Aldi adventure gear - 4th July

[Franco]

"How is the vest quality Franco?"
Can't comment on longevity (after a few hours in my wardrobe its holding up just fine...) but the finish looks good and no down/feather sticking out (unlike with my beloved WM Flash jacket...)
I already had a 300g something down vest but wanted a lighter more compressible version and this is pretty much what I was looking for.
It has outside zippable pockets (zips look/feel OK, not flimsy) and two large internal pockets.
For me its the best bargain I have had for ages.

[Strider]

Thanks. If there are any left this evening I will be sure to check them out

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[Franco]

I think that the ladies versions are also sold as S/M/L so make sure you get the right type if you get one packaged
(L in ladies is smaller than L in mans)

[Moondog55]

We bought head lights for the tadpoles, looked at the chair properly [ will buy if any go to reduced] tried on an XL down jacket and vest; both vest and jacket were 2 or 3 sizes too small for me and the size 12./13 shoes are going back tomorrow being a size too small. A shame about the shoes as there are reasonably good
The down SB looks to be better than last years in terms of shell fabric and fill but again a very slim cut but well worth $99-

[Strider]

I tried on a L down vest but wasn't able to get it done up and there were no larger sizes left. Interesting sizing as my Uniqlo L down parka is actually a bit oversized on me.

Had a brief look at the chair through what I could get open of the zipper. The fabric looks PU coated?

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[Mitchc]

My local Aldi has been very lazy of late, putting very little of the last two sales out. Not happy!

[MacMan]

Aldi sizing is all over the shop. I'm extremely tall and slim. Picked up a pair of the zip off pants in M hoping that I could get away without having to wear and lug a belt. Unfortunately by the time I'd made it up Mt Macedon yesterday I was sporting the teenage bushwalker look with a fair portion of polypropylene showing. I can't believe that at nearly 2m tall I could be a S size!

My partner who is tall and shapely picked up a down vest and down jacket, both L. They fit differently in the torso but are both OK. I think she's a M in the merino tshirt.

If you can make the sizing work, the gear in this sale is excellent value. I pretty much live in Aldi merino tshirts these days.

[Moondog55]

I just composed and sent ALDI an email describing this sizing problem
If the sizing was consistent I would have purchased both a down jacket and a down vest but the mens XL was really a medium or perhaps even a small. A bit weird when the underwear and fleece fits well in Large and XL

[Strider]

Good job MD

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[perfectlydark]

There was heaps of chairs yesterday but as i did my regular shop today all gone. Most of the clothes too but heaps of socks, dry bags, daypacks left

[Spartan]

Of particular interest to me are Alite compact chair clones for $30. Weigh 900g and 120kg load rating. Probably 1/4 of the price of the genuine article.

Nice. I was looking at the Helinox one earlier the year as well http://www.helinox.com.au/helinox-chair-one.php

And came across this similar one at ratuken: http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/toolex/item/c1101/ A few sellers on ebay sell it if you search "C1 Ultralight Chair" but for around $80.



The Aldi one is more than half it's price, so I hope there's one at my local Aldi to have a look at.

G'day, all.

I have two Helinox chair-one's, which I've used for the past three years. I bought two of the Aldi versions yesterday and respecting the chair's dimensions they are, to all intents and purposes, identical. The materials and the quality of manufacture of the Helinox originals are markedly better than the Aldi clones, which is to be expected. However, after trying them out in the backyard I don't foresee any major issues with the 'cheapies'.

All the best,

Ian

[andrewa]

The dry bags are great...........bought 2......to be used in the boat or possibly packrafting. A clever design.

Most of the down stuff was or had walked out the door by 9.20am Saturday. I went to an Aldi where there is a large Asian population located, and it sounds like the sizing was ideal for the locals .

A

[vicrev]

Wore the down jacket today out walking......very happy with it... ....will have to stop buying,I have three lifetimes of jackets,sucker for a bargain.! ....

[perfectlydark]

Yeah im impressed with the duffle dry bag. Very handy for kayak trips a bit too heavy for walking use

[Eremophila]

The socks are extremely warm and a good length, time will tell how they wear.
Unfortunately the merino was cleaned out by the time I got there. Next year!

[Supertramp]

How is the vest quality Franco?

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I bought one of the vests and jackets.

I have to say I'm impressed by the quality, especially for the price.
It's still early days, but I'm sure I'll be happy with them.

[keithy]

The dry bags are great...........bought 2......to be used in the boat or possibly packrafting. A clever design.

Oh boo. Yesterday I went to return the 50L dry duffel bag I bought on the weekend, as one of the clips was broken. They didn't have any more in stock, and a smattering of merino t-shirts in odd sizes, and lots of socks, but I did have a look at the compact towels and picked one of those up.

