By Michael Lanza
My first tent cost about 75 bucks. It was a bit heavy and bulky for backpacking. I called it the Wind Sock because it snapped loudly in the slightest breeze, and its poles bowed disturbingly in moderate gusts. (I learned to choose protected campsites.) But at a time when I could not afford good gear and was developing a passion for hiking, backpacking, and climbing, it sheltered me for about 150 nights in the backcountry and in campgrounds. It ultimately cost me about 50 cents a night.
When I started dayhiking and backpacking, I needed gear and clothing that was cheap. And you usually get what you pay for. But I’ve learned the strategies for getting decent or even very good gear cheaply over four decades of backpacking and hiking—including the 10 years I spent as a field editor and lead gear reviewer for Backpacker magazine and even longer running this blog.
Hi, I’m Michael Lanza, creator of The Big Outside. Click here to sign up for my FREE email newsletter. Join The Big Outside to get full access to all of my blog’s stories. Click here for my e-books to classic backpacking trips. Click here to learn how I can help you plan your next trip.
Todd Arndt backpacking the John Muir Trail above Thousand Island Lake in the Ansel Adams Wilderness. Click photo to read about thru-hiking the JMT.
If you’re much shorter on cash than on eagerness to get outdoors—or you just prefer paying less for your gear so you can afford more of it or better stuff—these tips will help you get out there without emptying your checking account. Like many stories at The Big Outside, this one is partially free for anyone to read, but reading all of the tips below is an exclusive benefit of a paid subscription to The Big Outside.
You can begin finding excellent bargains—and help support my work on this blog—by making gear purchases through the affiliate links in this story and any other stories and gear reviews at The Big Outside. Thanks for your support.
If you have comments or questions for me, or tips of your own to suggest, please share them in the comments section below this story. I try to respond to all comments.
My son, Nate, backpacking west from Porcupine Pass on the Uinta Highline Trail, High Uintas Wilderness, Utah. Click photo to read all stories about backpacking in the High Uintas at The Big Outside.
Anyone shopping for new gear or apparel would be wise to begin by visiting sites like backcountry.com, cotopaxi.com, the REI outlet store, and campsaver.com. This is the best way to score higher-quality gear and apparel from top brands for bargain prices. These sites offer deep discounts on product that has perhaps been discontinued—replaced in a company’s line by something similar, newer, and improved, or simply in a color that sells better. This discounted stuff went on sale new at higher prices just months earlier—it’s current technology, not ancient crap.
If you’re looking for a specific product, you may not find it; and sizes available are sometimes limited. But if you’re on a more general quest for a rain jacket, a backpack, or something else, you may well find something of high quality at a price you can afford.
NOTE: In most blog posts and pages at The Big Outside, including the Gear Reviews page, I share links to some of the best gear bargains on the Web, where you can find deep discounts on good-quality gear.
Plan your next great backpacking adventure in Yosemite
Todd Arndt backpacking the Teton Crest Trail. Click photo to see all stories about backpacking the Teton Crest Trail at The Big Outside.
Consumers spend top dollar when they buy impetuously or wait until the last second, when they absolutely need something. Most of the time, product prices are set at full retail.
But several times during the year—usually spring, late summer, and the holidays, plus clearance sales in fall and late winter—websites and brick-and-mortar stores offer major sales with product as much as half off the usual price.
Wait for seasonal sales at sites like backcountry.com and rei.com. Follow these sites through the social media you use.
Todd Arndt backpacking the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne in Yosemite. Click photo to learn how I can help you plan a trip in Yosemite or elsewhere.
Visit the websites of brands you like and you may see an offer of a discount code worth something on the order of 10 to 20 percent off full price simply for joining their email list. Go right now to ospreypacks.com, patagonia.com, blackdiamondequipment.com, outdoorresearch.com, featheredfriends.com, hyperlitemountaingear.com, msrgear.com, seatosummitusa.com, beyondclothing.com, mysteryranch.com, himali.com, and hellyhansen.com and join their email lists. These offers may pop up only at certain times of year, or maybe after you’ve clicked at least one internal link, or only once you move your cursor toward the URL bar.
Sign up for their email list. You get something that you wanted at a lower price, and you will be among the first to hear about new products and future sales from a brand you already like. What’s not to like?
