Gear investments, what do you regret?

[thinhorn_AK]

As the title says, what purchases do you regret or wish you had done differently. Like lots of people here I drop a significant amount of my income on gear to pursue this passion but there’s a few things I wish I’d done differently.

Kifaru pack: I wish I hadn’t bought a gray pack, I hate it. I love everything about my 28” tactical frame and fulcrum but I wish I’d got coyote or ranger green, I absolutely hate the fact I got a gray one.


Kimber Montana; I wish I’d dropped the few hundred extra bones and got the mountain ascent, I love the Montana (308) but the extra few hundred bucks would have been nothing at the time, now it’s not worth it to sell it and take the hit and buy a MA.

Those are my 2 big ones, what are yours?

 

[alaskanparret]

The saying buy it nice or buy it twice comes to mind here.

Chest waders. Used to always buy the cheap $100 ones you get at Costco or similar places. Finally got Simms and they are still leak proof.

Jetboil. Had two jetboils fail on me before I finally got a MSR windburner. No regrets there.

Sleeping pads. Man you can spend some serious money here and get nowhere. Weird how $100-200 pads leak or won’t hold air all night. Finally got a thermarest all season pad and has held up great to some abuse the past two years.

Those are the things that come to mind.

Fishing poles have been the one thing that buying the expensive ones never seem to pay off, good ole ugly sticks never snap on me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Longshot]

that's a great thread. like alaskaparret said buy nice or twice... i also learned the hard way it's better to wait a few days/weeks and get what you want instead of what's in stock. i bought a kuiu yukon jacket in camo because the solid wasn't in stock. great coat but don't wear it near as much because i don't always wan't to be in camo

 

[WJS23]

All of the Under Armour clothing and boots that I have bought over the the past few years that have fallen apart. At the time I was only whitetails hear in New Hampshire and would be lucky to get a season out of the stuff. I learned that for the same amount of money you can get better made stuff from first lite and Sitka gear

 

[Don K]

I regret not having the extra cash laying around so i can go on a buying spree every year

 

[Desk Jockey]

Hi, my name is Desk Jockey and I am a gear junkie.

I buy too much crap. Always have. Going back to when I was a kid. Every time I went camping I learned something and would come home and tweak my gear. In the army, after every time I was in the field I would Re work my gear loadout. Always improving.

Since I took up hunting with vigor, I have bought tons of stuff. A few years into it, I have found a few things that work and a few that don’t.

The things I regret are few. Mostly cheap stuff that didn’t serve its purpose or that fell apart before I think it should have. Some surplus danner boots, some cheap cabelas clothing and Wal-Mart grade tree stands come to mind.

I have bought a few duds. Slumberjack cloak that is great and warm but too noisy for bow hunting. Some kuiu pants that were supposed to be water resistant that weren’t and led to a frigid day in the rain and snow.

I have bought plenty of high quality gear that didn’t work and I resold or gave away. The good stuff cost lots but you can recoup some of your money on the swap meet if you need to. I feel like that is the cost of being particular about your gear preferences. You have to use to really know what works.

 

[tttoadman]

Columbia rain jacket
Keen Boots
vortex scope


I don't count items that I bought to cut serious weight and found them lacking for me. I only think of items that I knowingly compromised on cost because I thought it would be OK.

 

[MuleyFever]

The saying buy it nice or buy it twice comes to mind here.

The thing is these are not mutually exclusive. See the above example of the Kimber.

One purchase I regretted was my Kifaru Bikini frame.

 

[SHTF]

My only regret is not having an arrow knocked when I had that bull come over a hill at 15 yards in front of me. i so would of taken him. I relive that moment alot and wish I could get a do over =)

as for gear I really dont have any regrets. it takes those crappy buying decisions to get you to the good gear where you see the value of it. Without making some crappy buying decisions Id of never understood why i paid 900$ for my tipi or why i dropped 750$ on a stone Glacier pack. yes this would of been an entirely different post without buying suck gear then understanding the value of the gear I have now.

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

I regretted buying my swarovski SLC 10×42 until I got them in the mountains. I thought "what the hell do I need glass that is better for sure but so much more expensive", well on the mountain is different than playing in my backyard and they're worth it.

