Most expensive?

Does my wish list count? Leica M8 with 50mm lense about 10K picture of a lifetime, priceless. Ali

Luckily where I am at we don't have super cold temps or enough snow for skiing. My most expensive piece of gear was probably my Mountain Hardwear Phantom 0. I think I paid $400 for it.

The Hilleberg Staika tent at $670 from Moontrail, but using the Bonus Points for free stuff the net cost was down to ~$580.

B.Gin

5 years ago I got my WM MegaLite for $280. About 3 years ago, I paid close to the same price for my GG Squall Classic.

I guess my WM Ultralite Super would be my most expensive single purchase. I could have had one for cheaper but could not pull the trigger when it was on sale. When I finally did get it I really needed it so I paid about $340.00. Great bag.

The most expensive gear item I have is also (I hope) the most useless, a 10.3 ounce brick, aka ACR Microfix Personal Locator Beacon. Its primary purpose is to keep friends and family off my case, because I hike and backpack alone. It does give me a little more freedom in that I now can "stealth camp" off-trail in solitude away from the crowds and trampled-down campsites. However, I certainly don't take any more risks than I would have without it. At my age, an injury would probably end my backpacking/hiking days, and I don't want to risk that.

My I bought a North Face tent on sale for $350 in 1989, which comes out to $580 in today's dollars. I think Ski gear takes the cake if you look at the whole kit of skis, bindings, boots, poles, skins.

In cost, plainly my winter two-man tent, a Bibler Bombshelter that I bought when Todd Bibler still made them. It was a demo and cost about $750 in the 1980s. But I'm still using it twenty years later, so I think it was good value.

In overpaying (based on hindsight), a sat phone. So unreliable that I refuse to use it unless safety protocols require it.

On my wish list, a Nunatak Back Country Blanket with Eider down. The surcharge is $125/ounce, making it run around $2000. No chance that will ever be made up for me.

My brand new – just delivered today – custom made McHale LBP34 pack. Thank you Dan for a fantastic job yet again. BPL members can see the recently posted pictures of my beautiful new tan and grey pack on Dan's site.

A Hilleberg Saivo at $775.

Glad I did it – have gotten so much use out of it (though decidedly not an ultralight choice…)

WM Alpinelite

Worth every penny.

Hm.

I believe it was my Nunatak Ghost Quilt, but it would be close with my WM Ultralite. I got the Ultralite a few years back on sale though, so I think it was a little cheaper.

Pam

Geesh, if you're gonna include ski gear, then that would definitely be the most expensive for me, except I can't remember how much my favourite old Karhus were…and I just remembered a MacPac Minaret many moons ago that must have been over $500 new. Of course, that was $NZ, so maybe still not the most expensive??

Bought many years ago, a Mountainsmith Expedition fiberglass sled for winter camping and hauling kids around. Cost around $500 then, but that was in the late 1980's. It included two kid seats, a windshield, and some other accessories. Kifaru makes the sled now, and with similar accessories it costs around $900.

I didn't do much camping with the sled, but I sure hauled kids around a lot in the Adirondacks. When they were young we used to stay in a primitive cabin in the woods for a week or ten days, and I'd haul them, food, gear, homework, and lots of toys in with it. I also used it to haul firewood I'd split from the wood shed to the cabin (around 50 yards but it sure helped).

Mountain Hardware EV3 Tent $455 on sale, worth every penny.

It arrives tomarrow but I expect it to be amazing, and after the demo know it will be. $835

Wow! Does it come with legs? For $835 I would want that thing to carry itself! ;-)

It buys me the peace of mind that comes with knowing no matter what I think I want I will not need to spend another dollar on a backpack for at least a decade. Ill post a picture tomarrow so everyone can bask in its glory.

bought a custom 2 person synthetic sleeping quilt from MLD for $400.

I bought my most heinously-priced items in the early to mid nineties, long before my en-Light-enment… $400 something for a Dana Astralplane, $500 or so for a Garuda Kaja single-wall, a bone-crushingly heavy but granite-solid Moss Little Dipper on sale for $400, normally $800… But those are Backpacking UH–Ultra Heavy. Despite working retail for years, paid full price for my WM Antelope DL around the same time as the above purchases. If we're counting skis, perhaps a canoe would count, got my Wenonah Minnesota II UL Kevlar skin boat from a rental fleet for ~$1300. We won't get into my Valley Anas Acuta.

Oh no, if we're gonna include kayaks then I'm embarrassed by how mcuh I've spent in that area….

Kayaks…don't go there. And don't even think of reminding my wife!

Actually it's not expensive,but when I get it,I put the battery in the wrong direction.
So as a result this headlight cost me $30 for 2 seconds.

One could start a new thread on the most expensive per use, or per day. Based on that, gear that sucks, breaks easily or encountered bad luck would be much more expensive than durable gear. Then there could be most expensive per gram (or ounce), or even most expensive per gram (ounce) saved from your pack…

Like many others, my most expensive piece of BP gear is my Western Mountaineering sleeping bag.