What did you not buy today?

[Paul Wagner]

This is a companion thread to all the threads on gear on these boards. It is increasingly clear that consumerism is a driving force in the issue of global climate change. With that in mind, I am not suggesting that we avoid ever buying anything again, or even avoid buying anything that comes in plastic packaging, but I am suggesting that we should also have a thread here to celebrate NOT buying new gear.

The full article, including examples of scavenged, salvaged, and very long-lived gear is here:

https://www.backpackthesierra.com/post/what-did-you-not-buy-today

So what you have re-purposed for your backpacking gear? What solutions have you found for gear that is low-impact/no impact on our environment. What gear do you have that has served its purposed well for more than ten years…and doesn’t need to be replaced, perhaps ever? What practices have you adopted that are a significant step in the right direction?

Yes, this thread may offend some advertisers who want us to buy their gear. But I would hope that most of them would also see the long-term benefits of the discussion.

[YoPrawn]

My synthetic insulated items, once they become packed out or just too crusty for use, I cut out the insulation, clean it up, and then use it as stuffing to make new pillows for bed and couch use. It can last decades in a pillow case if you don’t care about weight to warmth ratios. :)

 

[Chris R]

I cut out zippers from old rain jackets to make pouches. I’ll use the jacket fabric for the pouches and for stuff sacks where I can if only a portion is suspected of leaking. I also have a large box of used guyline cord, buckles and cordlocs that I strip off deceased gear for later use.

[David Hartley]

I’ve been backpacking for about 18 years (I didn’t start until I was in my early 40s). The first 5-10 years I suffered from excess gear purchasing as I pursued saving weight and figuring out what works for me. Too heavy packs (or packs that just didn’t fit me well), too light or less than functional shelters, and spending too little on the wrong sleeping bags (the worst place to save $ in my opinion). I think this pattern is true for a lot of people. I completely understand and don’t begrudge people buying gear as they gain experience – very difficult to make perfect initial purchase decisions. However, I am always amazed when I see “I purchased “gear item XYZ” for a trip that was cancelled and now it is for sale on Gear Swap.

The key is – once you get things dialed in – to resist the desire to constantly upgrade, chasing what my wife calls the “Zen solution” – the ever elusive perfect balance of functionality, weight, and cost. As a recently retired engineer it is a tendency I have to constantly fight – the perfectly balanced solution has a certain appeal to me – even if I know it doesn’t really exist.

Some items I have used for many years include:

• My hiking uniform – >10 year old REI Sahara pants, under armor boxer- briefs, a smart wool wool/polyester blend t-shirt, and a TNF nylon button down long sleeve shirt – however, all are getting thread-bare, have multiple repairs, and are on their last legs. I am not looking forward to replacing them.
• EMS silk weight “bergeline” long underwear for sleeping (also with several repairs)
• A Primus Micron TI canister stove
• MSR Titan kettle
• Several Granite Gear “Air Sack” stuff sacks
• I have been using the same type of trail runners for more than 10 years (La Sportiva ultra raptors), if not the same actual pair (I always keep a new pair “on-deck” in case they stop making them)
• Until last year I used a 10 year old Six Moon Designs Wild Oasis – this was recently upgraded with a Deschutes purchased off of gear swap

In recent years, with the exception of a problematic rain-coat purchasing habit, my kit has been relatively stable with the same pack (Gossamer Gear Gorilla), shelter (SMD Wild Oasis), sleeping bags (several), and sleeping pad (thermarest neo-air all-season), and most of my major gear purchases have come from Gear Swap, or in a few cases ebay. There has been more churn on the smaller items though.

I used to have an astronomy hobby which was much worse for upgrade fever (and more expensive).

[John B]

I’m guilty of a buying spree a year ago to get from a base weight of about 17 lbs to 13lbs, but the following made the cut:

1. Olympus TG-2 camera (10 years now)

2. Soto OD2 stove (7yrs)

3. NeoAir XLite (5yrs)

hoping most purchases are now “behind me”

[Chris K]

I tend to buy things in spurts, then go years without buying much. At least that is what I tell myself.

The sleeping bag I bought in 2006 has served as my only bag until last summer, when I had the chance to try a quilt. Now I realize how small and narrow that bag is, and how it was affecting my sleep for the worse. Maybe I’m just old and sensitive. Alas, it will be replaced this year. Not a bad run though.

