Total money spent on gear

Considering I recently spent around $430 on just a tent (including shipping to Aus) I think you're doing pretty well…!

I reckon a lot of folks would have dropped over a grand easily, many people more like two or three. But at some point you start selling gear before buying more.

It's way cheaper than many other hobbies. You can easily spend $1000 on a single lens if you're into photography.

I've probably racked up around $1200 of spending by now, but some of that is gear for my GF, and it includes clothing and shoes etc. Plus I hope that most of my gear (eg. two WM sleeping bags) is going to last a long time.

EDIT: Changed my figures to US dollars to avoid confusion.

Not counting past purchases……

Here is what I spent to lighten up for my recently completed JMT hike. Havn't added it up yet so I am little scared!! Shipping would add up a bit too.

ULA Ohm pack $150

MLD Duomid $195

SMD Serenity Nettent (used) $100

Short Neoair $90

Railriders Adv. Shirt (used) $23

Montbell Ex. Light Down Jacket $130

Bearikade Weekender $225

Spyderco Ladybug knife $30

MSR groundhog stakes $20

Caldera Keg H $60

Freezer Bag Cozy $15

Aquamira Frontier Pro $20

Simblissity Levagaiters $25

Looks like the grand total is $1083. Ouch!!! I'm sure there is a few doodads I forgot. Trip of a lifetime though!

Ryan

…

> I've probably racked up around $1200 of spending by now,
CHEAP!
Very cheap.
And don't think that because I make most of my own gear that my costs are less. By the time I have made 10 versions of a tent …
As for the cost of the machine tools and imported titanium for my experiments with stoves … don't ask!

But hey – we don't smoke and don't drink (apart from a glass of red with dinner), and we don't eat out, so we figure that we probably live more cheaply than many. And we don't live on debt.
So what is money for anyhow? Leaving in the Will?

Cheers

I divide the total cost of gear, food, etc., by the number of days on the trail. On a cost per day basis it is typically much cheaper than other vacations the family takes.

I get depressed when I think about it…

And nothing beats getting a new toy to play around with. well, except using it of course.

I do not want to think about it. I have spent more than $1200 on stoves alone.

Tony

Just re-counted what I actually have and it is actually over the $1600 mark. Ouch. I do have a few things I'm lining up to sell in the next few months though.

Once you start selling gear before buying new stuff it becomes a slightly less expensive proposition. But then you need to make sure you don't buy anything that no one else is interested in!

Just on what I carry skin out on a typical backpacking trip for gear I am looking at just under 1000. But I have gotten some freebies from one of my friends.

I am proud of that because my base weight is typically sub 7 lbs.

BTW – This is far less then I have spent on some other hobbies of mine.

Interesting question. I'm carrying about $600 with a baseweight of 5.5 pounds for three seasons, but add the winter gear to the total and I'm probably pushing $1,200 ($400 of which is in a Nunatak Specialist SB).

And that doesn't begin to count $$$$ spent on the garage-bound gear that I've used and retired over the years — and that nobody would conceivably want these days. Anybody want to buy a four-person canvas tent? How about an eight-pound winter down sleeping bag? How about a two burner Coleman stove? What was I thinking?

Stargazer

Well if you want to see what it looks like to start from scratch…this is what I have bought in the last 2 months that lists what I paid including shipping. It covers all of the big things but I do have a few little things here and there to pick up.

My October list for the Ouachitas:

October:
Zpacks Zilch 3.2 oz 60
SMD GateWood Cape 11 oz 95
SMD NetTent 7.4oz 80
BA Lost Dog 22 oz 100
Thermarest NeoAir Small 9 oz 90
6x Red Tent Stakes .34ea 2.04oz
— 54.64oz 3.2875lb
550 SUL Pot/SideB+Fuel 4.94 oz 80
Sea to Summit Spoon .295
First Need Deluxe 16 oz 140
Platypus 2L 1.3oz
Platypus 1L .9 oz 20
— 23.435 oz 1.4647 lb
REI Peak UL Carbon 13 oz 140
Petzl Headlamp 2.4 oz 35
— 15.4 oz .9625 lb
Misc – 3.655 30
FA – 2.735
— 6.39 oz .3993 lb
================================
99.825 oz 6.2391 lb $870

If you throw in pants, shoes, and shirt, I scream past a grand. Throw in winter months and a grand is achieved about three times as fast.

