First of all I should say that I really like Eastern Mountain Sports as a store. I think they have great stuff and some really good deals. Yes, a lot of their things are expensive but here's a little secret I learned from a friend who worked there: you should never ever have to pay full price for anything because there are so many sales that anything you want will be on sale at some point and if there is a sale within something like 10 days of your purchase, either before or after, they will give you the sale price. Even more importantly each salesperson has the ability to give a customer up to 20 percent ( I think it's 20% it may be 10%) off if they ask for it. So if you see a big purchase item like a tent but it's not on sale you can always ask them for a discount and there's a good chance you'll get it. So that being said I also really like their website. It's very simply laid out without a whole lot of bells and whistles and they have just about, if not everything, listed on there that they have in the store. Furthermore, they really go into details about items so you know exactly what you're getting and what it's meant to be used for and how. This site is also a great place to figure out what you need and learn about equipment before walking into the store and feeling like you're at the mercy of the salespeople. Knowledge is power!