Thru-Hiking for Frugal Bastards
At first glance, spending the typical $5,000 for a posh-by-hiker-standards 6 month walking vacation is a steal compared to what TV commercials tell us we should want out of a vacation fancy hotels, beaches, pools and booze. You could easily spend $5k drinking yourself into oblivion on a two or three week trip to the Bahamas or 10 day cruise on a giant boat but if youre like me, you realize that time is the real luxury, not fancy accommodations and martini’s. Lets not stop there though, what if you could get TWO thru-hikes for $5k? Check out these tips to cut your budget and extend your hiking:
Check out the Thriftstore
Gear is one of your biggest expenses, right behind food, but it doesn’t have to be! Check out your local Goodwill for cheap fleece, wind jackets, hats, gloves and synthetic blended hiking shirts. The fancy stuff at REI looks nicer but functionally a $120 fleece isn’t that much better than the $10 one you either already have or could get at the local five and dime. This can pay dividends when your stuff starts falling apart on trail. Find the nearest thrift store and save yourself some cash-o-la. Paying a lot of money for gear fools us into thinking it must work really well but the differences are almost always minor. On the PCT I destroyed 2 fancy button down hiking shirts in 1,000 miles but the $2 thrift store one my brother gave me lasted the next 1,600!
Buy Used
Sometimes Goodwill just doesn’t have your size, so try buying used. Since we live in a hyper-capitalist society, gear companies need to show “growth” or that they sell more crap this year than last year. The most common strategy is to fool you into thinking you need the latest and greatest gear by making marginal improvements on last years gear every season. The companies then cover the new stuff with fancy marketing spin that essentially means nothing in the real world. This new jacket has 1,000mm/hg more of breathability! This years tent has TWO zippers instead of just one! Bullshit I say! Youll be fine with last years or even older gear thats in decent shape. After all, if this years stuff is so incredible how could people have done the AT ten years ago? After all, the gear you choose will not make or break your hike – your mentality will!
Fortunately for us, there are lots of folks who eat this marketing mumbo-jumbo right up, or who dive in head first into a new found hobby like backpacking only to give it up later. You can regularly find gear in great shape that someone bought, used twice and then sat on a shelf for a year. Typical discounts range from 20 to 50% and you should be able to haggle the seller into paying for shipping.
Heres a few places to look:
- Ebay
- geartrade.com
- Bearfoots Hiking Gear Fleamarket https://www.facebook.com/groups/372624386236017/
- Backpacking Lights Gear Swap (good stuff goes fast here!)
Dont forget to sell the stuff you dont want any more on those same sites!
Buy Last Years Stuff on Sale
Sometimes you cant find what you need used or in the thrift store, or it would be weird like underwear. Yet again out evil marketing company execs come to the frugal bastards rescue! Thanks to the standard retail model where every year all of their shit has to be updated in some tiny but marketable way, sometime towards the end of the season all of last years stuff has to be sold at cost to make room for next years! Look for 30-40% off sales and buy extra! If you are unusually tiny or unusually large you will have better luck than the rest of us, since XS and XL sizes generally take longer to sell. Sierra Trading Post, Campmor and Backcountry.com seem to have the best sales.
Buy Consumables Ahead of Time
On a typical thru hike you can expect to destroy:
5 pairs of trail runners or 2-3 pairs of boots
4-6 pairs of socks
2-3 pairs of pants or shorts
2-3 hiking shirts
Buying all that discounted now will save you from getting hosed at the on-trail gear stores later. Lets say your trail runner of choice runs new at $110 but last years model is on sale for $65 thats a $45 savings times 5 pairs of shoes or $255! Now with shoes you have to be careful and expect your feet to spread out at least ½ size, probably 1 full size right off the bat. If it turns out you got the wrong size, you can usually sell heavily discounted shoes for about what you bought them later. People tend to love their chosen model of shoes and once last years are gone, theyll be happy to buy your unused ones. Trick your friends and family into paying for shipping to the trail by calling it a “care package” and adding in chocolate!
