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

[MtDoraDave]

Says the man with an extra $200 to spare.

I started a savings account JUST for hiking. I put $35 into it every week. I used to spend that much on cigarettes and fast food. Priorities: I'd rather save for a thru hike. Although it's supposed to be my thru hike fund, but I dip into it for hiking gear.
I'm not rich, and I don't really have the $200 to "spare", but the next time a gear choice comes up, I think I will remember the "buy once, cry once" motto.

[Starchild]

Down gear. I've got a sleeping bag, jacket, two vests, and booties made of down, and I'm bringing none of it on the AT. Instead I'm taking a new synthetic bag, jacket, and vest with me for next year's through-hike.

Another posting to reconsider. The AT is not a down soaking trail. Down works on the AT. Yes it can happen, yes it is very rare and yes you can get out very easy if it does. Also yes you can get help, it's the AT for crying out loud (during the thru hiker bubble).

[Starchild]

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

Mostly my thoughts on this. One of my first buys for prep for my thru was a alchy stove from Vargo that a thru hiker recommended. I got it and tryed it and it just didn't seem to fit me, but was happy for the experience. It did help shape my stove selection in more then one way.

[GoLight]

In the beginning money was tight and I had plenty of other obligations so I bought things that could serve me solo and that would also work when my wife came along. A two person tent that weighed 6 pounds, a 2L cook pot and so on. She only came once in a while, so most of the time I was stumbling up the trail with a two person load. Now that I'm single I have reduced everything. One thing I've learned is that if I buy something to try it out, that it better have a decent resale value in case I don't want to keep it. If it doesn't have a good resale value thats generally because its not very popular to begin with and probably for good reason(s).

[AllDownhillFromHere]

...I'm not rich, and I don't really have the $200 to "spare", but the next time a gear choice comes up, I think I will remember the "buy once, cry once" motto.

Except you do - since you took your cigarette and junkfood money and put it towards this.

[George]

cheap liquor, after all it is vacation - I should have bought the good stuff

[El JP]

cheap liquor, after all it is vacation - I should have bought the good stuff

I sorta figured that this would be the situation where you do your best to stay away from the rotgut.

[KDogg]

Down gear. I've got a sleeping bag, jacket, two vests, and booties made of down, and I'm bringing none of it on the AT. Instead I'm taking a new synthetic bag, jacket, and vest with me for next year's through-hike.

The AT is a wet trail. If the humidity rises during the night (typically with increasing temperatures) you can wake up in a sweat-soaked sleeping bag or quilt. The bag/quilt won't dry out until the humidity goes down, and wet down is useless. Wet synthetic insulation is miserable, but won't kill you. You can try to keep your down gear out of streams and the rain, but sweating and respiration (if you tuck your face inside the bag/quilt in your sleep) can still cause problems.

Hmmm...I had a down quilt, a down pillow and a down jacket. Never had a problem with any of them. Do not wear your down coat while hiking and don't touch the sides of your tent with any of your stuff. The latter is why I don't recommend a one-person tent for one person. You need a two-person tent for one and a three-person tent for two. Keep your wet stuff out of the tent. Hang your wet hiking clothes on a tree. Yep, they will still be wet in the morning. Take your dry stuff off and put the wet stuff back on. It will dry quickly from your body heat.

You have to know how to use your gear. If you don't know how to use it properly then any of it can be a waste of money. Some stuff that works well for others might not work for you. Get out there and test it out before you go.

You will take stuff with you that you end up not needing. Send it home. The one thing I took with me that ended up being useless was a separate camera. My phone worked fine for all my photography needs and was good for many other purposes. Try to get stuff that has dual (or more) purposes.

[MuddyWaters]

Down gear. I've got a sleeping bag, jacket, two vests, and booties made of down, and I'm bringing none of it on the AT. Instead I'm taking a new synthetic bag, jacket, and vest with me for next year's through-hike.

The AT is a wet trail. If the humidity rises during the night (typically with increasing temperatures) you can wake up in a sweat-soaked sleeping bag or quilt. The bag/quilt won't dry out until the humidity goes down, and wet down is useless. Wet synthetic insulation is miserable, but won't kill you. You can try to keep your down gear out of streams and the rain, but sweating and respiration (if you tuck your face inside the bag/quilt in your sleep) can still cause problems.

