i bought a few "the north fake" windbreakers while in Thamel. One had a hood and was $9, the other didn't and was $7.50. They're water resistant and highly useful for having an extra layer that weighs almost nothing and takes up very little space. Very useful to have and I feel like I can treat them roughly compared to my $100 Patagonia Houdini.
Awesome channel. Here is my feedback after a couple of Nepal treks and 1 in Sikkim that was the most challenging: Do consider buying in Kathmandu: - Trekking sticks with hammers rubber tips. It usually is very troublesome travelling with them in the plane and I even ended up lashing my bagback with the iron tip one time. So I bought a pair that I briefly tested in the shop and they lasted me the whole trip, I was glad giving them to my guide and he told me they are still good after 5years. Price was around 10USD each. - Second Dow Sleeping bag: I live in hot place and am not used to cold weather, so I bought a sub zero sleeping bag in Australia (Western Mountaineering Versalite) and bought one fake Down Bag in Kathmandu, bigger size. Well I am not sure it is true down but it protects my core sleeping bag and avoid any humidity. I paid 50USD and also gave it away when I finished my trek. - underwear: yeah, I saved quite a lot buying locally, and I still have some of the boxers. 2usd each. - Second Water Bottle: transparent one that can be used when you know there won't be any source of boiled water in the day. I used it when I had horses in Sikkim and when I did a day hike to a 5k in Langtang. 5 USD. - Bag cover. Well, you cannot go wrong with it and humidity can be a bummer. So a bag cover can also protect your bag on both sides. 10 USD. - high foam Sandals: maybe not the prettiest, but brings extra comfort in the shared shower/Bathroom, highly washable and avoid to use your mountain shoes in the tea house. 3usd. - fishnet toiletry bag, toothpaste, toothbrush, razors: all these are fine to buy in Kathmandu for a fraction of the price you'd pay in Australia. Rule of thumb indeed is to buy things that are nice to have, not must have. Things that can go wrong if you buy in Kathmandu or in India/Nepal in general: - Shoes: I have seen even a mountain guide trained in Europe who bought shoes in Kathmandu (he was apparently there for 6 months and needed replacement) to later have the sole detached and he could not glue/sew it back. Lucky he was extremely fit and actually finished the trek in sandals. I would therefore never buy fake shoes or shoes in general in Nepal, I would even make sure I allocate max budget for my shoes and try them before the trek. 300 USD - Backpack: I take the biggest size and the narrowest, with Aluminium structure. Take patches as backpacks are not that robust, especially when you travel in bus like me, I was glad I had high quality patches. 5USD - all opticals and electronic. Someone bought a so-called water proof torch to discover few days later the inside was all rusted and probably second hand. I know as I had to lend her my backup torch. . .
My experience with KTM kit. Ref. trekking poles. I took carbon fibre Pacerpoles. Fellow trekkers bought cheap poles in KTM. They all broke out in the mountains, my poles are still going great after many years. Pacerpoles are moderately expensive, but often cheaper than Leki, Black Diamond etc. and a way better design. I am not affiliated with them, but don't know why they are not more popular.
Thanks for the tips. I'm coming to Nepal on April of 2023 for a month of climbing and trekking. The guide that I have booked told ne that I can buy top quality goretex jackets a really good prices. We are getting ripped off here in Ireland everything is so expensive. I think I'll take my chances and wait unruly I get to nepal
Thanks for the video and shopping guide. I’m starting to collect gear for my trip to Nepal later this year (covid permitting) so this has been really helpful.
The only actually good deals I found in Thamel after lots of trial an error are 1) bang for the buck down products (low end tho), 2) great duffle bags! Great video!
Save yourself the time of your trip and take everything you need from home. I've had fake "north face" from Thamel. Fell apart in days. Also got a fairly warm down sleeping bag which has lasted well as I've been using for about 10 years for about 30usd it's a bit heavy probably used low grade down. IMO you are better with peace of mind and getting lighter kit from home.
