejaw.com	$105.00 Sports Basement	$109.50 Oregon Mountain Community
MSR Hubba Hubba Tent	$289.95 BentGear.com	$229.99 River, Road and Trail	$249.90 CampSaver.com
Jetboil Personal Cooking System	$69.95 Backcounty.com	$44.90 Modern Mountain Man	$64.99 Travel Country

OutdoorGearEngine.com states that they only include stores that are "worth buying from."

We will only feature gear from stores that have the following characteristics: exceptional site usability, great product selection, excellent customer service through live chat or phone, top brands, efficient order processing, and timely fulfillment (just to name a few). If a merchant is featured here, it's worth buying from them. Period.

Perhaps this is why Froogle consistently finds lower prices. I think I will wait until they expand the number of stores in their database before I start using their services. Version 3.0 of their website is due out this fall. We'll check back then.