I wouldn't mind making some DIY gear at all (in fact I imagine it would be quite fun), but I only want to use it if it works well. Example: I've been seeing a lot of mentions of homemade alcohol stoves recently, and I would love to save a few bucks and shave some weight. But . . . only if I wouldn't take a huge cut out of reliability and performance.

I think it all depends on how good of quality you can build. If you have some experience and make quality gear there's no reason why it would be any less durable than purchased equipment.

DIY can end up being a whole additional hobby(obsession?)

I've made almost all of my own equipment and saved a lot of weight, but the biggest draw for me is that I can personalize each piece of gear for size, weight, material or unusual design.

Equipment I've made and use regularly:
backpacks
tarps
hammocks
top quilts
underquilts
UL pillow
insulated vest
insulated sleeves
rain skirt
gravity water filter
alcohol stoves
cook pot

Jerry

Edited by JerryW on 07/11/2011 13:13:06 MDT.

I was tempted to buy an alcohol stove, but instead I dug in the recycling bin at work, printed up some Zenstoves templates, and went to town. If a woman with no upper body strength or tools beyond a box cutter and scissors can make alcohol can stoves, anyone can. I now couldn't imagine buying one. Granted, the "super cat" style is easier to make right than the pressurized variety.

With regard to stoves:

Under 3 season conditions and paired with an appropriately-sized pot and windscreen, it's hard to see how a Super Cat stove would be less reliable than any commercial stove (white gas, canister, or alky). Not sure what you mean by performance, but I've found little significant difference in boil times between my Super Cat and my canister stove, when the canister stove is throttled back for max. efficiency.

Plus, the Super Cat will cost you 50 cents and take about 15 minutes to make. If you don't like it, no big loss.

Here's a how-to vid:

http://www.andrewskurka.com/advice/technique/fancyfeaststove.php

To make a DIY unpressurized alcohol stove, all it takes is an empty Pepsi can and a Swiss Army knife. It doesn't even require a ruler.

Now, if you put a tiny bit of time into it, it will look nicer, but it doesn't burn much better.

--B.G.--

@DavidDrake
When I say performance, I guess I don't mean entirely for stoves. Maybe for other DIY gear like shelter or pack. Good point though that I can always ditch the stove without much of a loss if I don't like it.

Edited by g_raham on 07/11/2011 13:45:30 MDT.

There's DIY gear and there's DIY gear. It all depends on how well you make it. Some things - alky stoves, stuff sacks, pot cozies for instance - are really simple and can be made by almost anyone and work just fine. Other things are more complex and take more skill. Few people will come out with a really good homemade tent, and those few will have made several before the good one is done. Packs are easier than tents, frameless packs especially so, but still require some experience. Clothing can be hard or easy, depending on the type. Wind pants are a piece of cake but a down jacket with a hood is defintely not.
As someone who has been sewing my own gear for 35+ years, I have reached the point where I only make things If I cannot find what I want ready-made. Clothing other than shell pants I rarely make, since there is a lot of great stuff out there. Packs I do make, as I can't find anything that I like as well as the packs I make.
I wouldn't suggest you make your own gear in order to save money, unless you are just rolling in free time. Buying used gear is generally a better way to save money. Do it for the fun of it or to get something you just can't find ready-made.
But DIY gear can be better than ready-made if it is well designed and built, and may suit your needs better - or if it's a first try it can sometimes be headed for the wastebasket.

I make my own gear for 2 reasons:

Every piece of hiking/camping/backpacking gear I've ever owned I've found aspects that I maybe didn't love, or wished would have been made differently. I find this with almost 100% of consumer goods, at least the ones I haven't designed (I'm an engineer). For this reason I make my own, not because it's guaranteed to be 100% perfect and how I wanted it, but because when I find aspects I don't love, I know how I made it initially and therefore have a better idea of how to change or improve it.

Secondly, I just really enjoy being able to use something I designed and built in the hobbies I enjoy. This is definitely not limited to hiking/backpacking though, I like to design and make things for a number of my random hobbies. Seeing something I made in action, or having someone else on the trail remark about a piece of gear I made, is very rewarding to me.

As was said above, versus buying used gear, there might not be a huge opportunity for savings, sometimes the opposite if you screw up a couple iterations before getting it right, but the end result for me is for sure worth the money and the knowledge gained.

Alcohol, Esbit, and wood stoves don't require any fancy tooling or engineering, and then tend to be good MYOG items. I've made many alcohol stoves, and the Super Cat is one of the best, and that's impressive considering its simplicity and ease of construction.

Test the gear you make under real trail conditions. That's the only way to know if it will work for you. Of course, the same is true of any gear really. :)

Good and relatively easy stuff is

Alcohol stoves (cat can is the simplest)
24 oz Beercan cook setup (mine is a cut down Fosters can in a koolaid plastic container)

Tarps
Gathered end hammocks
Climashield Top quilts and Under quilts
Poncho/tarp
Stuff bags
Bivy sacks

Tyvek stuff