How Many Complete Camping Packs Can You Fashion Together From Your Unused Camping Gear? Im talking old mess kits, old Canteens, Old packs, spare items, cheap might as well purchases, dollar store purchases, garage sale purchases, goodwill purchases! How many people can you fully stock with your own stuff without going to the store? I can stock Three, Three people I can stock.

Right up there with you, Frisket.
I can do about three and still have spare stuff...
What does that make us, I wonder ? Greedy; paranoid; overcautious; plain smart or all of the above ?

Pharaoh.

10+. Not sure how that happened.

The exception is internal/external frame backpacks, which stands at 4. But the spring catalogues are out ...

Id Say None of the above! It just Makes us Long Time Hobbyists. Most of my Gear Is older outdated Camping gear that I replaced with newer stuff. As Time goes by Gear changes for the better in all categories and after purchasing this new gear rarely do I throw out the old. Some of it is Dollar store purchases and I infact have made a Full messkit from the dollar store. Can one really complain when drinking from a 1$ plastic cup and eating with 1$ metal flatware if an emergency struck or an unprepared camper joined the group before leaving home?

Clepto

You're absolutely right Frisket.
However.. where you've been replacing older kit for newer thus having stuff to spare, I've been stocking multiple identical items. Backups for backups-system. Why ? I'll ask my shrink and report back to you asap.

Pharaoh.

I'm at three plus. Comfortably. I could probably outfit six but with serious compromise on tent/sleeping gear weight. No wonder I need to build a shed.

i would say two.my Wife and i have a old set of gear that we replaced a few years ago.however i have stoves,tents and gas lamps for a Scout Troop.

I'm at 5, although with a couple more backpacks we'd be up to 7. It's a martially/financially dangerous, but awesomely practical addiction.

Looks like the interior view of the mountain hideout after the Grinch stole a Boyscout jamboree. Somewhere there are very sad and perplexed Boyscouts standing in an empty field wondering where everything went while they were swimming in the lake. And if they looked behind them they would see the canoes, paddles, life jackets, BBQ pits, and the last of the coolers getting hauled off to parts unknown. But the Grinch is a sly one who knows they will not look in the right direction until he has absconded with the last of it.