Thread: Newbie hunter. Which backpack?? Size?? Brand?? Other gear?

You usually get what you pay for. I have been caught out in some pretty nasty conditions, always glad I spent the extra on gear I can trust and rely on.

Check out some of the Sea to Summit bags supplied by Bivouac, often have them on sale. I got a 850loft for around $450/500NZD

Originally Posted by hotsoup

You usually get what you pay for. I have been caught out in some pretty nasty conditions, always glad I spent the extra on gear I can trust and rely on.

Check out some of the Sea to Summit bags supplied by Bivouac, often have them on sale. I got a 850loft for around $450/500NZD

Cheers for the advice. If I can't find something significantly better than the one I linked before I may just pull the trigger, and then do a review after use in midwinter North Island conditions. Because if it stacks up, it's a bargain. Which model sea to summit bag did you get?

Originally Posted by TheJanitar

https://www.amazon.com/Kelty-Regular...=kelty+sine+20

anyone tried this brand? read a couple of reviews and not a single negative. super light, 800+ down, Ultra dry down for humid areas, love the design. zippers look like very practical. EN -7 lower comfort rating too. so should be good for all kinds of north island weather.

can get it for under 400 on amazon landed so should get through customs without an issue too!!

heres a video of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEJgjd1dW0w looks very well thought out IMO

thoughts?

cheers

Kelty has a good rep for making quality, good value gear. Not the best nor the lightest but probably a good place to start.
Sleeping bags have a duty to be collected, so that one you put up will kick over the $60 limit and you will get stung about $125 extra in duty, GST and customs fees.

525 bucks should buy you a decent bag here and save the hassle of dealing with customs. Have a geez at bivouac, they often have good sales and stock good quality gear

Originally Posted by Nick-D

Kelty has a good rep for making quality, good value gear. Not the best nor the lightest but probably a good place to start.
Sleeping bags have a duty to be collected, so that one you put up will kick over the $60 limit and you will get stung about $125 extra in duty, GST and customs fees.

525 bucks should buy you a decent bag here and save the hassle of dealing with customs. Have a geez at bivouac, they often have good sales and stock good quality gear

oh boy, i thought they only collect gst on items over $400?? it will cost me about $370 nzd to land it here so its under the $400 bracket no? or is it different for sleeping bags? i know thats how it works for scopes.. but not sure about sleeping bags, are they treated differently? cheers

Originally Posted by TheJanitar

oh boy, i thought they only collect gst on items over $400?? it will cost me about $370 nzd to land it here so its under the $400 bracket no? or is it different for sleeping bags? i know thats how it works for scopes.. but not sure about sleeping bags, are they treated differently? cheers

There is risk involved, I've brought in heaps over the years, some items worth well over $1k and only thrice been stung. It hurts though so be warned. For a bag I wouldn't bother, I'd buy second hand here and quality.

Originally Posted by Danny

There is risk involved, I've brought in heaps over the years, some items worth well over $1k and only thrice been stung. It hurts though so be warned. For a bag I wouldn't bother, I'd buy second hand here and quality.

tbh im a bit iffy with buying second hand. Not paranoid or anything, its just something i would prefer to buy new i guess as its more of a "personal belonging" in my eyes. haha

as good as it looks, not up to spending high 500s for a bag like the exped lite 700.. so ill probably get this bag https://www.torpedo7.co.nz/products/...regular-length 725 loft, 600gm of fill, -1 comfort, -7 comfort, and only weighs a kilo.

30% off right now from $600 to $419. good deal imo. Thanks for the help guys.

Originally Posted by TheJanitar

https://www.amazon.com/Kelty-Regular...=kelty+sine+20

anyone tried this brand? read a couple of reviews and not a single negative. super light, 800+ down, Ultra dry down for humid areas, love the design. zippers look like very practical. EN -7 lower comfort rating too. so should be good for all kinds of north island weather.

can get it for under 400 on amazon landed so should get through customs without an issue too!!

heres a video of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEJgjd1dW0w looks very well thought out IMO

thoughts?

cheers

Given the product is 1lb I'd only guess that the amount of full is 300gms or less
Ok for a summer bag but other than that I wouldn't even consider it


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Originally Posted by Spanners

Given the product is 1lb I'd only guess that the amount of full is 300gms or less
Ok for a summer bag but other than that I wouldn't even consider it


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Bag weighs just over 1kg, and the fill is 414g last time I checked. But I think it isn't quite sufficient for winter I agree, thanks!

Anyone have any idea where i can find Montbell sleeping bags in nz? i dont see any available online so thought id try here and see if anyone knows of a store or something that stocks em.

Originally Posted by TheJanitar

Anyone have any idea where i can find Montbell sleeping bags in nz? i dont see any available online so thought id try here and see if anyone knows of a store or something that stocks em.

You can buy direct from Montbell website. US site is best last time I bought from them. I think I even got free shipping to NZ.
iClimb were selling them in NZ but don't appear to anymore, as was Bivouac but I only ever saw the lower spec stuff there.

Originally Posted by kiwijames

You can buy direct from Montbell website. US site is best last time I bought from them. I think I even got free shipping to NZ.
iClimb were selling them in NZ but don't appear to anymore, as was Bivouac but I only ever saw the lower spec stuff there.

Oh wow that sounds like a deal. Do you know how the Gst/customs work when it comes to sleeping bags? Is it different form the general $400 cap before Gst stings ya? Wonder if they'll label it for me as a gift.....

Just remember that it's not just gst on $400 ie $60 - by the time they add all their bullshit it's like $120


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Originally Posted by TheJanitar

Oh wow that sounds like a deal. Do you know how the Gst/customs work when it comes to sleeping bags? Is it different form the general $400 cap before Gst stings ya? Wonder if they'll label it for me as a gift.....

Duty Estimator

Has a good calculator for working out what you owe.

Once you owe more than $60 in GST+duty then they will collect. Sleeping bags and clothing both have reasonably heavy duties, so the spend limit is much lower. Things like scopes have no duty so the $60 cap before they charge is gst only and hence is a purchase price of $400. (400 x 15% = $60). However once the $60 collection limit is hit they also add about another $50 in bio security levies, so you can pretty much write of a hundy.

Ive only ever had one package get past them, YMMV

Originally Posted by TheJanitar

Anyone have any idea where i can find Montbell sleeping bags in nz? i dont see any available online so thought id try here and see if anyone knows of a store or something that stocks em.

I got a sleeping bag from the Japan website last year. Worked out cheaper than the US. Makes sense since they are a Japanese brand.

Originally Posted by Chur Bay

I got a sleeping bag from the Japan website last year. Worked out cheaper than the US. Makes sense since they are a Japanese brand.

Any idea which site.

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