"Hoarders"

[rtfi]

The other night at the dinner table, the topic of the new television show “Hoarders” came up. Explaining to my 10 year son that hoarding is a mental disorder, my mother-in-law added that people can also go to the other extreme and convince themselves they only need one of everything. Yes, my son, those people are called hikers!

[Don H]

I think I'm a gear hoarder, I have 9 Thermarest pads! Where can I get help?

[4eyedbuzzard]

I think I'm a gear hoarder, I have 9 Thermarest pads! Where can I get help?

Help is here

[Fishbamboo]

Don, you could send me one, I don't have any.

[Deadeye]

I think I'm a gear hoarder, I have 9 Thermarest pads! Where can I get help?

or here:

http://gearx.com/consignment.html

consign your stuff, and get cash/credit to buy more!

[Ox97GaMe]

I guess Im a gear hoarder too. But not necessarily by choice. I find all this semi-decent gear along the trail. Last weekend, I found 2 bivy tents and a sleeping pad. The trip before that, I found a a jetboil stove. Funny what people are willling to leave in the woods; knives, saws, machetes, tents, hammocks, sleeping bags, stoves, boots, shirts, jackets. I could almost open an outfitter store with stuff I have found.

[IronGutsTommy]

so YOURE the one that keeps taking all my stuff while im getting water...

[ridgewalker777]

I am something of a minimalist, but have known hoarders who fly into a rage when you try to throw a "treasured" piece of junk out. I cannot deal with hoarders now because of what someone who was crazy as hell living in hoarding squalor did to defame me.

Here is an example of the worst case, the famous Collyer brothers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collyer_brothers

[Don H]

Help is here

HA! Now that right there is funny. Of course as a true hoarder of outdoor equipment I could never get rid of anything!

[Ox97GaMe]

Hmmm. Maybe I AM the one taking all your gear. Next time you go to get water, leave your pack near the shelter so I know that there is somone around. Or maybe dont hide just the sleeping pad behind the tree.

But.. you are welcome to come pick up all your stuff, anytime.

[Fiddleback]

My name is Fiddleback and I'm a hoarder.

In anticipation of a family reunion I picked up my collection...two large boxes of containers and plastic squeeze bottles. Different sizes, different tops, different nozzles.

In an expression of severe will power and a first step in the recovery program, I whittled the bunch down to four of each kind. Mostly.

Now, I can't remember where I put the box of those I saved. My whole body is starting to shake.

FB

[Mrs Baggins]

I finally organized our gear room in the basement. In unpacking boxes of backpacking gear and car camping gear and shelving it all I found that we had:

10 sleep bags
10 mats
6 tents
4 camp coffee percolators
5 cook kits
several big pots and frying pans
10 camp chairs
4 ice chests
5 backpacks
and so much more........

I figure if there's any kind of disaster, we are set! No way I'd get rid of any of it!

[Prettywoman0172]

You guys are hilarious. I am a hoarder of sorts, too....books and childrens toys... I do purge occasionally but the collection is still enormous. I do have a pretty huge collection of car/base camping gear, too....but I had to have an outfit for 8 people.

Ann

[IronGutsTommy]

i used to hoard. made a rule to get rid of anything i dont use within a years time, except luggage or other random stuff. noticed my health increased alot without all the dusty clutter. now im on the other end. i do goodwill runs every two or so months. only thing i am compulsive in collecting is dvds and bluray disks. at last count i had over 2300 movies, filling up 9 bookcases. every tuesday (media release day) i am at the store picking up a few new releases. more than 2/3 of the collection is still in the plasticwrap. funniest thing? i dont like watching movies much. i feel they are too long, and i get restless and wish i were doing something physically engaging.

[Mrs Baggins]

After our 3 month long road trip, we settled into a house again and got everything from storage. We were absolutely appalled at the amount of clothing we had! We had survived very well on the road, camping, with one duffel bag each of clothes for everything from snow to desert heat (Maryland to Alaska to Death Valley and back to Maryland - early April to mid-July) with the rare addition now and then of a new t-shirt. I started filling big Hefty bags for the thrift stores.

[sbhikes]

I am getting better about clutter myself. I want a tiny house someday. Then I can live like a backpacker but in a house.

Clutter is not the same as hoarding. I used to work with the mentally ill and I had to clean out one hoarder's room. I filled my pickup truck with 4 truckloads from an ordinary-sized small bedroom. There was a lot of porn and books with most of the words underlined. Eventually when I got to the bottom of it I found a handgun in the closet. The guy was in big trouble for that.

[Danielsen]

I could almost qualify as a gear hoarder thanks to my 9 backpacks (2 large, 1 mid-large, 2-perfect sized, 2 daypacks, one hydration pack I can stuff for an overnight), one of which I just acquired this weekend (perfect size AND perfect fit). I buy what I can afford and then when I find something better/can afford something better, I go for it... but I keep the old ones. Not for nothing, though: it's easier to get friends without packs to hike with you when you can just let them borrow one of your own.

[Hikes in Rain]

SB, those are seriously cool houses. My only concern is that I think my library alone is more cubic feet than the whole house! I could really see them as vacation houses, though.

Thank you, I appreciate the link.

[Danielsen]

Those tiny houses look like a great idea! If I ever buy any property anywhere, I'd probably build something like that. Maybe constructed less like a traditional house, though.

[4eyedbuzzard]

Hoarding is a terrible condition / disease / whatever. My wife's aunt and uncle died in a fire caused by hoarding. Floor to ceiling with newspapers, and all sorts of stuff. Really sad.