How Many People Can You Outfit?

Depends who's reading this thread.
If my dear, sweet wonderful wife is watching, it's 2.5.

If not, it's 5+…
Do I have too much stuff?

Probably 6 if they go in pairs.

Only two at the moment. But I'm working on it. I just need one more quilt/sleeping bag to make it three :P

Adam

I'm embarrassed to say. Looks like it's time to haul another load to my local Boy Scout troop.

I could outfit 3 (including me) if they shared shelters and cooking gear. If you include the gear I've bought my mom that she keeps at her house, it would bump up to 4.

I do use all my gear, though. I just have fine-tuned my system for each season. Some of the stuff I'd lend out might not be the lightest for that season (ie Exped DAM 9 in summer). I couldn't outfit more than myself and one other person per season.

I will admit to 4, perhaps more if I was to gather all my stuff in one place. I have a summer setup, a winter setup and a very cold setup just for me and my wife that is not included in my estimate.
Is that bad?

In various styles, I can easily handle 7.

I'm a gear head, yes, but also a minimalist who hate clutter. I have basically two sets of gear — one light weight for leisurely hikes and one UL for tougher hikes. I'll buy only to replace. Thank heavens for Ebay.

It really depends a lot…for instance, if everyone was like me and happy sleeping on torso-sized close cell foam mats, did not treat water, and was willing to at least double up for sleeping/tenting and cooking, then possibly 7 (the limitation being the sleeping bags/quilts). If they're gonna be picky campers, then probably 2 max. To be fair though, half of the gear we own belongs to my better half.

presently 2 in summer, one in winter. That's less than in previous times, but a low paid job and no access to credit has meant the sale of all gear not presently in use, and a pretty strict 'one in, one out' policy about buying and selling major items. For this, on the whole, I'm thankful.

I've been collecting stuff since 1972, and I don't think I've ever thrown anything out. I guess about 12 people, perhaps more (packs, sleeping bags, tents, stoves, pots, flashlights, etc). A lot of my stuff is heavy by today's standards so I only use it for car camping.

Later…did an inventory…make that 15 people, more for certain items, I may be one or two short on pads, though.

Elliot,
FIFTEEN outfits! You DA MAN! I bow before your gear hoard. Bet there's a Svea 123 stove in there too. Maybe a Kelty or Camp Trails frame pack? Or both?

Congrats! You get the BPL Lifetime Achievement Award in the category of GEAR.

Eric
"He who wears out the most gear wins."

Ah, my old heavy stuff, much of it from my climbing days in Washington. I don't list all the new lightweight stuff I've purchased over the past years to replace the heavy stuff, and also to outfit our three kids:

Stoves: Svea (my favorite!), an Optimus 8R, 111B, and a OO kerosene, also a Primus, and an MSR XGK. Oh yes, a Coleman as well.

External frame packs: Two REI and a very nice Alpine Designs.

Bags: Two REI 5 3/4 lb winter bags, two REI 3 1/2 lb 3-season sewn-through duck-down (yes, sewn-through). Some Kelty too.

Pads: Many Thermarest, a black Ensolite, and some blue foam. Also some really thick, heavy, and comfortable ones, I forget the brand names. I recall now that the white Ensolite dried out and I actually threw them out.

Internal frame: Wilderness Experience, a few Lowe, a Jansport, a North Face, and a Gregory Snow Creek. Also, a heavy Millet rucksack, and an REI as well. And many, many day packs.

Tents: REI double A-frame, Sierra Designs Dome, Eureka 5-person, Kelty 4-person.

Sadly, the list goes on and on…

Heaven forbid, but should disaster strike and FEMA runs out, we now know where to go. Thanks in advance, Elliot! :)

Besides us, we could outfit 6 comfortably, including pads, packs, sleeping bags, tents, water treatment, stoves, cookware, etc.
Uncomfortably, we could outfit 11.
And, since we do this on a regular basis, I have no shame in hanging on to all this gear. :-)

Mattresses limit it to 4
Cook sets make it 6
Backpacks make it 7
Tents make it 7 (9 if you count bivies)
Sleeping bags make it 9
Stoves make at least 15 (I got tired of counting)

Can you tell I'm single?

P.S. Just read Elliott's post. I'm only a poor excuse for an outfitter.

Oh Yeah! I forgot hammocks. 2 more!

Using "my gear", I can equip two people on a three season trip. A guest would use a combination of winter items, items which I take on group trips rather than solo trips. There are also a few items I haven't ebayed because it's been really handy to be able to equip friends who are new to backpacking with loaner gear.

Using all of our 3 person's family gear (assuming some sharing of shelters), my family can equip 3 adults and two kids.

Guest would get: Osprey Ather 60 (loaner), tarptent squall2 (loaner), wm versalite (winter), foam pad (winter), aqua mira (extra), snowpeak gigi power stove (group), evenew 1.3l pot (group)

My gear: Granite Gear Vapor Trail, spinnshelter (solo) or tarptent double rainbow (if sharing with someone, down quilt, BA insulated aircore, aqua mira, ion alcohol stove, evernew .9l pot

Too many. Ahhh, if I had to choose, probly 3-5 people depending on shared gear, like cooking systems and shelters.

2-3 people. Of course that is only because I have gear for my kids to use when we go backpacking (I sure hope they grow into it soon).

Maybe I should get that Miniposa I've had my eye on for my 9 yr. old daughter.

Probably 4 at this point. It looks like this is an epidemic. Someone call the CDC.

I feel so much better. I thought I alone was the Emelda Marcos of the camping world, and I frequently put 50% up for sale and then re-accumulate.
Don

I'd say about 3. I was all excited thinking I was one of the bigger pack rats of gear, but after reading Elliott's post I feel inferior.

Eric wrote "I bow before your gear hoard."

Man Eric, that has got to be one of the funniest replies I have read in a while. I hope there is not a copy write on that quote cause I'd like to use it sometime.

I went into a small camping gear shop in Sonora, CA a few years back and saw I had more Dana packs hanging in my storage shed than they had in their store. I immediately sought help. Between not throwing anything out and Ebay, I could probably oufit the Danish army, well not quite. Fortunately over the years I have lent out a lot of gear of which a fair quantity does not get returned. After reading the postings, I am headed over to my local Pathfinders club and donating as much stuff as I can part with or at least enough so I can stop renting the storage shed at $100 a month. Hey more $$ for gear!