This page explains our policies for shipping, taxes, returns, and warranty.

In brief, we collect all taxes and duties for orders to the USA, Canada and select parts of Europe, such that total at checkout is your final price with nothing due upon arrival. For other areas including Australia, Asia, South America, and some parts of Europe we do not collect taxes, such that normal taxes are collected upon delivery unless your area does not have taxes or does not enforce them below a minimum (e.g. orders under $1000 are tax free to Australia and NZ).

We accept returns on new gear within 30 days and our warranty is 1-2 years (depending on the product).

All orders ship from our location in BC, Canada except for USA orders which ship from our USA warehouse in Arizona.

For orders shipping from Canada, you can choose shipping with either FedEx or Canada Post (our national postal system, who will give the package to the postal system in your country such as USPS, Australia Post etc). Shipping speeds are shown at checkout and are typically 2 - 6 business days for FedEx and 5 - 10 business days via Canada Post.

For USA orders, you can chose between three shipping options of standard (3-7 day), express (2-3 day) and overnight (1 day). The specific courier used will vary depending on what is most effective for your area. If you require a specific method please contact us.

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 is delivered at your address, but you report that it is not received, we will work with you to try to find a good solution. 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, or for packages to be stolen from your porch. These types of theft are outside of our control, so we can't provide free gear to everyone who claims this. If you want to avoid the risk that your package is stolen from your porch, please leave a note on your order at the 'cart' page asking us to require a signature on your package.

For all orders to the USA and Canada, and most orders to Europe, we charge all applicable sales taxes/VAT/tariffs/duty in our price or at checkout, so the total price at checkout is your final price and these orders arrive with nothing owing. European customers can identify whether or not we are collecting taxes for their country based on if "VAT & Duty Included" appears below the price, and because there will be a notice at checkout that says whether tax is or isn't included.

For orders to the rest of the world, we do not collect tax in our prices nor at checkout, so normal local taxes may be charged by the carrier when the order arrives. Typically these are the same taxes you would pay on this type of item when purchased locally, except it is charged separately instead of being collected during the original purchase. Packages are tax free to some countries when the value is under a minimum threshold. Notably, Australia and New Zealand are tax free if the order is under $1000 AUD/NZD).

For areas of Europe when we do not collect tax, there is likely VAT of about 20% and a duty on tents of 12% which are likely to be collected at delivery. While this is high tax, it is the same taxes you would pay on gear purchased locally - the difference is just that the taxes are charged separately by the postal system instead of being included in a higher list price. While you will not save taxes, if you do prefer to shop within Europe we have a variety of partners in Europe including BackpackingLight.nl, BackpackingLight.se, Outdoorline.eu, Pod7Kilo.cz, and ValleyandPeak.co.uk

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 items when they have been opened.

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, we still want to be helpful and typically provide free repairs and discounted parts. A focus of ours is to support our products with replacement parts and repair services, such that even if something doesn’t fall under our warranty that doesn’t mean you’re in a tough spot.

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