Cheap Alternatives To My Expensive Gear | I'd Buy Again And Again

you ever have something that you own that you like wish it would break so you could go buy like a better version of it that's not this video hey what's up guys my name is Dan I'm into hiking and backpacking and gear if you guys are into that stuff too go ahead and subscribe to the channel that is what the channel is all about so today we're gonna talk about if I had to go out and buy gear again and I've just got a shorter list isn't it my like whole gear list but if I had to go out and buy it here again this is exactly what I would buy I mean this is the stuff that if it fell into the fire which actually happened by the way I lost my heel and Ikes chairs zero into the fire one time I pulled it out just in the nick of time it got totally charred up but it still works but if I had to go out and buy gear again this is what I would buy hey but before we get into that I want to say a huge thank you to those of you that came out to the subscriber meetup last weekend we met at the Yankee springs recreation area just south of Grand Rapids Michigan and we had a blast man it was just tons of fun finally meeting you guys on the other side of the camera my son was there and he felt like a rockstar you guys made him feel like a million bucks so I really hope that we get to do that again sometime this is the stuff I would buy a hundred percent wouldn't even think twice and then sort of is like a bonus okay I'm also gonna show you some cheaper options to some of the gear not all the gear but some of the gear because this gear is really expensive I mean it's like on the super high end of backpacking gear and if you're like me and you go off and this is the kind of stuff you're gonna buy but if you don't go to often maybe once or twice a year or hardly ever you're gonna want to buy or look into some of the cheaper options that I'm gonna give you so why don't we go ahead move the camera I'll kind of get everything set up and then we can walk through it alright how's that for a costume change huh this is the Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer jacket absolutely without a shadow of a doubt I would buy this jacket a hundred times over this is a really expensive jacket but it is 800 fill down it is extremely lightweight it's got a hood on it it keeps me warm to about 40 degrees or so I have had it in the high 30s it definitely gets chilly at that point you're gonna want to make sure you've got base layers on underneath but I would not even think twice this is absolutely my go-to jacket every single time alright so here's the alternative it's a marmot jacket I don't remember the you know the I just knows Marmot that's all I know I bought costco for like 70 bucks it's literally a hundred dollars or more cheaper than the Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer now granted this thing weighs about 12 or 13 ounces it weighs quite a bit more but it's actually warmer this is a 700 fill jacket but my point is you don't have to buy a marmot jacket there's cheaper jackets than this you can get on Amazon and find jackets that are like you know thirty forty dollars that are down jackets that are still packable and are decently lightweight you can definitely find less expensive alternatives do this is like costume change central right so this is the Outdoor Research helium two rain jacket this is an extremely popular rain jacket among the backpacking community and there's good reason for it this thing is pretty much bomb-proof it has never failed on me it's never gotten water leak through it whatsoever this is definitely an expensive jacket you're gonna pay about $100 or more for it but it's got a cool hood on it it doesn't have pockets or pit zips or anything like that but you know that's kind of a bummer but I can just stick my hands in my pocket if I need to absolutely hundred percent I'd buy this again without even thinking about it weighs like six ounces absolutely love this jacket let's get to the cheap alternative alright so you don't want to spend a hundred bucks on a rain jacket you can spend like fifteen or twenty bucks and get a rain suit I didn't bring the pants out with me but this is just the rain jacket this is the frog togs ultralight rain jacket the problem with this jacket though is that it is pretty easily rip so this is the second one I've purchased and the first one it just ripped to shreds because I would catch it on thorns and sticks and that kind of stuff whenever it rips it's definitely gonna have a hole where you know water can kind of leak in but for something that's super inexpensive this is just as lightweight as the Outdoor Research jacket this thing weighs about six ounces as well it still got you know the hood you can cinch this bad boy up make it nice and tight and it's got even kind of a sort of a cloth inside to it so it can keep you a little bit insulated as well again no pockets on this jacket at all but it works so it's a cheap alternative you don't have to spend a hundred bucks you could spend 15 20 bucks to get a whole rain suit hey we're back costume change alright I'm back in the original jacket all right let's talk shelters this would be the shelter I would buy a a hundred times over I would not look at any other tents whatsoever this is the Big Agnes tiger wall ul to I have talked about this at nauseam in other videos so I won't spend a ton of time on this I'll just tell you it weighs two and a half pounds this is the two-person version it is an extremely expensive tent this retails for about $400 but it is worth every penny in my opinion I would absolutely pay that money again just so I can have this tent I wouldn't even look at another one okay so the alternative would be to pick a tent that I don't own if I didn't own this tent and I didn't have the money to buy that tent if I was you know having to buy everything over again I would buy the land shantu and I don't own that tent disclaimer I've never used that tent I've never even seen it personally but I have seen enough reviews from people that I personally trust to know that that like tent is a huge hit in the backpacking community and everybody raves about it a matter of fact when I was asking on the community to have several months ago you know which sheltered I should buy that was one of the most popular choices that you guys recommend it to me the difference between that one and this one I think the land Shan is a single