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Can’t stop changing gear?


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  • #2080105
    HkNewman
    BPL Member

    @hknewman

    Locale: The West is (still) the Best

    Until a few years back, I had systems (based on the old Mountainsmith "Mountainlight" packs and MH Phantom bags) for 15F, 30F, and 45F – with an eye towards a 4th dedicated 0F system. Now I just have a 20F-ish sleep system that could go up for warmer nights, a couple packs, … I can probably wear out a few rotations of clothes before needing replacements. Have a possible eye towards a sub-zero system (say -10F) if I ever do any winter backpacking but that's pretty remote.

    #2080130
    robert van putten
    Member

    @bawana

    Locale: Planet Bob

    Guys, just find what works and roll with it!

    Back in the day, we didn't have the internet and stuff to make us drool over new stuff. Consumerism has taken off in this world and threatens to overwhelm us.

    Wilderness travel is not about the gear. The focus should be elsewhere.

    Man, back in the day we simply used whatever we could get our hands on!
    My gear has evolved so slowly that I can easily remember every step of the way.

    As a scout my Mom got me ( not all at once ) Official Boy Scout yellow poncho, flat circular aluminum canteen and aluminum mess kit. I even had a Cub Scout pocket knife.
    I had a canvas rucksack, and an 'el cheapo Sears sleeping bag.

    I rolled with that gear till my college days!
    Then with my own money I went out and got me a Sears Hillary aluminum frame backpack, a folding aluminum sterno stove, and a military surplus wool blanket.
    A friend also gave me an old military surplus wool sleeping bag.

    That kit served me well and I went on plenty of trips. Nothing longer than a week, but I hit parts of the AT and covered lots of ground upstate N.Y. and all over Long Island, including the then-new cross island trail.

    I figured my kit was fine! Maybe I didn't know any better. I never used a tent or a sleeping pad. I don't think I even knew sleeping pads existed.

    After college I joined the Air Force in the early 1980s and finally had coin to blow!

    I was stationed in England and found a "mountain shop" in Ipswich I think it was. First such shop I had ever seen.
    They were very friendly and knowledgeable and had all sorts of nifty gear. I visited often and eventually outfitted myself with then-state-of-the-art Karrimor internal frame ( ! ) backpack and gore-tex rain suit. I was gonna buy a down parka as well, but didn't because it was very expensive. As it was the gor tes suit cost me 150 pounds!
    At that time a close friend gave me an MSR Whisperlight stove.

    Man, I figured I was set! I still didn't use tents or sleeping pads, and simply wrapped up in a G.I. poncho at night.

    When I was in the service my friends and I would take two or more weeks of leave and go backpacking. At the start of a two week trip in the White Mountains a friend gave me a 3/8 thick ensolight sleeping pad. I was pissed! "Just one more durn thing to have to carry!"

    My friend very patiently explained it was for insulation, not comfort. Well, as long as it ain't for comfort I reckoned it might be OK. So I took it along and have pretty much used one for solo trips ever since. He also tried to turn me on to Colin Fletchers books, ( "He even uses a staff like you do Bob!" ) but I wasn't buying any of that, I didn't need nobody to tell me how to backpack!

    In 1987 I bought my first fleece jacket and stopped using a wool sweater. It seemed a little lighter and more compact.
    That was my last revision until 1992.

    In early '92 I'd gone on a canoe trip and one night I was completely engulfed in spiders as I slept! I kept waking up and pulling daddy long legs out of my ears!

    So i broke down and went to a "mountain shop" – First time in decades – To look fer a tent. I found a Eureka Timberline. I liked it because it looked like the A frame canvas tents we'd used as scouts, the only tents I was familiar with.
    Way to heavy for backpacking, so i stuck with my G.I. poncho fer that and used the tent canoeing.

    Then I got married. That change things a bit. Yet another trip a "mountain shop" landed us a backpack for her ( REI Morningstar )and a very nice "Thermanest" double sleep system.
    My wife liked a tent. I'd carry the Timberline and MSR stove and our food, she would carry the double sleep system.

    By 2010 when this photo was taken I was still rolling on with my mid-1980 Karrimor backpack, and the oaken staff is older than that!

    pack

    That's 25 years in that backpack. It was the only one I owned and I went on a lot of trips!

