🤔 Reveal how to get cheap ultralight backpacking gear🏕️
Do you want to know how to hack the whole expensive ultralight trend and how to get cheap ultralight backpacking gear?
Then read 6 methods how to hack backpacking gear purchase below, because why buy often unnecessarily expensive equipment, even if quality is excellent, when in the price/performance ratio wins a product from China bought on aliexpress.com, online secondhand or even made by yourself?
I’m not saying I don’t buy more expensive equipment, but it always depends on the specific product and the purpose of its use. It’s best to map the whole market, find out all the options. And if you don’t want to spend a lot of time on it, this article is for you!
Minimalism and versatility
Try to apply these philosophies and use this mindsets when you're deciding to buy any piece of outdoor gear.
DIY - do it yourselves or modify
Sewing is easy, check internet, try to modify something and then you can do it from scratch!
Smart local store purchase
Focus on things which haven't usually expensive "ultralight" tag but are light, and then you can modify them to be even ultralight. Keep reading for specific tips.
Big online stores
Go big internationally , just be careful what are you buying, where and from who. (Aliexpress, Decathlon, Sport-conrad.com,...)
Second hand
Try to use online second hand websites, your local store, facebook markets or ask your friends. People have a lot of stuff they don't use.
Combine
Combine all these ways together!
MINDSET - how to THINK before buying outdoor gear?
Minimalism – less is more
- it’s a good idea to think about whether you really need the item, to take your time from the decision and avoid impulse purchases
- minimalism = less material = less weight, which has more value for us
- less often means simpler product = cheaper
- the less stuff you own, the less you have to worry about and the more time you can devote to yourself and others
Outdoor gear versatility – thinking outside the box
- can you replace some of the equipment or use something you already have for that purpose?
A lot of outdoor equipment can be used across different sports, you just might not have thought about it that way yet and don’t know it. Forget about categorizing and pigeonholing. There are no limits to creativity! - buy universal pieces of outdoor equipment = less equipment
I’ve mentioned this before, haven’t I?
Modifications, adjustments
- remove unnecessary pieces of equipment that you don’t use. Just make sure you keep the functionality you need and enjoy the lightness.
DIY – Do it yourself what you need
- almost everyone has a sewing machine in the family, try a smaller project on an older piece of equipment and then move on to something bigger!
- buy a semi-finished product or a kit from which you can create the final product
You can get more information directly from Ray Jardine, founder of Ultralight, at rayjardine.com, where you can also buy DIY kits
Combine
- don’t be afraid to combine all the tips and ideas together
- buy + modify
when you’re buying a piece of outdoor gear, look for things that don’t usually have the expensive “ultralight” tag, but are lightweight and then you can modify them and make them even lighter aka ultralight!
For example, remove the back reinforcement and the hip strap on the pack. - secondhand + modify + DIY (sewing)
- and many other combinations of tips and ideas
HOW and WHERE to buy budget backpacking gear?
4 essential criteria HOW to buy cheap ultralight backpacking gear from big online stores
If you want to be satisfied with your purchase of cheap ultralight backpacking gear, then the equipment itself need to meet certain criteria. Choose wisely.
- Simple material and construction – it should be from common material and the more simple construction, the better. If you want to make thing cheap, then you have to use common materials which are cheap and common constructions.
You can imagine difficulty of the mass manufacturing of the product and cost of the material and and use that to deduce an approximate price. - Reviews from people – try to find some reviews of the product itself (like on this page) from common people who have personal experience with it.
- Check the reviews of the seller on page
- Be careful of too much cheap or “very good offer” when the price is below production costs .
I have system that I will try to imagine difficulty of the mass manufacturing of the product and cost of the material. If it is under your imagination, then something might be not right here.
Tipy na ultraLIGHT LEVNÉ turistické vybavení, které sám používám
Které konkrétní produkty koupit bez nekonečného procházení internetu? Seznam osobně testovaného levného outdoor vybavení z Aliexpressu.
WHERE to buy budget backpacking gear?
- Aliexpress
Very wide range of things, lots of reliable “China” brands
I am shopping here for years and never had bigger problems, sometimes the product is not good or broke after a while, but you have limit when you can dispute purchase and I had every time my money back. - Ebay
The sellers with good offers are nowadays more at aliexpress, so I am not using it very much, but also without problems. - Decathlon
Very good quality for the price, advantage is that you can reach it probably locally and also order online. - Sport-conrad.com
Based in Germany, shipping all over Europe and even further.
Very good outlet deals for all outdoor sport equipment, not only ultralight backpacking gear - Online second-hand stores
You can try stores which are not directly aimed at outdoor sports gear, there are usually cheaper and better deals.
