Starting from Scratch

[BuckeyeBill]

I was just wondering if a person had to start with nothing, how much could they expect to spend to fully outfit themselves for 3 season hiking? The parameters for this are tenting, canister stove, willing to buy two different temperature sleeping bags and filtering water. Any thing else you could think of to keep things light but comfortable go ahead and add. They want to save money, but want all new gear. Have fun with this.

[bobp]

One could obtain everything very inexpensively at Wally-World. That probably isn't a good idea...

[JustaTouron]

Yeah, as bob said. If you are okay with walmart/kmart, not that much. If you want Northface....well a lot more.

[BuckeyeBill]

I really wasn't expecting walmart and kmart as paces to shop. I was really meant using places like REI and Campmor along with various cottage companies. Also i was looking for rough estimates in dollars.

[Venchka]

Buy quality once.
Pack: ULA, $250 max. Can be less.
Tent: TarpTent Notch. Not sure of price. Worth the price.
Bag: Western Mountaineering. A 30 degree model to start. + or - $400.
Sleeping pad: R-3 or more. Wide budget.
Stove: any will do.
Use REI 20% off coupons for the pad & stove.
Trekking poles: used with the Notch. Budget and sale price same as stove and pad.
Water filter: Walmart has Sawyer filters cheap. Otherwise, MSR or Platypus. + or - $100. Shop sales for a good price.
Thrift shops, craigslist, forums like this for used gear.
Trail runners: Too many variables. $90 and up.
Hit the trail.

Wayne

[Nooga]

When I started out, I started with low / mid line gear. As I used the gear, I saw that more technical (read more expensive) gear would perform better, so I upgraded much of my gear at a significant expense. As my skills improved, I saw that home made and cottage industry gear offered good performance at a lower weight. I think that many have experienced a similar gear evolution. I would suggest that you start with renting major items or at least look for good used equipment. Spend a lot of time on the gear forums. If you can avoid any of the stages in the gear evolution, you will be ahead of the game.

[MuddyWaters]

$700-$2000 depending

[Jagger]

My input is to buy pretty good stuff to start ( assuming you are committed to giving backpacking a real chance ). I think that even if you find you don't like it you can sell quality equipment at a fair price. I would also start with farily light equipment...not super ulta light, but try and keep your pack weight down so you enjoy hiking. So, I would recommend the following:

1. ULA Catalyst Backpack. Cost about $250 and about 48oz
2. Enlightend Equipment Revelation Quilt. Cost about $225 and about 28oz. ( buy the seconds material )
3. Thermarest Neo Air Sleeping Pad: Cost about $180 and about 16oz.
4. Big Agnus Fly Creek UL2 Tent: Cost about $325 and about 48oz.
5. Sawyer Squeeze Water Filter: Cost about $50 and about 4 oz.

Some other high dollar things to think about are shoes/boots ( think about trail runners ), trekking poles ( looks like your about my age so I highly recommend them and get as light weight as you can afford ), rain gear ( Dri Ducks is a good option and cheap ), headlight, first aid kit ( put one together out of supplies you have on had ), expel pillow ( I've bought them all and this is the best and only 2.7oz ), various stuff sacks for food, cloths, etc. ( again, I would recommend biting the bullet and buying cuben fiber from somone like Z-Packs ) as you will want to go there eventually.

All of this input comes from my experience...I wish I had asked the same question before I bought everything the first time then have replaced it all with lighter equipment. I would also recommend NOT going too light and losing a certain amount of comfort ( particullary at first ).

[Drybones]

I've probably got as much gear in my basement as some outfitters, but had I known when I started what I know now I'd spend about $1000.

$200 pack
$294 sleeping bag
$240 tent
$50 sleeping pad
$112 down jacket
$20 rain jacket
$10 kitchen
$80 wool tees & misc clothing

[Rasty]

I've spent around $2000 in total gear and clothing for year round camping.

[slbirdnerd]

I watched the forums, learned a lot, shopped smart and hit the sales (REI, Campmor, Backcountry.com, MPGear, etc.) earlier this year and my estimate would be about $1000. I got good stuff, went light, on the major stuff. Cheaper on the clothes but they work for me. I see some great used stuff for sale on here so keep an eye out, especially tents. Go Bucks!

[Venchka]

Big Agnes is overweight and overpriced and imported relative to TarpTent's inventory.

Wayne

[Sarcasm the elf]

I've probably got as much gear in my basement as some outfitters, but had I known when I started what I know now I'd spend about $1000.

$200 pack
$294 sleeping bag
$240 tent
$50 sleeping pad
$112 down jacket
$20 rain jacket
$10 kitchen
$80 wool tees & misc clothing

This is about right. I could do a new setup from scratch for about $1000, but it cost me a lot more than that buying gear in order to learn what really worked for me.

Pack - Must fit right, don't skimp. Personally: ULA or Osprey Atmos 65. That said, find a knowledgeable place that knows how to properly fit a pack and pay full price for the right pack if need be. Mountain Crossings is awesome and I wish there were more stores like it.

