you're welcome, it's just a start.

Fall is a great time to buy this gear, a lot of it goes on clearance. If you aren't already on the mailing list for these retailers you should be: Austin Canoe and Kayak, Campmor, Backcountry.com , REI, MooseJaw, Mountainman Outdoors, Clavey River Co. to name a handful of those I use. You get early dibs on sales, special coupon codes, etc. These are all very good companies w. excellent customer service and secure websites for online purchases. I'm also on the email list for my three local paddleshops so as to get first word on sales and demo days... so they get my support as well.

Do some searching and read a lot of reviews in the outdoor forums and the outdoor zines -particularly by people who have used their bags and tents for a while. People all giddy over their new gear do not write the most useful reviews... sorta like the boat reviews over at paddling.net where most of the boats are 9 or 10 out of 10 LOL.