Gear envy

After taking my nephew on a trip last year his father, my brother, has decided to join us this Summer. He had been trailer camping for years so is buying all new stuff for backpacking. I found out yesterday that he got a BA Copper Spur UL1 which I have to admit is not something I had my eye on...until now.

Do you ever find yourself being jealous of someone's new thingee even when you don't really want that particular thingee? For my purposes my current tent, although definitely heavier, better fits my needs and my tastes, but still...

It comes and goes but mostly, no. I'll occasionally see some item that seems like such a good idea I put it on my "to get" list: the most recent example was the Sawyer Squeeze filter. But, mostly I have a pretty well evolved set of gear that serves me well. Also, I don't typically pay too much attention to other people's gear unless they are hauling a huge pack.

I frequently find that other people's gear makes me wonder why they need it...

There have been times when a hot tub would have gone over well. But generally, I'm pretty much blase about gear. I tend to get and sell things, because I enjoy trying things out, but I don't really get jealous. Maybe because most of the gear I see is so heavy and cheap.

I will not feel, for example, any jealousy about any Big Agnes tent. I don't like them. The light ones aren't side entry, and the side entry are too heavy.

My situation is similar to Pika's. I started switching my gear to lighter stuff ten years ago and now have achieved a satisfactory set that works well for me. Could I save another pound or two if I spent a ton of money? Certainly! But somehow this avenue doesn't attract me much right now. I can go anywhere I want and be comfortable doing it. Replacing my gear now would be change for change's sake, not for the sake of any trail-related goals.

I think the right way to treat optional gear replacement items is as if you were buying a handgun: have a mandatory waiting period, a cooling off period.

For me now it boils down to a pretty hard-nosed benefit/cost ratio analysis --- how much use I expect I'll get out of some new thing and how much better it is, vs. $$ spent.

No. Unless absolutely necessary, I am against artificial enhancement or plastic surgury of any kind.

Typically, the following:

Nighttime condition get unexpectedly cold/windy/wet and a hiking buddy has pulled on his poofy jacket and is lounging comfortably. Me? I've pulled on the last of my carefully selected lightweight layers, am still cold and am rumaging the bottom of my pack for the rain jacket.

Jealous, yeah, with an added self-dopeslap.

Cheers,

I wasn't talking about needing gear or endorsing a tent I saw a picture of. Just thought it an odd human thing to feel that twinge despite not needing something and not really liking the design of the specific thing. Apparently it is even odder than I suspected

Since I backpack almost entirely solo, with occasional trips with my wife, my opportunities for actual envy of another bp'er are mostly theoretical.

Just consider that if he's on a buying spree, he's most likely loading himself down with heavy and unnecessary gear and will probably regret a number of those purchases later.

I am waiting for him to send me his entire gear list. He has mentioned that his pack is very heavy so I am curious to see what he spent a lot of money on to be light and what he spent a lot of money on to be heavy.

Heh. And once he's done that, then you can point him to Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods," still the best primer on how not to plan and outfit a hiking trip.

Cheers,

There is a reason why envy is listed as one of the seven deadly sins. And if you are envious of someone elses "stuff", you are not enjoying where you are; you're not in the moment that's for sure. Now on the other hand, if you can learn something from someone elses gear kit that is a good thing.

I never read it, but my wife read "A walk in the woods" because she wanted to learn more about backpacking. After finishing the book, I asked her about it and she told me it seemed like the guy never really figured backpacking out.

Most surreal moment on a backpacking trip came about because of a UL BA tent I purchased. It is a 2.75 man (3man) tent that weighs 3lbs 3oz. Very comfortable 2 man tent (with dog). The 4 of us were standing around it right after I pitched it. We must have stared at it for 5 min while 2 of the guys said something like "what a cool tent", mainly because of how light it was. I remember it being kind of a trippy moment. Now there are things I don't like about the tent, but all in all I'm happy with it. But it's still just a tent.

There used to be a saying in surfing, that the best surfer in the water is the one having the most fun.

Oh, I have gear envy, there's no doubt about it.

I mean, it's not like I want a lot more stuff, but I do like cool stuff and I love good craftsmanship and design.

