When you join, check with your group. They'll hopefully have some you can borrow and test out. Some of the smaller and newer groups might not have an inventory built up but most of the larger groups do. Nothing wrong with smaller groups though. They should all be part of a bigger area group, and that group may have supplies to lend. (Part of our mission in Canada, and I assume in the US as well, is to introduce people to the outdoors and camping. We can't do that if they have to fork out gobs of cash to buy equipment that they aren't familiar with yet or only use once or twice a year.)