I am a total altimeter (an instrument used for measuring altitude) geek. Over the years I have had a collection of altimeters ranging from the automobile variety to altimeters made for mountain bikes. The only void I have had in my collection of altimeters is one that I could use for hiking in the mountains. I have always wanted an altimeter wrist watch for hiking, however I never could find one that was in my budget. Wrist watch altimeters, on average, are usually about $200 more than a conventional altimeter. After not being able to find an affordable altimeter in my home town I tried finding one in the online world. Although I did find better deals online, all the wrist watch altimeters were still way out of my budget, that is until I found BackCountry Online Store.

About the store:

BackCountry Online Store is a general outdoor gear and accessories store. There are all sorts of outdoor related goodies to be found here. From 6-man tents to rugged outdoor clothing, BackCountry Online Store features a huge selection of all types of outdoor gear and accessories.

BackCountry Store is very user friendly; navigation couldn't be simpler considering it's such a large online store. Despite featuring a fairly large selection of products on almost every page, page loads at this site are fairly quick and popup advertisements are not an issue.
BackCountry Store features 12 main categories which then get divided into tons sub categories. One should note that due to the sheer size of this site it may take a few seconds longer than your typical online sporting good store to find a particular category. If you already know what you are looking for there is always the quick search feature. This store also features pictures, tons of consumer reviews, and in-depth descriptions on almost every product available.

To purchase a product at BackCountry Store you have the option of 2 payment methods; credit card or check/money order. The return policy at the store is very generous. Unlike many online stores, i.e., DYNADIRECT, which only give you as little as 7 business days to return your merchandise, BackCountry Store gives you up to 3 months! In addition to a generous time period for returns, BackCountry Store will also give you a full refund (including shipping) if you are not happy with any of their merchandise.

My Experience:

I had never really thought about shopping at this store until I started looking up portable altimeters using my search engine and found that BackCountry Store had some of the best deals on the net. Unlike my experiences with eTronics.com and many other electronic stores that sell inexpensive electronic outdoor equipment, there was not a catch with the good prices. To explain, the product was in stock and shipping charges didn't get so high that it made that good deal a complete rip-off.

I purchased my Sunnto X6 altimeter sport watch at BackCountry Online Store for almost $50.00 cheaper than what I would have had to pay on eBay and about $100.00 cheaper had I went with Amazon. In total I paid $250.00 (shipping was totally free) for my Sunnto X6 Altimeter at BackCountry Store. Good prices at this store don't end with the altimeters, the prices on most products at this store are much better than average.

If I have any minor gripes with this store they would have to do with the time it takes to get a live representative via the customer service phone number. The waiting time is nowhere near as long as many online services, however waiting even 5-10 minutes to get a simple question answered can be most annoying. Though customer service may be a tad slow, in time I would always get a live representative on the phone who was more than willing to answer my questions. This has not been the case with some online customer care services I have dealt with this past year.

Shipping prices at the site are great and if you go with the economy class shipping on any orders that are over $50, shipping is totally free. If going economy class (takes 7-13 days) is not your thing, BackCountry Store charges by weight and not by the cost of the product, so you won't get stuck paying a huge shipping charge just because your 3 oz. item has a $300.00 price tag. This of course can be a negative for those who want to purchase heavy outdoor gear. The good news is, is that many items such as Kayaks offer standard free shipping anyway. I received my Sunnto X6 altimeter wrist watch in 10 business days using the standard free shipping; right on time! BackCountry Store claims that this method of shipping should take 7-13 days. Other shipping methods include UPS ground, 3-day, 2 day, and overnight.