Sports and outdoors: six cards, from gear to a day out
Dick's, Bass Pro Shops, Cabela's, REI, Fanatics and Topgolf, from $5. The category with the widest spread between what the cards actually do.
Six cards that look like one category and behave like four. Gear, hunting and fishing, fan merchandise, and an afternoon out — worth knowing which is which before you cash out.
What is on the wall
- General sporting goods — Dick's Sporting Goods
- Hunting, fishing and outdoors — Bass Pro Shops, Cabela's
- Climbing, hiking and camping — REI
- Team merchandise — Fanatics
- An afternoon out — Topgolf
Bass Pro and Cabela's are the same company
They merged years ago and the shops overlap heavily. Pick on which is nearer rather than on range — and if a card's terms say it works at both, that doubles your options without costing anything.
REI is the one with a membership behind it
REI runs a co-op membership that pays an annual dividend on what you spend. A gift card purchase counts towards it the same as cash, so if you are already a member the card is worth slightly more than its face value.
Topgolf is not gear at all
It is an experience: bay time, food and drinks. That makes it the one card in this category that spends in an evening rather than furnishing a hobby, and the one worth saving to a larger denomination — a bay for a group runs well past $50.
The seasonal angle
Outdoor retail discounts hard at the end of a season — camping gear in autumn, ski equipment in spring. A gift card does not expire, so a balance built now and spent into an end-of-season clearance is worth materially more than the same balance spent today.
Six brands, from $5 to $100.
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