If I were buying my gear today, I would NOT buy.....

[foodbag]

Pack covers make a great place to layout all of your miscellaneous doodads after you've set up camp, so they don't get scattered - sort of like a gear sink. For that reason alone I like having a pack cover.

[Traffic Jam]

In a sense, no purchases are wasted. If nothing else, you learn something.

There are a few things that were a mistake, such as my 40* bag, but those things get passed on to my daughters or used for car camping/travel.

[Tipi Walter]

Any gear that causes shrieks and cursings is to be fixed or avoided. The only gear you have to fear is gear itself etc. I think Franklin Roosevelt said that.

No gear is perfect although some gear lasts forever, like the Sierra Cup or the P-38 can opener. Even if stuff disintegrates I buy it again and again because everything is disposable.

In the old days (1970-1980s) we used flashlights. Remember Mini Mags? Many of these relics were terrible, and every company seemed to want to sell us their version of a backpacking flashlight. Mallory comes to mind. Coast flashlights! Princeton Tec!! Remember the hand-pumped flashlight?? Took one on a trip to Pisgah and it broke---the gears inside snapped. See---

http://www.flashlightmuseum.com/Misc...d-Charger-1970

https://picclick.com/Vintage-Mallory...974278949.html

[AllDownhillFromHere]

...pretty much anything REI sells.
I've gone to the cottage industry folks for a while now and really like their stuff.

Feel pretty good about it, right?

[AllDownhillFromHere]

...I would not buy a middle of the road sleeping bag.
My 650 fill bag works great, but for a couple hundred more dollars, I could have saved at least a whole POUND.
Buy once, cry once... Or get two or three or four items.

Says the man with an extra $200 to spare.

[rafe]

In a sense, no purchases are wasted. If nothing else, you learn something.

I was gonna say something like that.

There were only a few purchases that were really dumb. The rest were more of a ongoing learning experience. In other words, no major regrets.

Over the years I've probably spent a few thousand dollars on hiking gear. But considering how much hiking has been part of my life, it was a bargain. I've done far more foolish things with my money.

[Drybones]

My first 3 packs
Iodine tablets, Aquamira, three filters
Four tents
First two hammock tarps, make that three
Five sleeping bags
......in other words, just about everything I've bought or made up to this point...ask this question in five years and I'll have another list if I'm still hiking. My GR Crown 60 pack and home made stove are about the only things I can't find something wrong with.....yet.

[QuietStorm]

Synthetic 20 degree sleeping bag--too heavy.
Patagonia Windstopper jacket--bought used but heavy


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[bdetamore]

4 lb, 65 liter backpack
1 lb water filter

[TTT]

Socks - have enough of them to supply all thru-hikers. The warmest I have are from New Zealand. The worst from Romania. The ones I prefer are from Ireland.
Shoes - got a wardrobe full of new footwear. Even got some old original Harley Davidson boots if anyone is interested.
Stuff sacks - if I ever decide to rob a bank and need something to carry the loot, I'm good to go
Stakes - made an error in quantity when buying off the internet and cornered the market on MSR groundhog stakes causing a supply/demand shortage in the USA. I have enough stakes to build a shelter with.
Pants - Twice bought Fjalraven pants in the wrong size so am the proud owner of 3 pairs.

[Maineiac64]

I remember seeing a post from someone saying they had bought every item 3-4x to dial in what they really liked and needed. I would not buy anything that isn’t at least very light. I pretty much returned or sold everything and went to zpacks pack, tent, a lighter pad, lighter filter, cook kit, and a ee rev 20 quilt. Since have sold the ee quilt going back to bag for lower temps but will get an ee rev 40 for warmer temps.

[Alligator]

Fleece sleeping bag liner. It helped extend my sleeping bag for winter but best option is a warmer bag. Plus it bunched up and drove me nuts.

[rafe]

Fleece sleeping bag liner. It helped extend my sleeping bag for winter but best option is a warmer bag. Plus it bunched up and drove me nuts.

Bag liner didn't work out for me either. Ditto for some shoes and boots.

There were a handful of items I returned or exchanged after one use - a pack from EMS, a tent from REI.

Other than that, all of my packs, tents, sleeping bags, stoves have had their season and did what they were supposed to do, for a while at least. A lot of that stuff is still around and still used on occasion, e.g. for road camping, power outages, etc.

[Ercoupe]

Any twist lock hiking pole I've have/had eventually fails, or breaks.

Things I would not take even for one night.

Hubba one tent, small interior, heavy .

Candle and holder, not enough light to read by, fire hazard.

Hand chain saw, way too much effort for the result.

[quiet*t]

...pretty much anything REI sells.

I've gone to the cottage industry folks for a while now and really like their stuff.

Enlighten me what are the cottage industry people doing??

Sent from my VK410 using Tapatalk

[Hikingjim]

Says the man with an extra $200 to spare.

The idea of not spending money on middle of the road core gear, like a sleeping bag, can apply to people who don't have tons of cash lying around as well.
I generally went with this over partial upgrades. I would just wait it out until I could justify the piece that would last me several years or a decade+ (in terms of satisfaction/weight/quality).

Also find that hiking clothes and rain jackets also are not necessary in most circumstances. I could do most hikes with clearance clothes from the sports store, a dollar store poncho and a garbage bag pack liner.

[Suzzz]

MSR Whisperlite Stove : Too unstable and finicky and too much maintenance, that thing scares me
Esbit Stove : Too slow, doesn't burn clean and gets pot dirty, smells too strong
Titanium spork : Don't like the feel of it in my mouth, much prefer my plastic spork
Quilt : Just not for me, I'm a sleeping bag person

Buying gear was trial and error for me (as I'm sure it is for everyone else). I started out with a lot of cheap stuff because I simply could not afford the better stuff. I knew that my gear wasn't great but it was the only way for me to get out on the trail. Money was pretty tight back then.

Every year since, I've bought new pieces and I'm now at the point where everything I have is of good quality but not as light as I would like it to be so I'm in the continuous process of researching and buying lighter items. In doing so I have put in place two strict rules that I religiously adhere to : 1) I'm not buying anything unless it's lighter and better quality than the item it's meant to replace. 2) Money is no object... If I can't afford it right now, I don't buy something ''in-between'', I put money aside and wait until I have the money for it.

However, sometimes the ''better/lighter'' items just don't work FOR ME.

[Zea]

Fleece sleeping bag liner. It helped extend my sleeping bag for winter but best option is a warmer bag. Plus it bunched up and drove me nuts.

I really don't feel like my liner keeps me any warmer in low-temps, but I like it because I can use only the liner on cool but not cold nights, and I rarely have to wash my sleeping bag since I'm never really in contact with it.

[Venchka]

Enlighten me what are the cottage industry people doing??

Sent from my VK410 using Tapatalk

Anything. Everything. Find the Cottage Gear company list here at WhiteBlaze.
Wayne

[Venchka]

Here. For the Search Challenged:
https://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/sho...T+COTTAGE+GEAR

Wayne