Cheap Sources of Equipment
So I gave up buying clothes online. Cheapest site I could find with outdoor-specific fleece, hiking pants, etc. was Campmor.com and even then it was about $25 per article. That is just way to expensive, I'm sorry. And then you get some nut who spend $250 on a damn windproof fleece or $600 on a down parka. If that's your 'thang' more power to you, promote the economy, but most of us would rather have some old ratting clothes that you won't give a second thought to lay in the dirt or bushwhack through thorns in. Similarly, you can find decent equipment in secondhand stores that are pretty much being thrown away.
I headed to Goodwill this afternoon in hopes of finding a heavy wool or midweight fleece (200 weight or more) and maybe some nylon hiking pants. Because I live in a small city (8k between two sister cities), my Goodwill pickings are slim. The best stuff comes in when old people die and their relatives clean out the closet. Sounds morbid but it's true. Old people have the best stuff: wool, carbon steel blades, full leather belts, etc. I found a decent light to mid-weight wool sweater, a 38x30 wool dress pants (forestry service green, 60% polyester, 40% wool, heavy), and a ripstop nylon rain/wind jacket from Dutch Harbor Gear (a find!). When looking for decent hiking pants, check out the nylon wind pants section first, then head over to the dress pants (slacks) section. Wool dress pants are just as good, light weight, and WOOL! Who cares if they look god-awful cubical-grey... they're going in the dirt on the trail.
Then I went over to St. Vincent de Paul to check out their selection... which hardly ever changes. Not surprisingly, their clothing selection was lacking. I headed over to the knife section because, on a previous trip, I found an old high-carbon steel blade which I touched up. :) You can also find some old aluminum and tin pots from yesteryear which, if you're lucky, may have a bail handle. Billy pot anyone? Otherwise some are just asking to have some bailing wire attached. Water bottles are plenty at St. Vinny's as well. Oh, hit up the belt section too. Old belts are pure leather straps. None of that crap leather sandwiched between "show leather". Pure rawhide!
Oh, crappy leather coats can be found at either place. Some are so ratty noone buys them and they can be marked down to $10! If you find a leather coat with some decent leather (not to wear but to scrap), and making sure it's not "pleather" (plastic leather knockoff), pay the ten bucks for scrap leather sheets to make pouches and sheaths.
And of course there is the army surplus store most are familiar with, though I don't have one in my area so I can't comment.