    Well, then I met you guys….

    In an effort to "lighten up" I went through an avalanche of gear in the last few years! My wife has been complaining. We used to just grab "The Usual Suspects" and go!
    She said she never new what to expect!

    We've settled back down now. I have a Golight Jam backpack, Dri Duck rain gear, Uniqlo down parka, Trangia stove and Tarp Tent Rainshadow tent. We made our own new double sleep system.

    I expect this gear to last the next twenty years with no significant change. Why bother? It isn't needed. My base weight is between ten and eleven pounds, the wife's is a tad heavier because after two summers carrying a Jam she abandoned it and went back to her trusty Morningstar. Our kit works well and nothing is lacking.
    besides, who can afford it?

    Sure I'll play around some on solo trips a bit, trying out a home made tarp or suchlike, but nothing major.

    #2080158
    James holden
    BPL Member

    @bearbreeder-2

    How much has BPL cost you im money amd time going through and swapping out new shiny gear?

    Gear swap always seems to be really popular

    ;)

    #2080169
    michael levi
    Member

    @m-l

    Locale: W-Never Eat Soggy (W)affles

    If we picture an auto race, they have a basic car. They continue to upgrade it until it is faster and corners better etc.

    They race… but it's not all about the driving experience, it's also about the car (our gear). Because without it we wouldn't be able to race (or hike).

    I take pleasure in my gear, just as a racer should love his car.

    #2080267
    John Vance
    BPL Member

    @servingko

    Locale: Intermountain West

    I have always been a fan of new gear but this site in particular started me on a gear quest/lust for the past 6 years. I have spent $9,487 on equipment during that time on 26 bags, 5 packs, 9 tents/shelters, 7 sleeping pads, 4 stoves, and shells, puffys (4), footwear, and other assorted clothing and small items.

    I have sold almost as much as I purchased, recovering just under $6,500 as I pared things down to one pad, almost one quilt (2), one pack, one shelter, one stove, one puffy….well you get the drift. As I have honed my kit down and then added a bit of weight back in, there aren't any other things that I really would like at this point. My base weight is down to 10lbs, give or take, for trips down into the teens or twenties and I am very comfortable.

    I like to stay current on what is available but at least this year there isn't anything that I can't do without. I haven't made the jump to low top footwear since it doesn't really reduce my weight more than a couple of oz's per foot, but may give that a try. If I don't like it I can always use them for kicking around. I should add that I do not use any of my backpacking clothes or equipment for anything else. Some jackets/shells originally purchased for backpacking I kept and are used for daily use as the weather requires.

    #2080303
    Window walker
    Spectator

    @2-2-2

    In my case it stems from being a new backpacker (fairly) and even newer light weight backpacker. All of the heavy gear I started with slowly gets replaced with lighter items, and the old items get sold. Being inexperienced, I am still finding my style, figuring out what works and what doesn't. Or even finding out what I like and what I don't. i tend to ask myself, "do I need/require this? Do I already have something that works?" This helps me from buying to much stuff. I have had the same Zlite pad for years, mainly used for car camping until backpacking came into my life. I also just bought my first windshirt after a lot of research. I am sure after gaining experience and defining my kit it will slow.

    #2080597
    Brett Peugh
    BPL Member

    @bpeugh

    Locale: Midwest

    I bought a Patagonia R2 Wednesday on sale for $66 in bright green and just got it in the mail today. I already have an XXL '09 R2 but this XL '12 R2. It is longer in the torso and arms but fits me more snug for my 6'5" self. That is why I change out gear. Now to sell the old one in the gear swap for $66.

    #2080607
    robert van putten
    Member

    @bawana

    Locale: Planet Bob

    I reckon this thread illustrates the difference between a hobby we enjoy versus what we actually need. If we didn't care so much about backpacking, if it was just a way to get to a remote-ish lake fer fly fishing perhaps, why I reckon a feller would just get a kit that worked well enough and let it go at that.

    But if it is a hobby, then all bets are off and the only limit is how much yer budget can tolerate as we play and experiment!

    Don't ask me how much coin I've wasted on my gun hobby, versus when I could do all the hunting I need to do with a second hand 30-30 and pawn shot .22 rim fire…

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