Has anyone deigned to go on a thru-hike after being sponsored by a gear company? I remember reading about the possibility way back, but I'm not sure how pragmatic it is to take the time to try to get free gear before a hike. I ended up tossing a lot of my old gear after hiking the Vermont Long Trail (and then some of the AT) over 76 days, so I figured it's worth researching whether or not anyone really does this to get cheaper or high quality backpacking gear. Thannnks!