Its important to keep your costs in perspective. This gear will last many miles and many years. My patience for not buying new gear will not ;p

I also blow glass for a hobby. Its way more expensive than backpacking will ever be. I spent 4000 just to get started and spend atleast 200 or more a month just to continue to play.

Edit: I should also note that the glass hobby supports the backpacking hobby. No sell glass no buy gear.

Interesting thread. What I would like put in context is what the longer term durability is of a lot of the UL and SUL gear and include that in a 3 year cumulative amount. We all talk about how reasonably priced UL gear can be but if you are replacing it every year because of said products being worn out then it becomes a more expensive endeavor.

i.e. the Z-pack is cool but I would shred that on my first outing.

I just got into UL and haven't even been yet. Just lots of long day hikes and 14er's. Anyways I just totaled it up and I'm just shy of $2000. This covers summer and 3 season gear though. (sub 10 for 3 season. woot)

If you think about it, its really not that bad if you take a week vacation and end up spending $100 a night(and can easily be way more). It makes the cost of a good shelter/bag/quilt… pretty reasonable and that is only one week of vacation. Take 3 vacations and compare that.

Everyone will have there own view of there or others hobbies or passions. Some spend way more than other but as long as you love what you are doing who cares on how much it costs.

Oh gosh. I haven't counted, but well north of a three grand within the last six months. But I'm new to UL (but not new to backpacking), and when I do something I usually just jump right in.

I've bought much more than I need, because I want to see how different things work for me. I'll settle on a basic package and sell off what doesn't work for me. And I'm not a true UL'er, I like my space. I also prefer the smaller players to the bigger players, and I'm willing to pay a bit more for that homegrown aspect. But I still get what I want to try, so some bigger outfits do play in the picture.

So, within the last year (but majority in the last six months, in fact I'm still waiting on some of it) I've bought:

From Tarptent: Rainshadow 2, Cloudburst 2, Contrail (have already since sold the Rainshadow and Contrail, but looking seriously at the Moment)

From ULA: Ohm (and helix potty trowel, which I actually use as a potty trowel!). If the Ohm turns out to be too small for winter backpacking (I actually don't think it will) then either a Catalyst or Circuit.

From Nunatak: 2 Arc ATs (one with slight overfill), 1 BCB, 1 Raku, 1 Skaha vest with hood, 1 Skaha 'sweater' with hood.

From MLD: Revelation pack, patrol shelter (cuben), bug bivy, grace solo tarp (cuben), Caldera Cone with Ti pot (also bought the Tri-Ti from Trail Designs), mitts and gaiters.

From Gossamer Gear: Lighttrek 4 poles (looking seriously at the Squall Classic)

Warbonnet Blackbird hammock with their underquilt (going to try it out for the first time this weekend in PA)

From Hilleberg: Akto, Nallo 2GT

From BPL: Merino wool hoody, Beartooth hoody, merino longjohns, other small bits and pieces

From Tim Marshall: Cuben quilt with zippered footbox

From BPL members: MLD Soul side zip bivy with eVent top, SMD Gatewood Cape, Whisperlite stove, possum down gloves and probably a bit more.

Also picked up a Patagonia R1 Hoody and an Ascensionist jacket, a Marmot Mica, a Montbell Peak jacket and Rab Bergen pants. And a bunch of smaller brick a brack (snow peak stoves and such).

As soon as I hear back from OES (hasn't he started school yet! :-) I'll pick up either a MacCat Deluxe hex tarp or an MLD hex tarp (cuben).

I'm sure I'm forgetting things, but I'm at work and can't go take a look in my gear room (yeah, a room, I couldn't fit all this in a closet!) I don't even want to price all that out. But some of y'all will benefit when I decide what works for me and sell the contenders!

Doug

Thanks Doug! Next time my GF comments on my gear spending I will show her your post. ;-)

Hey Doug,

If you decide to sell that Grace Solo in Cuben, let me be the first to know! I'm a gear vulture :-)

Doug, on behalf of the global economy, thanks for your efforts!

