Cactus Outdoor Auckland - Ponsonby

Awesome quality, perfect work attire for my Tradie brother he is stoked with the shorts. 100% recommend

Love the product - everything is top class - so well made! And great to have a physical store where I can talk with the friendly Cactus staff.

Quality gear, helpful staff, ecologically responsible brand, stoked you guys have an outlet in AKL now. I thrash my gear and cactus is the only clothing brand that has stood up for 6 years running same lifties for ski and motorcycles, 4 years running same super shorts daily. Comfortable, no frills, intelligent design. If you're a tradie, outdoorsman, just go, don't think, just go.

Awesome products made in NZ. I love feeling safe knowing that everyone in the store has been vaccinated (felt the need to post a positive review!)

Top quality and NZ made, well done team. This overall rating would most certainly be 5 stars if it wasn’t for the simple folk that can’t scan a QR code or use a pinch of common sense.

I don't believe in holding grudges so I decided to go back to Cactus Ponsonby to see if time had softened their approach. I still think it ridiculous that we were treated so patronisingly when we were triple vaxed and wearing a facemask with a k95 insert, but it was appropriate to give them a second run. I didn't have my son with me this time, and I suspect that assumptions about children and Covid may have motivated the dodgy practices the last time (back then, the staffer involved looked at my son as if the devil had walked in, but I couldn't really tell whether that's because of the Covid situation or because we're Maori). They still insist on scanning/signing in even though I can't find any other shops that are doing so. I don't mind that though, and never did, so I signed in. There was a different staffer on duty this time and he was welcoming and very helpful. I was able to look at their gear before being treated like an anti-vaxer this time around, and even decided to buy a couple of items. It's been a while since I've been to the Christchurch store and it's good to see that they've extended their range in various ways. I still think its plain dumb to so maintain their ideological commitment to canvas that they make bikepacking gear out of ridiculously heavy materials that are not waterproof, but the quality of other items in store is great. If I had reviewed them for the first time in this review, I may have given them 5 stars. The 3 that I've changed this review to represents half way between first and second impressions. ~~~~ I've always enjoyed visiting the Chch store, so we scanned at the door of the Ponsonby branch and walked in, finding it hard to focus or see because the lighting was dimmed very low. We were presented with an affronting demand to see vaccine passes. Vaguely, I could remember that retail stores can opt to ask for them... but I've never been in a retail store that does so. Still feeling distracted at the thought we might have walked into a hybernating bear's cave, we opened our phones and were about to comply (we're triple vaxed) when a second affronting demand was presented to us. 'So you haven't got proper masks there do you, the type that can block stuff coming out as well as going in? It's just a cloth mask' Again, we didn't contest the statement... but of course there is no such product available! I was too distracted to comment because I was busy contemplating why this was so ironic. Ah. That's it! At home I had a Cactus face mask. It is a cloth one, perhaps with a higher quality insert - indeed, exactly the same insert as the superlabs face mask that I was wearing. Why don't I wear the Cactus one? Too bulky. Hot. Doesn't sit safely on the face, particularly because of the misplaced decision to use round the head ties rather than round the ears. Odd shape that doesn't work for the bearded. This problem also reminded me of all the Cactus products I've purchased in the last couple of years. BIKEPACKING: seat pack, top tube bag, handlebar harness, harness accessory bag, small bag for tools. LUGGAGE: laptop sling; Henry backpack. CLOTHING: 2 x shorts, supertrou, 2 x tees, shirt, bucket hat. Oh. And that singularly useless facemask. Rather than contest this patronising BS, we just left. I'll never go back and, alas, that longish list of Cactus products we've purchased online will never receive an addition. You know, a bit like the facemask... their Bikepacking gear is bulky, heavy and almost entirely lacking in waterproofing, and the expensive Henry bag is designed with such a small opening at the top that almost nothing I try to put in it goes there... so I may not have been buying much from them going forward anyway. I suggest you just dial that dimmer all the way down then turn the lights out; you'll surely be closing down soon.

After learning of the ignorant discrimination applied at your stores, I'm disappointed. Can also see this in a response to another review here, will likely be organising a return for my order that's just arrived, I'll shop elsewhere. My family feel the same, and we've spent a lot of money with Cactus in recent years.

Loved these guys, but after outdoor shopping at a number of other stores today I found Cactus in particular have a passport requirement for entry, what a shame, couldn't even swap the jacket I bought online for another size. After the experience of not even being able to enter, and treated as a second class citizen, I think I'd rather return it and avoid dealing with them from here on.