Beginner's guide to saving money on outdoor gear

Outdoor gear is effing expensive. There&#;s almost no getting around it. Well, almost. Fear not, my fellow sticker-shocked outdoors beginners &#; there are ways to save some cash while gearing up.

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First, a word on getting ALL THE STUFF

If you want to go on a hike for an hour or two, you do need to be prepared. You do not need Fancy Shmancy Gear. Do your homework on what the trail is like, bring some water, don&#;t wear flip-flops, be careful. But other than that, you probably already have everything you need to go hiking. I hike with my normal, non-hiking backpack all the time. I wear cotton t-shirts hiking and it doesn&#;t kill me.

There are other outdoor activities where it&#;s a little harder to get by without gear, like camping. So if you&#;ve decided you do need some gear, but don&#;t want to break the bank, you have options besides buying everything new (obviously the most expensive way to do it).

Deciding when to splurge and when to save

Always *try* the cheaper brand. More generic brands like REI&#;s Co-op brand continue to get better and better, and REI most often has sales and coupons for its own brand. I have their knock-off of the Patagonia Nanopuff and see no difference between it and my husband&#;s actual Patagonia. My running shirts from Target are my favorite ones, and I paid $12 for each of them.

Decide what features are non-negotiable to you. Patagonia and SmartWool will always have cooler colors and designs and more features. There will always be a fancier model. But if you aren&#;t camping in extreme conditions, or doing a higher-risk activity like rock climbing, you can probably get by with a less expensive brand.

One argument for a name brand is that they can last longer, so they can become more cost-effective over time.

For example, Darn Tough socks are double the price of REI&#;s brand. But I wear them all the time, and after six years of use they are still in excellent condition, so I haven&#;t bought hiking socks in six years.

On the other hand, my husband went for the way-cheaper REI sleeping pad for an upcoming backpacking trip because he&#;s just dipping his toe in the backpacking waters.

If you&#;ve tried the less expensive brand and it doesn&#;t fit as well, doesn&#;t have features you&#;ve decided are non-negotiable, or if reviews clearly show it&#;s not as long-lasting, it can be time to splurge. And, if you&#;re in time crunch and can&#;t wait for a sale, you may have to pony up.

BUT if you can play the long game, you may not have to pay full price.

Buy last year&#;s model

Trail running shoes are a splurge for me. I have found the ones I like, and I only run in those (Brooks Cascadia if you&#;re curious). I bought a pair for full price at the beginning of the year, but I also know that I will only run in these shoes for the foreseeable future. So I check for sales regularly.

Low and behold, Brooks has come out with the Cascadia 15 and is now dumping all the 14s. I love the 14s, so I kept watching the price until I saw them at REI for 50% off this month. I don&#;t need another pair yet, but it&#;s rare to find this good of a deal, so I snag them and they can live in my basement until I need them. (I personally haven&#;t experience a degradation in materials like some shoe snobs claim happens over time.)

Wait for sales and discounts

I know everyone needs another newsletter like they need a hole in the head, but it&#;s a great way to get free shipping and first dibs on sales items.

Retroactive price checks

Even if you&#;ve already bought your item, keep an eye on what goes on sale. If something you bought goes on sales within 14 days, you can get a refund at REI for the price difference. I&#;ve retroactively saved between 20-30% on items I paid full price for just by flipping through the sale catalog that came to my house. Other brands may have similar policies.

Online flash sales

For those of you that have a penchant for flash deals, I highly recommend you check out Steep and Cheap. It&#;s a flash sale site specifically for outdoor gear. Unlike many mainstream flash sale sites (I&#;m looking at you, Zulily), you can return any product you get on Steep and Cheap within 30 days, no questions asked.

Places that aren&#;t REI

Backcountry is an online site that has full price gear, but also has great sales. They also have a pretty robust influencer marketing program, so almost any ~outdoor influencer~ on Instagram will have a discount code for your first purchase (my personal favorite is @themirnavator).

MooseJaw is another online option with killer sales.

Buy second-hand or used gear

This option has the added benefit of being earth-friendly since you are recycling and reusing gear! It&#;s most helpful if you know exactly what you&#;re looking for, otherwise it can get a little overwhelming to peruse shops and online forums.

Local shops

Right now it&#;s harder to shop in person thanks to coronavirus. There&#;s a local shop in Denver called Wilderness Exchange that I highly recommend for normal times (I&#;m personally not comfortable shopping indoors at the time of writing this, so I can&#;t in good faith tell you to do that).

