Sports Direct reducing Karrimor backpacks

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Old Bones

Settler
Oct 14, 2009
745
72
East Anglia
BTW don't give up on karrimor. There is a possibility of finding a decent karrimor. When the X-lite range came out (IIRC) they were decent. I think they're still available but could be wrong.

There might be, but I can't be bothered any more - there is simply too much decent choice out there to be looking for something that might have escaped the trashing by Mike Ashley.

Montane's got into the market a couple of years back, Lowe Alpine is as solid as ever, and ebay brings up Osprey at some good prices. Berghaus is always solid, and the Torridon/Trailhead is a DoE standard, so if your patient, someone can be selling one off at a decent price!

Good advice about going to Cotswold, etc - the things got to fit.
 

Paul_B

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 14, 2008
6,151
1,544
Cumbria
Don't pay full Cotswolds prices though. 15% off and they're a decent price, at full price they're a rip off IMHO.
 

Old Bones

Settler
Oct 14, 2009
745
72
East Anglia
I have one of their 'offers' cards, and since I can generally only buy when things are on offer anyway, its OK. Plus, like Go Outdoors, they do pricematch. And there are things you really need to try on - and they are patient when you need to find the right boots, etc.

And of course those places have large economies of scale, so they can sometimes be cheaper than the net anyway. But if I do buy stuff on the net, I like to stick to companies I know and trust - Trekkit has been very good in the past, and of course Alpkit is great.
 

Laurence Milton

Settler
Apr 7, 2016
605
170
suffolk
Got the backpack and yes unfortunately its rubbish. Going to return it, I'm after a cheap daypack to replace it, was either thinking of getting this:

https://www.thebushcraftstore.co.uk/canvas-stone-washed-back-pack-33555-p.asp

Or maybe an Alice pack, unless anyone has any other suggestions?

I realistically don't want to spend more than £50.

Very happy with my large Alice Pack for the money. Easy to overload. Smaller loads, I have my LK 35. Lovely little thing.
 

Zammo

Settler
Jul 29, 2006
927
2
48
London
Thanks for the replies. I'm after about a 35 litre pack. I like the look of the Berghaus and Lowe packs on Gaynors. Time to get researching!
 

Fadcode

Full Member
Feb 13, 2016
2,857
894
Cornwall
When you decide the Item you want, ask for an opinion of it on here, ask about the pro and the cons of it, unfortunately nowadays most stuff is made in China and the quality of the later made stuff is not always the same as the earlier models....., myself I tend to go for the older stuff, if its lasted that long it must be good, I mean an LK35 for £15 can you beat that, not the prettiest of rucksacks but totally reliable.
Anyway good luck in your quest.
 
  • Like
Reactions: oldtimer
Jun 13, 2010
394
39
North Wales
I have a 15 year old Berghaus Vulcan 2 Bergen which I adore, but it's just too big for a night outdoors. I'd love something in the 45 to 50 litre range for not a lot of money.
 
Jul 30, 2012
3,570
224
westmidlands
Don't pay full Cotswolds prices though. 15% off and they're a decent price, at full price they're a rip off IMHO.

They do a price match too, but i dont know if you get the 15 off ontop. Benefit is you can go and look at the stuff and try it on.

On the sports direct front , you will be glad to hear they have a massive sale on now.
 

moocher

Full Member
Mar 26, 2006
642
97
49
Dorset
I will never order off sports direct again ,we put an order in,including pair of £65 trainers for eldest lad (he's 20)
When I opened the parcel no trainers but a 7/8 year old Scottish rugby top in their place
Contacted them they got back to us with a very snotty sounding response saying as far as they could see we had the trainers ,and asked for pictures of the packaging etc?
So we sent pic of the outer bag and the rugby top to them ,in the end after we had to email again they refunded us an told us to keep the top which went straight down the charity shop.
 

Chomp

Tenderfoot
Jan 17, 2018
90
50
55
Round the back skivving
I risked the c35 quid for a 65L Karrimor bag from Sports Direct. The quality isn't a patch on the older stuff, I've still got an 'old school' Condor for comparison. The zips in particular give me the fear but as they're on small side pockets its not the end of the world. Its actually a pretty comfy bag despite it being less robust than what I'm used to.

Will it go down as one of my faves, no but for the price its done alright when I've taken it out, admittedly not exactly every weekend but its been up hills in all weathers and been fairly heavily loaded (25KGish) with no ill effects.
 

Navek

Forager
May 25, 2015
120
18
South
I use a 30l patrol bag army issue . Got it off a mate who in army think I gave him a pack cigarettes for it lol had it a while now and it’s bombproof ..I also have another one still sealed in its packaging for if my other one ever gives up lol
 

Nice65

Brilliant!
Apr 16, 2009
6,438
2,859
W.Sussex
The only reduction Sports Direct make is in the quality

True.

Don’t give them your money, there’s a reason why they can sell cheap and it’s at their employees, manufacturers, delivery companies expense. They don’t care about the people and will sell you plastic all day long. We want cheap, and it’s provided by slave labour, so vote with your wallet.

Amazon have been canned by me too. There’s a lot of talk on this forum of cheap this and cheap that, like it’s a good thing. It sometimes is, but it’s often not.
 

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