Bad hiking gear purchase.

[Rick]

I forgot about this. I bought one of those oil inserts for candle lanterns. Northern Lights or something of the like. My luck - the damn thing melted in the second use and spilled candle lantern oil out. What a waste!!!

 

[Jasonst]

Years ago, on the recommendation of a friend, I bought an EMS fanny pack (no comments please). Water bottles would tumble out because the pockets were too shallow. The pack itself would sag backwards if I carried more than a shell and a Snickers bar. I refused to admit my mistake for an entire season until I burried it in my attic that fall and went back to my old pack.

Thanks - you just reminded me of another bad purchase - a Gregory fanny pack that held 2 full size nalgenes. Yeah, that didn't work out so well. It became very heavy with the nalgenes full and bounced - with every step. The weight also cut into my gut. I also found I was drinking not due to thirst but due to wanting to get rid of the bounce factor. Sold that one on ebay for a loss...

 

[Rols]

I purchased a water bottle which has a filter inside. The problem is that it holds a small volume (the filter takes up half the space) and it is heavy. I have found that I am better off carrying the water or a pump if I am on an extended trip.

In the quest to deal with the water issue (and maybe waste money) I have recently purchased a straw which has a two micro filter. It is light weight and relatively cheap. You fill your bottle and then drink it through the straw. I haven't used it yet. I plan on using it as a back up system. If I've been over zealous in my consumption and have a few hours left to get back to my car, I'll break out the old straw. I keep it in an old too brush case to protect it. Time will tell if it is jus equipment junk....but the concept seems good.

 

[bruno]

A WATER FILTER!! (I drink a lot of untreated water in the mtns. and have never gotten sick.)

I used to think those solar water bag shower things were silly but have become a recent convert. They really do work!

i heartily agree with stinky! heartily!! i drink the water all the time as long as i'm up fairly high. never been sick or even poopy from it. giardia (beaver fever) and all that are overblown i think.

shootfire! i drink the water in 3rd world countries. i was in india and adjacent areas for about 2 years and this was back in da 80's before they had all sorts 'o foreign goods and you purty much HAD to drink the water or you'd be purty thirsty. that, or drink kingfisher beer which is terrible. and when i went to school in cali i went to mexico quite a bit (QUITE a bit) and drank the water down there too with no ill-effects (n.b.--but not as much since the brew down there is mighty tasty--i like pacificos. how do folks drink corona? there's no taste to it. marketing i guess. but i digress. . .)

anyway, my take is to be like ol' euell gibbons and start with a little at at a time and work your way up. you'll be fine. probably.

like stinky i have a water filter and have used it exactly once. not needed i think! go light!

 

[BrentD22]

Differs with time since I started hiking...

As a rookie...

- Propane stove/heater (wow I thought it was a good idea when I bought it).
- Frying pan

After 5 years expience...

- unknown no name pack from wally world.
- unknown no name boots from same place

Give me a break I was trying to save some money. I learned from my mistakes.

As a VET...

- PUR Water filter that 2 months after was discountinued and I could no longer purchase the replacement filters.

I can say since I've learned "how to" that I haven't had too many bad purchases. I've bought some "cheap" stuff, but I understood that it was just that cheap and that I should not depend on this item.

The best cheap purchase I've ever made was a wal-mart tent (not sure what brand) that I purchased for $30 on clearance. It lasted me years (with some duct tape) and was not too heavy.

 

[jfb]

My most disappointing gear purchase was Patagonia Lightweight boxer shorts. They have lap seams that meet right in the middle of the crotch and are very uncomfortable.

 

[Jasonst]

- PUR Water filter that 2 months after was discountinued and I could no longer purchase the replacement filters.

One of the things I have learned is to try not to purchase anything that I can't return if there is a problem. This tends to exclude ebay, but I do get some stuff from there. I am very loyal to retailers who have unconditional guarantees.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

- PUR Water filter that 2 months after was discountinued and I could no longer purchase the replacement filters

Are you certain you can't get a replacement filter? PUR filters are now made by Katadyn, but am reasonably sure they're still available. If you can't find them at EMS/REI/etc, then maybe online?

 

[MadRiver]

1. Every EMS brand of poles has fallen apart within a year.

2. A water filter/bottle combination (forget the name) was useless. You needed the strength of an Albanian wrestler to squeeze the bottle.