A quick Google search can tell you whether you have a used gear shop near you, and many shops have pivoted to online sales to make it through coronavirus.

Navigating the Interwebs

The Internet has made it infinitely easier to find used gear. Poshmark (for clothes), Facebook, and good ol&#; Ebay and Craigs List can be treasure troves of used gear.

Facebook Groups and Marketplace

Groups such as Patagonia B/S/T on Facebook are helpful to peruse regularly even if you don&#;t have your eye on something specific. You can also search the group for an item you want. I bought a hat there for Baby OB that was in great condition and was half price!

I also see posts all the time for giveaways/used gear in my local moms group and the huge trail running women group I&#;m part of. You can also find new gear at a discount. A lot of people would rather resell something online then deal with the rigamarole of returns. I don&#;t personally understand this, but I will happily benefit from it. Don&#;t forget to search Facebook Marketplace, too!

Instagram Consignment

I also recently found @isellaoutdoor consigment on Instagram. Isella is specifically working to combat this toxic culture of &#;have all the nicest best new things or get made fun of,&#; which I LOVE. They are based in Washington state but will ship anywhere in the U.S. All buyers and sellers are welcome!

REI Used Gear

REI recently created a used gear site where you can find second-hand camping and hiking gear, along with clothes and shoes. By the time you add shipping, sometimes the deals aren&#;t all that great compared to what you can get a new item on sale for. But if buying secondhand is really important to you values-wise, this is another option.

Kids Gear

WildKind is a new, membership-based website for information about getting outside with kids. I think their $70/year membership is fairly priced for the library of information you get, but you also get discount codes for gear. WildKind also offers scholarships for free memberships if you&#;re unable to pay for one.

They also are launching WildKind closet, which is a free gear loaner library. Outdoor Beginners with kiddos can find out more here.

Is an REI Membership worth it?

If you&#;re already shopping a lot at REI, it can be worth it to become a member. It&#;s $20 for your lifetime, and you do make that back very easily in your annual dividend.

However, there are a lot of exemptions, so I don&#;t think it&#;s quite as necessary as I used to. For example, you don&#;t earn a dividend for anything on sale. And I buy 90% of my stuff on sale, so in the last few years my dividend has been less than $10. There&#;s also exemptions for a lot of expensive items, so my splurges (like a running stroller and a new North Face jacket) didn&#;t count toward the dividend either.

That said, you get more codes for sales as a member, so it probably evens out.

You also get discounts on gear rentals, ski and bike repair, and REI trips and training classes. The benefit of this also depends on your local resources. In Denver, there are tons of local shops with gear rentals often half the price of REI (or at least cheaper than the member discount). That hasn&#;t been the case with bike repairs and cleaning, so I have benefited from that discount.

One member-specific benefit is the REI Garage Sale, which is currently suspended due to COVID-19.

But for normal times, everything at the garage sale has been used and returned, so it&#;s all heavily discounted. The key is going with specific items in mind and getting there early. The sale is just a giant room of stuff that&#;s loosely organized by category, so it&#;s easy to get distracted or overwhelmed. However, this is an investment in your time that you may just not be able (or willing) to make.

How to get cash back on full-price purchases

If you&#;re going to be paying full price, consider an Active Junky account, which is a free way to earn cash back on your purchase. They have hundreds of partners, including Cabela&#;s, REI, Nike, and a bunch of other big brands. The percentage you get back varies with the brand, but since it&#;s completely free there&#;s no reason not to try it out. There are no hidden fees and it&#;s free forever!

The Bottom Line

Even generic brands aren&#;t all that cheap. Outdoor gear involves an investment, but fortunately more options are emerging for used and loaner gear. Even if you aren&#;t investing as much money, time is involved in watching for deals and discounts. There&#;s no way around it.

Get out there in what you have. You can wear jeans hiking if you want to. You can wear whatever you have in your closet for a few hours (or less), no matter what Instagram says. Rent what you don&#;t have instead of buying everything new. Just get out there and try it!

Even though camping in a tent is one of the cheapest forms of holidays , costs may still blow the budget, particularly if you are starting out.

We've listed all of our budget camping ideas and tips in this one place. These tips are long, but bear with them, there's nothing here they don't need to be here.

So, whether your camping days are just beginning, or are in full swing, there are plenty of savings to be made in our tips for camping on a budget.