Great video! I have great experience with not fake, but cheap gear. First thing is a sleeping bag. Most wide-known brands are quite expensive, but my friend told me about obscure European brand he himself had great experience previously. It was kinda hard to track shops that had this brand but quality is amazing(for synthetic bag) and cost is third of major brands. Second one is hydration bladder for non-frequent hiker like buying expensive one for that seems at the time as one time use was hard. So I went with internal brand of major European sporting goods shop chain. Kinda simple sealing system but it held through our trip with no problems. In conclusion if on the fence with whole trekking/hiking you don't have to go with expensive high end brands. De smart. If in future you'll want to upgrade than you'll know what to look for based on your experience not on price/brand.
hey, heading for EBC trek in November, ordered few things online from amazon ( trekking poles, smart wool socks, buff, gloves, and dry fit tshirts, I live in middle east and it is impossible to find trekking stuff here, so what do you think? should I buy the rest of the stuff from Nepal? According to the guide, everything is available.
@@shoaibhassan6398 yeah you can find it all there no problem. If you need legit gear there are some big stores like north face, mountain hardware and kaemp 8848
The problem I have is ~I'm living in Brunei. Not much of a choice when it comes to getting gear for Nepal. I can ship some things over from the UK but I'm not sure if it's worth it. Any advice ?
@@ChaseMountains hi Chase, i am in Pokhara now. I bought way too much stuff over with me, because of the heat and the dirt (especially in Kathmandu) you don't need much here unless you are a serious treckker. Everything is here but the quality isnt high so im just going to donate the lot when i leave. If you're in Nepal i really recommend doing the jeep ride through the Chitwan National Park, the Peace Pagoda in Pokhara and the white water rafting anywhere
Great video! Thanks for the info. Heading up to Nepal in September to do the Mardi Himal trek (which I also saw your video on). I wasn't too sure what to expect before going there but glad to see there will be some things I can pick up there and save a bit of money on! Do you have recommendations on sleeping bags at all?
Hey Samuel, yeah I do. Sleeping bags are a huge purchase, one of the biggest and most expensive/important buying decisions for hikers etc. Buy a bag for your most common usage. Buy the bag that suits your local environment the best, you want to get some use out of it! I’ve owned gigantic 8000m down bag and never really needed it, (living in Australia) the bags you hire in nepal are fine for most situations, just get a good liner (see my video review of the STS thermolite reactor) and having said that, sea to summit also make incredibly good sleeping bags now. I should probably do a video on this subject
I am about to buy some pretty expensive la sportiva boots here in Thamel. My previous ones broke just before coming to Nepal, so no other option then buying here. Do you know how I can know these are not fake? Or a store which probably doesn't sell fake. (Saw them in the marmot store, but also in a smaller store where they could give a bit more discount)
Hey Buddy, What model are they? if they are mountaineering boots (not trail runners)..they are almost certainly real. I don't think the fake companies bother with making fake boots, its just too hard. But yes, you are right, if you are buying from the marmot store theres no way theyre fake
yeah thats a commonly used boot for Lobuche. When i did Lobuche I wore spantiks, they are the next step up, some would say Spantiks would be overkill. Hard to say though i dont know what the temps are like at the moment but i think for May, Trangos will be fine.
@@ChaseMountains yeah, think price / Quality they are an all-round good boot. Will see during the approach how they handle the cold, if to cold at Gorak shep I can always Rent double layered/plastics at Lobuche. But first see if I can make it without getting AMS or stomach bug :). And indeed, weather is unpredictable, on average it should be warm and dry enough but apparantly weather has been different compared to previous years.
@@toeriest Yeah Nepal weather has been very especially unpredictable in the last 5 years or so. I really don't think you'll need warmer boots - for your sake I hope you don't have to wear plastics :( And yes, AMS and parasite are your biggest problems, I wish you all the best. Let me know how you go!