3. My Motorola walkie/talkie (used for skiing) lasted two years.

4. My wife bought a Marine K-Bar for hiking. After three trips of carrying it, it now sits in the closet.

5. Any gadget, widget, or thingamabob that looks cool in the store or catalog will invariably end up in the closet never to be used again.

 

[Double Bow]

Biggest mistakes were instep crampons before I got into winter hiking and Campmor brand gaitors. After a few uses, the velcro closure started to rip the stitching of the velcro strip out!!!

 

[lumberzac]

Merrel Eagle III boots.
I had the original model of this boot, which I walked the Vibram soles flat on. I replaced them with the updated model because the old model was no longer made. After the first couple of months I noticed the soles were staring to separate from the leather. I returned them and found out the Merrel would only replace them once, so I was stuck with the replacements. The new started to separate in the same place the original pair separated after the second time I used them.

 

[Gator]

Funny; I love EMS for the most part, but my top 2 are both EMS items.

Honorable Mention: EMS, non gore-tex gaiters. They have a miniscule amount of adjustability on the top. As a result I can't tighten them enough to stay up (I don't have huge calves, but by no means do I have chicken legs). That being said, they do their job, their problems are simply an annoyance. That brings me to...

The winner: EMS 3 piece "mountaineer" poles. I can count on them... to collapse while I'm hiking. I've never been hurt as a result, but I've looked stupid and lost my confidence on nasty terrain.

 

[BrentD22]

Positive

Are you certain you can't get a replacement filter? PUR filters are now made by Katadyn, but am reasonably sure they're still available. If you can't find them at EMS/REI/etc, then maybe online?

I purchased the filter from REI and they are the ones that told me that since Katadyn took over the filter I have was discountiued. I also emailed Katadyn and they told me the same thing.

You'd think Katadyn would have sent me a free replacement filter, but I guess they just didn't care.

 

[Undershaft]

My worst gear purchase was about four years ago when I first started getting serious about backpacking. Alcohol stoves were becoming very popular at the time and Campmor had one called the "Hike 'n Light" for around $15. I bought it. It was a totally useless P.O.S. The packaging advertised the Hike 'n Light as the world's first disposable alcohol stove. It went on one trip and was promptly disposed of.

 

[jrichard]

1) Outdoor Research Overgaiters. Perhaps they are useful somewhere, but when I tried them the fronts kept popping off. On top of that, they didn't really keep my feet warm. I ended up (thanks to Dave M) getting plastic ice climbing boots.

2) MSR Denali snowshoes. Awesome idea, but they self-destructed on their maiden hike up Mt Clinton/Eisenhower. Back at the parking lot, they were minus a few straps and had ominous looking cracks. I've heard MSR has changed the plastic. I'm tempted to try again, but only with a store with a liberal return policy.

3) LL Bean goretex jacket. Nothing wrong with it, it has all the bells and whistles. It's just the heaviest jacket I've ever worn.

Nothing against these companies, except for these particular products. Just to balance a bit, I like OR Overmitts and MSR stoves. And I used an LL Bean "ultralight" tent for five years (before discovering tarps) and have been pleased by it.

 

[dug]

-Small Coleman stove, took about 15 minutes to boil water.

-Any water filter.

LL Bean Tent. 8+ lbs. of suff-ocating purple hell.

 

[bill bowden]

worst gear purchases

This is more of a "top ten bad decisions" list of things that don't hold up or function poorly but the worst was heavy wool trousers from the way back when of winter hiking. I nearly died of heat stroke every time I went out and they weighed as much as I did. Instep crampons and six point crampons are a close second and third. The AustrAlpina's are a godsend by comparison (apologies to earlier poster who felt differently). First plastic boots were Koflach Extreme Ultra's that ate my feet.

 

[foxfire949]

3 stand out:

1. Optimus Eagle 1000 Stove: Totally underpowerd, hard to light. Now sits in the closet.

2. Red Ledge raincoat. Started soaking though really fast after only about 2 months of medium use.

3. MSR Miniworks waterfilter. The first one's. Heavy, bulky, and slow as molasses. Iodine or miox for me nowadays. (plus a handkerchief to filter out any chunky stuff)