>>1128628My experience has been, not just with outdoors stuff, that the difference in brand qualities is pretty small. In reality you have two different sides: mass market brands like patagonia that may be slightly better than some crap you got off of ebay, or truly high quality stuff made by small companies for absurd prices that advertise their stuff as "heirloom" quality.
My advice is get what fits your budget with an eye towards warranty. Try it out one weekend, and really try and beat the hell out of it. If it holds up and it does what you need there is no need to worry. If the item fails, just return it, and try to find something better.
Whenever I meet experienced outdoors people, they usually have a hodge podge of different brands and equipment, sometimes even homemade stuff from going through this process.
