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  1. #1

    Default What useless gear did you buy?

    What useless gear did you buy?

  2. #2

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    Wood stove, casted espresso maker, mechanical water filter(best they had at the time), clunky boots, cheap sleeping pad

    And on a second thought Nalgene bottles, a northface bivy(what a disaster), and sinking money into trying to revitalize a worn out tent when I should have just bought new
    Last edited by Gambit McCrae; 07-16-2018 at 14:52.
    Trail Miles: 4,927.6
    AT Map 1: Complete 2013-2021
    Sheltowee Trace: Complete 2020-2023
    Pinhoti Trail: Complete 2023-2024
    Foothills Trail: 0.0
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  3. #3

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    a Nalgene bottle

  4. #4
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    Default

    Camp chair


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    Let me go

  5. #5
    13-45 Section Hiker Trash
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    Default

    Useless is a relative term as I can still use a lot of my old stuff, but I don't want to carry it (because most of it is too heavy). With that said I could fully outfit 2 people with my excess gear. I guess I need to actually go through it and either get rid of it or sell it.
    AT: 2007-2019 (45 sections)
    JMT: 2013

  6. #6
    GoldenBear's Avatar
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    Thumbs down For me

    After one use, I've never used the collapsible candle lantern again.
    https://blog-imgs-116.fc2.com/k/0/8/...4042_thumb.jpg
    Complete waste of weight, space, and energy.

    It does what it says it does, you just don't need it.

  7. #7
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    I have never bought anything I have considered useless. Lots of stuff that just gets used less.

  8. #8
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    My 8th spoon. I certainly don't need it. But if you don't try it out, you might be missing a desired upgrade.
    My 5th stove. Again, I certainly don't need it. But, if you don't try it out, you might be missing the next great upgrade to your system.
    None of this is useless. It's just completely unnecessary.

    I've never backpacked with my camp chairs, but I do use them on car trips sometimes.
    I don't ever use any of my compression stuff sacks. These may be the only completely useless gear I have.
    I never use all my stuff sacks, but most of them get used once in a while. They're not useless.

    My -40 degree winter expedition down bag has been used, but not in the last 30 years. I'd say it's pretty useless for any of my year-round use these days. Maybe I'll have to plan a winter trip to AK or Yukon to have an excuse to use it again.

    Big knives, of which I have several, have never really been used and are essentially useless in my book.
    I'm not lost. I'm exploring.

  9. #9
    Wanna-be hiker trash
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    An engagement ring.
    Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sarcasm the elf View Post
    An engagement ring.
    Hadn't even thought about that. I've been married almost 30 years now and I haven't worn my $2500 wedding ring in the last 25 years. I don't even know where it is for certain.

    Wow, think of the amount of other useless gear I could buy with that $2500 now!! Plus, I'd probably still be wearing one of those cheap $25 silicon wedding rings if I had one. Hmm.

    With a decent rate of return on investment, that $2500 would be $160,000 today. Oh, the foolish romantic things we do when we are young and stupid . . . or old and stupid for that matter.
    I'm not lost. I'm exploring.

  11. #11
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    Default

    A 70L bag when I thought I wanted to be able to haul my whole life up a mountain.

  12. #12

    Default

    I have a couple of large tote bins with gear bought but not used over 45 years of hiking. I used to do group trips where weight was less important and have quite bit of group gear. Real nice stuff but doubt I will use it again. I think I have regular size backbacking oven and a mini version. They both work great but the days of the backcountry blueberry muffin cook offs are long gone. Over the years my backpacking tastes have gotten much simpler, basically easy to do one pot meals that need far less gear.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by nsherry61 View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Sarcasm the elf View Post
    An engagement ring.
    Hadn't even thought about that. I've been married almost 30 years now and I haven't worn my $2500 wedding ring in the last 25 years. I don't even know where it is for certain.

    Wow, think of the amount of other useless gear I could buy with that $2500 now!! Plus, I'd probably still be wearing one of those cheap $25 silicon wedding rings if I had one. Hmm.

    With a decent rate of return on investment, that $2500 would be $160,000 today. Oh, the foolish romantic things we do when we are young and stupid . . . or old and stupid for that matter.
    Hey if you find that useless ring I'll give ya 50 bucks for it. ?

  14. #14
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    Default What useless gear did you buy?

    nothing too expensive. I've got a 6l bladder I'll never use. and a plastic thong big enough for 8.5X11 paper that you can hang around your neck. Wanted to be able to look at my map without having to dig it out if my pocket, unfold it, etc... But this plastic thing is just a lot of trouble.

  15. #15

    Default

    A kettle shaped pot, with sharp edges that didn't nest with anything else.
    A too thin sleeping pad. I did chop it up and use a piece for a sitting/vestibule kneeling pad.
    Way too many stuff sacks.
    A bunch of material to build an alcohol stove, which while kind of fun, never resulted in an efficient stove.
    A sleeping bag that's so narrow it pinches my shoulders. I was so focused on reviews, temperature ratings, weight and such, I never thought about the width.

  16. #16

    Default

    I'm not sure I can pin down any gear I've bought that was useless. I either use it for backpacking or car camping. Maybe I'm just lucky or just not that into gadgets and new stuff. I was given most of my first backpacking gear and did a lot of research on the rest.

  17. #17
    Wanna-be hiker trash
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by nsherry61 View Post
    Hadn't even thought about that. I've been married almost 30 years now and I haven't worn my $2500 wedding ring in the last 25 years. I don't even know where it is for certain.

    Wow, think of the amount of other useless gear I could buy with that $2500 now!! Plus, I'd probably still be wearing one of those cheap $25 silicon wedding rings if I had one. Hmm.

    With a decent rate of return on investment, that $2500 would be $160,000 today. Oh, the foolish romantic things we do when we are young and stupid . . . or old and stupid for that matter.
    Nsherry, My attempt at humor was that while I love my life right now, getting married and settling down has been brutal to my section hiking.

    Also, it it makes you feel any better, it would have been almost impossible to turn $2,500 into $160,000 in a 30 year period, as it would require an unrealistic long term rate of return over over 14%. A more reasonable (but still ambitious) rate of return of 8% would have left you around a $27,000 today based on the $2,500 initial investment.
    Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by jefals View Post
    nothing too expensive. I've got a 6l bladder I'll never use. and a plastic thong big enough for 8.5X11 paper that you can hang around your neck. Wanted to be able to look at my map without having to dig it out if my pocket, unfold it, etc... But this plastic thing is just a lot of trouble.
    That’s a plastic "THING" - NOT a plastic THONG!!

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by jefals View Post
    That’s a plastic "THING" - NOT a plastic THONG!!
    Darn, I was really having a lot of fun trying to picture that plastic thong! There's some pretty interesting products found when you google plastic thong and then imagine you wearing them around your neck.

    Pictures?
    I'm not lost. I'm exploring.

  20. #20

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by jefals View Post
    That’s a plastic "THING" - NOT a plastic THONG!!
    Too late... secrets out. Nothing completely useless but I have to agree with the nalgene bottles. Some cheap stuff sacks. I didn't buy them but I have been gifted about 10 of those magnesium fire starter blocks.

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