I'm with SHTF, scrappy gear purchases make you appreciate the top tier stuff latter.

Live2hunt custom shelters

 

[AK Troutbum]

The first thing that comes to my mind is Rivers West rain gear. About 13 years or so ago, I got sucked into the commercials and dropped about $450 on pants and jacket, what a mistake that was. A few other items are, cheap Leupold spotter, a Big Agnes Fly Creek tent that completely collapsed on me in a Kodiak storm (this was more my fault though for expecting a 3 season tent to hold up under those conditions), Kifaru KU 5200 pack (loved the wt., but it didn't do too well with loads over 70 lbs.), and a Kifaru DT1 that I just couldn't get to fit me well. The last two I just chalk up as a learning curve experience. Oh, and lastly, every heavy item that I've purchased in the past, and later replace with something much lighter and that worked just as well if not better.

 

[Rmauch20]

My first lite llano, washed once and wore a total of 10-12 days before I had holes in showing up.

 

[Rs3003]

I bought a Browning Mountain TI 243 cal. In 2012. I don’t shoot it often. Just sitting in safe. I’d like to sell it for a Kimber 308 adirondak.

 

[Beendare]

I regret buying the cheap chit.

It seems i always end up upgrading to the good stuff anyway.......

 

[nrh6.7]

Having not hunted in the mountains in a long time, I love these threads. I have probably read each one of them going back several years and they are what shaped my buying decisions on new gear. You read enough of them and you start to see patterns in what has worked and what hasn't, so I'm really hoping that come Sept/November I can come back and say no regerts! Guess I'm "Outfitted by Rokslide"

 

[EastMT]

The first thing that comes to my mind is Rivers West rain gear. About 13 years or so ago, I got sucked into the commercials and dropped about $450 on pants and jacket, what a mistake that was. A few other items are, cheap Leupold spotter, a Big Agnes Fly Creek tent that completely collapsed on me in a Kodiak storm (this was more my fault though for expecting a 3 season tent to hold up under those conditions), Kifaru KU 5200 pack (loved the wt., but it didn't do too well with loads over 70 lbs.), and a Kifaru DT1 that I just couldn't get to fit me well. The last two I just chalk up as a learning curve experience. Oh, and lastly, every heavy item that I've purchased in the past, and later replace with something much lighter and that worked just as well if not better.

Yup, I have 2 sets of Rivers West I keep meaning to sell, both leaked at the shoulder seams, heavy, don't dry. Sent them back in to fix the seams, now I use on long atv rides so I don't wear out my good stuff getting to camp.

 

[EastMT]

Also I'll add to that a synthetic sleeping bag. I sure love my big agnes hitchens 20 deg after the switch, so warm it's ridiculous

 

[elkguide]

BLOB target was the only true regret that has made me feel like I wasted my money.

I'm a gear junky addict too. I have bought and then swapped, traded, sold or given away so many of the latest, greatest. new stuff over the years but I've chalked most of it up to my hunting education process and I know that a good education can be expensive. I've learned to stop and take a breath and most times it works out just fine.

 

[ChukarUp]

Another vote here for buy nice or buy twice. I’ve never been a fan of spending a fair amount of money on something I sort of like, rather than spending a bit more on something I love...I try to apply this to just about all significant purchases in life.

This philosophy goes hand in hand with: I’d rather have fewer things that are very nice, rather than a bunch of things that are so-so, or not critically needed.

Having said that, I wouldn’t say I have any major regrets, but I do have two pieces of hunting gear that made my “sell” list this year. One is my SPOT Gen3. The other is the Kifaru Paratarp that I sold in the classifieds earlier this year.

The tarp is a badass piece of gear, I never had the courage to actually sleep in it though. I prefer the closed in security of my tent. As for the SPOT, I upgraded to a Garmin Inreach, that I am super stoked on... for both the navigation ability and the ability to communicate two ways and send custom messages.

 

[bluetick78]

Sawyer filter and Danner Pronghorns. I used each of them once and then introduced them to the bottom of my garbage can.