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When it comes to gear


  • Total voters
    59
  • Poll closed .
R r r

Can't see a need to replace something unless it doesn't work anymore. Then I might be able to fix it, find a new use for it or make parts of it. Anything else seems wasteful.
 
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I buy gear now and again in order to fill empty niches and crevices in my gear armamentarium. Ie. I have various types of pants, jackets etc. depending on the type of hike I'm undertaking.

I find that gear doesn't last very long these days anyway compared to the good old days when I did outdoorsy stuff wearing wool knickers and a 60-40 jacket.

In general though, unless it's really bad, I'll adapt to and get comfortable with my gear rather than go out and get something else.
 
I find I buy a lot of outerwear but it's all slightly different. Hoods, Ventilation, Hard Shell, Soft Shell, etc. I like to have as many options as possible. I have finally hit a saturation point and frequently resist all sorts of stuff on steepandcheap.

That being said, I'm a sucker for packs, I'll snag a good deal on one of those 10 times out of 10.

Base layers and wicking shirts and shorts, I've got a solid rotation that I don't see going anywhere soon.
 
You need to add another choice for:

"I wait for everyone else to upgrade and then pick up the discards really cheap, or free"


^^^This iz korrekt!!

eBay, craigslist, STP, SAC and the online hiking/climbing forum For Sale sections are my favorite places to shop.

And, of course, the weekly 20% off sale at EMS... :rolleyes:



My personal mantra is "If it's for free, it's for me!"
 
Socks, I don't need no stinkin' socks

Socks, heck: I have underwear that's older ... uh ... maybe I shouldn't go there.

Seriously, tho', my EMS expedition weight long johns date from 1990 or there abouts.
 
Climbing and insulation

I routinely replace my climbing ropes for safety's sake and always after a fall. The old ones become tree swings, utility ropes in the garage and I even built a rope bridge over a gully in the woods with the girl scouts. Didn't take a picture of it, however, and when I went back in the spring someone had vandalized it.
 
"Stick with the old" is one of my favorite sayings. If I have a piece of gear that has always done right by me then I see no reason to discard it until it's life has run out.

You can always find bigger, brighter, better and lighter. But I prefer to stick with what I know can do the job for me.
 
This thread, and the “sustainable” gear manufacturers threads reminds me of old wisdom:

Use it up.
Wear it out.
Make it do,
Or do Without.


My survey choice was about having socks older than you. But that probably is something of an exaggeration. About the socks, anyway.

Some of my Nalgene HDPE water bottles are pushing 40 years in service, and remain quite usable and useful. They probably will outlast me (at least their remains will).

By the way, I haven’t always followed that old advice, above. Not by a long shot. I set my old, 1950s Adirondack pack basket aside in favor of homemade “Trapper Nelson" type wooden pack frames during the mid 1960s, and finally went all the way and bought a Kelty frame pack in the early 1970s. Got out of the overnight or multi-day hiking game in the late 1980s, but continued using my old early 1970s Alpine Designs Euro-style rucksack and teardrop “summit” pack well beyond the 1990s. Then I switched to packs with better suspension systems.

Generally speaking, I’ll use something until a clearly very superior option comes along, or my needs change significantly.

G.
 
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Not by a long shot. I set my old, 1950s Adirondack pack basket aside in favor of homemade “Trapper Nelson" type wooden pack frames during the mid 1960s, and finally went all the way and bought a Kelty frame pack in the early 1970s.

Guess I'm going in the opposite direction. I can wait to try out the pack basket that my father made me for Christmas. Retro is cool!!!!

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I have gear including clothing thats been in the backcountry longer then 50 percent of the people on this board, maybe more. Im not rich, but I buy the best and it last. My packs become part of the family and when I have to replace a pack Ive worn for 10 or more years, its nothing short of traumatic.
 
To para-phrase George Best, "I spent all my money on gear and travel, the rest I just wasted."

Or as my wife would say, "You make it sound like having a different backpack for each weekend is a bad thing."

But seriously I'm probably all over the place, this past winter I replaced snow shoes that I'd owned for 12 years, but I've also bought a new tent because it was a size I needed for the family group that was going camping that year.
 
I update frequently if I get a deal. Problem is, I don't get rid of anything, so I have stuff from 2010, and stuff from the 80's. Pretty sad.
 
When I'm starting in on a new activity, I like to get good gear, though usually not top of the line.

Other than that, with gear and most things that require me to pry open my wallet, I tend to observe the following:

"Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!"
 
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