Old gear – New use

"I'd love to find a use for airmats."

Duct tape a few together for guest beds (or maybe dog beds)?

I've seen food ziplock bag food cozies made out of the old blue sleeping pads by glueing it into a small cylinder with a circular lid. Pretty cozy!

Ian, actually my GF is sleeping on an old coleman airmat in the living room right now.. Nice place from which to watch tv. I use old hiking clothing for 'daily use', and an old LED headlight on my bike. But I still have a lot of stuff (outdated/heavy) gear to reuse/recycle/sell on ebay.
Some other ideas I actually use;
My aluminum camp cookware is now used in the kitchen when I need to boil only a little water, not a lot.. being aluminum it heats much faster than my heavy 'real' kitchen wear.
Insulated REI camp cup for coffee almost daily.
Backpacks to haul stuff to work and back.
Down sleeping bags unzipped and used as quilts around the house.
And best of all, I used my merino hiking clothing almost every day this winter lounging around the house after work.

My cat should like a few airmats under him, just have to consider some claw protection .

More power to us for finding 'new' uses for old gear — be it on actual hikes or around the house. But for those of us who's got "more than a few" of everything such that they really are just sitting in our closets collecting dust — maybe think about donating them to Scouts (good pieces) or charity (not so good but still usable pieces).

I bet there's a homeless person out there who would be eternally grateful to have an old Thermarest between his back and the cold concrete sidewalk…

NO PWOBWEM!

My heavy Dana Designs Terraplane is now relegated to winter backpacking only, as is my MSR Dragonfly stove and TNF Tadpole tent. Gotta usem 'til they fall apart.

It's not "He who dies with the most toys wins."
It's "He who wears out the most toys wins."

My North Face MG 55 pack has been reduced of all possible extra straps, stays, extra clasps, etc and is now used solely for volunteering on trail maintenance. It's rugged and can handle the kind of abuse that works requires. It's big enough to bring along all the extras to meet whatever conditions you might encounter during a day in the field. The same goes for my old raingear, fleece, hiking pants, et al. They've all seen their better days so why not put them to the test right 'til the end – – something that trail maintence will do to even the strongest of gear.

I've donated a few tents to the boy scouts, and I use old clothes when I volunteer as a "victim" for the MOFA course (Mountaineering Oriented First Aid). I also keep an old, heavy sleeping bag and theramrest in my Forester, since I commute to and from the mountains every weekend year 'round. I also have a set of old raingear and clothes in the car for emergencies. What I don't know what to do with is the stuff that's good enough to sell. How do you exchange payment and item with a willing buyer through the mail? Wait for the check to come and clear, then mail the item? Is the buyer willing to do that?

Kathleen,

You've got the right idea- this old stuff has VALUE! You'd be amazed what people pay on eBay for what we consider "heavy crap". My whisperlite stove with pots- $40, old North Face bag $75, Sierra Designs tent $125, worn-out Gregory trad pack $50…I could go on and on! My brother once sold his worn out running shoes on eBay for $20! Basically, if you post it, especially backpacking stuff, it sells.

When using eBay, you exchange $ with PayPal- quick and easy. I've had close to 200 transactions and have only 1 bad experience. It takes a while to get it down but once you do, it is great.

With a baby at home, I don't have the cash for lots of new gear. With eBay, I stick with "lateral trades". :-)

Worth checking out!

When I was in Scouts and my dad was Scout master we would bring along older gear and leave it in the truck just in case someone forgot a sleeping bag or other important gear on our car camping trips.
A few months ago we sorted through all of our old gear (and gear we had accumulated from things the Scouts never claimed) and donated a fair bit of it to our old troop. It was mostly sleeping bags and mess kits but it may help some kid who isn't sure if he's interested in camping experience it without his parents having to buy him a brand new sleeping bag.

Adam

Thanks, Doug. I may give it a try. I'm a good little e-bay shopper, I've just never tried selling. Or even Craigslist is a possibility. Or BPL! Anyone interested in a Mountainsmith Chimera backpack?!!!! How on earth would I mail it?

Many places sell boxes of all sizes and shapes — and packing materials too. Your local PO likely stocks a few popular sizes as well.

However, IMO, the best packing boxes and materials often come free — from other Ebay sellers! Save the good ones when you get them. :)

Selling on Ebay really is quite easy and straightforward. Forum members around here are knowlegeable tight wads. And even if they aren't, who in his or her right mind would even think about fleecing fellow hikers!?! Fortunately, you can often get very good prices on Ebay. I once sold a lightly-used sleeping bag for a buck more than what I paid for when new! Have fun!

Paypal definitely helps protect both sides in the purchase. You can do just taking e-checks, or if willing to lose a small amount, you can take credit and debit cards via Paypal. Credit payments are immediate to your account. It is easy to do as well.
I sell old gear often online. Sometimes I do Craigslist, but overall it is a pain-in-the-rear answering dumb emails, and then having people not show up (I always meet in public,not at my house!). Even when I sell packs it is easier online. I just recycle boxes and cut to fit the stuff I am selling. I work the cost of Paypal's cut and the shipping into the price. Usually I ship USPS postal as it is cheaper than UPS more than not. The Flat Rate boxes are nice as well.

Another option, is if you belong to a hiking group, let others know you have gear to dump! Many times people might want it!