Down degrades and loses loft with sweat and body oils and moisture pickup.
Keeping it "dry " isnt that big a deal. Its a priority. And your in a town every 3-4 days with dryers. Its even a problem on a week long winter trip, and is why you must have over-rated for conditions, the bag gets less warm with time. Down requires washing frequent washing to maintain its loft at design rating. Fortunately, dont need that rating...99% of time.

But your correct, a synthetic is less trouble on a long thru hike. Many thru hikers have used a synthetic cheap light summer bag for warm weather from damascus-NH. Throw in any washer, no special soap, etc.

[blw2]

Thanks to all that have responded so far. Great thread i think....
For me, I started thinking about maybe getting back into backpacking a few years back. I thought I'd start buying stuff that could be used in the "now" while camping with son's boy scout troop but later I could use for some casual backpackpacking. I was really trying to spend less buying stuff I knew wasn't exactly right....
I'm thinking mostly that was a mistake.
Buy once cry once has some merit

I bought a teton sports pack....cheap but heavy. Oh well, it can be something I can lend out or let my wife use if she ever comes along someplace where we might be tenting (she wouldn't be carrying most of the gear, and will only go front country camping)
I bought an REI half dome tent. Much lighter than my old kelty, & I have enjoyed it, but not quite what I want now...
I bought a BA Kings Canyon quilt. Packs light and small and serves me well for summer camping, but for what I paid I wish that I would have spent just not so much more in the big scheme of things, to get a 20-30 degree quilt instead that would likely be just as small and light

[rafe]

I own five down sleeping bags. The first was a no-name bag purchased from some hunter's-supply store in 1972 for $45. It has 2.5 lbs of down fill and probably weighs 4+ lbs total. I used it for 20+ years. It still has all of its original loft but one of the internal baffles has torn.

Bought two more bags in 1990 for a thru attempt. Both "generic". The heavy one is what I started with, and then switched to the light one in Damascus. Used those two for 17+ years.

The last two date from 2007 and 2008. They are the only two with fancy 800-grade down or a name brand that you might recognize. Got good deals on both, about $150. Didn't exactly intend to buy the second one, but... no regrets.

So that's how it goes if you stay at it long enough... All these bags are still functional. The old ones dont get used much any more, but I cant bring myself to give them up. They all had their day. The two "new" bags are still nearly good as new. The old ones occasionally get used for car camping and non-backpacking situations.

With the new bags I've made it a point to always wear a silk base layer while sleeping. Neither bag has ever been washed, or needed washing.

[Last Call]

Anybody ever bought a bear bell?

[Venchka]

Anybody ever bought a bear bell?

Yep. I bought it in the Dark Ages. I still have it. Unfortunately, it doesn’t make enough noise to be useful.
Wayne


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[Runner2017]

I own five down sleeping bags. The first was a no-name bag purchased from some hunter's-supply store in 1972 for $45. It has 2.5 lbs of down fill and probably weighs 4+ lbs total. I used it for 20+ years. It still has all of its original loft but one of the internal baffles has torn.

Bought two more bags in 1990 for a thru attempt. Both "generic". The heavy one is what I started with, and then switched to the light one in Damascus. Used those two for 17+ years.

The last two date from 2007 and 2008. They are the only two with fancy 800-grade down or a name brand that you might recognize. Got good deals on both, about $150. Didn't exactly intend to buy the second one, but... no regrets.

So that's how it goes if you stay at it long enough... All these bags are still functional. The old ones dont get used much any more, but I cant bring myself to give them up. They all had their day. The two "new" bags are still nearly good as new. The old ones occasionally get used for car camping and non-backpacking situations.

With the new bags I've made it a point to always wear a silk base layer while sleeping. Neither bag has ever been washed, or needed washing.

Met a thru-hiker couple at a shelter right before Neels Gap on the AT last spring. He made two thru-hike sleeping bags, one for himself, the other for his wife, using nearly 4 lb down fill of the sleeping bag that he purchased in 1970 for $45. According to him, that was "***** load of money" at the time he was a college kid and had to work a whole summer to save up.

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[Patrickjd9]

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.

I ran a lending library for sleeping bags when my daughter was growing up. I made a couple of mistakes that always worked for one kid or another.

[Patrickjd9]

He made two thru-hike sleeping bags, one for himself, the other for his wife, using nearly 4 lb down fill of the sleeping bag that he purchased in 1970 for $45. According to him, that was "***** load of money" at the time he was a college kid and had to work a whole summer to save up.

