Finding the gear you want may not always be the easiest task on your list (we found this out trying to find a winter tent in January). After you’ve researched the brands and found the features you desire, now try to find the gear. Online, you can find almost anything from any brand, but often you want to touch and feel to make sure your decision is right. Here is a list of gear shops we found that were well-stocked and ready for business. We’ve even added our AdventureFrik recommendations!

Eastern and Northern Ontario Gear Shops

(excluding Toronto, bounded Hwy. 400 and East, alphabetical by city)

Algonquin Outfitters         **Adventurefrik recommended**
RR 1. Oxtongue Lake
Dwight, ON, (705) 635-2243

Trailhead
272 Princess St, Kingston, (613) 546-4757
1960 Scott St, Ottawa, (613) 722-4229

Bigwood Sporting Goods
139 Worthington Street
North Bay, ON, (705) 474-7425

Lefebvre’s Outdoor Sports
122 Main St West
North Bay, ON, (705) 474-5920

Bushtukah         **Adventurefrik recommended**
203 Richmond Road
Ottawa, ON, 1-888-993-9947

The Expedition Shoppe
43 York Street, (613) 241-8397
369 Richmond Rd, (613) 722-0166
Ottawa, ON

GearHeads         **Adventurefrik recommended**
3025 Petawawa Blvd
Petawawa, ON, (613) 687-4624

Wild Rock Outfitters
169 Charlotte Street
Peterborough, ON, (705) 745-9133

Ramakko’s
125 Loach’s Road
Sudbury, ON, (705) 522-8889

The Outside Store
2041 Long Lake Road
Sudbury, ON, (705) 522-1755

Gear Up For Outdoors
894 Alloy Place
Thunder Bay, ON, (807) 345-0001

Wilderness Supply
244 Pearl St.
Thunder Bay, ON, (807) 684-9555

Happy Shopping and let me know any favorites you have to add to the list!!

Finding the gear you want may not always be the easiest task on your list (we found this out trying to find a winter tent in January). After you’ve researched the brands and found the features you desire, now try to find the gear. Online, you can find almost anything from any brand, but often you want to touch and feel to make sure your decision is right. Here is a list of gear shops we found that were well-stocked and ready for business. We’ve even added our AdventureFrik recommendations!

Southern Ontario

(excluding Toronto, bounded Hwy. 400 and West, alphabetical by city)

Sojourn
31 Commerce Park Drive
Barrie, ON, (705) 739-9694

Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC)     **AdventureFrik recommended**
1030 Brant St.
Burlington, ON, (905) 333-8559

Sojourn
510 First Street
Collingwood, ON, (705) 446-1990

Sporting Life
222 Hurontario St.
Collingwood, ON, (705) 445-3773

Squire John’s Ski Shop
RR #3,Highway 26 West,
Collingwood, ON, (705) 445-1130

Suntrail Outfitters
100 Spencer St, Hwy #6
Hepworth, ON, (519) 935-2478

Algonquin Outfitters       **AdventureFrik recommended**
86 Main Street East
Huntsville, ON, (705) 787-0262

Webco Sports        **AdventureFrik recommended**
240 Duke Street West
Kitchener, ON, (519) 744-1321

Novack’s
211 King Street
London,ON, ON, (519) 434-2282

Europe Bound (Hikers Haven)        **AdventureFrik recommended**
166 South Service Rd. East
Oakville, ON, (905) 849-8928

White Squall Ventures
19 James Street
Parry Sound, ON, (705) 746-4936

Outdoors Oriented
111 Fourth Avenue
St. Catharines, ON, (905) 688-0160

Adventure Guide        **AdventureFrik recommended**
382 King Street North
Waterloo, ON, (519) 886-3121

Coast Mountain Sports
Barrie. Hwy 26 & 27, (705) 722-1060
Markham, 5000 Hwy 7 E., (905) 948-8020
Mississauga, 199 Rathburn Rd, (905) 281-8422
Mississauga, 5100 Erin Mills Parkway, (905) 828-8341
Oakville, 2460 Winston Churchill Blvd.. (905)829-4721

Happy Shopping and let me know any favorites you have to add to the list!!

First we had to size up the bike. To tell if your bike is the right size for you, mount the bike and stand over the cross-bar of your bike facing forward with your butt right in front of the seat. With your legs straight, put your hand in a fist and stick it under your groin between the bar and your body. If the bike is the right height, your fist should have slight clearance (5 mm) on each side. To test your seat height, place one foot on the pedal in the lower position. The seat is set correct if you only have a slight bend in your knee. Test the brakes and handle bars for smooth movement and make sure the tires are very firmly inflated. For safety gear, helmets are required, especially if you are heading off-road like we were.

In our cross-country cycling course we learned everything from wheelies to endos (opposite of a wheelie) to hops to jumps. Man this class was the bomb! We were riding Norco Bigfoots mostly and these bikes can take a serious beating. In the afternoon we took these bikes apart and learned the basics of repair.

The second day of this class we did a 40 km ride around our training facility, Wilderness Tours. We did half of this on the road and the other half on trails. If you ever have a chance to run single track biking, take it without a second thought. Single tracks are trails in the forest for bikes. They could have jumps, turns, hills, etc. and really test the mettle of the bike and the cyclist. What a blast!

So far biking is my favourite of the fall activities.

Synthetics are good at keeping you dry and warm in wet cases where the fabrics would be subjected to heavy wet conditions where water repulsion and separating the body from water were critical to core body warmth, whereas organics are good at keeping you warm after the wet in retaining body heat and re-building the body’s inner core of warmth.  We came to the understanding that if you get organics wet they suck at keeping you warm and they take forever to dry, but applied dry, the benefits of the warmth gained were warmingly insulating.  A blend of the two sometimes became the best option where you needed a combination of the benefits of both fibres: other times it comes down to cost factor. Despite the positions on both sides we came to the conclusion that for the rafting and rescue portions of the  training, the synthetic fibres offered us the best advantage against the rivers fall edge.

I purchased my gear from the college and from an awesome gear  shop called Mountain Equipment Co-op. Some of the names I purchased when comparison shopping was the Level Six Dry Suit and the Sierra Designs Rash Guard.  These have served me well so far. As I learn more I will keep you posted.

See ya next time folks!   

Adventurefrik