I went hiking this weekend, a 10 mile roundtrip at a fairly well traveled trail, nothing real difficult or too out of the ordinary. But after watching the hordes of hikers out there, I realize, man, I think I have way too much fancy equipment. What got me thinking was watching a couple of guys behind us hauling canvas duffelbags on their backs, and carrying wal-mart type sleeping bags in their arms. Yup, just carrying them in their arms for 10+ miles.

I started totaling up everything I was carrying, and realized I'm probably carrying well over $1000-$1500 (in retail prices) in clothes and gear, and probably more because I stopped adding after that. This is just on a dayhike, a backpacking trip might easily double that amount. To be honest, I didn't actually pay anywhere near retail for any of it (I'm not that rich), almost everything I buy is either second hand or on huge discounts from outlets, and I've been slowly accumulating everything for the past 20 years or so.

But when I look at it, I'm thinking I need to cut down on what I buy. I know when I first started going outdoors as a kid, I think everything I owned for camping probably totalled less than $100, that includes tent, backpack, boots, stove, basically everything. As I got more money, and discovered REI, I bought even more stuff. Now I'm at the point I'm could probably open a small sporting goods store in my closet. Granted, I'm probably a lot more comfortable than those other people, but I just don't know if it's worth the price.

I did start to realize this a little while ago. Now, I'm trying to be a lot more frugal with my spending. And I stopped browsing through the Annual Backpacker Gear issue, that was just like a drug for me. Has anyone else ever stopped to think about how much we are carrying, and how ironic it is? One of the reasons I liked the hiking and the outdoors was because it was simple and free. All you needed was two feet and a will to move. But so far, it's been one of the most expensive free hobbies I've ever had.