How much do you spend?

[mace242]

Posted recently in the thread about the kind of kit you carry. Noticed that I don't ever spend more than about £50 for any single piece of kit.

So what does everybody else spend. As I've said I'm pretty new to the actual practice of bushcraft after being an armchair fan for ages. And I'm wondering how much I should consider. Any really good reason to spend more? Any really good examples of a costly worthwhile purchase?

If you're wondering my tent - I use it for wild camping - was my most expensive at a smidge under £50. My walking boots would have been more, but my other half got those as a present.

 

[rapidboy]

I do have some expensive kit and i don't mind paying for quality items that will last a long time but a big part of "bushcraft" style camping to me is getting dirty and smokey and is generally rougher than regular camping so i'd rather use cheaper kit, mainly army surplus that can take rough treatment and is cheap to replace if it's destroyed.
Im a knife collector and spending a couple of hundred quid on a nice knife is nothing strange to me but it's really not necessary and i still use cheap Frosts knives every day.
To be honest i pick the kit that's best sited to what im doing regardless of price and quite often my bushcraft kit is pretty cheap.
I don't fancy burning a hole in an expensive bivvy bag so i use an army issue bag when im sleeping round a fire.

 

[big_daddy_merc]

i take my time to find a really good low priced(not always cheap) version of any thing or i see if i can get it on freecycle( got my 2 man tent there). take my lock knife you can pick them up for pennys these days but i found a good one for £5, my axe was £6, and my sleeping bag and sleeping mat was £4 off the flea market and the bag is a german army one(£45 on ebay), things like tents i will not pay any more than £20 as ebay is packed full of them, but i'm willing to pay a good price things that will/may save my life as it may need to one day
i think in total my whole kit would be no more than £120 give or take £20, think i'll have to add it you as i'm curious to how much i've spent now


i think the answer to your question "So what does everybody else spend. As I've said I'm pretty new to the actual practice of bushcraft after being an armchair fan for ages. And I'm wondering how much I should consider. Any really good reason to spend more? Any really good examples of a costly worthwhile purchase?" it's a very personal thing as newbies to bushcraft( me included ) tend to spend more than those who have been in it for years, and also what you intend to do

 

[sxmolloy]

I think my most expensive single piece of kit was my knife at around £65.00. I was bought a jacket for xmas that cost around £150.00 but that was a present. Some things, like boots etc are worth spending that little bit more IMO to ensure you are getting the better quality items.

There are lots of good bits of kit out there that don't cost the earth, and it's always worth shopping around or asking advice on here I think.

I dread to think how much I have spent over the years though

ATB....Stu

 

[mace242]

Some nice knives on your photobucket. Thought I'd look see what I liked and get an idea of what I may one day end up getting. Picked one from the thumbnails. It's a woodlore. Ho hum - guess I'll end up breaking that £50 level one day...

 

[mace242]

Some things, like boots etc are worth spending that little bit more IMO to ensure you are getting the better quality items.

There are lots of good bits of kit out there that don't cost the earth, and it's always worth shopping around or asking advice on here I think.

I dread to think how much I have spent over the years though

ATB....Stu

I agree on the boots comment - that's why mine were more. Though they were a pressent from the other half - she's got more money....

 

[Wayland]

I tend to buy the best I can find. Past experience has taught me it's better to spend a bit extra first time around than have to buy again later on because something has failed in use.

Having said that the gear I use is not always the most expensive, there tends to be a good middle ground when it comes to outdoor kit quality. Good enough to do the job but not stupid prices.

When all is said and done though, I have still spent a fraction of what my camera gear costs me, and as photography is the main reason I get out into the wilderness I think that is fair enough.

 

[rik_uk3]

I've always spent a lot on tents as I don't use a tarp/hammock (don't just sleep in woods so a hammock would be a waste of money for me). A high quality tent is worth every penny and I spend on good waterproofs. The rest is mainly cheap stuff, some ex army, some just cheap clothes. I won't spend £50+ on a wooly shirt, the wife would kill me, anyway swanni's have become another bushcraft label bit of kit, so I won't wear it out of principle

 

[rapidboy]

Some nice knives on your photobucket. Thought I'd look see what I liked and get an idea of what I may one day end up getting. Picked one from the thumbnails. It's a woodlore. Ho hum - guess I'll end up breaking that £50 level one day...

I like the Woodlores, some reckon they are too expensive but they are a classic design and work well.

I use a WS Micarta probably more than any other bushcraft knife.

But i often use this Mora and to be honest it's every bit as effective.

Pride of ownership is a different thing entirely and hard to put a price on.

One thing that's important to me is a good nights sleep, I also suffer with a bad back from time to time so i use a Deluxe Thermarest and a good sleeping bag, worth every penny to me.

 

[Wayland]

<Snip> anyway swanni's have become another bushcraft label bit of kit, so I won't wear it out of principle

That seems an odd principle. I assume by "label" you mean that a lot of bushcrafters use Swanndri kit.

If so that is presumably because it is good at what it does.

If an item is good, tried and tested, why deliberately avoid it?

 

[w00dsmoke]

I'm a bit of a greeny at heart and most of my gear has been recycled (army tents, gear etc), made or in the rare occassions when I've failed to get satisfactory results through recycling or technology wins I've went out and spent my money. I've hand stitched sleeping bags together using mattress pile covers, made tents, improvised a lot of gear I guess like a lot of folk on here.