Pre-Planning

Before you go camping:

1: Develop a camping spending plan

Develop a spending plan of all of the things you need or want to buy for camping and prioritise each item. Armed with this list, you are less likely to be tempted by the latest gadget to catch your eye, and you can sit back and patiently wait for the store discounts.

2. Develop a packing checklist

A complete packing checklist is essential for budget camping in ensuring nothing important is left behind, forcing you to either go without or pay top price at a local store for something you really don&#;t need to double up on. This includes first aid items, recipe ingredients, clothing, footwear and tools..

3: Plan and prepare for a camping trip

Planning, or lack thereof, is another area which can make a big difference to your costs when you are camping on a budget. Establish a checklist to help you prepare for camping, including advanced research of your location to be ready for the expected conditions and to take advantage of the activities and opportunities on offer.

You will also be properly equipped to avoid the need to outlay money on items for a particular activity that you already have at home, such as fishing rods, wet or hot weather gear and sporting gear.

4: Choose lower cost or free campsites

There are numerous websites out there that can help you to find a campsite in the low-cost or free price bracket. Alternatively, premium campgrounds are also more competitively priced away from peak holiday periods.

Your Camping Setup

When building up your camping setup:

5: Stick to the basics

Camping is a pretty big business nowadays, and a far cry from its simple beginnings. When you are building up your camping setup, focus on what you need to be able to camp comfortably and safely, and forget the bells and whistles. We&#;re not saying you shouldn&#;t indulge yourself eventually, but just not now if you want to keep your camping costs down.

6: Establish a self-sufficient camping setup

The less reliance you have on campsites with a power supply, bathroom facilities and/or a water supply, the greater flexibility you will have to seek out free or low-cost campsites that don&#;t have these types of facilities built into their fees and charges. Even just self-sufficiency as far as your power supply goes can save you the added cost of a powered site.

Most fully self-sufficient camping involves some kind of RV (camper trailer, caravan or motorhome) but car campers can get close with a self-sufficient power setup, a portable shower pump, a toilet / shower tent for privacy if necessary and a campsite with a water supply and toilet facilities. Just steer clear of sites designated for &#;self-contained&#; campers who are generally required to carry everything into their campsite, including toilet facilities and water. They need to carry it all out as well, including waste water.

7: Avoid or defer unnecessary accessories

Product accessories can also significantly add to your camping costs, especially in relation to tents. Sometimes they can almost add up to the price of the item they are being accessorised with.

Accessories can really add value to your camping, and some might come in handy initially, but buy only what you need when you decide you need it. Consider cheaper alternatives as well, such as shade cloth off-cuts from the hardware store instead of a tent floor saver accessory.

And then there&#;s all of the car, four wheel driving and RV accessories. Some if not many are important and necessary, but are they all?

8: Buy well and buy once

Avoid the cheap bargains that seem too good to be true and buy good quality and long-lasting gear, especially in relation to key camping items, such as tents, sleeping gear and chairs. It doesn&#;t have to be the most expensive item choice either, as long as you are satisfied it will last the distance. Most of our kitchenware is sourced from thrift or cheaper department stores and is still going strong after many camping trips.

Good quality and durable equipment will also make camping more enjoyable, will serve you well for years to come and will also maintain a decent resale value.

9: Buy second hand

Some good-quality tents and other products can be purchased second hand at a significant cost saving. If you are aiming for a good quality tent in the long term, save money by starting with a cheaper second hand one until you are confident you have decided on the best setup for you, or if you are new to camping, whether you&#;re going to enjoy it at all.

10: Borrow gear

People can be pretty cagey about lending out their camping gear, at least the good stuff anyway, so don&#;t be surprised if they say no, are evasive or have suddenly expressed a desire to go camping at the same time as well. That said, if you are the reliable type, you might just get a yes and save some money.

11: If it ain&#;t broke, don&#;t fix it

As new items come onto the market, the temptation to ditch the old in favour of the new can overshadow all reasoning. Rather than buying the latest and more up to date model, if you have no good or practical reason to ditch your trusty old gear, then stick with it.

12: Use rechargeable devices where practical

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Disposable battery-operated devices might be cost effective to buy, but over time the financial costs of disposable batteries add up, as well as the environmental cost. Where possible, choose items such as lighting and electronic devices that can be recharged, and if not, choose products that run efficiently on a minimal number of AA and AAA batteries.