I’m sure many people here have similar stories. Gear can last a long time if you don’t pay attention to what else is available.

[HkNewman]

Some of my gear has been going strong for several years.   Other stuff may need replacing as I’ve slacked on stretching (side entry shelters now), etc.. Even footwear, I’m going more with summer sandals that can be resoled (other seasons require trail runners but not as many miles).  I’ve gone to Darn Tough trad hiking socks for trail runners, so I don’t anticipate wearing those out.  May try my hand at patching hiking clothes, but thinner items are probably toast after x trips.

[Bonzo]

Got a couple of pieces of clothing back from the repair shop today; one was a minor issue, but the other had a nasty tear.  It’ll be good to keep them in service.  However…

summer sandals that can be resoled

Sandals that fit me comfortably and that have a half-life beyond a year or two are something I need to acquire.  What brand are you using?

[HkNewman]

What brand are you using?

Been looking at Bedrock.  I’ve used Chacos (not UL but can be repaired) and lighter Tevas on summer trail before.

Backpacking, I’d keep the Bedrocks as the only shoes as “loose”, …  they’re easy to lose from a pocket.

[Bonzo]

I was scared that you were going to say Bedrock; nice sandals but they don’t fit me well.  I’ve been wanting something with the same strap arrangement as a Teva, but with better life expectancy.  I’m tired of them wearing out so quickly.

[HkNewman]

Teva style I’ve been looking at a new make to order company “Deliberate Life”. He currently has a similar strap arrangement but he isn’t doing resoles.  Wonder if I could take them to a cobbler on the US-MX border who works with vibram soles?

Bedrock has their resoles at $55 currently and a new line of socks with a well known sock company.   I like them on extended summer hikes as not to stream-cook my feet and for use as shower shoes in hike-bike campgrounds too.  The resole would be nice though (deliberate life .. hint hint).

[Bonzo]

Cool little shop they have, but a pretty similar design to Bedrock; the between-the-toe thong makes it a no-go.  Maybe I’ll look into upgrayedding my Tevas at home; might get some more life out of them!

[HkNewman]

[updating] Tevas at home..

Just did a quick internet search and some shoe repair types offer the service.  There’s also DIY attempts to look into.  Not sure I’d trust the latter resole on a rocky hike but beer on the beach duty … perhaps.

[Mark Verber]

like several others I did a lot of purchasing as I was figuring what worked for me.  I didn’t feel too bad because whatever I didn’t settle on was resold or given to friends so not wasted. I realized that I spent too much of an effort to find the perfect solution.  Around 2011  I focused on simplifying. After I simplified I found I needed to work to maintain that perspective. Either I needed to actively practice gratitude and/or avoid exposure to “better” options<i>. </i>Since 2012 my core gear hasn’t changed except:

• Neo uberlite pad. My pad went to my daughter to use on family backpacking trips. I borrow “her” warmer pad when going on winter trips since she never backpacks in the cold :).
• nitecore nu25 headlamp & inreach mini: I admit it, at the beginning of covid I engaged is some retail therapy… which really didn’t help me feel better for more than a few minutes :(
• durston x-mid pro2: unnecessary but have wanted to consolidate down to a single shelter that would work for my solo trip and trips with my wife and give me more peace of mind during storms. Will replace a bivy & zpacks hexamid purchased in 2010 and the family copper spur.

Clothing does turn over, typically when things wear out from use. My single biggest frustration are shoes.  I get around 400 miles from trail runners (Inov-8 or Altra).  I have tried shoes that are longer lasting, but each time I have tried something that is longer lasting I ended up with foot problems which takes me out of action for months.

When possible I patch / mend clothing and gear.  That has included replacing broken poles for our tent, patching holes in clothing, darning socks, replacing mesh on backpacks, repairing mesh in tents (well… I should get to this soon :), etc. My wife often takes clothing I have worn out and turns them into new garments for her. For example material from my merino tee-shirt and the waist band from some briefs which had holes in high wear locations were cut out and re-combined into a skirt. Some of my backpacking clothing that got too stained for use in “daily life” are now used in the back country.

–mark

[W I S N E R !]