Backpackers on the Piegan Pass Trail in Glacier National Park. Click photo to see “The 10 Best National Park Backpacking Trips.”
When my teenage son said he wanted to upgrade from the old whitewater kayak that he had received on semi-permanent loan from a friend of ours, I told him we could split the cost and he should start aggressively shopping around for a good used boat. He found a nearly new Jackson kayak for half its usual retail price on Craig’s List. He put in numerous days on rivers over a few years, grew out of that boat, and then sold it for nearly what he originally paid for it—and used that money to cover most of the cost of the newer (but still used) next boat he bought.
Cruise Facebook Marketplace, eBay and Craig’s List for used gear. Look into whether there’s a used-gear exchange near where you live. Some local outdoor-gear stores may hold used-gear sales or garage sales, where people can bring stuff they want to sell cheap.
Some REI stores host garage sales occasionally for members; go to rei.com/promotions/garage-sale. Local and regional hiking and outdoor clubs may do the same thing. Check the websites of some favorite brands for whether they have anything similar to Patagonia’s Worn Well program, where you can buy—and trade in—used Patagonia gear.
It can take time and you should jump on any good deal as soon as you see it, or someone else will beat you to it. But many people buy gear they think they’ll use, and end up selling it months later after hardly using it. Plus, you even get to inspect it before buying if the seller is local.
There are actually few better ways to get good gear cheap—if you’re willing to put time and effort into the search.
David Ports on the Grand Canyon’s South Kaibab Trail during a rim-to-rim dayhike. Click photo to read about hiking rim-to-rim.
See all hiking gear reviews and backpacking gear reviews at The Big Outside. And don’t miss my popular reviews of “25 Essential Backpacking Gear Accessories” and “The Best Backpacking Gear” of the year or all stories with expert backpacking tips at The Big Outside.
NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See categorized menus of all of my reviews at my Gear Reviews page.
My first tent cost about 75 bucks. It was a bit heavy and bulky for backpacking. I called it the Wind Sock because it snapped loudly in the slightest breeze, and its poles bowed disturbingly in moderate gusts. (I learned to choose protected campsites.) But at a time when I could not afford good gear and was developing a passion for hiking, backpacking, and climbing, it sheltered me for about 150 nights in the backcountry and in campgrounds. It ultimately cost me about 50 cents a night.
When I started dayhiking and backpacking, I needed gear and clothing that was cheap. And you usually get what you pay for. But I’ve learned the strategies for getting decent or even very good gear cheaply over four decades of backpacking and hiking—including the 10 years I spent as a field editor and lead gear reviewer for Backpacker magazine and even longer running this blog.
Todd Arndt backpacking the John Muir Trail above Thousand Island Lake in the Ansel Adams Wilderness. Click photo to read about thru-hiking the JMT.
If you’re much shorter on cash than on eagerness to get outdoors—or you just prefer paying less for your gear so you can afford more of it or better stuff—these tips will help you get out there without emptying your checking account. Like many stories at The Big Outside, this one is partially free for anyone to read, but reading all of the tips below is an exclusive benefit of a paid subscription to The Big Outside.
You can begin finding excellent bargains—and help support my work on this blog—by making gear purchases through the affiliate links in this story and any other stories and gear reviews at The Big Outside. Thanks for your support.
If you have comments or questions for me, or tips of your own to suggest, please share them in the comments section below this story. I try to respond to all comments.
My son, Nate, backpacking west from Porcupine Pass on the Uinta Highline Trail, High Uintas Wilderness, Utah. Click photo to read all stories about backpacking in the High Uintas at The Big Outside.
No. 1 Shop Discount Online Sites
Anyone shopping for new gear or apparel would be wise to begin by visiting sites like backcountry.com, cotopaxi.com, the REI outlet store, and campsaver.com. This is the best way to score higher-quality gear and apparel from top brands for bargain prices. These sites offer deep discounts on product that has perhaps been discontinued—replaced in a company’s line by something similar, newer, and improved, or simply in a color that sells better. This discounted stuff went on sale new at higher prices just months earlier—it’s current technology, not ancient crap.
If you’re looking for a specific product, you may not find it; and sizes available are sometimes limited. But if you’re on a more general quest for a rain jacket, a backpack, or something else, you may well find something of high quality at a price you can afford.