Good gear was expensive in the old days. A Kelty frame pack and North Face Cat's Meow sleeping bag sell today for about what they did in the early '80s.

[Tipi Walter]

[QUOTE=MuddyWaters;2174510]Down degrades and loses loft with sweat and body oils and moisture pickup.
Keeping it "dry " isnt that big a deal. Its a priority. And your in a town every 3-4 days with dryers. Its even a problem on a week long winter trip, and is why you must have over-rated for conditions, the bag gets less warm with time. Down requires washing frequent washing to maintain its loft at design rating. Fortunately, dont need that rating...99% of time.

But your correct, a synthetic is less trouble on a long thru hike. Many thru hikers have used a synthetic cheap light summer bag for warm weather from damascus-NH. Throw in any washer, no special soap, etc.[/QUOTE

I've had three down bags in the last 40 years of backpacking and can honestly say I used each one almost every day---just came in this morning after sleeping in the back yard with my second down bag---a Marmot Couloir. My go-to winter bag is my WM Puma rated at -15F. It sits ready to go for an October trip.

Of the three bags, I only washed any of them ONCE and it was my old 1980 North Face Ibex bag with 550 fill. After 21 years I retired it because you're right, it wasn't keeping me as warm in 1995 as it did in 1980.

Down warmth in the field is related to air humidity. Some nights in the tent are cold and wet and humid---and the bag gets a little flat---some nights are bone dry at 10F with extremely low air humidity---causing the down bag to loft back up to at-home levels. This could happen on Day 20 of a long trip. With a proper IQ there's no reason or need to hit a laundry mat every 4 days to restore a moist down bag. If that were true I'd never pull long trips in the winter.

[BuckeyeBill]

I sorta figured that this would be the situation where you do your best to stay away from the rotgut.

I hope I can find someone in Georgia, North Carolina or Tennessee that has some good moonshine. After my grandmother passed her recipe went missing.

[rafe]

Met a thru-hiker couple at a shelter right before Neels Gap on the AT last spring. He made two thru-hike sleeping bags, one for himself, the other for his wife, using nearly 4 lb down fill of the sleeping bag that he purchased in 1970 for $45. According to him, that was "***** load of money" at the time he was a college kid and had to work a whole summer to save up.

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Officially the inflation factor from the to now is 5.86. So $45 then is $264 now.

[MuddyWaters]

[QUOTE=Tipi Walter;2174559]

Down degrades and loses loft with sweat and body oils and moisture pickup.
Keeping it "dry " isnt that big a deal. Its a priority. And your in a town every 3-4 days with dryers. Its even a problem on a week long winter trip, and is why you must have over-rated for conditions, the bag gets less warm with time. Down requires washing frequent washing to maintain its loft at design rating. Fortunately, dont need that rating...99% of time.

But your correct, a synthetic is less trouble on a long thru hike. Many thru hikers have used a synthetic cheap light summer bag for warm weather from damascus-NH. Throw in any washer, no special soap, etc.[/QUOTE

I've had three down bags in the last 40 years of backpacking and can honestly say I used each one almost every day---just came in this morning after sleeping in the back yard with my second down bag---a Marmot Couloir. My go-to winter bag is my WM Puma rated at -15F. It sits ready to go for an October trip.

Of the three bags, I only washed any of them ONCE and it was my old 1980 North Face Ibex bag with 550 fill. After 21 years I retired it because you're right, it wasn't keeping me as warm in 1995 as it did in 1980.

Down warmth in the field is related to air humidity. Some nights in the tent are cold and wet and humid---and the bag gets a little flat---some nights are bone dry at 10F with extremely low air humidity---causing the down bag to loft back up to at-home levels. This could happen on Day 20 of a long trip. With a proper IQ there's no reason or need to hit a laundry mat every 4 days to restore a moist down bag. If that were true I'd never pull long trips in the winter.

I keep my bags and quilts in large plastic bins. Ive posted how to washing pics, and showed before and after loft here before. In the bins theres no discounting how visibly fuller they are.

If you dont wash it frequently, you dont have the 800-900 fill power you paid for. You dont have zero obviously, but you have a compromised bag. By the time i get 20 night, mine are pretty bad looking.

Ill wash my 20 quilt this weekend in prep for upcoming hike. It has 15 nights on it from this summer and looks rather poor. Ill probably take pics again