When you are out in the wilderness your life depends on good gear. Also when gear fails, you want your gear fixed or replaced. When you are leaving for a trip, there are always last minute gear purchases. Good customer service is very important.
For years I’ve gotten high quality gear at backcountry.com. They have good customer service and good records of your purchases. They have a huge selection of gear, and the expertise to get advice and recommendations. Talk to Patrick Kilbourn to hook up to some great deals. pkilbourn@backcountry.com
Also when we go to Alaska and the thermometer hits -20F you need good down pads. I always use Exped Downmat 9 LW. Its super warm and as comfortable as my bed at home while in my tent on the Alaska Range glaciers. They also have great customer service and repair and replace products if there is the rare problem, even after years of service.
I used to like Arcteryx. I’ve had problems with the taped seams unraveling. When I sent my goods in for warranty recently, they lost the garments, but also lost the records of the warranty! Their customer service needs some reorganization.
I’ve started using Outdoor Research gear and will be reviewing some of their gear here soon. You can tell their gear is designed by backcountry skiers. It has the specs you need, such as lots of pockets. Their prices are more reasonable as well.