[at-l] buying gear - RESIST Outfitter SALES - Borrow or Rent It First - "Walmart" Gear List

[GARY HEBERT]

Want some Great unsolicited advice on buying gear?

Borrow or Rent gear first - RESIST the temptation to run out and BUY almost
anything without trialing similar stuff on the cheap. [Outfitters mean well
but they can only sell you whatever they have in the store. And they will]

Use whatever clothing you have that's not cotton, borrow or rent everything
else. Then trial it to see what you do and don't like about it. Read forums.
Ask everybody. But ask how they use it to best understand if that makes any
sense for you. (Every hiker has different personal biases & ideas of what
they like based on how they like to hike/camp)

IMHO one of the mistakes newcomers & others make is running out to buy
things thinking "well, it's not the best stuff out there, but it'll get me
started."  RESIST Outfitter SALES! You may think you're buying good stuff
but a little knowledge is dangerous (figuratively speaking).  Once you've
spent your hard earned cash you may soon learn it wasn't such a great choice
or that you just didn't need it and now you're stuck with it cuz it's still
pretty new and you can't justify giving it away or just not using it
anymore. (We all have such "spare gear" to loan. It actually helps us feel
like we finally got some use of it.  You may be surprised how easy it is to
get friends to donate gear to your cause!)

As you read more and more on lots of forums and get out to hike overnites
you'll see how specific gear performs on the trail & in camp under real
conditions. And you can ask lots of people what they like and don't like
about their specific gear. Sure they're a little biased, but generally
pretty candid if you ask nicely. I find if I'm suspicious about a feature
that may not impress me, and I ask naively they'll gladly explain how it
works for them or how they get around that feature. Once you understand you
add that to your knowledge base of whether that would work for you
personally. Or it may give you ideas to help solve similar gear "problems".

Learning the pros and cons of any piece of gear helps you anticipate if
you'd like using it. Ideally you can borrow or rent some stuff to trial.
 Renting is NOT throwing money away. It's an investment in educating
yourself in your personal preferences of different techniques, styles, and
gear.

In the mean time use cheap alternatives (like empty soda & water bottles -
which btw are actually some of the best lightweight & all around water
containers anyway!)

Checkout this "Walmart" gear list...

http://www.gossamergear.com/gossamergear/images/gear_lists/Ultracheap_Henley.pdf


It demonstrates the concept that if you're a little creative you can travel
VERY lite VERY cheap. Doesn't have to be million dollar SUL gear you
randomly purchase. Cheap stuff you already have can make up most of your
gear.

Testing gear on the cheap has been very enlightening for me. And a lot of
fun!

Good Luck

FedEx
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