The Backpacker

Fantastic experience: Excellent hospitality of staff Miss sea & Mr jack both help out for check out 100% going back again

Fantastic experience: Brain helped me at the Northshore store. Excellent customer service, friendly, knowledgable and helpful. Great store and selection.

Fantastic experience: Finally a place with a great selection of clothing for high school boys! Maddux was super helpful in picking out some stuff for my son!

Fantastic experience: Great prices, great staff, great selection!

Fantastic experience: Amazing service! Sea was very attentive, helpful and friendly.

Fantastic experience: Sea is a Rock Star!!!

Fantastic experience: Luke was very helpful!

Positive experience: High quality products, but ludicrously overpriced

Fantastic experience: Great selection of Hokas and Altra running shoes. Khrista was so very helpful. Also got a cute pair of Chacos on sale. Definitely a great place to shop without the crazy crowds. Easy in and out. No hassle.

Fantastic experience: I just wanted to thank Halle and Sea for their kindness and patience. Their knowledge about the merchandise helped me tremendously. It was a pleasure meeting these two special people. Also, a thank you to Joe. Marie

Fantastic experience: Sea was super helpful. I am a search and rescue contractor and needed to pick up some gear at the last minute to use for hurricane response. She was able to find exactly what I was looking for very quickly and even pointed out some additional pieces that I had overlooked. I can’t recommend shopping here enough.

Fantastic experience: Amazing store and Sea was so helpful and knowledgeable with everything we needed. The staff were all so friendly and helpful.

Fantastic experience: Sea was amazing!! So helpful and went out of her way for us today!!

Fantastic experience: Best service and experience! My mother needed new shoes but wasn’t sure of the brand or fit. Sea helped us find the perfect shoes, that we ended up leaving with multiple pairs! Friendly environment!

Fantastic experience: Great customer service. Joe was very helpful.

Fantastic experience: Great service! Awesome sale!

Fantastic experience: Daniela was amazing!!!!!!

Fantastic experience: Sea was excellent help to me and knew plenty about everything they had in store! Everyone is very helpful and makes shopping here enjoyable with no stress.

Fantastic experience: A great shop for outdoor needs. Friendly staff and a calm atmosphere. They have everything from sneakers and clothing to camping gear and kayaks

Fantastic experience: Very helpful, very kind and patient employees both times I have been. They worked with me to find what I was looking for, helping me to find the clothes and shoes I was looking for to prepare for my summer hike. Thank y'all!

Fantastic experience: Sea helped grab around 10 boxes of shoes and was very knowledgeable about the features of each brand! I am leaving happy knowing I found a great pair for the next year. Their friendly nature and knowledge made my a typically stressful purchase much easier.

Fantastic experience: Mike, the store manager was more than happy to make a special shipping request for me so that I could find what I was looking for.

Fantastic experience: Sea was incredibly helpful and Was about to find everything I needed!

Positive experience: I work offshore and I came in straight from work to purchase some items for a trip to Thailand. I was nervous about going in my work clothes since it’s a ritzy part of town, but the associate Sea who greeted me was so kind and welcoming. She helped me pick out some luggage for my trip, and arranged with the cashier ahead of time that my company would be calling to purchase over the phone. She had absolutely zero judgments about the way I was dressed and made me feel welcome. The cashier Daniela was not nearly as friendly, and seemed annoyed to even be checking me out. This is the reason for the 4 star vs a 5 star. The store itself has a very nice selection and had everything I was looking for. Highly recommend getting Sea to help!!!

Fantastic experience: Fantastic service, solid products. All around a great experience. Love shopping with Emilio, Savanna, and the gang

Fantastic experience: Great customer service. The employees are both helpful and knowledgeable.

Fantastic experience: Such a a cool store! Great customer service and super knowledgeable staff. Matt was awesome.

Fantastic experience: Just back to from hiking over 500 miles on the Camino Frances in Spain - from St. Jean Pied de Port, France over the Pyrenees to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. It was an amazing journey!! Thanks for all the gear advice getting me ready - from the backpack, trail shoes, clothes, hiking poles, etc. While it’s an option to purchase at other stores, the gear advice you provide is invaluable and is the reason I shop at Backpacker. Thanks again!!

Fantastic experience: Gabby & Matt were absolutely the most helpful, knowledgeable and personable sales staff and I can’t wait to come back to shop again this weekend with my husband!

Fantastic experience: Visited for the first time today. Got everything I need (and more). Great selection and even better service. Thanks for all the help, Julia!

Fantastic experience: Lillie did a great job! She was very attentive and helpful and met every need! Awesome employee!

Fantastic experience: Bradley was very knowledgeable, helpful and patient. Great experience.