3 season pad - thermarest Z rest folding foam pad, might have changed names since I bought mine. if this isn't enough, go for a neo-air.

Sleeping bag, plenty of good deals if money is a factor, I've had good luck with the REI outlet and EMS's clearance sales.

Tent - Tarptents are worth every penny if you want something lightweight. They are also cheaper then th ultralight models that the larger name brands are putting out.

Down Jacket - My lightweight 3 season down jacket cost about $70 from lands end. Lots of good deals if you look for them.

Water - aqua Mira for three season hiking. In the winter I boil snow.

Rain Jacket - I paid about $100 for my EMS brand shell jacket on sale. I paid the money largely to have a jacket that had put-zips, which are hugely helpful when hiking in the rain in warm weather.

Kitchen (for me) Pocket rocket stove, Decent pot, Long handled metal spork.

[Drybones]

Things I could have done to save $$ starting out if I knew then what I know now:

1. I bought about every kitchen configuration out there and what I now use is a 24 oz beer can pot and stove made from an aerosol can...cost about $6.00 for two beers and got to drink the beer, aerosol can was free, supplied by wife.
2. Bought a cheap and heavy sleeping bag starting out, watch for sales when manufacturers change models, an REI 750 down, 2 lb bag was on sale for $126.
3. Started out with a 2-person tent weighing almost 6 lbs, ended up with a Tarptent double Rainbow that weighs about 2.5 lbs I use when a 2-person tent is needed, use a 26 oz TT Notch for solo hiking.
4. Biggest problem starting out was finding a sleeping pad I could sleep on. The third pad I bought was a BA Sand Mountain I got when they changed models to the Insulated Aircore, got it for $45, weighs 1.75 lbs. I'm happy with this pad and use it on short hikes but did buy an Exped UL Synmat 7 to get the weight down to 1 lb for long hikes...pricey tho at $155.
5. After several pairs of boots I finally learned that trail running shoes, without Goretex, were the way to go, paid about $45 for the Asics Kahana 5 I now use.
6. I've got a nice Goretex jacket that now cost $169 but found a $19.95 jacket at Academy that wears better and weighs about 6 oz less...expensive doesn't always mean better.

I can say I did one thing right starting out, my first outer layer was a fleece I picked up at a thrift store for under $2. I eventually decided I needed more warmth for winter weather and caught a Marmot Zeus jacket on sale for $112...they're now $195.

[fins1838]

i really wasn't expecting walmart and kmart as paces to shop. I was really meant using places like rei and campmor along with various cottage companies. Also i was looking for rough estimates in dollars.

rei?!?! $92,487.42

[Marta]

Partly depends on how quickly you want to outfit yourself. Once I gave an AT talk at REI. Before the talk I spent twenty minutes dashing around the store gathering decent stuff for a thru-hike. It wasn't super-light, specialty gear, but it was good enough and light enough. I doubt the whole pile cost more than $1500. Total pack weight would probably have been less than 20, with a couple days food and two liters of water.

These days for myself, I wait for sales or buy things like packs lightly used at half the price of new ones.

The other prong of saving money is not to buy things you don't actually need. That may seem obvious, but it's difficult sometimes to resist the lure of a cunning backpacking towel, with nifty hanging loop...even though hardly anyone hiking the AT carries a towel. A lot of people make their initial investment a hefty paid of boots in the $250 range...which again, hardly any AT thru-hikers wear these days. Those cute nesting pot sets...

There are a couple of gear articles on here you should look at, as well as doing a search for the gear challenge threads. I'd suggest setting your budget, then planning to spend half of it on a really nice sleeping bag, a quarter on a lightweight tent, and most of the rest on a lightweight pack that fits you well. A thousand dollars would get you top of the line of each of the big three. (If you're not an REI member, you might want to join so you can try things out and return them if they don't work for you.) I helped one of my daughter's friends outfit herself at REI on a budget of $400, finding a closeout sleeping bag deal, a discontinued pack, etc. For a sleeping pad, start with a Walmart cheapie. If you can't sleep on that, go more expensive until you find one that works. I'm a Neo-Air user, myself, though I held off buying one until I got it during a big sale.

The rest of the gear is optional. You don't actually need a kitchen--bring ready-to-eat food, plastic spoon and cup, some plastic water bottles, a few water treatment tablets... The real key to going light is not simply buying lighter stuff, it's not buying and brining things you don't need.

[q-tip]

I have an extensive U/L-Lightweight list with costs--it was $3,500 for everything for me. PM me if you would like a copy,

[garlic08]

My AT kit cost me $800 including a high-quality 15F down sleeping bag. That took some time shopping sales and lots of experience knowing what I needed. Sgt Rock has a nice article about a $300 ultra-light challenge. I couldn't find the thread, but here's a start: http://hikinghq.net/300_challenge.html