Mountain Equipment Company
Reddit take
Not enough linked mention summaries yet; the source excerpts below are the evidence.
Pros
- MEC- mountain equipment company It’s like REI but for Canada
- Old MEC was awesome, I have a 25ish year old backpack and 10 year old tent from them I use regularly.
- They had a reputation for making reliable equipment, although not particularly lightweight.
Cons
- I refused to buy from them after selling out their members by putting it up for sale to foreign buyers despite there being no vote for it by the co-op members.
- Going to the mec while I was in university was like going to a shop of possibilities. All the staff were so much more experienced than I was. I would feel so intimidated. It was a pilgrimage I loved doing. I have since had a career in th...
- It certainly isn't what it used to be, but it is [back in Canadian hands](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/mountain-equipment-company-mec-sold-1.7538013) as of earlier this year.
- Much like LL Bean, MEC was a great (Canadian) brand until capitalism took over. Oh how I long for the days when they had decent prices for incredible quality.
- MEC carries the M size but not the LW for now and the price is not the best.
Sentiment
3 positive (25%) · 2 mixed (17%) · 7 negative (58%)
Trust + time weighted score: -21% · raw score -33%
What redditors said (10 of 12)
MEC- mountain equipment company It’s like REI but for Canada
I refused to buy from them after selling out their members by putting it up for sale to foreign buyers despite there being no vote for it by the co-op members.
Going to the mec while I was in university was like going to a shop of possibilities. All the staff were so much more experienced than I was. I would feel so intimidated. It was a pilgrimage I loved doing. I have since had a career in the outdoors industry. I maybe go once a year if I have to for something very specific. It's nowhere what it used to be. I also feel the staff are mostly just normal retail workers now.
Old MEC was awesome, I have a 25ish year old backpack and 10 year old tent from them I use regularly.
It certainly isn't what it used to be, but it is [back in Canadian hands](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/mountain-equipment-company-mec-sold-1.7538013) as of earlier this year.
Much like LL Bean, MEC was a great (Canadian) brand until capitalism took over. Oh how I long for the days when they had decent prices for incredible quality.
They had a reputation for making reliable equipment, although not particularly lightweight.
MEC carries the M size but not the LW for now and the price is not the best.
FWIW I’ve gone through a lot of pads from good brands like MEC, Klymit, Sea-to-Summit, Eureka and Big Agnes, and they all failed.
MEC: I reached out multiple times via email to see if they use ASTM; never got a response. This is my third year of unsuccessfully confirming with MEC (I’ve tried phone calls and emails over the past three years). Plus, the product specs were riddled with errors and inconsistencies when I checked in 2024.
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