Fantastic experience: Thank you Gunnar….,,very professional and offered to call other backpackers to find what we wanted. Never disappoint. Much Thanks

Fantastic experience: Mike and Reece are the best! So helpful!

Fantastic experience: Daniela was an amazing help to find tennis shoes! She has a great smile and was eager to help my husband!! Very friendly and cares about her job! 5star employee!

Fantastic experience: Friendly service

Fantastic experience: Each person is knowledgeable in their own field but overall a great team!

Fantastic experience: Savannah and Emilio are both fantastic! Expert advice and exceptional service.

Negative experience: Very poorly managed. The selection is poor and the staff are not knowledgeable or helpful. I end up going there and having to go elsewhere for basic backpacking gear such as REI, Amazon, Patagonia, or Academy. Stop staffing the place with children of privilege who don’t care about backpacking. Stock it with things that are useful for backpacking (like backpacks).

Fantastic experience: Cool place! Service on point. And patient. I like patient people

Fantastic experience: Great Shop for on running shoes Chad is great and helpful guy

Fantastic experience: Bree went above and beyond to help me find the shoes I needed, and Austin was great as well!

Fantastic experience: The staff was really helpful and took their time to help me choose the perfect running shoe for me!

Fantastic experience: Very friendly service and excellent selections of products will be back

Fantastic experience: Good service

Fantastic experience: Trevor was an AMAZING sales associate. My goal was to walk out of Backpacker with a pair onClouds and guess what y’all I DID. Trevor had wealth of knowledge of the most popular running/walking shoes. I will definitely be back to see Trevor for my next purchase.

Positive experience: Have great items. A bit pricey.

Fantastic experience: Absolutely awesome service extremely knowledgeable about their products . Will definitely return good stuff and great people

Fantastic experience: Staff was outstanding! This place is a couple hours away from me, but I was in the area and stopped in looking for something. This is now my go to place for outdoor items.

Fantastic experience: We shopped at the Backpacker in Lafayette for the first time this past weekend and we had a great experience! Bryan was a big help in helping my husband determine which pair of shoes he wanted to buy. He was very friendly and helped us throughout the shopping trip. We will definitely be returning to get me some shoes next! :)

Positive experience: I loved that they had a good variety of hiking/backpacking gear. I especially liked the tents they had setup...i hate buying blind. The store Manager and staff were super friendly and helpful.

Fantastic experience: I've purchased a money belt over a year ago. It felt appart in the middle of Bywater in New Orleans. I almost lost my pants, and my money... When I was in Lafayette, I called these guys to see if they had another one. One of the girls there, took her time to look into, called the distributor and, guess what? It had three years guarantee! They replaced it with a smile. I had to purchase another belt. -- my way of thanking the business for having employees that are diligent and kind. Everyone is helpful there, believe me.

Fantastic experience: Very good specialty store. A lil’ spendy but excellent quality merchandise. We just picked up a pair of On Clouds for my wife. You get what you pay for.

Fantastic experience: Reese (Reece?) was AMAZING! My boyfriend and I came in looking for a pair of shoes for me. My job requires me to be on my feet all day, walking 20,000-30,000 steps a day, high intensity and physically demanding. I explained this to Reese and showed him every part of my feet that hurt. He worked with me to find a perfect shoe that would alleviate pain for me. Super friendly, incredibly easy to work with, and I walked away feeling like I was helped and listened to. We both will definitely be coming back to get more advice from him! Way to GEAUX Reese, thank you!!!!

Fantastic experience: Wonderful service!

Fantastic experience: Update: Emilio and Gabe very helpful and willing to assist. 5 stars for the team at Lafayette Backpacker. Brian, Spencer and Tyler from BR location were knowledgeable, friendly and ready to serve. They made the buying experience a breeze. Shout-out also to the rest of the crew in Lafayette who were all friendly and ready to help. They love what they do and I do as well. Bought a 2021 Hobie Outback that I will use all the time. I will continue to do business there.

Fantastic experience: Really friendly staff with all kinds of outdoor apparel, equipment and clothing. Highly recommend stopping by and checking out their inventory.

Fantastic experience: Quality gear for outdoor adventuring. One of the limited places to get eco-friendly clothing in town. Not worth deducting a star, but certainly something to consider... Staff used to be very knowledgeable about the sports the store caters too. My last few visits I would say that's not the case anymore, but it hasn't negatively affected my shopping experience.

Fantastic experience: Friendly helpful staff

Fantastic experience: Good experience, would recommend. I used the chat feature on their site to get some questions answered about an order I wanted to place...guy was helpful. Would buy from again.

Fantastic experience: I'm interested and rock climbing and they had some great gear to choose from.