Thanks Fabiana, I have a list of things that you can save money on by buying them in Kathmandu, it’s in the video description. But I’m not sure what you mean when you say a list from gear shops
Roman Vogman hey man the Kathmandu shopping guide (link in description) has your major items listed from most important to buy at home at the top of the list, through to cheap to buy in Kathmandu towards the bottom. Also on page 2 it lists everything I recommend to buy in Kathmandu. I hope that makes sense.
I am from nepal and we are planning to trek ABC in Oct.In Kathmandu where i can buy my trekking gears of best quality in reasonable prices.i had seen some nepalese videos but did not get my answers.
Can anyone recommend a good shop to buy boots here. My last ones were lost to a bad stroke of luck so I need to buy some here. I was thinking of the north face shop in thamel. There seem to be two a couple doors down from each other I assume they are both legit?
Yeah in that north face area is your best bet probably. Check out mountain hardware that would probably by my recommendation for variety and service. Are you talking mountaineering boots or trekking boots? Because anything that is a Mountaineering boot will be a legit, they don't bother making fake mountainering boots.
@@ChaseMountains I'm after boots for everest base camp so just trekking I think. I'll be sure to check out mountain hardware too. North face stuff looks good but I can visibly see glue which makes me nervous haha
@@theamazinggavin yeah if you're after trekking boots you need to be certain that they are real so stay on that major strip with TNF and mountain hardware, in the "legit" western brand shops - otherwise you just never know - and yeah if you see glue, run outta there
Ignore. Every link is either fishing for email addresses to spam or linking to 'help' pages that want to charge you money. I'm embarrassed a fellow Aussie would resort to crap like this.
timbo wilderbeeste I’m sorry you feel that way man. I’m not sure what help page you are referring to, but I yes sell fitness programs for trekking, that’s my business. You don’t have to buy them if you don’t want to. Yes, the links to the items are affiliate links which i've clearly stated. (Which, by the way, in my career as a TH-camr I have made a grand total of $8 from). This video took 15-20 hours to script, film and edit and I do this so that you, the viewer can save money and learn something. If you want free and open source information with absolutely no obligation to buy or do anything other than learn, you can join my Facebook group where I answer trekking based questions every day - For free - because I love my followers and my community.
@@ChaseMountains Mate, I'm not against anyone making a crust. But there's plenty of TH-cam clips out there offering this advice for free - if you're looking to monetize your clips just be up front from the get-go so people know what they're signing up for before sitting down to watch. Good luck to you.
@@ChaseMountains keep them coming , your TH-cam videos are great 👍 and i am ok to pay for experiences,expertise! Nothing wrong with earning a living that way . You doing an excellent job mate ,well ✅,kindest regards from the paradise island 🌴 of Mauritius 🇲🇺
![PASULOL รามเกียรติ์ ตอนที่ 4 นนทกพบรัก [Ramakien Ep.4: Nonthok in love]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/tMUQgmZzf_A/mqdefault.jpg)
Fantastic video Chase!
👈🏻 Everybody. This is my Mum. Could be a biased comment
i bought a few "the north fake" windbreakers while in Thamel. One had a hood and was $9, the other didn't and was $7.50. They're water resistant and highly useful for having an extra layer that weighs almost nothing and takes up very little space. Very useful to have and I feel like I can treat them roughly compared to my $100 Patagonia Houdini.
Awesome channel. Here is my feedback after a couple of Nepal treks and 1 in Sikkim that was the most challenging:
Do consider buying in Kathmandu:
- Trekking sticks with hammers rubber tips. It usually is very troublesome travelling with them in the plane and I even ended up lashing my bagback with the iron tip one time. So I bought a pair that I briefly tested in the shop and they lasted me the whole trip, I was glad giving them to my guide and he told me they are still good after 5years. Price was around 10USD each.
- Second Dow Sleeping bag: I live in hot place and am not used to cold weather, so I bought a sub zero sleeping bag in Australia (Western Mountaineering Versalite) and bought one fake Down Bag in Kathmandu, bigger size. Well I am not sure it is true down but it protects my core sleeping bag and avoid any humidity. I paid 50USD and also gave it away when I finished my trek.