IMO the crux of uncoupling from the consumerism train is tied largely to disconnecting from media. Most is driven by selling something and even when not explicitly selling something, the selling creeps in. Even this thread is becoming strangely gear-centric. When I used to post trip reports I was always a little disheartened by the fact that gear talk always drew more interest than poetry, photography, philosophy, etc. The running joke among some of my friends familiar with this site was that someone like Buck Nelson could post a trip report about traversing an entire desert and get 3 responses while the “What underwear should I use on the JMT?” thread gets 42 pages of discussion. What is it about us (me) that does this?

But to put it plainly, the less I immerse myself in outdoor media, the less I want stuff. My gear only ever begins to look deficient, outdated, or in need of replacement when I start looking closely at what other people are carrying. I truly appreciate people that write trip reports that are not gear-focused so as to keep out the creep.

Seems to me that if we can’t get past using the acquisition of goods as some sort of benchmark for success and personal satisfaction, we’re doomed. The desire for “stuff” is clearly a deep part of who we are, but I wonder a lot about what might replace this while still satisfying the need for status, for acquisition, etc. Jiu Jitsu has been a culture that has certainly shown me what it is to celebrate the value of the symbolic over the material, of skill and accomplishment over stuff. Seeing people brought to tears during belt promotions is quite moving because it has nothing to do with the actual belt.

What might this look like in backpacking?

First and foremost, I would suggest we all try to make a conscious effort to reward skill, accomplishment, a trip done in a beautiful style, etc. first and foremost. Celebrate the deed, the art, the story, the poetry, the discussion…not the means to the end. The stuff should be the footnote, not the headline.

Of course there’s also the inconvenient truth that many people get caught up in the world of stuff because they are not actually living in the world of deeds. Somehow I seem to be most interested in gear when I’m not actually backpacking regularly and instead spending too much time thinking as opposed to doing.

 

 

[Ratatosk]

@HkNewman – huge fan of bedrocks here, but I know a lot of people don’t like the tween-toe strap.

I joined this site in part to recycle gear I don’t use instead of buying new; I’d much rather trade used stuff anyway. My grail quest is to find a gear setup that works equally well canoeing solo or backpacking. It’ll never happen, but Covid has given us all too much time to memorize our credit card numbers.

Being poor helps a lot, but finding the right gear does take time and money. I’ve steered clear of DCF so far with the exception of a food bag; I just can’t spend two or three hundred bucks to save three ounces when a silnylon tarp will work fine. Same backpack for the past 6 or 7 years, same base layers and down jacket. I’ve had the same tent for 6 years now, it’s had the pole system entirely replaced piece by piece and got some small punctures and patches but still going strong.

@Wisner! right on man

 

[Sam Farrington]

“Even this thread is becoming strangely gear-centric.”

I think that has been the general idea and acknowledged intention from the beginning.

As for me, nothing today; but ordered some fabrics from a couple German companies a couple weeks ago.  They should arrive in mid to late February.  That’s it.  Everything else I either have or am in the process of making.

As for the big political issues, like climate change, I’ve voiced my opinion on BPL once, some time ago, and think even that was a mistake.  We need some time to exchange ideas about other issues, especially in times of great stress.

[Paul Wagner]

W I S N E R !  Amen.  I’ve posted a ton of trip reports here.  None of them have been met with the amount of discussion on this thread.  sigh.

[BlackHatGuy]

“The running joke among some of my friends familiar with this site was that someone like Buck Nelson could post a trip report about traversing an entire desert and get 3 responses while the “What underwear should I use on the JMT?” thread gets 42 pages of discussion. What is it about us (me) that does this?”

“I’ve posted a ton of trip reports here.  None of them have been met with the amount of discussion on this thread.”

I’ve often lamented the same thing. But the more I think about it, the more it makes sense (for this site) that trip reports would get less response than more gear-centric topics. After all, this is, at its core, a gear-centric site. Lots of engineer types and such, who seem more apt to be anal on gear-centric topics than any philosophical underpinnings of backpacking.

Additionally, the gear-centric topics engender discussion (everybody has an opinion and many like to share it, even if it repeats already posted opinions, it seems that at least some, and possibly many, threads that get lots of responses are loaded with responses that mimic others). Trip reports aren’t really asking any questions, so other than a ‘great trip!’ type of reply there isn’t much more to say, unless, of course, people start asking gear-centric questions about the trip or are looking for some specific information in case they decide to do such a trip themselves.