Positive experience: Very rude employees.

Fantastic experience: Wonderful place with great customer service and staff. Love this store. They always have the items I’m needing for my Kayak. Great quality stuff with some reasonable prices.

Fantastic experience: Live in South Texas. I was headed to Georgia to start My AT thru-hike . I realized I forgot my stove fuel. Stopped in was greated by two employees and was helped right away. Nice shop, good prices and customer service.

Fantastic experience: Very nice gear jackets and shoes

Positive experience: I went in looking for rock climbing shoes, but they had a very limited selection (and only one brand at that). Since rock climbing doesn't seem to be a highly popular hobby in the area I don't fault them for it. Walked around a bit to browse and saw a lot of quality items and brands. One thing I did notice though was that at no point of my visit was I approached or greeted by any of the three employees.

Fantastic experience: Came in a couple weeks ago for hiking boots and pants for a first time trip to Colorado. Peter was really helpful; the gear I ended up with was perfect for a long day of snowy hiking. You get what you pay for for sure. Impressed with the gear and the great service.

Fantastic experience: Great selection of clothing and outdoor gear

Fantastic experience: I must say this is one of my favorite places! Not only are their products awesome. Every employee at Backpacker (Lafayette) has going out of there way to help me in attaining exactly what I was looking for. Not to mention, telling me what would best for me and not necessarily in company’s sales interests. Never pushy, or overbearing. Always helpful and friendly!! I have to mention Emily Kelly. Exceptional in every way. She needs to be in Management!! I will recommend to anyone 100%. #overthetopcustomerservice

Positive experience: Nice sale prices, good selection.

Fantastic experience: Love this store...great selection of Freefly and tasc. Had an issue with a warranty and the manager Cami took care of it immediately, really impressed with how quickly everything was handled. James helped me get some awesome olukais and now I can’t wait to go back!

Fantastic experience: Awesome place and very knowledgeable

Fantastic experience: Professional workers : )

Fantastic experience: I absolutely loved this place it was top of the line when it came to products and services offered definitely suggest this place of anyone is looking to get into backpacking or go further into it or updating any and all gear

Positive experience: Love the gear wish they had some more affordable stuff. I know they aren't Academy still something's it seems are only high end. Still great service and workers.

Fantastic experience: Went to exchange several items. Very professional. Friendly employee's.

Fantastic experience: Love this place and EVERYTHING in it

Fantastic experience: Shelby truly went above and beyond for me! Just went in yesterday for a jacket for Park City, Utah... I am not an outdoorsy person, had no sense of exactly what I needed, and no idea on warmth needed, etc. She pointed me in the right direction, had a ton of knowledge on all of the brands, price points, etc.. and found the perfect jacket for me! When I went to try it on, it was a little too snug so she called the Baton Rouge store & had it delivered today to the Lafayette store. She called this morning to let me know it had arrived but I missed the call. Being the contentious person that she is, she set a phone reminder to call me again this afternoon to make sure that I had received her original call this morning -- as she knows that I am flying out early tomorrow morning, had a million things on my mind, and didn't want me to forget. Her personality, dedication, and help was truly so appreciated! She is a GEM at your store. And I love my new jacket! Thank you Shelby!!!! PS - She also got stickers for my youngest son to preoccupy him while I was trying on jackets as he was so clingy -- she is one of a kind and so very helpful.

Fantastic experience: Awesome place to get ready for the outdoors

Fantastic experience: Our go to local store for most of outdoor needs. Our favorite helper is Cami. She is very knowledgeable about hiking and kayaking. She is patient with questions and helping us in making our decisions to best fit our budget. The atmosphere here is second to none. I literally love this store. If you are passing through Lafayette or wanting to buy outdoor stuff this is the place. They price match on the spot and will order anything you need. Definitely recommend Cami and The Backpacker!

Fantastic experience: Very nice store with friendly staff

Fantastic experience: Always great!

Fantastic experience: Friendly staff and great products

Fantastic experience: The associate Holter was AMAZING! He catered to my every need, and more! I went in for shoes and he already had my size pulled out for me after speaking to him on the phone. I came out with an awesome jacket and shirt that he picked out. I’ll be coming back to shop with Holter!

Fantastic experience: Really cool place, we were met as soon as I walked in the door. Thee amazing associate Cami, offered to help my Wife and I thee entire time we were there, and she did just that. Cami was very helpful, she answered all of my questions and she knew what she was talking about. By the end of our visit, we talked to everybody in the store, everyone was really nice, and they gave me a free Thule sticker on my way out the door. Great people, great place.

