Lord have mercy, backpacking gear is expensive!

[IkemanTX]

Trying to put together a 3-day family hiking/camping trip for next summer in Colorado. We have vacationed in the same area of the mountains for a few years now, and really fallen in love with the place. Last year the wife and I hiked a total of 55 miles in our week up there, but everything was a day trip, with a night back into the cabin. There are some areas we would really love to go see that are just too far for day hikes. But.... I haven’t had decent backcountry gear for almost a decade now. I forgot how dang expensive it all is.

It doesn’t help that we would have to up our game on sleeping bag quality/insulation due to 12,000 foot elevations and the unpredictable weather that comes along with that. Or that none of us have real backpacking packs anymore... or that the tent we have is a HEAVY son of a gun not made for backpacking.

I’m hoping I can get the wife convinced that investing in the gear is worth it, because I will end up with a backcountry hunting setup out of it if I can!

Items needed
3-sleeping bags (2-15°, and a 20° youth)
3-sleeping pads
Tent
3 backpacks (one of which is made for hunting)
A stove
Water purification
And another hydration bladder

You know... just everything.
Am I crazy?

 

[IkemanTX]

Also, if I can get her to love backpacking trips... we are definitely going to go crazy seeing all kinds of national parks and stuff. It would definitely be multi trip per year kind of thing.

 

[Sziggy2.0]

Water purification, stove and the bladder you can do pretty inexpensively. The back packs will be more expensive, and get the best you can afford for the sleeping set up and tent.
Getting your wife willing to go do this kind of outdoor adventures......priceless. Hope every penny turns out to be worth it.

 

[EricS]

For a person that spends a pile of money I can be cheap. Here’s the downside to your plan. If you are really worried about weather at 12k you’ll want a four season tent. If you are taking a kid and want the wife to be comfortable you will get at least a five man backpacking tent that you will not want to carry on solo backcountry hunts. For me since I want the wife and kid to enjoy themselves I’ll wind up packing most of the weight. Not a terrible thing since that means you can save some on their packs. Whatever cook system you use for the family probably won’t be used on a solo hunt. Now that said anything spent on getting the family outdoors is a good investment if it sees regular use. I would much rather spend money on family activities outdoors and use the same hunting gear for years to come. Also you are 100 percent correct that quality lightweight backpacking gear is super expensive. If you take good care of it you will get many good years of service from it. Except for the kids stuff. They will outgrow anything you buy them.

 

[Bdg848]

I'm planning my first western hunt for mule deer. Check out sportsman's guide. They had some pretty good prices. I saw some packs on there too.

 

[flinginairos]

Check out the 3F UL gear. That’s about the most inexpensive stuff you can get for lightweight backpacking. If you are taking the family and need one shelter to sleep everyone I would highly suggest a floor less tipi or mid type of shelter. The weight to space ratio is huge. I use a SeekOutside LBO in a couple different configurations and it can sleep 6 people easily in the base/tarp/base configuration and the best part is it breaks down into three pieces that weigh a pound which makes it easy to split between three people. As for a stove you can get small ones on amazon for $14 that work great. For a family outing I’d have two of them and two 32oz cups for boiling water for meals. The biggest expense is going to be bags and packs. Crazy how much it costs to live like a hobo in the woods


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[Scott F]

Check out Ray Jardine's website for some DIY fun.

 

[reggoh75]

A wise man once told me that gear has 3 qualities and you can only get 2 of the 3 so choose wisely...

Price - Durability - Weight

If it's durable and light it won't be cheap
If it's light and cheap it won't be durable
If it's cheap and durable it won't be light

Good luck!

 

[Wick]

REI has sales from time to time called Garage Sales or something like that where they sell scratch and dent items cheap. I have picked up some good gear there cheap.
Also checkout geartrade.com for sales on returned equipment and used equipment. That website is run by backcountry.com

 

[dalton916]

There was a ULA Ohm 2.0 for sale in the classifieds on here a while back. It’s a great pack. I have the same.

 

[swampsnyper]

Finally gonna make my 1st backpacking elk hunt this year. I’ve been collecting gear for 3 years catching sales so it all wouldn’t hit me at once. We went on a 3 day scouting trip a couple weeks ago at around 11600ft. I used a hammock and my buddy had a floorless tent. A floorless tent is definitely a weight saver for multi person shelter. Hammocks are good to split the packable weight and a lot more comfortable than the ground.

Snow and mosquitoes are 2 things I never thought I would encounter at the same time.

That’s not birds in the background. Mosquitoes were bad and I grew up in south La. But they weren’t as aggressive as the ones back home and after dark when the temps cooled, they went away.

