They make some great gear now-a-days for camping, hiking, backpacking and being in the outdoors. The problem is that most of this gear is much to expensive for a freelance journalist.
But for anyone who has ever been active in the outdoors you know how important good gear is. It can mean the difference between an enjoyable outing and spending the trip miserable.
So what are the "adventurers on a budget" to do? Well, you just have to find the deals.
Each week I go to a store called
Marshalls. This store is amazing. It has all of the name brand stuff that the major stores couldn't sell or got overstocked with only its WAY WAY cheaper.
Don't believe me. I thought you might not. So as proof the picture above are two of the items that I recently bought there. Each Saturday I trek to the store (because the items change every week) to see what new gear they may have.
Here is the recent items I have bought there:
-2 pairs of
Under Armour hiking pants (that's one of their tags) I paid $7 for each. They were originally $69.99 each.
-A Columbia outdoor baseball hat (that's the other tag). It is designed to wick sweat away from you and has a UPF rating of 50. I paid 30 cents for it. It was originally $18.
-An Adidas stocking hat. This is just a normal stocking hat, not beanie, so it folds over to add extra warmth and help break the wind from getting to your ears. I paid 50 cents it was originally $18.
-3 Nike polyester short sleeve shirts for hiking. These are designed to wick sweat away too and keep you dry. I paid $5 each. They were originally $60 each.
-A pair of fleece Nautica gloves. These gloves will work great on outdoor outings. They are thick fleece with Thinsilate lining. Meaning they'll be warm and block the wind. I paid $3. They were orignally $38.
-A
Hot Chillys long sleeve shirt. Peach skins, as they're called, are designed to keep you warm in cold weather, and cool in the hot climates. I paid $10 for mine. They sell for $45 online.
-A University of Washington sweatshirt. I know this isn't camping gear, but it was a great deal. It's a purple hoodie with gold embroidered letters and a gold hood lining. I got it for $15. The original tag said $55.
If you add all that up, I spent $57.80 on $494 worth of clothes. Yeah, this store is pretty amazing. That's $436.20 in savings.
Oh, and to let you know if the gear works or not, it does. I have been wearing my new pants on each of mine and Jeff's training hikes and they work amazing. On the hike that we took the Northern Rangers first video on, since there was snow and it was very cold, I put a pair of tights on underneath and was perfect temperature the whole trip.
The shirts work great and keep me warm and dry. And I just got the UW sweatshirt today, but I know that will work for wearing around town. Since everyone knows UW is better than WSU. Well, everyone but Brandon. (now they better win this afternoon or else I'll eat my words. But at least I'll have a nice sweatshirt).
So if there is a Marshalls near you, I highly recommend checking them out. I don't always find a deal everytime I go there. But when I do, it is well worth the trip.
