Skip to main content Skip to footer site map Mon-Sat: 10:00 AM - 9:00 PMSun: 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM See All Hours > Click here to Chat or Text with the Washington Square concierge at .Home / Advanced Backpacking Skills / How would you like to save 40%-60% off hiking, backpacking, climbing, skiing, mountaineering, running, cycling, fishing and kayaking gear and apparel? There’s a good chance that you already qualify for these kinds of discounts from dozens or hundreds of manufacturers, but don’t know it.What is a Pro Deal?Outdoor gear and clothing manufacturers sell gear to employees and volunteers involved in outdoor recreation, emergency responders, law enforcement, outdoor related government agencies, the military, and media at wholesale prices ranging from 40-60% off MSRP. They do this because people in these professions or roles are likely to use the gear and recommend it to people who have to buy it from retailers at full price.There are usually some strings attached:Pro deals are intended for you alone, and not for friends and family.

You can’t buy heavily discounted products and then flip them on Craigslist or eBay.There may be limit on the number of products you can buy in one year.backpack 0b47304Pro pricing is usually offered to full-time or part-time, non-temporary employees who work within the outdoor industry. buy dadgear backpack australiaThere are some major exceptions to this, so keep reading.y510p backpackWho Qualifies for Pro Deals?While it depends on the manufacturer, if you work for an outdoor gear or apparel manufacturer or an outdoor retailer, chances are pretty good that you qualify for manufacturer pro deals. The same holds for accredited outdoor media professionals including reporters, producers, editors and writers and full-time employees that work for outdoor guide companies,  outfitters, or are certified members of the following organizations, among others:American Mountain Guides AssociationAdventure Travel Trade Association MemberProfessional Ski Instructors Association of AmericaNational Ski PatrolAssociation for Experiential EducationAmerican Canoe Association InstructorsIn addition, there are a lot of other groups that typically qualify for pro deals

, including many that aren’t directly involved in the outdoor industry, including:Active Members of US or Canadian Military Services, including:US ArmyUS Air ForceUS Coast GuardUS Navy and Navy SealsUS Marine CorpsCanadian ArmyCanadian NavyCanadian Air ForceFire and Rescue Professionals and VolunteersPaid and Volunteer FirefightersSearch and Rescue Team MembersLaw Enforcement ProfessionalsFederalStateLocalDepartment of Interior EmployeesForest Service Employees and VolunteersPhysical Education Instructor and Team Coaches, High School Level and BeyondYoga and Fitness InstructorsTactical Hand to Hand and Weapons InstructorsNOLS Alumni, Instructors, and EmployeesOutward Bound AlumniHow to Apply for Pro DealsIf you think you might qualify for a pro deal from a manufacturer, go to their web site and find the page that describes their Pro Deal application process. Applying for each of these programs, takes a lot of work, but it can save you a lot of money if you get accepted. These companies have standardized the sign-up and approval process making it a lot easier for qualified individuals to apply to hundreds of pro deals with just one application!

For example, say you’re an active duty serviceman in the US Army. (click  for a full list of qualified teams) and you’d see that many brands offer pro deal discounts to eligible applicants. These range from tactical manufacturers like Leupold, Fenix, and Bushnell to mainstream outdoor brands including Big Agnes, Scarpa, Garmont, Suunto, Delorme, Gregory, Old Town, Raleigh and Diamondback Bicycles, Sawyer, Leki, Icelantic and Nemo Equipment, just to name a few.So, check it out. You might be able to save a lot of money on outdoor gear if you qualify.Most Popular Searchespro dealskeen pro dealprodealsIn Patagonia, Unimogs trundle along with little houses bolted to their backs like backpacks. Their occupants leave their lives, and most of what you and I call modern conveniences, and spend a lot of money to camp and dork around playing explorer in a world that’s mostly been explored. After being given a little glimpse of the place they drive their big trucks to, I’m sure they’re either the smartest or luckiest people in the world. 

