I totally agree Phat, big difference between cheap and crap, some of which is far from cheap. I'm not against buying high end quality gear. That's what I own for the most part, but for example, if I was going to play tennis once just to see if I liked it, I wouldn't buy a $200 racket, I'd borrow one or get the cheapest one I could find. Second hand stores, eBay and Craigslist are full of things people bought and used once or so it seems. I got my winter parka that way. Paid half retail and it looked like it had never been worn. Same for my ski boots-looked like new and cost about 1/3 retail. Btw, I have seen far better bargains on Craigslist than eBay.

I totally forgot to add borrowing or renting as an alternative to buying. Find a friend with a pack in their closet and take that.

I rented a pack and snowshoes when I didn't have them, and rent skis and boots on the occasional time I go downhilling. I even rented snowshoes on my last trip because I discovered I needed them. I owned my own scuba gear when I was an instructor and used it all the time for work and fun, but when I traveled, I rented gear rather than haul my gear all over the place.

REI rents tents, packs, snowshoes, etc. at most of their stores.