I stop my local thrift shop and stock up on gear for cheap;

daypacks for Hiking, metal water bottles, fleece blankets ( the nice thick ones)
Great way to build up kits on the cheap.

Wool blankets, sleeping bags, cooking and eating gear, red neck dinner jackets, polar fleece, boots.... I even found nice Woolrich sweater for $4 a few weeks ago.

I never find much of anything these days. Too many professional ebayers out there. Same problem with flea markets and garage sales.

And far too much fleece....

I went to the Salvation Army store on my way home from work last night. Nothing.

The really bad part is that they have all the clothing sorted by color. yep. the red shirts are all together, the green ones, etc. Trousers the same way. Sizes are all mixed together. Might have a 29 waist next to a 44. Just bizarre.

I think I will make a pass by the other SA store and Goodwill tomorrow. You never know.

Frustratingly enough, most of the clothing I bought second-hand over a decade ago during some hard times has outlasted much of my newer, high-tech clothing. Best vintage brands (meaning at least 30 years old) that lasted the longest were L.L. Bean and Eddie Bauer.

I've heard of people coming into thrift stores with smart phones attached to gadgets that read bar codes, and piling up stuff in their carts for re-sale in boutiques. Not very ethical in my opinion, as it's making it more difficult for people in true need to get those good quality items.

Part of that is because, today, its cheaper to make it from cotton instead of a synthetic. Polyester blend shirts will last significantly longer than a similar cotton shirt. I've had some that were 20 years old and only got retired due to cosmetic reasons (yellowing and embroidery wore out or repeated ironing had given it a shiny finish)

You don't need any gadget, the phone's camera can read bar codes (and QR codes and Microsoft's version of the QR code aswell)

I stopped by the other SA store and the Goodwill store on Saturday afternoon. Nothing. At least the goodwill store has a separate big and tall section.

By random chance I noticed an interesting shirt at the SA. It was about a size and a half smaller than me, but not something I had ever seen before. Some kind of khaki outdoorsy shirt that had 2 regular breast pockets and then two larger pockets right under them. Kind of like a cargo shirt.

You can never have too many pocketses on your shirts. I love those things...