Hey, if you were really hard core you would eat the cat food yourself instead of tossing it. Never tried fried cat food, but I have friends who have eaten dog food. My youngest daughter would snitch food out of the dog food bowl until she was 2 years old! Puppy chow was her favorite.

I am a big fan of beginners borrowing gear until they decide if they want to get in to backpacking for the long run. I did that and when I bought my own gear, one item at a time as I earned enough money, I purchased top of the line, items that lasted 20 years for some items. In fact I still use my 1974 Kelty packframe.

But yes, great list. Nice to see something out there that is not basically an advertisement to buy, buy, buy overpriced brand name stuff.