- underwear: yeah, I saved quite a lot buying locally, and I still have some of the boxers. 2usd each.
- Second Water Bottle: transparent one that can be used when you know there won't be any source of boiled water in the day. I used it when I had horses in Sikkim and when I did a day hike to a 5k in Langtang. 5 USD.
- Bag cover. Well, you cannot go wrong with it and humidity can be a bummer. So a bag cover can also protect your bag on both sides. 10 USD.
- high foam Sandals: maybe not the prettiest, but brings extra comfort in the shared shower/Bathroom, highly washable and avoid to use your mountain shoes in the tea house. 3usd.
- fishnet toiletry bag, toothpaste, toothbrush, razors: all these are fine to buy in Kathmandu for a fraction of the price you'd pay in Australia.
Rule of thumb indeed is to buy things that are nice to have, not must have.
Things that can go wrong if you buy in Kathmandu or in India/Nepal in general:
- Shoes: I have seen even a mountain guide trained in Europe who bought shoes in Kathmandu (he was apparently there for 6 months and needed replacement) to later have the sole detached and he could not glue/sew it back. Lucky he was extremely fit and actually finished the trek in sandals. I would therefore never buy fake shoes or shoes in general in Nepal, I would even make sure I allocate max budget for my shoes and try them before the trek. 300 USD
- Backpack: I take the biggest size and the narrowest, with Aluminium structure. Take patches as backpacks are not that robust, especially when you travel in bus like me, I was glad I had high quality patches. 5USD
- all opticals and electronic. Someone bought a so-called water proof torch to discover few days later the inside was all rusted and probably second hand. I know as I had to lend her my backup torch. . .
I went to Nepal last months and bought all fakies ! They were all great , light , warm and almost like real north face 👍
My experience with KTM kit. Ref. trekking poles. I took carbon fibre Pacerpoles. Fellow trekkers bought cheap poles in KTM. They all broke out in the mountains, my poles are still going great after many years. Pacerpoles are moderately expensive, but often cheaper than Leki, Black Diamond etc. and a way better design. I am not affiliated with them, but don't know why they are not more popular.
Thanks for the tips.
I'm coming to Nepal on April of 2023 for a month of climbing and trekking.
The guide that I have booked told ne that I can buy top quality goretex jackets a really good prices.
We are getting ripped off here in Ireland everything is so expensive.
I think I'll take my chances and wait unruly I get to nepal
Thanks for the video and shopping guide. I’m starting to collect gear for my trip to Nepal later this year (covid permitting) so this has been really helpful.
The only actually good deals I found in Thamel after lots of trial an error are 1) bang for the buck down products (low end tho), 2) great duffle bags!
Great video!
100% agree with that.
Save yourself the time of your trip and take everything you need from home. I've had fake "north face" from Thamel. Fell apart in days. Also got a fairly warm down sleeping bag which has lasted well as I've been using for about 10 years for about 30usd it's a bit heavy probably used low grade down.
IMO you are better with peace of mind and getting lighter kit from home.
Great video! I have great experience with not fake, but cheap gear. First thing is a sleeping bag. Most wide-known brands are quite expensive, but my friend told me about obscure European brand he himself had great experience previously. It was kinda hard to track shops that had this brand but quality is amazing(for synthetic bag) and cost is third of major brands. Second one is hydration bladder for non-frequent hiker like buying expensive one for that seems at the time as one time use was hard. So I went with internal brand of major European sporting goods shop chain. Kinda simple sealing system but it held through our trip with no problems. In conclusion if on the fence with whole trekking/hiking you don't have to go with expensive high end brands. De smart. If in future you'll want to upgrade than you'll know what to look for based on your experience not on price/brand.
