I too am a kit junky. After reading this thread I've calculated that ALL my outdoor gear (including all clothing, tents, rucsacs etc) come to the sum of ~4.5K spent over a period of about 8-10 years. Thats getting on for around £500 a year on average.... really really not good.

Seeing as some of it may well last me a lifetime then I see some of it as a good investment but another thing it did was highlight the kit I don't tend to use! Not only the kit that needs replacing...

I think if I was to do it again I would conduct much more research and if there was a piece of kit that I bought 'because it was a bargain despite X' i wouldn't get again unless it was exactly what I was after. Kit with niggles tends to not get used therefore takes longer to wear out...

Been the kitaholic in the past but decided it must stop. Spent well over k5 in the last 8-10 years and some needed replacing.
Decided last year that lightweight was the way forward (not starting another provoking response here) so to buy new stuff I had to (wife told me) sell old stuff to fund it. Not enough space in her wardrobe for my stuff as well. So it went on ebay, ukclimbing and the money arrived one day and was spent the next.
But still looking at more kit even though I really don't need it.
I think its just that new items come out that you have to compare with each other and with the old items and make up your mind. I'm terrible going to outdoor shops, Cotswold at Llantrisant is near me and I spend nearly two hours just looking.
Wife won't come any more!
Just me and my card then (he he)

At the end of the day new kit just makes you feel that little bit more comfortable when you do stuff. I think the cowboys and Indians analogy is about right!

It is the experience that counts most. New kit very very rarely affects the experience IMHO, unless you couldn't do it without the equipment.
I find now I have more money but not the time to go play wheras before I had the time but no money!

It was an eye opener for me today to jot it all up. In my defence Ive taken up winter climbing, extended my summer rack and bought a tent in the past couple of years massively upping the amount spent but even so... I found it was the £20 here and the £20 there that really added up most. Not the big things- go on give it a go and surprise yourself!

I think we should question how much we spend. I'm going to make an admission here but most of my favourite gear is not the latest gadget highly rated in the mags or whatever. Its the kit i've had for years and nearly always take out in prference of other stuff. My battered buffalo special 6 and my macpac fanatic sack come under that category as does my needlesports windproof-thats never far away either! Not sexy kit but their still my favourites.

Mr Ed,I'm frightened to add it all up,still have the old stuff as being a good Yorkshireman I can't throw anything away if there's any life left in it.The old stuff might come in useful to wear when doing volunteer conservation work but I would have to volunteer for years before it was all used.

just bought a new wild country hoy tent!

i love it! ant wait to try it out n a couple of days!

kit kit kit i love kit!

I have to 'fess up here to having four tents...akto; tn quasar ultralite, mountain marathon and nallo gt.....why? I have no idea

but I bet everyone here who has time on their hands gets their kit out (oo er missus) and tries it on in the privacy of their own bedroom - Im always trying different combinations including dressing up in full winter kit complete with packed rucsac, and walking downstairs into a stunned silence (especially if there are visitors) in the front room....


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I do have alot of kit, well we have a kit room( which we are decorating appropiatley) and my climbing gear lives in the back porch hung up in a sort of open wardrobe when not in use, look nice.

But appart from the odd mistake everything I have gets well used and I get more exited about using a new bit of kit than buying it. I always say its not yours till you have used it.

I have kind of slowed down alot since theres not much else I need so now.

Does anyone have any old OS maps they dont want any more, you know the ones that have got too old ant tatty and have been eplaces with a nice shiney lamm map or multi map cos thats what I am after to decorate the kit room :-)

well no suprises here I think with the reasons and stories coming out

for myself currently:

7 tents (but trying to sell three...good boy)
2 pairs boots
3 rucksacks (small medium large)
2 stoves
4 sleep mats
4 sleeping bags
2 full sets waterproofs
various fleeces and softshells
etc

for me personally there are some key elements to kit buying and most have already been mentioned

- if I have the right kit for the right conditions it makes me feel confident. I can also remember when I first started out when i was thirteen, I had a lot of cheap and er...unflattering kit and when I saw others in good kit made me want to emulate them. When I started out I even used to tuck my trousers in my socks...(sigh)

- we all have a need to feel good about ourselves in some shape or form and owning nice kit makes us feel better (see above point)

- we enjoy the thrill of the purchase

- if you are like me, I make it a mini project and get very compulsive/obsessive with researching for my next purchase be it a water filter or a tent. I can literally take weeks to make a decision and even then agnonise over my final choice. I have once or twice bought the 1st and 2nd in my list just to be on the safe side :-)

- the looking at yourself in the mirror with the kit is perfectly normal. I have another major hobby - reenactment and this really does make you do the mirror thing to check out the kit. Its all normal relax..

- buying (and using) kit feeds our escapism on the hills. It facilitates our ability to go out and "do it" but at the same time it brings an element of the thought of our next journey into our day to day lives. How many others think about the next trip just after buying some kit when you are sat in the office have a 5 minute daydream?

I could go on but I wont ;-)

Basically it ok to buy and own lots of kit. Relatively speaking it not expensive vs say going on holiday or boozing every weekend or smoking 20 a day. Its gets us out and about. Keeps us fit and healthy and lets us engage with the best people in the world....ourselves!

How on earth do you manage with only 2 pairs of boots???

lol!

oh my god feel underdressed and totally inadequate now!

I must go out to my local outdoor shop tomorrow....

phew that was a close one Bat Girl!

hello, my name is chris and  . . . i still love kit!

dave, only 2 sets of waterproofs! you need at least 15 waterproof jackets and 6 waterproof trews. 3 rucksacks!!!....................................

i was being modest

Modest or denighing your problem?

As a bloke that hand makes and sells packs I very Pleased that people like buying kit (-:
With that I've got so many packs myself, Lots of old Macpac gear some 20 odd years old
A couple of Tents ,Bivy bag,Tarps,Some bought some hand made, New headlights and flashlights ,A jetboil and a Swedish army meths stove ( my favourite ) .
I can allways say I Need it for Work R&D and all that ,But Its Fun Having all this gear and I can lend it out to my mates.

If you lot want more kit, at quite reasonable prices, then bimble off to the classifieds; I've got some kit in need of a good home.

I'll flog some of my packs for the dosh and look for an excuse , the problem is the shipping to Israel where I live, the cost can be steep.