Defender Industries has been aquired

[Phyrcooler]

BTW - for those in the San Diego area, a commercial account via San Diego Marine Exchange rivals the old Defender pricing without hassle of shipping and can be tax free. I've picked up a bunch of stuff using La Costa/Guillermo account. Plus SDMX is an old school chandlery with long term employees.

Peter

I go out of my way to use and support them. There aren’t many old school chandlery or hardware stores around. Especially those that know what they’re talking about! I do use WM on occasion, and have discovered they routinely put common items on sale - like dock lines and fenders. So I do my best to make any planned purchases around sales.

 

[socalrider]

I go out of my way to use and support them. There aren’t many old school chandlery or hardware stores around. Especially those that know what they’re talking about! I do use WM on occasion, and have discovered they routinely put common items on sale - like dock lines and fenders. So I do my best to make any planned purchases around sales.

Yes - SD Marine Exchange is my happy place. Lots of knowledgeable staff, good inventory. Not the cheapest but I can dinghy from my boat to the back of their store in about 3 minutes, which counts for a whole lot!

They always give me the "discount" whatever that means, but I've not inquired about a commercial account. What does that entail?

 

[LindaFlorida]

I have been making purchases from Defender for years. A few weeks ago i logged in and was told that I need to create a new password. After logging in I noticed that my past orders are no longer listed. Hopefully after contacting customer service they will be able to list all of my past orders again. ):

 

[rslifkin]

I have been making purchases from Defender for years. A few weeks ago i logged in and was told that I need to create a new password. After logging in I noticed that my past orders are no longer listed. Hopefully after contacting customer service they will be able to list all of my past orders again. ):

I noticed the same. I'm thinking they should still have a record of past orders, but it seems like they've replaced the whole online ordering system, etc. and didn't migrate the old orders into the new system for display to users. Based on the change in look and feel of the website, I'm thinking they changed from what was at least a semi-custom system to something more common, as the look and feel of much of the site is now much more similar to a bunch of other e-commerce sites I've used.

 

[kchace]

I'm also definitely disappointed with the changes at Defender. It was that McMaster and Defender had two of the best and easiest sites to use and research on. With the new site Defender is now much harder to find items, and their prices - which have been creeping up for a while - are not at all the best.

Ken

 

[psneeld]

Lots of smaller online places with decent customer service and better prices than Defender on many items. That said, sorry to see them decline if that's in Defender's future.

 

[lwarden]

Yes - SD Marine Exchange is my happy place. Lots of knowledgeable staff, good inventory. Not the cheapest but I can dinghy from my boat to the back of their store in about 3 minutes, which counts for a whole lot!

They always give me the "discount" whatever that means, but I've not inquired about a commercial account. What does that entail?

You need to have a business license to set one up generally SCR. I have a friend with an account there and use his discount, it's very substantial and often the price is lower than any online prices. Rack rate prices are very high, but most seem to get some sort of discount by simply asking, usually 10-15%. They are hit an miss on hardware these days for some reason and had low stock on many items during Covid, but they seem to be better stocked these days. I use McMaster for hardware or in a pinch, Marshalls Industrial hardware.

 

[twistedtree]

I'd strongly argue that one. I do buy plenty of boat stuff from Amazon, but they don't always have the stuff I'm looking for. Or in many cases, they have it, but not a good quality example of it. And even when they have exactly what I want, they're not always the cheapest source.

That’s my experience too. Lots good on Amazon, but also a lot of junk. And in more rural locations the delivery time has gone way up. In Seattle you can get most anything within 48 hrs, quite a bit in 24 hrs, and increasing amounts same day. But rural where still serviced by UPS, a week is typical, and 2 weeks is not at all uncommon. I suspect that since Amazon built their own shipping company, the residuals that are handled by UPS have gone from top priority to bottom priority. I have started ordering a significant portion of buying to other sellers just to get better delivery time. Example, I needed to order. Couple of network switches. Amazon was a week plus delivery. B&H is two day, no charge, just like Prime. Product price is close enough to not be a consideration.

 

[heysteve]

I still have fond memories of roaming around Fisheries Supply in Seattle (Candyland!). Fortunately, they've invested in their website over the last few years and it's now pretty good although searching and in-stock inventory continue to need improvement. Tell them you're doing a refit and you'll get 10% off forever. Their shipping and tracking are first rate.

One thing I really like about Defender, besides a large selection, is easy access to PDF documents for the product you're looking at. Saved a lot of time when in the research phase of a project.

 

[twistedtree]

I still have fond memories of roaming around Fisheries Supply in Seattle (Candyland!). Fortunately, they've invested in their website over the last few years and it's now pretty good although searching and in-stock inventory continue to need improvement. Tell them you're doing a refit and you'll get 10% off forever. Their shipping and tracking are first rate.

One thing I really like about Defender, besides a large selection, is easy access to PDF documents for the product you're looking at. Saved a lot of time when in the research phase of a project.

Speaking of candy stores, don't overlook Defender and others. Many people only know these places as online stores, but they are all brick and mortar retail shops. Defender, Fisheries, Hamilton, San Diego Marine Exchange. Less known I think are SeaMar (Seattle Marine), Rose Marine, LFS, and countless other local, independent marine supply outfits that provide competitive pricing, are knowledgeable, and have excellent service. Really the only chain is West Marine.

 

[rslifkin]

Speaking of candy stores, don't overlook Defender and others. Many people only know these places as online stores, but they are all brick and mortar retail shops. Defender, Fisheries, Hamilton, San Diego Marine Exchange. Less known I think are SeaMar (Seattle Marine), Rose Marine, LFS, and countless other local, independent marine supply outfits that provide competitive pricing, are knowledgeable, and have excellent service. Really the only chain is West Marine.

For those who may not know about LFS, they're the store behind Go2Marine. Go2Marine is just their non-commercial storefront, but it's the same company as the LFS fishing supply stores (as featured in various clothing on Deadliest Catch, for example).

 

[twistedtree]

For those who may not know about LFS, they're the store behind Go2Marine. Go2Marine is just their non-commercial storefront, but it's the same company as the LFS fishing supply stores (as featured in various clothing on Deadliest Catch, for example).

I didn't know that. Thanks for pointing it out. I have seen them in Seattle, Bellingham, and Sitka, and didn't realize they were behind Go2Marine. Good to know.

 

[Airstream345]

Didn’t know that either. Love LFS in Bellingham. Great store and they have everything.

Agree on Amazon shipping outside of metro areas. Changing shipping from our mailbox in Seattle to our PO Box in Friday Harbor can increase Prime shipping times from 1-2 days to 1-2 weeks. If I’ve planned well it’s no big deal but if I need it quickly it’s tricky and fisheries has weekly deliveries to Friday Harbor.

 

[Losciuto77]

I buy my zodiac replacement pontoons in Waterford, they were already really expensive, hope they dont go up more.