Back when I was skint and needed to furnish an apartment, the low-end IKEA stuff was basically trash that would last barely a year — but the alternative was a Goodwill mattress with dubious stains, so IKEA was a no-brainer.

The thing is, once you went above the mid-range at IKEA, the products were actually decent.

I think the same logic applies to Decathlon. Their low-end gear is pretty shabby in terms of quality and materials; that's just a fact from anyone who's shopped there.

But their top-tier ("player" status) items are made in basically the same factories in Vietnam as Patagonia and Arc'teryx.

Has anyone else been pleasantly surprised by their higher-end Decathlon gear? Or is it basically the only game in town and we're a captive audience...

I like Decathlon quality, certainly mostly good enough, electonics can be ify but with a 2 year warranty no problem. I'm not looking for high end though, no point, just whatever i want to pay.

My IKEA stuff lasts a long time, 20+ years for wardrobes isn't unusual