I have hammocks for everyone in my family. They don’t cost much. The insulation is where the money is. My wife would be up for the hiking but wants to sleep inside at night. Lol

I made a fancy feast alcohol stove (search YouTube) that I used up there. Cheap and packable. Works for me.
I have a badlands water bladder. I much rather it than my platapus. I also made this gravity fed filtration system. It works great. The big mouth opening works well in even the shallowest puddle. Better than trying to get water in a Sawyer water squeeze bag with the small bottle spout hole.

Boots, backpack, and insulation was my biggest investments.

 

[IkemanTX]

For a person that spends a pile of money I can be cheap. Here’s the downside to your plan. If you are really worried about weather at 12k you’ll want a four season tent. If you are taking a kid and want the wife to be comfortable you will get at least a five man backpacking tent that you will not want to carry on solo backcountry hunts. For me since I want the wife and kid to enjoy themselves I’ll wind up packing most of the weight. Not a terrible thing since that means you can save some on their packs. Whatever cook system you use for the family probably won’t be used on a solo hunt. Now that said anything spent on getting the family outdoors is a good investment if it sees regular use. I would much rather spend money on family activities outdoors and use the same hunting gear for years to come. Also you are 100 percent correct that quality lightweight backpacking gear is super expensive. If you take good care of it you will get many good years of service from it. Except for the kids stuff. They will outgrow anything you buy them.

What I am looking at right now, is packing in a second tent for our son (which we already have). It is a decent 3-person tent, but definitely not backpacking weight. I will carry the heavier tent, and they can split up the lighter new one if necessary for weight. The new tent purchase would be a 2-person tent functional specifically for backcountry hunts. Nemo and first lite teamed up recently and have some decent looking backpack hunting tents out, as well as hilleberg has some very durable tents light enough to consider for backpacking. (Not the lightest, of course, but good for a rugged 4-season)

Check out the 3F UL gear. That’s about the most inexpensive stuff you can get for lightweight backpacking. If you are taking the family and need one shelter to sleep everyone I would highly suggest a floor less tipi or mid type of shelter. The weight to space ratio is huge. I use a SeekOutside LBO in a couple different configurations and it can sleep 6 people easily in the base/tarp/base configuration and the best part is it breaks down into three pieces that weigh a pound which makes it easy to split between three people. As for a stove you can get small ones on amazon for $14 that work great. For a family outing I’d have two of them and two 32oz cups for boiling water for meals. The biggest expense is going to be bags and packs. Crazy how much it costs to live like a hobo in the woods

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Definitely carrying 2 stoves. Decent ones are inexpensive, light, and fit easily inside the 32oz cups (including fuel canister) for portability. I don’t think I’m going to try going down the floor-less shelter direction just yet. It gives my wife the heeby-jeebies, so she resoundingly nixed it. Anywhere near us that we camp will be in heavy tick, spider, and snake country.. and the wall/floor connection giver her peace of mind.

REI has sales from time to time called Garage Sales or something like that where they sell scratch and dent items cheap. I have picked up some good gear there cheap.
Also checkout geartrade.com for sales on returned equipment and used equipment. That website is run by backcountry.com

We are stalking the REI garage sale for sure. Also waiting until they send out their awesome 20% single item discounts for anything Co-Op brand we plan to buy.

 

[IkemanTX]

Finally gonna make my 1st backpacking elk hunt this year. I’ve been collecting gear for 3 years catching sales so it all wouldn’t hit me at once. We went on a 3 day scouting trip a couple weeks ago at around 11600ft. I used a hammock and my buddy had a floorless tent. A floorless tent is definitely a weight saver for multi person shelter. Hammocks are good to split the packable weight and a lot more comfortable than the ground.

Snow and mosquitoes are 2 things I never thought I would encounter at the same time.

That’s not birds in the background. Mosquitoes were bad and I grew up in south La. But they weren’t as aggressive as the ones back home and after dark when the temps cooled, they went away.

I have hammocks for everyone in my family. They don’t cost much. The insulation is where the money is. My wife would be up for the hiking but wants to sleep inside at night. Lol

I made a fancy feast alcohol stove (search YouTube) that I used up there. Cheap and packable. Works for me.
I have a badlands water bladder. I much rather it than my platapus. I also made this gravity fed filtration system. It works great. The big mouth opening works well in even the shallowest puddle. Better than trying to get water in a Sawyer water squeeze bag with the small bottle spout hole.

Boots, backpack, and insulation was my biggest investments.

I may eventually transition over to a hammock at some point, but a lot of the areas we hike (and I would like to hunt) have had massive pine bark beetle kills. Much of the area is 98%+ killed off at this point. I could always just camp exclusively near aspens, but I’d much rather camp at the right spot regardless of having trees to hang from or not.