But there has always been a small core of folks here who were more interested in anything other than gear-centric stuff (myself included), so we inhabited chaff and had a jolly old time discussing philosophy, art, politics, music, etc. Anything other than gear. Since I have a very, very small social circle, and none of my good friends live anywhere near me, chaff was a fun (usually) way to interact with people on a variety of topics. I certainly miss it (though, unfortunately, I was one of the loudmouths calling for its demise. It’s complicated). We’d get lengthy threads there (including the longest thread ever on BPL), and at times there were more posts in chaff than there were in the main forums. We’d laugh about that as well.

Okay, enough of my prattling on. To the OPs original question, I haven’t really re-purposed anything for backpacking that I can think of. But like others have stated, I do find homes for gear I no longer want or need. I’ve given lots of gear away, and sold other gear for pretty low prices, so at least it didn’t end up in a landfill.

 

[Matthew / BPL]

Counterpoint: I don’t worry too much about buying UL gear because if it doesn’t work for me I can easily sell it for most of its value and it will get used by someone else. UL Gear does not end up in the landfill like many consumer products…

[Bonzo]

Solid points, all around.  I’ll try and make more of an effort to contribute to non-gear threads/sections.

[Monte Masterson]

The calls against consumerism are fine, but you have to look at ALL of your daily habits when it comes to the environment. For example, take the staggering amounts of plastic packaging generated from restaurant carry outs alone, not to mention all the sick amounts of plastic thrown away every day from other sources. Do you drive a fuel efficient vehicle? Is it electric? Do you live in a house or apartment that is much larger than what you actually need?

It’s estimated that Americans throw out about 35% of the food they buy each week, which by the way hugely increases the carbon footprint. How about the amount of cardboard/paper/glass/etc being tossed into your garbage and headed off to landfills? Gluttonous Americans are so wasteful and self -indulgent that it’s hard to even know where to start when it comes to our sins against the environment.

So yes, it’s a good idea to rein in on unnecessary backpacking gear purchases and not get caught up into the materialistic consumerism, but I think you also have to look at it in terms of the overall scale regarding how much refuse and carbon you generate each day. In the bigger picture frequent UL gear purchases are probably miniscule by comparison really.

It’s kind of like the Hollywood elites preaching to us about global warming and then getting on their private jets to fly across the globe, or heading home to their $11 million mansions with 14 bedrooms and 20 baths.

[BlackHatGuy]

All fair points Monte and I agree. But I think it’s putting the onus in the wrong place. (I know I’ve chatted with Craig about this, not sure if I’ve put it in a post here, so apologies if I’m repeating myself).

It’s large corporations and such who do the lion’s share of environmental damage, IMO. Much of that packaging you talk about is simply unnecessary, but I don’t have a choice in getting it, it’s packaged that way. I read an article once about some large corporation (Exxon I think, but it may have been some other) who developed and implemented a PR plan to shift the focus from large corporations to individual consumers. It’s been wildly effective.

I also seem to remember that when I was stationed in Germany in the late 80s/early 90s, when you went to a large store and bought something, you could remove the packaging right there and put it in a bin, and the companies were responsible for all that packaging. A lot less packaging due to that iirc.

One issue with going down the ‘look at all the ways you contribute to environmental issues’ road is that people get overwhelmed with everything they’re supposed to do and so stop caring. Also iirc, I read an article recently that said a poll showed that something like 70 percent of people felt they did enough to curb their environmental footprint and weren’t interested in doing more.

Overall, the more we talk about our individual environmental impact, the less we seem to pay attention to the real environmental villains.

[Paul Wagner]

Monte an rubmybelly–thanks for those posts.  I absolutely agree with both of them.

As to packaging for food, we try to buy more at farmer’s markets and local produce stands.  They are not necessarily cheaper than a supermarket, but at least I’m not paying for plastic wrapped everything.

And yes, we have all learned the lesson that the cigarette companies lied to us about the impacts of smoking.  I wonder how long it will take for most Americans to understand that oil companies have done the same thing about both plastics and fuel…

[BlackHatGuy]

“They are not necessarily cheaper than a supermarket, but at least I’m not paying for plastic wrapped everything.”

+1. I also often use a local butcher instead of supermarkets for meat. It’s definitely more expensive, but I know where the meat came from and how it was raised. CSAs are also a great way to support small farmers while getting great local veggies if you live in an area that has them.

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