13: Check out the home and in thrift, department or hardware stores

Sometimes durable and long-lasting items are found where you might least expect it. When you are camping on a budget, rather than shopping for everything in specialised camping and hiking stores, look around the home and check out cheaper thrift, department, hardware and charity stores.

14: Defray camping costs with Christmas and birthday gifts

Whether for your children, grandchildren, partner, friends or extended family members, gift giving is often a thankless undertaking and fraught with a certain level of anxiety. We&#;re always looking for great gift ideas for our loved ones that will be used and appreciated, and a contribution to their camping holidays would be an ideal solution.

Consider giving individual camping related gifts or making a contribution towards a larger one, such as a good quality tent or sleeping mat / bag. To make sure you get what you need, word people up on your exact wish list.

Kitchen and Cooking

In the camp kitchen:

15: Keep food costs down

Camping isn&#;t a time to explore your inner Masterchef, and nor is it a time (in our opinion) to test out all of the local cafes and restaurants. The odd meal cooked by someone else is obviously welcome, but a good selection of easy and familiar family favourite recipes can really reduce your camping holiday costs, whether they are cooked over gas or a fire.

When grocery shopping and cooking:

• Use regular ingredients which you can easily find on the road, and avoid any single use ingredients you find unless you will use the entire quantity

• Don&#;t overly complicate your meals as the more difficult they are to make the more ingredients and equipment you will need &#; we only cook meals that require no more than a pot and a pan and two gas burners operating at the same time

• Be creative and use what you already have in your camp pantry and fridge rather than buying more ingredients for a particular recipe, especially in the lead up to departure day

• Don&#;t cook or buy excess quantities of perishable food to avoid food wastage, and if you are in a remote area and unsure when you will next get to a store, stock up with non-perishable items that won&#;t go to waste

• Bring ingredients you can comfortably transport from home rather than buying them on the road, especially in relation to smaller quantities and where you don&#;t need the whole packet or container, such as spices, spreads, sauces, condiments and dried food

• Avoid recipes with long cook times when cooking on gas to reduce the amount of gas you will use

16: Share meals

Take advantage of the economies of scale of larger camping groups by cooking in bulk to cater for the group. You will save money on food and gas as well as time spent in the kitchen.

17: BYO picnic lunches

A lot of money can be saved by packing a picnic lunch and avoiding take away food. Include stackable containers in your camping setup large enough to hold enough sandwiches or rolls, fruit and other snacks to cater for your family or group.

18: Don&#;t pay for water

Paying for water can significantly add to your costs, which isn't going to help when you are camping on a budget, and it isn't good for the environment either. Bring as much water as you can with you from home together with a container or bucket to hold it at the campsite, and a full reusable water bottle for everyone. Arm yourself with a water filter if concerned about water quality on the road. Your hip pocket as well as the environment will thank you.

19: Freeze your own ice

Containers of water, water bottles and cooked meals can be frozen at home and used to keep your camp fridge cool on the road to save a few bucks on purchasing ice.

Transportation and Travelling

We all have to get to and from our campsite somehow, and traveling safely is paramount. Significant cost savings can be made in relation to your transportation options:

20: Ditch the hitch

This point will be sacrilegious to many trailer and RV owners out there, but the main premise for this whole website is to camp without a trailer, and by that we mean standard trailers as well as all of the different types of RVs.

Our main issue about trailers is finding a place for storage when so many of us live in smaller properties, but cost is a big issue as well.

Trailers and RVs definitely have their place in the market, but they make a huge dent in the budget in terms of the initial capital outlay, storage costs, accessories, maintenance, insurance, fuel efficiency, and car size and towing capacity. If you must, the smaller the rig the lower your costs will be.

If you want to learn more about how to avoid the need for a trailer, check out our Camping Kickstart Program.

21: Don&#;t buy a larger car than you need

Another big cost associated with camping is the car you use to transport everything and everyone to and from the campsite. Too many people buy a car that is far bigger and more costly to own and run than they really need.

You will find in our Camping Kickstart Program our section on helping you to choose your car for camping, including the importance of safely packing and loading your car and keeping within its payload or load carrying capacity. We&#;re not talking about a small size car for a family of 4-5, but you don&#;t necessarily need an excessively large car either.

If you are looking for a car in the mid-size range, you can also check out in The Campus our best mid-size car for camping review.

