Ever heard of Campmor? Neither had I...

Prior to yesterday, I’d never heard of Campmor, a camping and outdoors retail store in Mahwah, New Jersey that apparently goes the extra mile to drum up business.
Unsolicited, their Spring 2010 catalog arrived in my mailbox yesterday. (All I can figure is that they bought my address and likely thousands of others from Backpacker Magazine, who probably sold their mailing list for a hefty sum.)
The 206-page catalog is a unique item in and of itself. I’d classify it as a throwback catalog. It’s about the size of an Old Farmer’s Almanac, and contains hundreds of black and white drawings of the products they have to sell.
When it comes to the outdoors, you name it, they’ve got it. They offer a wide variety of products, including air mattresses, backpacks, bicycling accessories, bivys, liners, books, children’s clothing, climbing gear, compasses, cots, chairs, day packs, dog accessories, duffel bags, fire starters, first aid gear, food, footwear, gaiters, gloves and mittens, GPS devices, hammocks, hats, headlights, hydration systems, insect repellent, knives, lanterns and flashlights, pack covers, rainwear, sandals, saws, shovels, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, socks, stoves, cooksets, sunglasses, sunscreen, survival gear, tents, toiletries, trekking poles, watches, water bottles, water purifiers and the list goes on and on. They’ve even got four pages dedicated to camping underwear.
As things go, I was naturally drawn to the catalog’s one page of books (and DVDs) and found an interesting selection. Their featured books included “The Barefoot Sisters-Southbound: An Adventure on the Appalachian Trail” by Lucy and Susan Letcher, “How to Hike the AT: The Nitty Gritty Details of a Long Distance Trek” by Michelle Ray, “Trail Life: Ray Jardine’s Lightweight Backpacking – 25,000 Miles of Trail Tested Know How,” “Walking Home” by Lucy and Susan Letcher, “Boy Scouts of America: A Centennial History,” “Native American Survival Skills,” “Merle’s Door,” “The Boy Camper: Old Time Camping Skills and Projects,” “How to Stay Alive in the Woods” by Bradford Angier and “The U.S. Army Survival Handbook.”
In the end, if you would like to check out Campmor on your own, visit their Web site at www.campmor.com. They’re also on Facebook.