Gear purchase discussion

[MedicoreHntr]

I'm curious how many folks buy new gear every year for hunts and then immediately sell post hunts?? If you do this do you get the new latest and greatest gear? Does it makes sense in the long run.?

I personally buy and stock it and slow upgrade over the years.

 

[Shraggs]

Slow calculating ocd long term upgrades.

 

[Jpsmith1]

Slow calculating ocd long term upgrades.

This. Taking advantage of the guys who NEED the newest, latest and greatest

 

[MedicoreHntr]

I agree, I'm all about the deals/secondhand!

 

[Timplant]

lots of used, always buying and selling and trading. I love tinkering and gear, too many hobbies, but it is what it is. when I find something that PERFECT I buy two (R700's I've built one in 6.5 and one in .223) or marsupial bino harness. When I find shirts or boots or socks that are perfect, I buy multiple.. 5-10 as I wear basically the same thing to work as I do on the weekends. If it works it works..

Lots of rich people selling brand new stuff for cheap plus my wifes GOVX gets used ALOT

 

[NRA4LIFE]

I don't buy any gear unless I need it. When I need it means when my old stuff wears out or breaks. Example: on my moose hunt in 2016, the rain was epic, record-setting, etc., and my old rain gear was not cutting it. Went to Spokane and bought new rain gear.

 

[kpk]

Once I build trust in something I don't part with it. It took several years of flipping stuff to get to that point, but I don't even look at new gear now. The only time I buy new stuff is when someone on here posts deals that I can't turn down.

 

[98XJRC]

I don't think I've ever bought a piece of hunting clothing that wasn't on sale or purchased through a forum. It's a hobby for me and even though it's something I thoroughly enjoy doing I'm not a position in my life that I have unlimited discretionary funds.

• Pack - K4 New
• Boots - Sale
• Clothing - All second Hand or on sale
• Bow - Used (All new accessories at this point)
• Hunting Saddle for whitetail - Used
• Climbing stick - mix of sale and used
• Tent - Discount code
• Sleeping bag - off forum NWT
• Sleeping Pad - New on sale from Camofire
• Bino Harness - Used
• Binos - Sale
• Rangefinder - Sale

 

[JohnJohnson]

I keep upgrading until I hit near the top and really trust it. So my binos are EL 10x50s not NL's but I don't have any desire to upgrade now since I've done a number of hunts with the ELs and love them. Same if a new RRS tripod came out. It wouldn't catch my attention much since my TFCT-34L w/ Anvil has proven itself capable of what I need over multiple hunts now.

The current dragon I'm chasing is riflescope image quality. My 2023 coues deer was an extremely difficult situation for my riflescope (Vortex LHT 4.5-22). It was 380 yards away on a shaded hillside with the sun coming in towards me from the 1 o'clock direction pretty low in the sky. Even with a sun shade it took 10-15 minutes to find the thing in my scope and I wasn't able to reacquire it after the shot. Luckily a follow-up shot was not needed. It definitely left me wanting to upgrade since I plan to hunt coues again in 2025. My ATACR F1 7-35x56 arrives Friday.

Edit: Its eyebox is undoubtedly tighter than my Razor G3 but otherwise I really like it, especially the MIL-C reticle.

 

[Hnthrdr]

I’m a tinkerer, so buying trying selling and bargin hunting constantly but I’ll find things that work and that I like and stick with them for a while optics I did the slow upgrade thing out of necessity. I’m at a place now where I can indulge in some frivolous spending if I want but try to limit that and do gear in - gear out type stuff to recoup some cost

 

[TaperPin]

Better than buying new, is buying barely used gear and selling after the season for the purchase price. I haven't had to do that for quite a while, but in my broke 20’s it could be the difference between a decent spotting scope or none at all, or a decent rifle scope or one that’s less reliable. Constantly buying and selling has a real time penalty, but young me had way more time on his hands.

Then it became a way of testing out new gear without having to loose money if it doesn’t work out - an expedition 4 season tent sounds good until you have to carry it once. A whisper lite stove isn’t for everyone, but until you’ve had to light the little cup of raw gas to warm it up, you never realize how fun it is. 3 section trekking poles were advertised as lighter and better, but if they are too short to use going down steep slopes they aren’t better. A Ruger #1 seemed perfectly suited to my style of hunting, but they are too finicky. A 30-378 made it through one hunting season - there’s not enough lead in my britches to accurately shoot it prone. lol

I’ve always said the easiest way to increase the accuracy in a factory rifle is to buy another used rifle just like it and keep the best of the two - rinse and repeat until one meets your accuracy goal.

Even if someone only shoots 500 rounds a year, it doesn’t take long before burning out barrels becomes an issue, and one summer of high volume varmint hunting and a barrel might be toast - I used to buy a used 243, replace the stock and trigger, use up at least half its barrel life, put back the original stock and trigger, and sell it.

Finally, I don’t mind buying used stuff anytime they come up at a good price - if it’s nicer than what I’m using, the old one gets sold. It’s fun to spank the young guys in the family with my $200 62 year old Remington - when a $150 Remington comes along I’ll switch to that.

