by statesofminds

Created on: January 10, 2010

Depending on your definition of the word, camping can mean being in an isolated spot many miles from another person, cozied up in an RV park, or anything in between. Regardless, you need the right gear before you venture out. In this day and age, that means spending a significant sum of money, unless you know where to shop for good gear deals and what to buy. No one likes to spend more money than they have too-and everyone likes a good bargain!

You must determine what you must have, depending on the type of camping you enjoy, time of the year, climate, what you are willing to work with and without, etc. At any rate, there are many retailers who will certainly have whatever it is you are looking for. I advocate shopping online for most of your gear, as you will find both better prices and choices there. Many of the retailers I will list here run frequent specials and often offer clearance items at the end of the year or season. Here are a few which I watch regularly:

http://www.campmor.com/

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/

http://www.altrec.com/

http://www.backcountryoutlet.com/

http://www.moosejaw.com/moosejaw/

Another great source for cheap gear is to browse both Amazon.com and Ebay. Amazon is great because it actually compiles many of the retailers I listed above and may save you some time in checking the other sites. With Ebay, I generally stay away from the cheaper, foreign knockoffs that are too frequent on the site-I do not want something that will break easily and leave me in a jam in the wilderness. At the same time, I often see good closeout deals as well as private sellers looking to sell off gear they have no need of any longer.

Clothing is a big part of gear as well. When I am going camping or hiking, I want to bring as few items as I can, because it's much less to carry around. For this reason, I want versatile all around fabric and clothing. Wool fits the bill nicely-it insulates, period. Keeps you cool in the summer and warm in the winter-even if wet!

While you may find some good deals on wool clothing on the sites above, performance wool is usually very expensive. I found a great trade off; to me, wool is wool-it performs well no matter what, and I do not mind taking extra time when I wash it (to air dry it so it does not shrink). Well, wool sweaters and other items can be easily found at various local thrift shops in most places. I shop our local Goodwill and Salvation Army Stores, often finding quality name brand items for about $3 each!

With the above information and some time to browse the shelves, online and physically, there are many options for anyone to find the gear they are searching for-on any budget! Happy hunting and see you in the woods!

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