This page explains our policies for warranty, returns, and shipping. In brief, we accept returns on new gear within 30 days, our warranty is 1-2 years (depending on the product), and our shipping is normally 4-7 business days within North America and 4-10 business days internationally but we do have faster options.

Any item sold on DurstonGear.com ships from our workshop in Golden, BC, Canada. We often ship via Canada Post who will give the package to the national postal system in your country (e.g. USPS, Royal Mail, Australia Post, Deutsche Post etc). Some items will ship FedEx Ground (mostly packs). For all of these regular shipping methods it normally takes 4-7 business days to the USA and Canada, and 4-10 business days internationally (e.g. Europe, Australia, Asia) but can be faster or slower depending on the service selected and of course the postal system is never 100% reliable such that occasionally it takes longer.

For faster methods, we have FedEx Express within North America that is usually 3-4 business days. We can use this method internationally but it is expensive (about $75) so it is only available upon request. Instead, we have offer Canada Post Xpresspost for a faster international option that is not quite as fast but more affordable. If you want FedEx Express internationally please contact us at support@durstongear.com

If you are shipping to a trail town in the USA, we recommend to allow 2 weeks to be very confident it will arrive in time. If your timing is tight, please select the FedEx Express option.

If something goes wrong during shipping such as package that never arrives, we will support you through that and replace the item. If the tracking shows that the package has been delivered at your address, but you report that it is not received, we will work with you on the matter to try to find a resolution. We want to be supportive when the postal service makes a mistake but unfortunately it is common for people to falsely claim they didn't get the item when they did, or for packages to be stolen from your porch. These types of theft are outside of our control, so we can't provide free tents to everyone who claims this. If you want to avoid the risk that your package is stolen from your porch or not actually delivered properly, please leave a note on your order at the 'cart' page asking us to require a signature on your package.

Taxes
For tax, we charge sales tax at checkout for shipments within some USA states (where required) and for Canada and then all packages to the USA and Canada arrive with nothing owing.

To the rest of the world, we do not charge tax on our website so tax may be charged when it arrives. The packages can be tax free to some countries if the value is under a threshold (e.g. Australia and New Zealand are usually tax free since they have tax free thresholds of $1000 AUD/NZD). In Europe there is VAT of about 20% (varies by country) and import tax of about 12% on tents (not for other items). We find this import tax is only occasionally charged, so most often it is just VAT. While this is high tax, it is the same or less taxes you would pay on gear purchased within Europe (since those higher prices include both taxes). The main difference is just that the tax is charged separately instead of hidden in a higher price. In addition to these countries, the postal service that delivers these packages may charge a handling fee which is usually 5-10 euro but can be higher. If you want to avoid this uncertainty, we have partners in Europe including ValleyandPeak.co.uk, Pod7Kilo.cz, Backpackinglight.se, and Outdoorline.sk.

We accept returns and exchanges within 30 days of you receiving the item. For a full refund, the gear must be brand new. That means it is indistinguishable from new including being free of smells, dirt, dog hair, and it is returned in the original packaging. If you are unsure about your purchase and wish to set up a tent or try out a backpack, it is important that you take precautions to keep it fully clean while doing so. When new gear is returned, we will provide a 100% refund. Please know that the original shipping cost is not refunded because we did incur the cost of that service and the buyer is responsible for the return shipping cost (we recommend using an affordable method like USPS First Class Parcel).

If the gear is not brand new, many other companies do not accept returns but we understand sometimes gear doesn't work out and want to be helpful, so for larger items (tents, backpacks) we are willing to accept a return while applying a modest deduction (usually 20%) for the depreciation that has occured from your use (because we can no longer sell it as new gear). In this case we inspect the gear and provide a partial refund depending on the condition. We then clean the gear at our expense and pass along the discount to the next owner, so we provide this service at our expense as a way for people to return lightly used gear. Gear can become used from usage in the backcountry but also a failure to keep it clean while trying it in your backyard or local park. Signs of use include dirt, odors, animal hair, sweat marks, bugs, and more. 

For smaller items (e.g. groundsheets, accessories) that are used, it is not practical for us to clean the item and try to find a new owner, so we do not accept returns on smaller used items.

To initiate a return please contact us.

Durston Gear is a small family owned business, so you can count on being able to discuss any issue you might have with a real and sympathetic person who is familiar with the gear you’re talking about. We sincerely design and test our gear to be the highest quality, so instances of warranty claims are very rare (well under 1%) but we’ll be there if you do have an issue.

We formally offer a 2 year warranty (tents) or 1 year (packs) as our promise to you, but ultimately we genuinely stand behind our gear so if something happens beyond this and it is our fault, we’ll make that right.

What our warranty covers is defects in the design, materials, and construction (things within our control). It could be that the fabric has a defect, or something wasn't sewn right. Defects like this are eligible to be replaced, refunded, or repaired under warranty at our discretion. Please note that color and pattern variation in DCF is normal, as it is a hand assembled fabric.

What is not covered is wear and damage (things outside of our control). Our gear is lightweight gear that should last a long time when used with reasonable care for the intended use but some wear will occur over time, and damage can still happen as a result of misfortune or misuse. Some examples of damage that are not covered are broken zipper teeth, mice chewing holes in your tent, broken pack buckles from being stepped on, tent guylines broken from rubbing on rocks, and broken trekking poles from taking a fall. Examples of wear that are not covered are abrasion damage to fabrics, zipper sliders wearing out, and UV damage.

While wear and damage are not formally covered, if you do encounter these things we still want to be helpful and typically provide free repairs. A focus of ours is to support our products with replacement parts, repair advice, and repair services, such that even if something doesn’t fall under our warranty that doesn’t mean you’re left in a tough spot. We offer affordable replacement parts and typically free repair services, so the difference between something covered under warranty or not is typically just a small repair or replacement cost. For instances of damage we will often offer replacement parts at below cost, and repairs for minimal or no cost.

For warranty issues or repair needs please email us at support@durstongear.com.