Oh yeah, he's got it bad. He's actually got more lightweight *#it than me.

"Doug, on behalf of the global economy, thanks for your efforts!"

Always glad to do my part! :-)

And I shouldn't forget Sarah Kirkconnell! I just bought her book and some cozies from her so I can start bringing my own home-prepared meals instead of the Mary Jane meals I typically take! Thanks Sarah!

"If you decide to sell that Grace Solo in Cuben, let me be the first to know! I'm a gear vulture :-)"

Will do Andrew! That's actually one of the things I'm waiting on! Hope to have it in a couple of weeks. I ordered it before seeing the Patrol Shelter, really liked the patrol shelter design, so I ordered it as well (probably wouldn't have ordered the grace solo had I seen the patrol shelter first!).

Good thing I have a huge backyard so I can set all this stuff up at once if I want. And if I can keep the pups from using any of it as a bathroom….

I've spent a lot, probably around two grand. Some of that includes stuff that my wife and I use (a shared sleeping bag with lots of down costs big bucks). Of course, it probably isn't "a lot" when compared to most things most middle class people spend money on. The most popular car in America: The Toyota Camry. Not the Corolla, or a Scion (both of which are significantly cheaper). Most people are willing to spend a lot of money just to get a more comfortable car (the Camry doesn't get better mileage and isn't more reliable than the Corolla).

Speaking of cars, I probably have spent more money on gas, plus wear and tear on my car than I have on hiking gear. I day hike a lot, so most of the miles on my car are for hiking (I commute by bus). Just to throw out some numbers here: 50 trips a year times 200 miles per trip equals 10,000 miles a year. I probably average less than 200 miles a trip, and much of that is shared, so how about 6,000 miles a year. My car gets about 30 miles to the gallon, so that is 200 gallons. Multiply that by $2.50 (gas was cheaper a while ago) and I spent about $500 a year on gas. Yes, I spent more on gas (let alone wear and tear on my vehicle) than I did on new gear.

Now, one of the ways I can cut down on trips is to combine them. The obvious way to do that: Backpack. Every day spent backpacking is really cheap compared to just about every other vacation activity (even day hiking). According to AAA, the average American spends $260 for food and lodging: http://www.aaanewsroom.net/Main/Default.asp?CategoryID=8&ArticleID=440. In other words, ten days of backpacking with even very expensive gear is cheaper than ten days of an average vacation (and you get to keep the gear when you are done).

Now, of course, you could argue that we spend too much money on ultralight gear, when regular backpacking equipment would suffice. Yeah, maybe, to a certain extent (I've been guilty of buying little things just because I think they are cool). However, a more comfortable backpacking experience means I will be more likely to do it again. It means my back will feel good after the trip (which is worth tons of money to me). Plus, I really like buying from cottage companies.

Many people are surprised when I tell them how much I spend on backpacking, but only because it is unusual. I don't own a cell phone, but I'm not shocked that people do. I don't know what the typical cost of a cell phone is, but I imagine that a few years of coverage would cover most of my gear (and I get to keep my gear). The same is true for so much of what people buy. People have a mental picture of what something should cost and when it exceeds that, they think it is expensive. What if an average refrigerator cost $5000? Would you still own one? My answer is, of course. Would you think it was too expensive? Probably not, it's just what they cost.

Sorry for rambling, I just find this subject interesting. Oh, and by the way, now is not the time to hesitate when thinking about that new purchase: Buy! Buy! Buy! (so we can get out of this nasty recession).

More than I want to know-and certainly much more than I want my wife to know!!
To make it worse, I an gearing up to replace most items with cuben material Items.
This quest for the lightest pack will never end.

Mike

Edit:
OK Art made me think about it and just in the past year it has been over 3200.00 I have a tendency to buy, try and store. I have 18 tents, 5 backpacks, 8 down bags, 3 synthic bags, 2 quilts, 8 bivies, 6 tarps, 14+ stoves, 12 down jackets (from light cold to DAM* cold), 5 snythic jackets, 7 hard shells (top and bottom), 2 eVEVT total body suits,4+ wind shirts. this is just what I can see in my mind at this moment–way to much stuff (Their will be a closet cleaning some time this winter)