We’ve started a new annual tradition at DC UL Backpacking (www.meetup.com/DC-UL-Backpacking/) by hosting a Gear Swap and Showcase in early spring. Our second showcase weekend was held on April 4 to 6 in the Elizabeth Furnace Group Campground near Signal Knob, and about 40 or so people attended the event.
This year, we tried to fit it in the frame of a way to outreach to new members. Our group has had significant growth over the past year – nearly doubling in size – and we have quite a few members who are completely new to backpacking. Our philosophy is to backpack the Mid-Atlantic area with an eye on going faster, farther, and lighter, and with growing the DC UL community. We wanted the Gear Swap and Showcase weekend to be a way to acquaint members to the wide range of ultralight backpacking gear.
To that end, we recruited current members to bring gear to set up. We had a mini-MLD town with the Trailstar in sinlyon, the Patrol tarp in Cuben, the SuperMid, and the Monk Tarp. We had various TarpTents for people to check out: the Notch, Moment, Rainbow, Stratospire, and Contrail. In the various shelters, people set up their sleeping bags and pads. Western Mountaineering was well-respresented, and we had NeoAirs and Expeds for people to compare. Hammocks were set up for those who wanted to hang. We had packs from ULA and MLD. In addition, some of our group sponsors sent along demo equipment – I and another member are Trail Ambassadors for Gossamer Gear, and were able to share a range of demo packs in varying sizes for people to try out. Packit Gourmet sent along a sampler box as the prize for our chili cook-off.
All in all, it was an impressive line-up of gear that you don’t normally see in a store. We even had a member show off his MYOG in Tyvek – a windshirt, rain mitts, and a rain skirt. (Modeled here by another member!)
We also solicited donations of used gear for the City Kids Wilderness Project.
Attendees were evenly split in terms of experience – with about 40 percent being completely new to lightweight backpacking, 30 percent making the transition over the past year, and the remainder having been going UL for several years. For those who’ve gone UL, it was a great opportunity to talk over the various gear with the new backpackers and why we made the decisions we did.
It’s a nice tradition for the club, and we’re already batting around ideas to improve upon it even more for the coming years. We can line up more stoves and cook systems for people to compare; delve more into layering systems to help people navigate cold weather backpacking; and contemplate other types of gear that we can showcase.
We’re also finding that it makes more sense to start calling this a showcase rather than a swap. While some items were bought and sold, we’re seeing the value in having gear on display for people to investigate and compare. It certainly sparked a lot of conversation: a number of people were talking about what packs or shelters appealed to them, and what they would get.
More information about our group can be found on our Meetup page: http://www.meetup.com/DC-UL-Backpacking/
