Decathlon is French I think?
this post was submitted on 24 Mar 2025
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Correct. I can recommend it, their home brands are cheap, and the quality is generally good.
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Vibram is also in the list (IT), and it makes rubber soles (or shoes) that are used by many other brands. I love Garmont for hiking shoes.
Good that you didn't include Jack Wolfskin. Had a few things, really shitty quality.
Don't get anything made of GoreTex as that is produced by American comoany W. L. Gore & Associates. Fjellrรคven has decent cotton products that lasts. Personally I prefer Norwegian brand Bergans. You also have Hรคrkila (finish) and Klรคttermusen (Swedish) last one primally focuses on light weight climbing gear
Don't get goretex for the simple reason that the patent has expired anyway so any company can make the exact same product under another name anyway.
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The last time I needed to get a jacket, I did some Internet searches and asked in three different stores, one name kept popping up every single time: Vaude seems to take this whole sustainability thing quite serious, manufactures part of their collection in Germany and guarantees fair conditions for work they outsourced.
What's with Vaude?
Tenaya is a Spanish company that makes some of the most comfortable climbing shoes I have tried.
Husky is missing on that list
Silly me ... always thougth Patagonia was from Argentina .... but its based in Ventura, California.
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I see ads for FjallRaven from time to time and usually I get skeptical of products in ads. Has anyone here used their products?
Yeah, awesome durable gear
Yes, It's basically the foundation of outdoor gear in Sweden / Norway.
Very popular and durable
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For hiking boots, I cannot recommend Hanwag enough. I've had their Alaska model for years and I'm very happy with them.
Isnt Arc'teryx Canadian?
They are owned by a Finnish company now. Same owner as Salomon.
That Finnish company is owned by a Chinese company. So it doesn't really matter. I try to avoid companies that outsource their production to Asia anyway. Doesn't matter if their millionaire owner live in Europe.
Would explain the Canadian flag in the picture over their name.
Here's a directory of backpacking/hiking/outdoors vendors that I have bookmarked and have used a few times.
You can filter results by country( to exclude US) but also check out the cottage industry filter. Those are the little guys who are going to be hurting the most and they make the niche and better quality gear.
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Mammut is top notch. I love their gear. I never see them in the US.
Mammut is fairly common in shops catering to non-tourists. Some of the American brands listed (Mountain Hardware and Columbia) are not brands people entrust their lives to.
SOURCE: I live in Wyoming. Only tourists wear Columbia.
PS: My wife should be sponsored by Rab. It's all she wears in the winter.
Agree, I'm in Colorado and Mammut is well loved here (I own a Mammut jacket myself). Haglรถfs makes top-notch backpacks and I wore exclusively Salomon shoes for over a decade before switching to zero-drop.
Most of these European brands are pretty easily found here if you know where to look. As for the American brands, Columbia is utter trash and Marmot isn't much better.
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It seemed like every second person in Amsterdam had a fjall raven pack when I was there.
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Decathlon!
= Aldi Sports!
true, Aldi is the most impressive grocery store in the US(low bar, but still): better quality food, cheaper price.
I've similarly never been in a sports store with better quality items than decathlon, and I visit a lot of outdoor equipment stores.
While I sometimes buy some sport equipment here and while they have some very accessible products, you can get much better quality for a bit more expensive. Worth saving money for a month more but have really good hiking equipment (or whatever you are looking for).
Also, I worked for them a few years ago and their policies were very questionable. E.g. sometimes they were throwing away some products but always smashed them (like, with a hammer) so "it cannot be used if anyone finds it".
which country were you working at decathlon in?
I've been to them all over the world, and their manufacturing bases decentralized, so I'm wondering if one country has worse quality items than the others.
It was Decathlon France back in 2015. Well, it's maybe more than "few years", things may have changed now
thanks, I'm going to look up News archives and see what was going on a decade ago in France that might indicate worse quality there.
that's just about my heyday with decathlon, but I was in China. the quality across the stores there was consistent.
can't believe you about better quality elsewhere, decathlon is absolutely my go-to sports store for any equipment, I've been using them for about 15 years without a single product that hasn't met or exceeded my expectations, and that's not smoke.
the first rucksack I ever bought still looks and feels new 15 years later, like not a single buckle has even broken, the hammock I bought lasted for a decade without any tears, and that is a super lightweight material, the day bags last for years, I don't think I've ever got something from decathlon that wasn't great.
shoot I've only worn decathlon quick dry ripstop pants for the past 15 years haha, I love them.
I did try a couple different brands while I was visiting the states, but North face and Columbia quick dry ripstop pants are dog shit compared to decathlon products.
shoot I still have the sleeping bag I bought with the rucksack, haha.
"sometimes they were throwing away some products but always smashed them (like, with a hammer) "
well that sounds bananas.
Raw textile or clothes are fine, I agree. I've seen a lot of issues in anything that implies moving parts or frequent assembling: bicycles, tents, rollers, etc. Nothing extremely bad but, as I said, I preferred to pay a bit more to get better equipment on my bikes elsewhere.
A bit more details on that "throwing away" part: there are often people who come to the workshop and ask to upgrade their equipment. They want to get a new set of tyres/inner tubes before a new bike season, set up new handles, change wrist watch batteries, etc. We were asked to always puncture old tyres, cut handles in half, etc. The watches case was infuriating to me: battery replacement was 5โฌ, the same amount as a new basic watch. We were asked to just offer people new watches and throw away old ones so no one could retrieve it from trash and use it later. I never did anything of those and resigned shortly.
oh man my decathlon bicycle freaking Rocked for 6 years until I sold it when I left the country, and those decathlon one second tents are still my favorite tents from any store.
extremely durable fabric, poles, webbing even zippers.
where are you getting higher quality equipment?
I visited every sports store I could while in Europe and the states comment I couldn't find anything as high quality as the products I used in decathlon.
I'm traveling again now, so I want to check out recommendations for a competitor.
"We were asked to always puncture old tyres, cut handles in half, etc. The watches case was infuriating to me: battery replacement was 5โฌ, the same amount as a new basic watch."
man, that is CRAZY! do you think maybe that was just your store?
did you talk to employees at other French stores?
I can see how that would turn you off the brand.
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Scarpa is another good euro outdoor equipment brand
I absolutely love Scarpa. They make the only footwear that really, really, fits my weird feet off the shelf. I just wish they made ski boots for the sane.
Using the same trekking boots from salewa for years, still in very good shape.
Yeah their stuff is pretty good in my experience as well. I have an external shell for at least 8 years, still looking new.