 

[MedicoreHntr]

Love to hear and see everyone's thoughts on it. I appreciate the responses. Very few things that I've bought new myself. Couple articles of hunting clothing but this was even on sale or utilizing discount codes. I tend to scourer classifieds here and other forums for deals. Its a terrible nightly habit. Always in the market for a good deal. Glass/scopes tend to be those items that I would like to upgrade more often. Always trying to seek clearer/more mag optics.

 

[mtnbound]

Too many guys get sucked into buying the next great thing because some "social media influencer" that is being paid to review their product says it's the best and makes them a more successful hunter. Unfortunately, with the prices folks are asking for used gear, I often find it brand new for cheaper.

 

[SikaHuntaa]

Being in New Zealand it is harder to get gear, stumbling across this forum has been a great help to getting some bloody good gear (mostly clothing) into my hands for a pretty reasonable price. Would never own half the stuff I own if it wasn't for someone selling a basically brand new item for cheap cause they didn't like it. Optics are the same, I'm kitted out in Swaro and Zeiss for a fraction of the retail costs.

Likely wouldn't buy sleeping bags secondhand though...

 

[BigDuckHunter]

Too many guys get sucked into buying the next great thing because some "social media influencer" that is being paid to review their product says it's the best and makes them a more successful hunter. Unfortunately, with the prices folks are asking for used gear, I often find it brand new for cheaper.

It’s crazy how many people get sucked into the marketing. To me, seeing Cam Hanes, Steve Rinella, etc on a product makes me more likely to avoid it. If a product truly is the best it typically doesn’t need some social media hunter pushing it to all their followers to sell.

 

[BigDuckHunter]

Too many guys get sucked into buying the next great thing because some "social media influencer" that is being paid to review their product says it's the best and makes them a more successful hunter. Unfortunately, with the prices folks are asking for used gear, I often find it brand new for cheaper.

It’s crazy how many people get sucked into the marketing. To me, seeing Cam Hanes, Steve Rinella, etc on a product makes me more likely to avoid it. If a product truly is the best it typically doesn’t need some social media hunter pushing it to all their followers to sell.

 

[COJoe]

I buy lots of used gear or new specific gear with my military discount. I won't sell anything because I am terrible at selling but will give it away when I'm done using it to someone who needs/appreciates it. We have a young man staying with us that thinks he may get into hunting so we'll see how his ambition increases. I love all of you new gear /clothing junkies, you help supply my clothing needs! I can't really think of new gear I will need going forward except and insulated pair of hunting boots for later season hunts so I need to find what brand I want and look for it used since it won't be used much, if not, I'll buy new at some kind of discount, hopefully.

 

[Ahlongslide]

I mostly buy used and deeply discounted gear. I figure lots of good hunters harvested lots of good animals with old technology

 

[roosiebull]

Gear has become its own entity for me the past 10yrs, prior to that, I didn’t care about gear. I like trying new stuff to a fault. I know that using what you have and being familiar with everything you own is the best path, cheapest path, and most. Practical (ESPECIALLY your weapon and choice of projectiles)

That being said, I know better but like testing gear.

I rarely pay full price for anything, my pack, and bino harness are exceptions, but most things I buy on sale or occasionally used.

I do sell a good amount of gear, but more often give it away to family or whatever. There are things that come up that I want, that I will wait to buy until I can find a deal… a very recent example is the day six dragonfly, I have wanted that knife since released, but I know I can get by fine without it, and it’s not a cheap knife… a few days ago I was offered a good deal on one, and I was all over it.

Boots are something I buy every year on Black Friday sales, clothing I try to buy on sale, and over time, you know when those sales are

Bigger dollar items I will sell if it’s not for me. I just sold my onnex click and bought a like mike 2 (broke even) i need to sell my quivalizer and get a titespot for my backup bow, etc

When the k4 was released, I sold my kifaru, I sold a seek outside and got a k2 a few years ago, I gave my k2 to my brother in law, give my old bows to family members, everyone who hunts in my family has a bino harness from me

I hate selling stuff, but it’s a good way to get new gear, but i give more stuff away than sell

 

[Davyalabama]

Getting older, more income, less dependents, ineedthisitis, it’s a process. I could hunt the rest of my life and not buy another thing (including ammo-I shoot about two boxes a year to stay-in-tune) nor garment, just fuel for the truck and sxs. I don’t sell gear, I put it away and maybe use again or scavenge it to make something else better. However, I will upgrade (this year am trying aclima fishnets, a badlands harness “caught on major sale” and bought used swaro slc), I may have a chassis 300 win mag built or buy a Bergera mdt lite (yeah, spare me the why I don’t need a chassis rifle, at least it isn’t a Cheytac). Now, it’s more for me and keeping me warm (I bought a heated vest in the off-season of 22, loved that last year). I may by a waffle merino or thin yak sweater to go over the aclimas, I’ll try what I have I. The chest, the 150 and 250 merino base layer shirts first, maybe the Pendleton wool sweater for moisture absorption. I can see a 3500 or a f450 in the future too.