In 2017 I have purchased; a Wenonah Wilderness solo canoe, a full set of bwca/quetico Fisher maps and case, a twig solo stove, an aqua quest 10x13 tarp, hammock underquilt and top quilt, yak paddle, bent shaft paddle, platypus gravity water filtration system, bdb's, new life jacket, solo portage yolks, crazy creek canoe seat, and a pair of bogs boots. I am sure I am missing some things but I cannot stop buying! I am constantly looking at what else I can purchase. I always did just fine before on my bwca trips. Why do I need all of these upgrades? Should I be going to some kind of support group to help me with my problem? Or, preferably, could someone please convince me that what I am doing is necessary? Thank you in advance.

Oh Yes you need it. You need it all plus some more.

Signed,
Outdoor Retailers

Absolutely more the better. Until the money runs out or any spouse runs out on you.

My latest plan to purchase new gear is simple.
I NEED gear to give to the grandkids who are now old enough to do trips on their own but are too poor to buy much gear. They are busy getting their lives started, paying for college, cars, apartments and the like.
I get the new stuff - they get the hand-me-downs. Got to keep the economy going!

Justification is a true sign of commitment.
My son wants my warbonnet hammock and I want to upgrade but the cash flow is not so good right now so I will hold on to the hammock and justify a new top quilt. I think that is how good thinking works.
We here are all committed to getting more stuff. It does tend to ebb and flow, nice to hear you are in a flow.

Well lots of ways to look at things. The first thing I consider is how fiscally sound I am. The second thing is how is my charitable giving........am I using my labors to help make the world a better place?

If both of those are in order then I am perfectly content to make purchases of gear which "are in and of themselves pleasurable to use and not merely a means to an end". It's why I have a carbon fiber boat and paddle as opposed to a plastic Coleman canoe and a plastic paddle.

On the other hand..........learning to be content with what you have and using frugality is not to be frowned upon. Does one really need a $200 dollar Zav paddle to be satisfied? Of course not........only the decision to be content with what you have.

Alrighty then, let me get down off this soapbox.........

Your new gear will be useful and make your trips more enjoyable!

quote OldFingers57: "Oh Yes you need it. You need it all plus some more.


Signed,
Outdoor Retailers "

That is all I needed to hear! The shopping shall continue. ;-)

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quote bwcadan: "Absolutely more the better. Until the money runs out or any spouse runs out on you."

Shoot, I am hoping to find my future spouse in the bwca. With all my new bwca bling one would think the ladies will be racing through portage mud to get to me, right?

If you do not have a gear purchasing problem. You will have a storage problem.

Welcome to the sickness, LOL. I figure as long as I can afford it and I'm havin' fun, who cares?

I knew somewhere I had a brother! Welcome home!!!

Hi, I heard there's a meeting here?

Ok, good. My name's Al & I'm a gearaholic. =)

I'm in the lucky(?) position where we don't quite have all the gear we need, and last trip still had to rent some things from the outfitter...(stove, packs, cookware, etc.)

We do have most of the basics, (tent, bags, pads, water filter, tarp, nalgene's, etc.), but for me, it makes sense to keep buying until we've rounded out our gear and are 100% self-equipped. My son's gonna love Christmas!

The good news is that it's now time to sell it all and replace everything with light weight titanium!

I did some upgrading last year. On my way home from my trip I stopped into Piragis as I always like to patronize the store. To my shock I discovered that I have everything that I need that they sell. At least not without duplicating.

What I need to do is get more of my used gear up for sale.

I upgrade when I can. Usually 1 or 2 items per year. This year it was a zero degree bag from Enlightened equipment and the ultra light hammock by ENO. My problem is that I read the message boards and always find myself wanting more and better gear.

Trapper7 - You need blades...knives and axes and saws, OH MY! The possibilities are endless!!!

Adding to all of the above, once you get good at selling some of the older stuff, you have more money for more gear. There was a point where I thought that gear would not improve by weight, quality, looks etc. so I thought that the spending would slow down. But NO, I'm still buying because better gear is always on the shelf, so I sell... again!

quote martoonie: "If you do not have a gear purchasing problem. You will have a storage problem."

That starts a whole new obsession then, called organization. So you have to buy all sorts of things to get the gear organized and stored properly. Tubs, shelves, hooks, etc.

Storage became easier when the kids moved out. I now have a trip room, a sewing room, a tent closet....... Thus - more gear!

Lots of good wisdom above. In my 20s I was content to sleep on a thin closed-cell foam pad in a 2-person Timberline tent. That was what was available back then, and 20-year-olds can take roughing it. You get older, your needs change, AND they come out with better gear. 10 years ago I never took a chair for paddle camping, didn't think it was necessary. Today it feels like a necessity thanks to Helinox.

My justifications for more gear: (1) It's really the only thing I spend money on. No restaurants, no fancy cars. (2) I enjoy gear hunting almost as much as I enjoy camping. I love tents etc for their technical and esthetic qualities. (3) I'm constantly recycling gear on Craigslist to finance the next purchase. (4) Good gear can make a big difference in your comfort and energy level, which makes for a better experience. Gone are the days when we had to sleep on lousy mattresses in leaky tents and woke up cranky and in pain.

But still the OP has a point, and I did realize after years of gear collecting that there was a tendency to never be satisfied with what I had. You have to guard against that.

So gearaholics - what are you buying or lusting after? Just in case I need help finding things to buy.

My current lust is:
couple of new Sawyer filter drink bottles
Losi 3P tent
Nemo 12 x 12 Bug Out screen tent
Nemo Vector sleeping pad
Oh, and a new Bell Northwind 17 ft.
These new additions will allow me to pass others on down to th kids and grandkids.

Not much on my gear radar at the moment.... Just the stuff I need to finish the repairs on my new-to-me Northstar BG but even that's not really gear... Just kevlar, fiberglass, and resin.