I really admire some of the tents out there. The simplicity of design and function of the Shire's stuff, and the more complex stuff as you get into bigger tents, with the cuts and poles to create a space. There's some cool engineering in all that. My own tent is hillybilly as can be, but I love that tent and I wouldn't use any other.

Same with trekking poles. The expensive, lighter ones are impressively light, but I like my stick.

Stoves can be a marvel of engineering and craftsmanship. I love looking at them and seeing all the work that's went into them. From the incredibly complex to the incredibly simple, I really do appreciate what goes into them. It's so easy for me to poke holes in a cat stove according to the instructions, but when you read about the process of finding the right size, spacing, and number of holes, you realize that even the simplest of them have had a lot of thought and trial and error to get them to that sweet spot.

I've never even seen a really high quality sleeping bag but I'm sure I could tell the difference between one of those and what I have, and appreciate it too. And yeah, I might give a little bit of thought to how nice it'd be to have one.

The only important trick, which we all here have mastered, is to be happy with what you have and grateful for the time to use it. I'm really pretty darn happy with my gear, so I'm not always easily convinced somethings better than mine, but I will come around if I'm shown why. The Sawyer Squeeze is an example of that. After being told about it here, and looking into it, I had to admit it's better than what I've been using, and now I do kind of want one

Well that makes me feel better. I wasn't sure if my English was so bad that no one could understand what I was saying or if most of the rest of these folks had ascended to a higher plane of existence where all humanity had been transcended.

There is joy to be found in contentment and there is joy to be found in desire. Sometimes there is joy in the balance of the two.

My gear envy is moderated by experience---buying new stuff that isn't any better than the old stuff, and sometimes doesn't work so well.

So no. We're pretty happy with what we have. And if somebody gave me $300 to spend on backpacking equipment...I honestly don't know what I would buy. More food maybe. You can never have too much food....

Until recently I would have easily agreed with that, but I think that Cheryl Strayed's "Wild" gives Bryson a real run for his money in terms of bonehead ignorant.

After seeing a friends titanium alcohol stove I had to buy one. Its one of the coolest new pieces of gear to collect dust on my shelf as I am not that happy with its performance where I use it. I prefer a butane stove.

I've been spared over the years by having the enviable gear.
Jim

I guess to be clear where I have been I should start this post with "Forgive me Father, for I have sinned". Rest assured LoneStranger, we're all human . And I'm a guy so anything with good craftmanship and design is great to check out. With backpacking, the biggest draws for me are the stoves. What's not to like; a source of fire and design combined into one package. But I'm not very materialistic though, so once I have something that works for me for the task I have in mind I don't think about it any more unless I am going over it before or after a trip. I think the dangerous period is when you are replacing gear or thinking of new gear for different kind of trips. Buying stuff is already on your mind and its easy to get carried away!

The closest thing I've had to gear envy is over the LightHeart Solo tent. Very clean design; I could tell right away that it would "work" for me! Got something else though and I've somewhat regretted that decision...very rare for me.

Didn't much think about it until you introduced the topic. On reflection, I truly pay no attention to anyone else's gear, except my wife's as we coordinate for trips. Even on the trail I don't pay much attention to her stuff.

The only thing I notice is if someone is using a hand-carved walking staff I like to check out the design because I love craftsmanship.

Professional envy is something I've dealt with off and on through the years; so it's odd that gear envy doesn't afflict me (I'm such a gear head personally), but then I hit the trail because of the relief from envy and other maladies that afflict....

I find as I get older I settle on things that work and pay less and less attention to new things on the market as well. If I'm in a groove and don't have specific complaints, I stop looking. 20 years ago I would comb the magazines and catalogs for the latest greatest and want to try everything.
Still open to change, but what other people have doesn't bother me - it wouldn't if I do not even notice. Sitting here musing, I cannot remember one piece of gear another trekker had on any trip, except a cool carving of a deer head on a walking staff carried by a lady. I draw a blank. Interesting....

A certain someone who shall go unnamed insisted he owned the greatest stove going, so I bought a version of it. About two years later, the company quit making the fuel canisters for it. Not his fault of course, but these things can happen. I've got a few other things I was sure I really needed and it turned out not to be the case, at least so far, so it helps to think things through before getting out your wallet.

However, I have some nice stuff (including my big parka in my picture) that I got cheap because someone else succumbed to temptation, so it works both ways.