If you look at South America as a deformed letter P, Patagonia is the part of Argentina and Chile that would make up the descender. If you haven’t been there, I am as confident as anyone who hasn’t been everywhere can be in saying that you’ve never seen anything like it. Jagged mountain peaks explode up from the steppe. Turquoise glaciers, rivers and vast lakes luminesce in the daylight. Andean condors soar overhead on 10 feet of black feathers while 50-pound salmon leap into the air.Driving through it presents you with scene after scene that you have absolutely no frame of reference for. It’s like Earth’s highlight reel: all the most spectacular physical forms the planet has to offer, pressed into an area that you can drive across. That’s why the Unimog guys give up most of the comforts of modern life to tool around out there.I saw it because, Subaru flew me and a handful of car writers to South America so we could drive through Patagonia to Tierra Del Fuego. After a night in Buenos Aires and a couple hours on a plane, we were at a hotel, being issued six Subarus that we’d drive from El Calafate to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world.

They were Crosstrek XVs, Outbacks and Foresters, totally stock and fresh off a stint in the Chilean press fleet. Full reviews for each of the cars we drove are hyperlinked in the previous sentence, but if you're totally unfamiliar with them, here's a little background: Since it arrived on the market, the Forester has gone from small, slammed crossover/wagon to relatively small, relatively less-slammed crossover. It offers a touch more interior room compared to its more-wagony counterparts, and the taller, more upright roof provides better outward visibility. There’s also more room in the luggage compartment. It drives a little heavier than other Subarus, and it rolls and pitches a bit more, too, but it’s perfectly at home in the dirt.The best non-WRX, non-BRZ Subaru is the XV Crosstrek. Because it’s practical and—when equipped with a manual—fun to drive, I frequently recommended the little wagon to outdoorsy types who just need basic transportation but aren’t quite ready to assume the final, charred, joyless crossover-owner form that awaits us all.

The one we borrowed for this trip was, sadly, equipped with a CVT, so acceleration could best be described as “measured. But it was still sprung tall enough to bound over cattle bars at 80 mph and stiff enough that the unloading of the suspension doesn’t make it scary to steer when you come down.The CVT was less of a handicap for the Outback 3.6R Limited that we drove. The thing that most people hate about driving a CVT-equipped car is listening to the engine rev while waiting for acceleration. Generally speaking, the Outback’s CVT performed more like a conventional automatic—only much smoother. It’s not quick by modern standards, but it doesn’t feel drastically underpowered.Probably more notably, the 3.6R does a surprisingly credible impersonation of a luxury wagon. The exterior and interior are attractive and coherent. The seats are covered in high-quality perforated leather, and the steering wheel and shifter get nice cow skin, as well. It looks and feels like a car that belongs in the $35,000-$40,000 price range, even if you can’t quite option one to the $40K mark.

Subaru Crosstrek XV in Patagonia By the time I got to Patagonia, Autoweek had already driven and reviewed every car I was supposed to drive. So, I suppose we were supposed to look at the trip as an opportunity to see how stock cars handled rough conditions. And, had we installed some more durable tires, or just been a hair less dumb, we could’ve made the whole trip in total comfort stopping only for gas in any of these cars. (Though you’d have to take a slightly different route, we relied on support trucks for refueling a couple of times.) Across the board, they managed to stay surprisingly quiet and comfortable over washboard roads save for the sound of stones striking the undercarriage. Despite the fact that they’d been through the wringer of press-fleet duty once already, I didn’t evenhear any squeaking or rattling from the interior trim. The only real mechanical difficulty we encountered was a power-steering problem in one of the Foresters. It didn’t keep us from making progress.

No matter how many windshields we cracked (every last one), my fellow idiots rarely allowed the car ahead adequate space to throw big rocks harmlessly. A lot of people don’t know this, but I'm told you can lose your automotive journalism license if you don’t stay right on the other guy’s bumper at all times during press drives. Our group ate up tires. I’m not sure how, as I never saw one fail in person. I know that each of our cars was equipped with a full-size spare, in addition to the spare that came with the car. I also know there were two support trucks each with a small supply of tires. And I know that on the last day or so of the trip, we were warned that we were fresh out of full-size spares. I heard that some of the tire damage resulted from the massive, often sharp rocks that make up the gravel road we ran on for most of the trip. Other anecdotal evidence suggests that at least one tire was damaged in the process of whipping shitties.A foglight also vibrated out of its housing, and there were plenty of stone chips and scratches.