NOTE: In most blog posts and pages at The Big Outside, including the Gear Reviews page, I share links to some of the best gear bargains on the Web, where you can find deep discounts on good-quality gear.
Plan your next great backpacking adventure in Yosemite
and other flagship parks using my expert e-books.
Todd Arndt backpacking the Teton Crest Trail. Click photo to see all stories about backpacking the Teton Crest Trail at The Big Outside.
No. 2 Wait For Sales
Consumers spend top dollar when they buy impetuously or wait until the last second, when they absolutely need something. Most of the time, product prices are set at full retail.
But several times during the year—usually spring, late summer, and the holidays, plus clearance sales in fall and late winter—websites and brick-and-mortar stores offer major sales with product as much as half off the usual price.
Wait for seasonal sales at sites like backcountry.com and rei.com. Follow these sites through the social media you use.
Like what you’re reading? Sign up now for my FREE email newsletter!
Todd Arndt backpacking the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne in Yosemite. Click photo to learn how I can help you plan a trip in Yosemite or elsewhere.
No. 3 Join Email Lists of Your Favorite Brands
Visit the websites of brands you like and you may see an offer of a discount code worth something on the order of 10 to 20 percent off full price simply for joining their email list. Go right now to ospreypacks.com, patagonia.com, blackdiamondequipment.com, outdoorresearch.com, featheredfriends.com, hyperlitemountaingear.com, msrgear.com, seatosummitusa.com, beyondclothing.com, mysteryranch.com, himali.com, and hellyhansen.com and join their email lists. These offers may pop up only at certain times of year, or maybe after you’ve clicked at least one internal link, or only once you move your cursor toward the URL bar.
Sign up for their email list. You get something that you wanted at a lower price, and you will be among the first to hear about new products and future sales from a brand you already like. What’s not to like?
Read all of this story and ALL stories at The Big Outside,
plus get a FREE e-book! Join now!
plus get a FREE e-book! Join now!
Backpackers on the Piegan Pass Trail in Glacier National Park. Click photo to see “The 10 Best National Park Backpacking Trips.”
No. 4 Buy Used Gear
When my teenage son said he wanted to upgrade from the old whitewater kayak that he had received on semi-permanent loan from a friend of ours, I told him we could split the cost and he should start aggressively shopping around for a good used boat. He found a nearly new Jackson kayak for half its usual retail price on Craig’s List. He put in numerous days on rivers over a few years, grew out of that boat, and then sold it for nearly what he originally paid for it—and used that money to cover most of the cost of the newer (but still used) next boat he bought.
Cruise Facebook Marketplace, eBay and Craig’s List for used gear. Look into whether there’s a used-gear exchange near where you live. Some local outdoor-gear stores may hold used-gear sales or garage sales, where people can bring stuff they want to sell cheap.
Some REI stores host garage sales occasionally for members; go to rei.com/promotions/garage-sale. Local and regional hiking and outdoor clubs may do the same thing. Check the websites of some favorite brands for whether they have anything similar to Patagonia’s Worn Well program, where you can buy—and trade in—used Patagonia gear.
It can take time and you should jump on any good deal as soon as you see it, or someone else will beat you to it. But many people buy gear they think they’ll use, and end up selling it months later after hardly using it. Plus, you even get to inspect it before buying if the seller is local.
There are actually few better ways to get good gear cheap—if you’re willing to put time and effort into the search.
Get my expert help planning your backpacking trip and 33% off a one-year subscription.
Click here now to buy a Premium subscription to The Big Outside!
Click here now to buy a Premium subscription to The Big Outside!
David Ports on the Grand Canyon’s South Kaibab Trail during a rim-to-rim dayhike. Click photo to read about hiking rim-to-rim.
See all hiking gear reviews and backpacking gear reviews at The Big Outside. And don’t miss my popular reviews of “25 Essential Backpacking Gear Accessories” and “The Best Backpacking Gear” of the year or all stories with expert backpacking tips at The Big Outside.
NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See categorized menus of all of my reviews at my Gear Reviews page.
You live for the outdoors. The Big Outside helps you get out there.
Join now to read ALL stories and get a free e-book!
Join now to read ALL stories and get a free e-book!