22: Hire a car

You may have no current desire to even own a car let alone a mid-size or above one large enough to transport you, your family and all of your gear just for the few weeks of the year you might need it for camping holidays. If you fall into this category, a hire car can be a much more cost-effective option than owning and running one full time.

The car you hire will really depend on what your car hire company has to offer, and there are some pitfalls to this arrangement. You might think you have booked a suitable vehicle only to find you are given something similar but quite different in terms of your desired load carrying capacity and cargo capacity.

You may find there will be limitations to what, if anything, you can transport via the car roof or tow bar. If the passenger seats are occupied and the rear cargo area is your only option for transporting gear, to keep the volume of your gear down you will need to ensure your tent isn&#;t too bulky when packed up, and acquaint yourself with the local hiking store for more compact bedding and clothing options. 

Vehicles to consider in the first instance would be &#;people movers&#;, vans and dual cab utes with an enclosed canopy, all of which will have a larger internal cargo space. Regardless, in advance of your departure date you will still need to be satisfied that the type of vehicle you will be hiring can actually safely transport everything and everyone.

If you need to hire a car, consider hiring a campervan or motor home instead and half of your camping setup is taken care of. 

23: Strap gear directly to the roof racks

Securing camping gear to the roof racks of your car is a very popular way to transport some of your camping gear, but accessories, such as roof boxes, trays and baskets and cargo bags, come at a significant expense. The alternative of strapping gear directly to the roof racks of your car is a great and low-cost alternative if done safely.

Check out our detailed instructions on how to safely tie gear to the roof racks.

General

And anything else?

24: Maintain your camping gear

Keep all of your gear in good order by attending to repairs and maintenance as soon as possible to prevent it from deteriorating to the point of no return.

The most convenient place for this is at the campsite when it is all set up. If that&#;s not possible, extend the useful life of your gear by drying out anything damp or wet as soon as you return home, and make a time early in between camping trips to do any running repairs and maintenance.

25: Camp with others and share the load

Significant cost savings can be achieved when you camp as a group and pool your resources. You can delay the purchase of certain camping items, share in the cost of campsites and other costs, and buy in bulk, especially in relation to food. You can also ease your packing issues if you are having trouble packing the car for camping.

In fact, since , we&#;ve been doing just that &#; three families enjoying a week long beachside camping getaway during the autumn school holidays (pictured below).

While there are things you will each need to bring yourself (tent, chair, bedding, lighting, dinnerware, personal items), one camp kitchen with a second fridge, an extra pot and pan and one to two extra tables can adequately cater for 8-10 people. Likewise, one or two central shelters / marquees could provide outdoor shelter for a larger group, not everyone needs to bring a cricket set or basketball, and apart from the hammer / mattock, not everyone needs their own camping toolkit.

In your pre-planning though, make sure everyone knows what they are expected to bring, and most importantly, when. You don&#;t want to turn up to the campsite to find the person bringing the one gas cooking stove won&#;t arrive until the following day or didn&#;t realise they were to bring it.

Run your eye down your packing checklist and think about what other items can be shared amongst your group.

26: Seek out free or low-cost activities

There is a plethora of free and low-cost activities to keep everyone entertained in the great outdoors. Make your own fun with the usual fishing, hiking, ball games, card and board games, swimming, astronomy and cycling! Check also for what&#;s on in the local information centres, websites and any nature-based activities organised by local park managers.

27: Avoid the false economy

As well as buying good quality and long-lasting gear, avoid the false economy of an apparent saving that could ultimately cost you much more financially as well as in time, inconvenience and the all-important risk to your safety. For example:

• Maintain your car in good order to avoid a breakdown in the middle of nowhere

• Equip yourself with recovery gear if going off road to avoid becoming stranded

• Take out adequate insurance and breakdown coverage for your car, accessories and any trailers commensurate with your travel type and location to avoid a very expensive uninsured repair or recovery

• Equip yourself as appropriate for hazards such as snake bites

• Equip yourself with maps, GPS units and satellite phones as appropriate to avoid getting lost and to be able to call for help in an emergency

• Inquire about our Camping Kickstart Program for our step by step process to get you from a beginner to camping like a pro in as little as 28 days. It's much better to follow a tried and tested solution than put yourself through the frustration of trying to work it all out yourself. Even if it costs a little, you will save your hours and hours of your time and hundreds if not thousands of dollars on those inevitable regret buys.

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