My biggest spends recently have been a tipi to encourage the wife n kids to spend more time outdoors. Then it was the hammocks and underblankets and that was really because MK was very insistent that I try them out with my back, and he was right, they are good once u get used to them. Before that my biggest expense was a whisperlite because I wanted a bombproof stove for winter but alas that is another story.

 

[Chris-N]

My most expensive piece of kit is a Grohmann #1 Full flat. It cost $115 (45 quid). However, I use my cheap kit just as much. These include a SAK, opinel and tramontina machete. I have other items worth almost as much as the grohmann but I picked them up at flea markets and inherited them.

 

[mace242]

I like the Woodlores, some reckon they are too expensive but they are a classic design and work well.

I like the top one. Something about it looking simple and "woody" if you get me.

I'm off to woodcraft school next week on a course. They give you a knife to keep - I'm thinking it's a clipper - I'm waiting to see how that is. If it's ok for me then that's what I'll stick to for the forseeable future.

 

[sxmolloy]

They give you a knife to keep - I'm thinking it's a clipper - I'm waiting to see how that is. If it's ok for me then that's what I'll stick to for the forseeable future.

It may well be a Clipper, I have one (that I bought) and althought a Fallkniven is my first knife, I like to carry a Clipper in my back pack just in case or if I fancy a change. I like it, it was my first "bushcraft" knife and it ticks all the boxes for me really. The only thing I would change (or infact have changed) is replacing the plastic sheath with a leather one that has a fire steel holder. I got mine on e-bay but people on here can make great sheaths to your spec's.

If it is a Clipper you get, and you like it I would suggest you look into a leather sheath, if of course you don't mind spending more on the sheath than the knife is worth

Hope you enjoy your course and learn plenty of new stuff....ATB....Stu

 

[Matt Weir]

It may well be a Clipper, I have one (that I bought) and althought a Fallkniven is my first knife, I like to carry a Clipper in my back pack just in case or if I fancy a change. I like it, it was my first "bushcraft" knife and it ticks all the boxes for me really. The only thing I would change (or infact have changed) is replacing the plastic sheath with a leather one that has a fire steel holder. I got mine on e-bay but people on here can make great sheaths to your spec's.

If it is a Clipper you get, and you like it I would suggest you look into a leather sheath, if of course you don't mind spending more on the sheath than the knife is worth

Hope you enjoy your course and learn plenty of new stuff....ATB....Stu

I myself use a Mora (£7) kept in a handmade leather sheath (£20)

 

[mace242]

Hope you enjoy your course and learn plenty of new stuff....ATB....Stu

Can't wait. I'll be back here when I know how I get on with the knife to see what I can get in the way of sheaths. Thanks.

 

[firebreather]

I have spent too much on kit to list ( the mrs might read and have my guts for garters).When it comes to kit i will spend my hard earned cash on stuff but only if i think its worth it.
A good quality axe and knife make carving a pleasure rather than a chore. Good money will always be spent on boots i am currently wearing hitec magnums and have been for years, i am on my third pair. They cost about £50 where i get them from but in the shops they usually retail about £90, at £50 they are good at £90 they are a rip off as there are better boots for less.
Before i buy kit i will try and see it in action and ask how it works and how it fails. A good indicator that i use when it comes to kit I have purchased is, if it broke,got lost or was stolen would i buy it again? If the answer is yes then it is worth it no matter what it costs.
I dont buy brand names, i try to buy what works. I know what people mean when they say that they stay away from certain kit becsaue it has the conotation that its a must have piece, mora, mears, gransfors, swandri,trangia to name a few. But the thing to remember about all this stuff is that it has been tried and tested to destruction and then bought again by the same people.These reputations have been hard earned from a group of very exacting people (us).
Greg

 

[torjusg]

I haven't bought a single piece of kit for at least two years, except one cheap sleeping bag. It is much more fun having home made kit than junk made in China.

 

[Chris-N]

I haven't bought a single piece of kit for at least two years, except one cheap sleeping bag. It is much more fun having home made kit than junk made in China.

To me this is what bushcraft should be. Much respect torjus :notworthy

 

[Toddy]

My boots (£145) and my jacket (£220) I bought knowing they will last me at least five years of good use.
Mostly everything else, clothing wise, I make. I really prefer natural materials but good linen cloth costs me up to £20 a metre and pure wool of a decent weight to make a bushshirt is £18.90. I *usually* manage to find fabrics at a discount though even got green goretex last year at under a fiver a metre.

Leather work I usually barter for.
Titanium camp equipment I buy, it's worth it for the lack of weight and it's durability.
Knives? heavens I've tried a lot of them, I've got little hands and r. arthritis so they don't all work well for me. Just now the favourite is a Helle Troll and I bartered for it. The most I have spent on a knife is about £60, and that one ended up as a gift to my bother.

Tents; I have a really good, incredibly lightweight one but it's too fragile near open fires so that stays home with occasional use by HWMBLT. The one I'm using just now was under £40 on ebay but I have a cheap Millets tipi I'm sort of re-inforcing and intend to use more often.

To be honest, there's no need to spend a fortune on kit, but it is something I get a lot of use out of and like Wayland I'll spend the money to have something reliable and lasting. But I do like to find a bargain and I really love having things that folks have made for me.

I suppose for most of us it's one of those can your budget stand the occasional splurge and do you want pressies at birthdays and Christmas to be stuff you'd like to have bought for yourself
My sister in law was appalled my bother bought me a compass for mine, and I was so pleased

cheers,
Toddy