Keep in mind, if you buy too much of anything else ahead of time youll probably use it after your hike is done anyway since everything youve been wearing is probably too disgusting to use in normal life.
Make Your Own Gear (MYOG)
If 30-50% off from used and discounted gear isnt enough, we can do better! Making your own stuff can range from applying a hole puncher to a cat food can to make a free alcohol stove, or to making your own sleeping bag, backpack and even puffy jacket. Typically the material costs about 20-40% of a similar retail item but requires anywhere from 1 to 8 hours to make. Not only that, the stuff people make is generally lighter, simpler and more durable than store bought gear. If youre socially conscious, MYOG is also the only way to make sure little kids arent making your shit.
There is a huge community of people making all of their own equipment using the same cutting edge fabrics the big boys use with their own specific preferences in mind. Some of them have branched off to form their own cottage gear companies. If you have access to a sewing machine, time and some determination these great resources can get you started:
Sleeping bag, tarp and backpack kits: https://www.rayjardine.com/
Kits for clothing and everything else: https://thru-hiker.com/materials/index.php
Questions and HELP!: https://www.reddit.com/r/MYOG/ and https://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/display_forum.html?forum=38
Dont Sleep in a Bed
The most frugal thru-hikers I met on the PCT had a rule no beds until Canada. That saves an enormous amount on motels, hotels and hostels. Youre also less likely to hang out in town, buying expensive town food and beer when you dont have a plush bed to sleep on. You can always chip in to someone elses room and sleep on the floor for a lower rate but still use the shower, laundry and sweet sweet air conditioning.
Mail Your Resupply
You hike on your stomach and those calories cost money! Buying food in bulk at Costco and paying for flat rate boxes will often beat buying grocery store food. I dont have quantitative numbers on this but every hiker I met seemed to have come to the same conclusion. If youre resupplying from anything smaller than a full size supermarket, mailing wins. Supplement with goodies from the hiker box! If youre lucky, someone ahead of you is sick of whatever they mailed themselves and dumped it for you to harvest!
Dont Dumpster Dive
Ive done it off-trail, maybe youve done it too but on-trail dumpster diving isnt cool. Thru-hikers, like any minority group, have a reputation based around the gross generalizations caused by the bad behavior of a few. If the locals see thru-hikers dumpster diving, it looks really bad especially if theres any mess. That actually goes for all bad behavior trashed motel rooms, litter, unpaid bar tabs, public drunkenness etc., harms the reputation of our little community SO DONT BE AN ASSHOLE!
Question the Cost
If thru-hiking is going to cost $1 per mile or whatever youve budgeted, look at every non-essential item you’re thinking about buying and ask yourself how many miles it costs. Fancy latte at Fivebucks? 5 miles. New rain jacket thats slightly better than your old one? 150 miles. More often than not, Id rather have the miles than the stuff.
Hopefully that gives you some ideas on how to save money, if youre so inclined. If youre wading in cash, enjoy it and dont worry! Add your own tips in the comments! Don’t forget to follow along with me this March as I hike 5,000 miles and check out my fundraiser to help the AZT, CDT and Te Araroa!
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Comments 4
On the point of dumpster diving, I totally agree. Also the point about essentially representing all hikers to locals. I was a hiker turned local shuttle driver in Hamburg, PA, and I can attest that one or two hikers can sour locals for a week or two towards anything regarding the AT. Anyway, love the article!
Very good article! However, I would caution about buying your shoes all at one time. Mine went from 12 to a 13 in about 2 months…
Excellent article Im always asking myself what I would need for a thru hike. A lot of good ideas!
Good tips. The “No dumpster diving” thing is hard for me, It’s a fun hobby for my sons & I at home. HARD habit to break. I am VERY good at stealth DD, but will keep the advice in mind. Would not be able to forgive myself for ruining the hike of someone behind me. Thanks for the advice!