Positive experience: This is the review if this location was formerly Outdoor Back. This review does not reflect the quality of the items, their merchandise is very useful, productive and last a long time. There must have been something that happened here concerning me, something like either a false police report I was never confronted about or a fake medical report I never went to a doctor for. This had to happen the day I went in (Me and Lyle shopped here regularly, about twice a week) and this had to happen the day I went in and told them I wanted a hip purse that doesn't bounce when I run and a water bottle that keeps water cold. Because the one I had just bought from Sun and Ski in Houston did not keep water cold for two hours as advertised. The employee showed and told me all about the Camel hydration back pack. This was several years ago. There had to be a fake medical/police report made up within minutes after I left. Is what happened here what someone went to the Crowley police and told them as soon as I walked out the door of the Crowley police department the other day? To stop the Crowley police department from looking into my complaint? I had bought a Miracol hydration back pack from Amazon and it worked amazing. One evening I went into Super 1 Foods, in Crowley, LA and the security guard told me I had to leave my backpack at the front. ( I of course called Super 1 Foods about that security guard, and Super 1 Foods told me it is against the company policy to tell someone to leave their back packs at the front counter. Super 1 Foods also wanted to know why was the security guard telling me all of this). The Crowley police officer told me he viewed the store serveaillance and no one walked up to my backpack on the counter, but when I went to get it, the security guard was standing right in front of it. Also, I always put the end of that long straw, where I drink water from inside the front chord of the backpack and when I went to get it, it was out on the counter. Someone went into Super 1 Foods and put some type of drugs to stop the water from staying cold, I found this out the next day. I believe what happened at Super 1 Foods and then stopping the Crowley PD from doing anything with my complaint is to cover up for my assumption of this fake medical and or police report that happened here on the day this business showed me the Camel hydration back pack. The landlord in the River Ranch, Judy Broussard, or UL dance department or Jill Listis dance studio walks in somewhere, tell any business something about me, the business goes along with them, like Super 1 Foods did. And I am assuming this business did years ago. What these businesses don't realize is the ones going in there about me believes what they are doing will never get found out by me. If such a fake report did occur from here, in the day I was shown the camel camel by an employee here, then that is exactly what someone went and told to the Crowley police department. I think the fact that this was not put in the police databases and just let the Crowley Louisiana police department look and see it for themselves, but instead was sort of "hand delivered to the Crowley police tells me the ones involved in this knew it was a lie. They saw me walking around all day with the Miracol hydration back pack, having no trouble carrying the weight of 2 liters of water.

Fantastic experience: Fantastic customer service and a knowledgeable staff.

Fantastic experience: Came in to buy some base layers for military training in Germany, during the winter. They were more expensive than Amazon but I couldn’t wait. I needed them, in hand, within a few days. They price matched Amazon!! Rarely if ever do people do that!! So blessed they were willing to work with me!! This staff genuinely loves their job and helping people out, this is the heart of a good local business!!! Always go back because of this for outdoor clothing and gear!!!

Fantastic experience: Great store for everythings outdoors. Very knowledgeable and friendly staff!

Fantastic experience: This place is amazing. I have literally gotten a greeting from every employee and been offered help from everyone. Employees go above and beyond for customers. Stephen offered us everything from bottled water to Starbucks coffee while we shopped they also give student discounts. I'm so glad I found this place. If you haven't been here you are missing out. Come do your Christmas shopping here. I LOVE BACKPACKER!!!!!

Fantastic experience: The staff is extremely welcoming and helpful. Jana made me feel right at home as she suggested many great quality items. Will be back soon!

Fantastic experience: Hannah was incredibly helpful when I was shopping for my hammock! She knew the pros and cons of every brand and helped me make the most informed decision possible. The overall customer service was excellent, and I would definitely shop here again.

Fantastic experience: Bailey was very helpful! She helped me pick out my first pair of Solomon shoes! They fit very well, and were able to withstand a twenty mile hike with little break-in.

Fantastic experience: The Backpacker in Lafayette is the foremost outfitter in the region. The selection of outdoor gear and apparel is excellent and the customer service is second to none. Can't wait to go back.

Fantastic experience: love the backpacker, great quality products and even better service!!

Negative experience: I'm not someone who writes reviews often especially negative ones. I placed a deposit for a jacket, I was giving as a Christmas gift, to be placed on order and someone would call me. After having never received a call from anyone, I initiated calls on several occasions as well as in store visits over a 3-4 week period only to find out the jacket had not been ordered. I understand mistakes happen. This was important to me. Should have ordered from North Face directly. Employees need somewhat better communication skills.

Positive experience: Expensive, but awesome service and merchandise

Fantastic experience: Free kayaking!

Fantastic experience: Great help for outdoor needs

Fantastic experience: The best place to purchase and shop for almost all outdoor activities!