wall tent if I'm not mistaken and then also it takes trekking poles on each end to set it up so it's a non freestanding tent in other words you have to stake out the corners it doesn't have like poles that will hold itself up so if I had to do it inexpensive I would definitely buy the land shantu alright so since we're on shelters let's just talk about sleep systems I would buy the Nemo tensor insulated regular wide pad is that a surprise to any of you guys at all probably not hands down without even thinking about it 100% I would buy this absolutely again I've never slept better in a tent than on this pad so this just winds not even not even looking at anybody else so the inexpensive pad that you could get is the outdoorsman lab pad this is definitely a big drop in comfort and warmth though this is a 20 inch pad versus a 25 inch pad there is really hardly any r-value or insulating value to this pad at I think it's like at one or just over one but it will keep you off the ground and I have slept on this before it's decently comfortable and it doesn't put my hip bones into the ground or anything like that and this is something I bring for my kids so this thing costs maybe 3040 bucks I think on Amazon so inexpensive version if I didn't have the money if I wasn't backpacking off in I would buy this alright so the next item I would absolutely buy again is my cook pot the ever new titanium pasta pot this is a 1 liter pot and that's overkill for so many reasons for so many people but for me it is absolutely not overkill this is an expensive pot it cost like 60 bucks but I bring people so much with me especially my kids that a 1 liter pot the ability to have to you know cook 4 cups of water is important to me and this thing only weighs like just over 4 ounces so it's got the spout on it it's got the draining holes on it it's got the silicone handle here so you don't burn yourself it's got a really wide base on it so it cooks evenly and there's just so many things that this pot has going for it but I'd hundred-percent buy this pot all over again okay so the alternative to that pot is if you don't have the money or you're not gonna backpack that much just go on Amazon and type in backpacking pots and this pot is going to come up this is a cheap Chinese pot I don't even know the name of this pot it's a generic one it's made under many different manufacturers names but it's decently lightweight I believe it's aluminum it's got the silicone handles on it it's got the markings for measuring water just like my other pot it's got a decently wide base on it doesn't have a spout on it it's definitely heavier but it is a solid pot and it will work it also comes with a mug that I don't really think you need but it does so this could definitely be an inexpensive version for you guys out there that aren't willing to spend 60 bucks on a pot but want something just get into backpacking that I'll just get ya cooking those meals and boiling water quickly alright and last you got to have something to carry it in so obviously my go-to is going to be the backpack that I've been using which is the Z packs arc blast a 21 on spec with modifications it's right around 23 ounces so 100% hands down I would absolutely by the CPEC Sark blast again this is an expensive pack this is over $300 for the backpack but it's worth every penny in my opinion all right so if you don't have 300 bucks to spend on a backpack I would recommend this backpack this is the old version of the backpack actually that I would recommend I don't even know if they sell this one anymore this is the Osprey EXO's 48 they also make it in a 58 liter but it's very similar in style to my zi packs it weighs about a pound more but it's really comfortable and it's built like a tank this backpack I think you can find maybe 120 130 bucks online that still may sound expensive to you but honestly if you're gonna invest in anything backpacking you're definitely gonna want to spend a little bit more money on your backpack and I can already hear you guys getting ready to type into the comments about the amazing cheap backpack that you bought at Walmart and you've had it for years and you've never had any problems or whatever and that's awesome but for the majority of people out there those types of backpacks really just don't work you're definitely gonna want to up your game when it comes to your backpack so put a couple bucks into it and definitely buy a decent backpack for your trips all right also part of my sleep system you need a quilt or a sleeping bag hands down all day long I'm going to ugq and I'm buying their 20-degree bandit I have several manufacturers I've got outdoor vitals I've got z packs i've got enlightened equipment I've got the Costco quilt I have war bonnet I have seen them all I've slept in them all and they are all good quilts don't get me wrong you you really can't go wrong with any of those companies but if I had to do it all over again I'm going to ugq they're the most customizable I absolutely love this quilt it is built amazingly every stitch on here is perfect it is rated comfortably to the actual rating so 20 degrees is actually the comfort rating of this quilt it's not the you hey you're not gonna die rating this is an excellent excellent quilt for what it is so I tell you that to tell you this I don't have a cheap alternative for you because this is something I would 100% invest in absolutely I couldn't even think of a cheap alternative so if you guys know of an inexpensive good you know sleeping bag or quilt that would be better than this option for people please let us know in the comments below honestly I just couldn't think of one I don't own one I have a Costco quilt but that's you know really for more like 50 degrees or more so anyway ugq absolutely all the way hundred percent alright guys that's it that's what I got for you guys today if you like this video please make sure you hit that like button also subscribe for more make sure you hit the bell notification so that I can send you a video every single time it's released and I will see you on the next one

Channel: Dan Becker

Views: 421,596

Keywords: cheap backpacking gear, budget backpacking, low cost, best gear, go to gear, big agnes, ugq, bandit, osprey, zpacks, marmot, mountain hardwear ghost whisperer, ul gear, lightweight backpacking, backcountry, hiking, backpacking

Id: RrUzlC00f-w

Length: 11min 59sec (719 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 17 2019