Recently my wife mentioned that I spend too much money on backpacking gear. So I set out to prove her wrong, of course. But in the process of comparing my base kit from around 1990 to today, I found some interesting things.

Base weight in 1990 12lbs 9.5oz (Ultralight for the time)
Base weight in 2010 7lbs 3.5oz (still ultralight?)

Difference in weight 5lbs 6.0oz

The cost to save that 5 pounds; $472.00 or nearly $100.00/lb ($5.49/ounce which sounds much nicer) 2/3rds of that cost were for four major items, sleeping bag, pad, jacket, steripen. But I had thought this number would be lower. Little things add up though.

Kind of spendy when you look at it that way isn't it? So I think I will just tell her I spend less than $25.00 per year on average which sounds ultra cheap.

Think about it this way, you spent almost 500 bucks, but did so over 20 years...25 bucks a year on a hobby you love is peanuts. I'm not married, but I think plenty of the guys here who are have wives with a good deal more room to critique their spending. If I were married, I'd probably fall into that category - gearhead.

Kevin,

$472 over 20 years = $23.60 per year. Pretty darned cheap. I bet a family of 4 could not do a day at Disneyland for $472. Also, ask you wife how much money she has spent on shoes over the past 20 years. You might be surprised :)

Um, I must be doing something wrong.......and I just bought my first piece of cuben. Uh-oh.

"Also, ask you wife how much money she has spent on shoes over the past 20 years. You might be surprised :)"

that sounds like a recipe for disaster... hope in that $472 you have a solid sleeping pad...

Reading your post prompted me to look at the cost of my gear (although I only started hiking in 2004):

1. Cost of all gear purchased and kept -- $2,540

2. Cost of all gear purchased but didn't keep -- $5,905

3. Amount recouped from selling #2 - $5,995

Initial "Big 4" weight - 15.1 lbs.
Current "Big 4" weight - 5.9 lbs.

Edited by ben2world on 03/10/2011 21:58:27 MST.

Ben - Your "accountant" is showing...

Ben,

You are a capitalist pig!! You made a windfall profit. I hope you reported it on Schedule C.



Now we know why Ben retired at an early age :)

Actually programs like Quicken make this really, really easy if you set up your categories. I can tell you how much I spent on anything since 1991. Earlier stuff is in file cabinets, but printed only. The files on my Commodore 64 and Apple II were not compatible. Gotta love technology.

Shouldn't have implied my wife was complaining, it was all in jest. And actually my response was "less than you have spent in shoes". Also in Jest. I am still sleeping in the house.

But it just got me thinking and I wanted to take a look at what I have spent. Backpacking is not my only hobby just one of many. And it is something we have done as a family so everybody is happy.

Ha ha I make my own shoes so my Man can't use that against me! (Unless he knew how much it has cost me to learn how to make my own shoes :( )

I also started backpacking a little over 20 years ago. My baseweight was heavy at about 25+ lb. The big 3 were Dana Designs Terraplane (~6-7 lb), Sierra Designs Clip Flashlight (~4 lb), and Marmot Mistral 15 degree bag (~3 lb). However, that stuff lasted me for 15 years with no problems.

About 5 years ago, I gradually started converting to UL gear. My current big 3 are a poncho tarp and bivy, down quilt, and MLD burn. I'm really happy with my current setup- I just hope they give me as many years of enjoyment as my old stuff did.

+1 for the 2011 gear moratorium.

I am proudly into the 3rd day of my latest self imposed gear moratorium.
You guys just need to learn some self discipline.
Franco

$5 an ounce sounds about right to me. If I spend $10 to save one ounce, I'm happy with that ratio. What a disparity between the years, technology has come a ways.