 

[EricS]

I tried several of the diy alcohol stoves. They barely got water boiling in Georgia during the summer. A good windscreen makes a big difference. I took an alcohol stove but used the jetboil almost exclusively on my backpack hunt.
As far as tents go I really want to love hammocks. I may give them a shot before it’s over with but it has to be a comfort based decision. Once you get your tarp, overquilt, and underquilt figured into the weight you really haven’t saved much if any weight or bulk.

 

[flinginairos]

What I am looking at right now, is packing in a second tent for our son (which we already have). It is a decent 3-person tent, but definitely not backpacking weight. I will carry the heavier tent, and they can split up the lighter new one if necessary for weight. The new tent purchase would be a 2-person tent functional specifically for backcountry hunts. Nemo and first lite teamed up recently and have some decent looking backpack hunting tents out, as well as hilleberg has some very durable tents light enough to consider for backpacking. (Not the lightest, of course, but good for a rugged 4-season)



Definitely carrying 2 stoves. Decent ones are inexpensive, light, and fit easily inside the 32oz cups (including fuel canister) for portability. I don’t think I’m going to try going down the floor-less shelter direction just yet. It gives my wife the heeby-jeebies, so she resoundingly nixed it. Anywhere near us that we camp will be in heavy tick, spider, and snake country.. and the wall/floor connection giver her peace of mind.



We are stalking the REI garage sale for sure. Also waiting until they send out their awesome 20% single item discounts for anything Co-Op brand we plan to buy.

Yeah, I can see that. In certain areas it wouldn't be ideal. I absolutely love the floorless (and my wife does too) but in some cases i'd rather have a floor. That's why I bought a half nest for mine and that helps a ton if there are bugs. Out west the floorless was perfect for us and the low humidity gave us no condensation issues which was really nice lol. I can't see myself ever doing the hammock thing, i've been in lots of places where it would be a struggle to find a place for one. But I guess the same could be said for a tent at times too.

 

[IkemanTX]

I would eventually like a small ultralight hammock setup for mild weather around here. I could see myself hiking or kayaking into several properties in Texas or Oklahoma and camping incognito way back there to more effectively hit the area.

Our finances are finally getting to the point of being able to start accumulating some gear, and I am determined to make sure it is quality, functional stuff. No more “making it work” or cheeping our on gear that won’t last or do the job right.

Another thing we have heavily discussed for the future is possibly a rooftop tent, or off-road overlanding style trailer. So, we may end up with all kinds of camping gear over the next 10 years.
As much as she has enjoyed the hiking the last few years, I think I can win her over so long as I make sure her gear keeps her comfortable. Warm bag, comfy pad, ample space in the tent, quality backpack... if I nail those, she should be able to handle anything.

 

[flinginairos]

I tried several of the diy alcohol stoves. They barely got water boiling in Georgia during the summer. A good windscreen makes a big difference. I took an alcohol stove but used the jetboil almost exclusively on my backpack hunt.
As far as tents go I really want to love hammocks. I may give them a shot before it’s over with but it has to be a comfort based decision. Once you get your tarp, overquilt, and underquilt figured into the weight you really haven’t saved much if any weight or bulk.

I was gonna suggest against the alcohol stove as well. There's nothing worse than waiting FOREVER for water to boil when you want to eat after a long day of hiking/hunting. My SOTO Windmaster will boil water in about a minute and weighs dang near nothing.

 

[IkemanTX]

I was gonna suggest against the alcohol stove as well. There's nothing worse than waiting FOREVER for water to boil when you want to eat after a long day of hiking/hunting. My SOTO Windmaster will boil water in about a minute and weighs dang near nothing.

Heck, even the cheap pocket rocket stoves boil water super fast!
The mentioning of a wind screen was a great idea as well. I currently have a light/inexpensive aluminum fold out wind screen for the one stove I already have, and would definitely pick up a second for the second stove.

With 3 of us, I really think a second stove is an absolute must since enough water for 2 full 2-serving dehydrated meals won’t fit well on a single stove, and would take absolutely forever to boil. As light as they are, I don’t think we will struggle adding a second cook set (1.8lbs) between the 3 of us.

I have already cooked several 220gram fuel canisters worth of fuel on the cheap stove I have now, and it is more than adequate to cover 1/2 our cooking needs.

 

[fawnzy]

Don’t forget this

https://monowalker.com/?lang=en


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[IkemanTX]

Don’t forget this

https://monowalker.com/?lang=en


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Holy cow, I’d get loaded down with too much stuff with that!!