What was that sleeping bag you bought?
hello :) where is the list of what to buy in kathmadu? cant see the link anywhere?
hey, heading for EBC trek in November, ordered few things online from amazon ( trekking poles, smart wool socks, buff, gloves, and dry fit tshirts, I live in middle east and it is impossible to find trekking stuff here, so what do you think? should I buy the rest of the stuff from Nepal? According to the guide, everything is available.
great informative video by the way
@@shoaibhassan6398 yeah you can find it all there no problem. If you need legit gear there are some big stores like north face, mountain hardware and kaemp 8848
The problem I have is ~I'm living in Brunei. Not much of a choice when it comes to getting gear for Nepal. I can ship some things over from the UK but I'm not sure if it's worth it. Any advice ?
Ooops, bugger! I am leaving for Kathmandu tomorrow and i thought 'I won't take anything, i will buy it all over there.' Bugger
Powering On well it’s certainly possible but not ideal! Good luck!!!
how did you do? find everything you needed?
@@ChaseMountains hi Chase, i am in Pokhara now. I bought way too much stuff over with me, because of the heat and the dirt (especially in Kathmandu) you don't need much here unless you are a serious treckker. Everything is here but the quality isnt high so im just going to donate the lot when i leave. If you're in Nepal i really recommend doing the jeep ride through the Chitwan National Park, the Peace Pagoda in Pokhara and the white water rafting anywhere
@@poweringon864 I've been to nepal 5 times but never to Chitwan! I'll get there one day! Enjoy your travels!
@@ChaseMountains it is a must! Thank you and happy travels to you too
Great video! Thanks for the info. Heading up to Nepal in September to do the Mardi Himal trek (which I also saw your video on). I wasn't too sure what to expect before going there but glad to see there will be some things I can pick up there and save a bit of money on! Do you have recommendations on sleeping bags at all?
Hey Samuel, yeah I do. Sleeping bags are a huge purchase, one of the biggest and most expensive/important buying decisions for hikers etc. Buy a bag for your most common usage. Buy the bag that suits your local environment the best, you want to get some use out of it! I’ve owned gigantic 8000m down bag and never really needed it, (living in Australia) the bags you hire in nepal are fine for most situations, just get a good liner (see my video review of the STS thermolite reactor) and having said that, sea to summit also make incredibly good sleeping bags now. I should probably do a video on this subject
I’m looking to buy some fakies online (wind break duffel bags etc) Any idea if those places ship overseas?
Hi fantistic Video. Keep Up the great Work
Ahh thanks! I'm planning on it!
I am about to buy some pretty expensive la sportiva boots here in Thamel. My previous ones broke just before coming to Nepal, so no other option then buying here. Do you know how I can know these are not fake? Or a store which probably doesn't sell fake. (Saw them in the marmot store, but also in a smaller store where they could give a bit more discount)
Hey Buddy, What model are they? if they are mountaineering boots (not trail runners)..they are almost certainly real. I don't think the fake companies bother with making fake boots, its just too hard. But yes, you are right, if you are buying from the marmot store theres no way theyre fake
@@ChaseMountains la sportiva trango Tower extreme, will see if they are suitable for Lobuche East. Price that they offer is around 39000 rp
yeah thats a commonly used boot for Lobuche. When i did Lobuche I wore spantiks, they are the next step up, some would say Spantiks would be overkill. Hard to say though i dont know what the temps are like at the moment but i think for May, Trangos will be fine.
@@ChaseMountains yeah, think price / Quality they are an all-round good boot. Will see during the approach how they handle the cold, if to cold at Gorak shep I can always Rent double layered/plastics at Lobuche. But first see if I can make it without getting AMS or stomach bug :).
And indeed, weather is unpredictable, on average it should be warm and dry enough but apparantly weather has been different compared to previous years.
@@toeriest Yeah Nepal weather has been very especially unpredictable in the last 5 years or so. I really don't think you'll need warmer boots - for your sake I hope you don't have to wear plastics :(
And yes, AMS and parasite are your biggest problems, I wish you all the best. Let me know how you go!
What sizes do they go up to.....is it like some southeast asia countries where you can't get large sizes?