The Crane Compact Towel really does look like the Sea to Summit Pocket Towel down to the fabric as well.

This is a comparison of my trusty old Kathmandu Microfibre Travel Towel in Large that I have used for the past 7 years on overseas trips. The Kathmandu towel is the older style microfibre that doesn't quite feel right, but works. I have a newer microfibre towel someone gave me that has a nice suede feel to it - like the Sea to Summit Drylite towels, and is really soft to the touch, and less stinky than the Kathmandu older style towel when used. But it is only 40 x 80cm so a bit small to use as a shower towel.

I thought the Aldi one would be similar to the Drylite fabric, but it is totally different. Like an ultrafine microfibre weave, it has a really silky feel like the StS Pocket Towel, and works well on a test run. Does a reasonable job in drying me after a shower and I'd say drys quicker than my old microfibre towel as its thinner.

Although larger in size than my old Kathmandu towel, it is lighter and rolls up smaller than the old towel (I roll towels and clothes up so I don't use the mesh case or the bag the Aldi towel comes with).

In the pic below, the tightest I can roll up the Kathmandu towel it is still a bit thicker in diameter compared with a beer can. The Aldi pocket towel rolls down to diameter of 55cm, thinner than the can.

Aldi Crane Compact Towel

The socks are extremely warm and a good length, time will tell how they wear.

These are the soles of a pair I bought last year. I took one pair with me overseas when I went through Romania, Norway and Iceland. I had two pairs of my regular Icebreaker merino socks as well, so cycled through them. I use a two sock system when I walk, with an ultra thin pair of merino sock liners, then these socks on top.

The Aldi hiking socks have quite a bit of wear at the ball of the foot, and the wool blend has all but pilled off. The second photo I put a torch with diffuser inside the sock so you can see where it is worn out:

I don't think I did 100kms in those yet. My Icebreaker socks are older and have done more Ks but haven't worn out like the Aldi ones.

Right pic has the torch inside to show the wear on the sole around the ball of the foot

[davemal]

My local Aldi had sold all the chairs by 9:00am on saturday. Frantically I went to the next nearest store and grabbed one, they had around 6 left then. I went away for a couple of nights on the weekend with it and tested it out.

Firstly, it took a bit of 'persuasion' to get it in but gets easier with use.Comfort wise it was great.

I was on sand/grass and found that it sunk quite easily. So for soft surfaces I was thinking of some rubber chair feet over the top to give it some more surface area.

I weigth <80kg. On the first night I leant forward to get something, leant/fell back and R-I-P. There goes the seam in the top corner where the base fabric is sewn to the reinforcing in the corner. By the end of the second night, the other upper corner was on its way out also.

Should take it back but am thinking that it can easily be fixed. 3 min job for a bootmaker or similar with an industrial machine to go over the corners with some crosgrain on the face. Not sure a domestic machine will get through the reinforcing pad...

IMG_3234.JPG (132.85 KiB) Viewed 35593 times

[David M]

What is your opinion of the chair? I have had a few test sittings at home and can't decide if it is comfortable enough for an extended sitting or not. I am 172cm and around 72kg.

People also mentioned they had to bend the frame to make the fabric fit. I did not, but I inserted the frame in the fabric, then, with some difficulty, the frame component into tne frame socket. I am leaving it set up hoping the fabric will stretch enough for an easy assembly next time.

[Strider]

David the frame doe not need to be bent, just flexed. See video below.

https://vimeo.com/41929216

[andrewa]

The Helinox ones are also a bit tight to get together - ideally the last corner to go in is one of the tops ones, as that pole is a little longer to allow for flex. I wouldn't bend theframe - otherwise the chair will sag.

Disappointing about the stitching going. If you have a sewing machine, normally an 18G, or 16G leather tipped needle will punch through thick stuff, maybe requiring a bit of assistance with a hand on the "wheel" on the end of the sewing machine.

A

[walk2wineries]

Visiting the East for a few days so missed some of this stuff. I had previously bought the hiking socks, wear very quickly, wouldn't advise.....but oddly the skiing socks are good, particularly the knee length thin woollen jobs which have elastic in the arch and make an excellent undersock. What I was very pleased to find yesterday was the "travel" trousers - hiking dacks really, very light, $30 and I've had them before and they were favourites.
Bought a duffle-with-wheels years back; bad buy, fabric tore or split where it had creased, and only used a few times.
I find that if I pay $$$$ for hiking clothes I meet with some barbed wire or something first day out; Aldis - and Vinnies! seem to do much better!

[iTool]

Thread grave digging. Just got an ALDI catalogue in the mail and they've got a camping gear sale again soon. I'm interested in the opinions of anyone who bought Adventure Ridge stuff last time around - specifically the $30 hiking chair and the $30 self-inflating mat. For the most part we just do car camping, so weight isn't a concern but how have these held up under a year's use?

