All new gear for me too! I use my gear a lot and it is in various stages of delapitation. I am too practical and cheap to buy new gear until the old stuff totaly wears out. I certainly would replace gear more often. I think top of my list would be custom made gear that actually fits me - backpack, shoes and tent in particular. I kind of like the "sherpa" idea too! I do long trips and would love to be able to pay for commercial packer resupplies. Unlimited $$ would also mean that I wound not have to budget gas for trips thus expanding my radius of distance I consider when deciding where to go. And the ability to stay in a nice motel night before trip instead of campground would be nice too.
I would have Western Mountaineering make me a few custom sized sleeping bags, well after I tried on all of theirs and determined it was necessary. I would need a 20F one, a -25F one, a -40F one and maybe a 40F one. And, then a 0F for the wife. I would get a downmat 9 for me and one for the mrs. I would have McHale make me a pack for summer and one for winter, and one summer one for the wife. Maybe even a Kifaru UL for good measure. I would have custom shoes made for summer and some mukluks for winter. Titanium gigapower stove Titanium 700ml pot Titanium 32 oz bottle titanium spork, light my fire brand merino wool clothing all around. (I found 2 merino wool sweaters at the thrift store the other day, $5 each). A couple tarptents for different situations. A down jacket. Some winter clothes and gloves from Empire Canvas A blackbird hammock, and a bridge hammock. Some cuben tarps.
Well, this could go on.........
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I've taken a vow of poverty. To annoy me, send money.
I would have Western Mountaineering make me a few custom sized sleeping bags, well after I tried on all of theirs and determined it was necessary. I would need a 20F one, a -25F one, a -40F one and maybe a 40F one. And, then a 0F for the wife. I would get a downmat 9 for me and one for the mrs. I would have McHale make me a pack for summer and one for winter, and one summer one for the wife. Maybe even a Kifaru UL for good measure. I would have custom shoes made for summer and some mukluks for winter. Titanium gigapower stove Titanium 700ml pot Titanium 32 oz bottle titanium spork, light my fire brand merino wool clothing all around. (I found 2 merino wool sweaters at the thrift store the other day, $5 each). A couple tarptents for different situations. A down jacket. Some winter clothes and gloves from Empire Canvas A blackbird hammock, and a bridge hammock. Some cuben tarps.
Well, this could go on.........
I like the sound of your list!
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The wind wont howl if the wind don't break.
There are a lot of threads with this idea, how to do it cheaply. We did a less than $200 for a total outfit thread a while ago. I know verber has a lot of info on his own site about this. I am generally more interested in what to get with little money, because I am a scout master with lots of scouts. Kids are expensive before you hit camping equipment that they might break or outgrow.
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I've taken a vow of poverty. To annoy me, send money.
Have you ever considered having them make their own gear? (It's been too long - are there perhaps some other merit badges they could get simultaneously, for sewing, working with tools, etc.?)
Some possible projects include pop-can or cat-food-can alcohol stoves (using empty water bottles like Dasani, etc., for fuel storage, and aluminum flashing for windscreens), ponchos (assuming silnylon or coated nylon isn't hideously expensive), and even (at a higher skill level) frameless packs and tents. (Tarptent and Gossamer Gear used to give away patterns for a basic pack and tent on their websites.) Sleeping bags or quilts are a possiblity, but may well exceed the skill levels available.
Other low-cost options would include using chlorine dioxide tablets instead of filters, and lightweight stainless steel mixing bowl sets (from WalMart or similar; I had one years ago that cost $10, included nesting quart, pint, and cup bowls with plastic lids, and made a great mess kit.) Silnylon tarps are less expensive than tents; the green poly tarps from Walmart are cheaper yet (but a bit harder to use and subject to wear and tear.) Empty bottled water bottles are fine for, well, water bottles. A ziploc bag, some bandaids and moleskin, and a trip to the sample-size counters at the drug store give everyone a start at a first aid kit.
I'm sure others can offer other low-cost gear suggestions for the typical Scout use.
I want to make my own hammock and underquilt. Just haven't been able to shell out a little dough for the materials. If I don't make a mistake, the hammock would only cost 12-15 bucks plus shipping and handling for the materials. Plus I have the option to customize features. Underquilt on the other hand, would probably cost around 50-60 bucks depending on insulation materials, but I'm betting the error cost be higher. Someone on the hammock forum had a calculation on how much down to use and what the projected weight, temp rating, and stuff size would be. When you use synthetic, my biggest question is the stuff size..What if my volume end up being more than mine 15 degree sleep bag? lol. It could become an expensive learning curve.
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It is one of the blessings of wilderness life that it shows us how few things we need in order to be perfectly happy.-- Horace Kephart
Have you ever considered having them make their own gear? (It's been too long - are there perhaps some other merit badges they could get simultaneously, for sewing, working with tools, etc.?)
Some possible projects include pop-can or cat-food-can alcohol stoves (using empty water bottles like Dasani, etc., for fuel storage, and aluminum flashing for windscreens), ponchos (assuming silnylon or coated nylon isn't hideously expensive), and even (at a higher skill level) frameless packs and tents. (Tarptent and Gossamer Gear used to give away patterns for a basic pack and tent on their websites.) Sleeping bags or quilts are a possiblity, but may well exceed the skill levels available.
Other low-cost options would include using chlorine dioxide tablets instead of filters, and lightweight stainless steel mixing bowl sets (from WalMart or similar; I had one years ago that cost $10, included nesting quart, pint, and cup bowls with plastic lids, and made a great mess kit.) Silnylon tarps are less expensive than tents; the green poly tarps from Walmart are cheaper yet (but a bit harder to use and subject to wear and tear.) Empty bottled water bottles are fine for, well, water bottles. A ziploc bag, some bandaids and moleskin, and a trip to the sample-size counters at the drug store give everyone a start at a first aid kit.
I'm sure others can offer other low-cost gear suggestions for the typical Scout use.
As much as I can. BSA has a policy against alcohol stoves. The actual rule is sometimes hard to interpret, so I just stay away from it. I have had them make super cats, when I wasn't aware of the rule. However, I bought a jet boil for the troop, and a few of the scouts have their own jet boils. So, a stove isn't on the list for scouts to have to buy. Either are tents. I use troop funds to buy tents. I also bought a filter for the troop. You only need one filter for the troop. They take turns pumping. I have my own filter, so we do have a backup. It does make it a little lighter with the troop mentality. One kid carries the stove, one the pot, one the filter, one the canister, one the other canister....etc. I tell them to bring gatorade bottles, but usually buy one for each boy for the trip. The only thing that I really want them to spend money on is the bag. I can usually scrounge around for packs (borrowing from charter organization members...etc), plus I have a few that I bought with troop funds. A bunch have actually taken my advice of buying thrift store ones and replacing the hip belts with MOLLE belts, cheap and comfortable.
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I've taken a vow of poverty. To annoy me, send money.
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