I'm from nepal glad To see vlog
Yujina Gurung thanks for watching I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Hey! Thankew for ur sharing.. ur videos r so much helpful
is there also online shop?
Great video.. do you have a list from gear shops in katmandu??
Thanks Fabiana, I have a list of things that you can save money on by buying them in Kathmandu, it’s in the video description. But I’m not sure what you mean when you say a list from gear shops
hey @@ChaseMountains , would appreciate if you could share a list of what's worth buying there instead of bringing it from home. thanks
Roman Vogman hey man the Kathmandu shopping guide (link in description) has your major items listed from most important to buy at home at the top of the list, through to cheap to buy in Kathmandu towards the bottom. Also on page 2 it lists everything I recommend to buy in Kathmandu. I hope that makes sense.
Any shop with large trekking shoes please? EU 46 or 11 / 11.5
Of course it is worth it!!!
Quality and price between different price Sir
Bought cheap hiking pants in Kathmandu and they are the best!
Yup if you have a good eye you can get some really great stuff there for super cheap!
I am from nepal and we are planning to trek ABC in Oct.In Kathmandu where i can buy my trekking gears of best quality in reasonable prices.i had seen some nepalese videos but did not get my answers.
Thank you. Very informative vid
So buy almost everything at home? haha
Can anyone recommend a good shop to buy boots here. My last ones were lost to a bad stroke of luck so I need to buy some here. I was thinking of the north face shop in thamel. There seem to be two a couple doors down from each other I assume they are both legit?
Yeah in that north face area is your best bet probably. Check out mountain hardware that would probably by my recommendation for variety and service. Are you talking mountaineering boots or trekking boots? Because anything that is a Mountaineering boot will be a legit, they don't bother making fake mountainering boots.
@@ChaseMountains I'm after boots for everest base camp so just trekking I think.
I'll be sure to check out mountain hardware too. North face stuff looks good but I can visibly see glue which makes me nervous haha
@@theamazinggavin yeah if you're after trekking boots you need to be certain that they are real so stay on that major strip with TNF and mountain hardware, in the "legit" western brand shops - otherwise you just never know - and yeah if you see glue, run outta there
@@ChaseMountains the glue was in the tnf shop, maybe its just a bad product lol
@@theamazinggavin i will help you from my side
Why reuploaded?
Ethan John I messed up the timing for the end screen annotations :/ lol. rookie mistake
@@ChaseMountains ah okay then.
I want to rent a sleeping bag in Kathmandu. Does anyone have experience with that?
awesome video !
3000KTM thanks bud!
Namaste from greece my frend.
Hi, is there an original Northface store in nepal?
yep there sure is. Kathmandu
Ignore. Every link is either fishing for email addresses to spam or linking to 'help' pages that want to charge you money. I'm embarrassed a fellow Aussie would resort to crap like this.
timbo wilderbeeste I’m sorry you feel that way man. I’m not sure what help page you are referring to, but I yes sell fitness programs for trekking, that’s my business. You don’t have to buy them if you don’t want to. Yes, the links to the items are affiliate links which i've clearly stated. (Which, by the way, in my career as a TH-camr I have made a grand total of $8 from). This video took 15-20 hours to script, film and edit and I do this so that you, the viewer can save money and learn something. If you want free and open source information with absolutely no obligation to buy or do anything other than learn, you can join my Facebook group where I answer trekking based questions every day - For free - because I love my followers and my community.
@@ChaseMountains Mate, I'm not against anyone making a crust. But there's plenty of TH-cam clips out there offering this advice for free - if you're looking to monetize your clips just be up front from the get-go so people know what they're signing up for before sitting down to watch. Good luck to you.
..drops mic.
@@ChaseMountains keep them coming , your TH-cam videos are great 👍 and i am ok to pay for experiences,expertise! Nothing wrong with earning a living that way . You doing an excellent job mate ,well ✅,kindest regards from the paradise island 🌴 of Mauritius 🇲🇺
All are the chinese Goods.. Not real all are fake.. So friend be careful