[skibug]

iTool wrote:
"Thread grave digging. Just got an ALDI catalogue in the mail and they've got a camping gear sale again soon. I'm interested in the opinions of anyone who bought Adventure Ridge stuff last time around - specifically the $30 hiking chair and the $30 self-inflating mat. For the most part we just do car camping, so weight isn't a concern but how have these held up under a year's use?"

Aldi can be a real mixed bag - some of their ski gear can be good value, for example - but I would definitely not recommend the down sleeping bag they were selling about a year ago - for around $100 and rated to around +5 degrees - not a 5 degree bag (more like 10), and the thing leaks feathers like snow in a blizzard. I'll get maybe 20 or 30 nights out of it at ten degrees, after that I think it will be a summer only bag. Should have known better.

Skibug.

[keithy]

I'm interested in the opinions of anyone who bought Adventure Ridge stuff last time around - specifically the $30 hiking chair and the $30 self-inflating mat.

From my experience, some of the stuff is good.

Chair - I've only taken mine out around 4-5 times, and a few times car camping/picnic use. They have held up ok, but like posted earlier, the stitching isn't going to win any quality awards, and you'd probably do well to hand stitch the current stitch to reinforce it. I don't think it was subjected to anyone >80kg sitting in it though.

Wool blend Socks - I'm not sure I'd recommend these - also they've gone up in price from $10 for 2 to $13 for 2 now. From my pics above, I bought four pairs (2 sets). All of the ones I wore have worn holes in the ball of the foot, and some at the heel, pretty much where the "cushioning" is. As I said last year my icebreaker socks are two years older than these aldi ones and with regular wear they still haven't got holes yet.

Merino shirt - the merino shirt is a bit stretchier than my Icebreaker or Mountain Design tops, and I find it a bit itchier than my other merino shirts. Not bad for the price though. I might have a look at the long sleeve zip tops this year if there are any left.

Dry Bag - I ended up picking up the 44L one and it has come on a kayak trip with me and worked out ok. There was also the larger 50L duffel one - last year this had a side roll top, but I found that one did not close as well as the standard roll top ones (and the one I picked up had a broken buckle).

Compact towel - I took pics of this from last year. It has weathered well, and been taken on two trips overseas so far. The stitching on the hanging loop is poor though, and mine unstitched and separated only around 2 months in. I don't use the pouch it came with.

[nezumi]

I'm keen to give the merino thermals a go.

I am looking for something to use as a base layer for sleeping and in camp when cycle touring/bikepacking.

[Nerdtrails]

I'm interested in the opinions of anyone who bought Adventure Ridge stuff last time around

The Aldi gear can be hit and miss but some of it is well worth the price.

Chair - As others have mentioned it can be a pain assembling and the stitching can be an issue (add additional stitching) but it works and for the price it works well at least for me.

Sleeping mat - I don't own one but I have slept on one. I am a side sleeper and did not like the feel of it compared to my Exped UL 7 but then there is a considerable price difference there. What would be a deal breaker here for me is the weight and size as I walk or motorbike in.

Hiking socks - Nice fit but they do wear quickly and on one pair I managed to put a finger through the side just pulling them up. Don't think I would buy again.

Hiking Pants (zip off) - I like mine but the sizes are really weird so beware.

Merino Thermals - Have both the top and bottom and I find them excellent as a base layer. No issues with holes etc and I would buy again if needed.

This year I am going to try and grab the Merino t-shirts for travel and the towl.

Has anybody had any experience with the 45l hiking packs (especially if you are over 6foot)?

[benjabimon]

Are the wool t-shirts decent at all? Tempted to get a couple just to wear for keeping warm at work.

[Nerdtrails]

Are the wool t-shirts decent at all? Tempted to get a couple just to wear for keeping warm at work.

I can't vouch for them directly as I keep missing out on buying the size I want (I do have the merino Aldi thermal top) but they seem good and some even compare them to Icebreakers range...
As mentioned above and in other places they are supposed to be a bit scratchier than some other brands.
Just a thought but if you have a Uniqlo near you have a look at their Heattech range as a good stay warm T as they work really well and can be had for a good price often on sale.

[benjabimon]

Might have to give them a go then for that price, even if they are a bit scratchy.

There's a Uniqlo near me, as the Melbourne CDB is a short trip on the train for me. I wasn't sure about the Heatteach stuff, as I was sort of interested until I read too much on their website and it seemed to be saying that the t-shirts were powered on Japanese magic. Looking at what others had said online, it seemed that on balance they weren't that great. But if someone who goes bushwalking is saying that they are good, then that's a different matter Can you remind me, are they synthetic, wool, cotton, or a blend?