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Thread: Wow

  1. #1
    Registered User skinnbones's Avatar
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    Default Wow

    Just purchased my MSR pocket rocket stove today. After $1,100.00 spent, I only lack buying a pair of trekking pants and a few minor items. This is a very expensive hobby, yet I know the Appalachian Trail will live up to the hype. Hurry up April, I want a real honest challenge. Starting from ground zero, I'm sure I'm within the normal range for gear. But wow, over a grand just to go walking for half a year.

  2. #2
    Registered User Old Hiker's Avatar
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    Just me, I'm thinkin' $1100 is a tad much for a pocket rocket.

    Just sayin'.
    Old Hiker
    AT Hike 2012 - 497 Miles of 2184
    AT Thru Hiker - 29 FEB - 03 OCT 2016 2189.1 miles
    Just because my teeth are showing, does NOT mean I'm smiling.
    Hányszor lennél inkább máshol?

  3. #3
    Registered User skinnbones's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Old Hiker View Post
    Just me, I'm thinkin' $1100 is a tad much for a pocket rocket.

    Just sayin'.
    LOL. And I bought it on sale.

  4. #4
    Registered User Sandy of PA's Avatar
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    Hiking is a cheap hobby. My Z-Packs Solplex cost less than 6 nights in a decent hotel. You could blow more on a one week cruise, only this stuff will allow you to spend 6 months outdoors. And you will still have it after. Trekking pants can be found at Goodwill or Walmart. I have not spent anything close to my husbands HAM radio hobby or my sisters horse. What kind of hobby are you comparing hiking with?

  5. #5
    Registered User Old Hiker's Avatar
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    Sorry - couldn't resist. $1100 sounds pretty reasonable. I don't even want to start adding up what I've bought and re-bought and .......etc.
    Old Hiker
    AT Hike 2012 - 497 Miles of 2184
    AT Thru Hiker - 29 FEB - 03 OCT 2016 2189.1 miles
    Just because my teeth are showing, does NOT mean I'm smiling.
    Hányszor lennél inkább máshol?

  6. #6
    Registered User skinnbones's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sandy of PA View Post
    Hiking is a cheap hobby. My Z-Packs Solplex cost less than 6 nights in a decent hotel. You could blow more on a one week cruise, only this stuff will allow you to spend 6 months outdoors. And you will still have it after. Trekking pants can be found at Goodwill or Walmart. I have not spent anything close to my husbands HAM radio hobby or my sisters horse. What kind of hobby are you comparing hiking with?
    I understand your point. All hobbies are expensive, but a thousand dollars is still a lot of money to me.

  7. #7
    Registered User skinnbones's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Old Hiker View Post
    Sorry - couldn't resist. $1100 sounds pretty reasonable. I don't even want to start adding up what I've bought and re-bought and .......etc.
    Still a lot of money to a poor man.

  8. #8
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    I wouldn't have believed you a couple years ago if you had told me I would have over a thousand bucks in hiking equipment. .. but I do.
    But unlike most other hobbies, this one can be broken up over time if you aren't getting outfitted for an immediate thru hike departure.

  9. #9
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    If you buy good gear starting out you shouldn't have to buy for a lil awhile....yea light weight gear doesn't last as long as the heavy stuff. The expensive part you will soon learn are the annual trips when you use that expensive gear! Airlines, hotels, shuttles etc....it's over $1,100 for my yearly hiking trip out west....For me AT trips are cheap.....I travel the southeast with a company car and gas.......hard part is getting permission from the wife.......good luck......


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  10. #10
    Registered User One Half's Avatar
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    the best part is you can use the same gear over and over again. you don't get the hotel stays over and over without paying for them.
    https://tinyurl.com/MyFDresults

    A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world. ~Paul Dudley White

  11. #11
    Registered User Wise Old Owl's Avatar
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    Wow where did you go REI? otherwise this owl is stumped

    Last edited by Wise Old Owl; 10-23-2016 at 21:43.
    Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.

    Woo

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    I'm in a similar boat to you (OP) and have been buying gear for the last 6 months and am down to a few clothing and miscellaneous items. I was thinking about it being expensive then realized, that compared to the world of competitive archery I had in for 20 years, this new hobby was relatively affordable.

  13. #13

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    Hiking is a bit like kayaking, a single expensive outlaw of cash, but then cheap to continue. You can certainly choose to spend big money backpacking, by traveling far to exotic destinations, and staying in expensive bed and breakfasts in trail towns. You can also likely hike more locally, avoid towns and you just have to pay for some food, which you'd pay for even if you stayed home.

  14. #14

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    $1,100 is very little as an investment for a 5 or 6 month activity.
    If you were doing a 3 day hike and then not much in the future, then a pocket rocket etc would be a big waste of money. When I first started backpacking my total kit cost very little, and I added good gear over time, but I started with 5 day type hikes

    Everything that I've added has been of use to me for many many years (except a few items that got returned or crashed and burned)

  15. #15

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    beats payin' rent


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  16. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by andsoshewalks View Post
    beats payin' rent


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Now that's funny!

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    You'll understand better when you are happily hunkered down in your tent/hammock in the middle of a raging storm and you look around at your gear and think "damn I'm glad I didn't buy the cheap stuff".

  18. #18
    In the shadows AfterParty's Avatar
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    Don't switch to hammock it can get expensive
    Hiking the AT is “pointless.” What life is not “pointless”? Is it not pointless to work paycheck to paycheck just to conform?.....I want to make my life less ordinary. AWOL

  19. #19
    Registered User jjozgrunt's Avatar
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    I thought $1100 was very reasonable. My tent, pack and quilt cost more than that so I think you did very well. But I didn't just buy them for a one off walk so they have been a great investment.
    "He was a wise man who invented beer." Plato

  20. #20
    Garlic
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    My AT gear cost about $750, and most of that was on sale. If I didn't have the patience to wait for sales, it would easily have cost over $1000. But as everyone has said, it was a good investment for a multi-month trip, and most of it was barely worn after the trip and has been on many long trips since.

    Remember, many of those purchases can be used on day hikes, car camping trips, etc. That gear can support a different way of life.

    Try buying a decent bicycle for under $1000, or setting up any kind of hobby room or work shop. Look how much amateur chefs spend on kitchen gadgets!

    For many, technology is little more than a hobby. Think of how much is spent on computer, smartphone, and internet set-up.
    "Throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence." John Muir on expedition planning

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