Originally Posted by Tourist in MSN

Most of my sleeping bags, air mattresses, tents, etc., were purchased on sale. If I see something at a great sale price that I am sure I will like to use, I buy it. But, you have to be patient, sometimes for a few years.

But some years I have slept in a tent for as much as two months of the year, so I try to have some good stuff for a variety of conditions. Most of my camping gear is stuff that I have been using for over a decade, some for decades.

That said, I am still buying new stuff when I see something that I am sure I will really like to use, bought a new butane camp stove about a year ago. And it was not even on sale price, so it was an unusual purchase for me.

If you plan on doing much camping, having good stuff that makes you enjoy your trip better can be worth the money if you use it enough. For a variety of reasons I have not done a trip this year, but last year my bike tour was shortened to only two weeks due to weather, backpacking trip was a bit over two weeks, canoe trip for a week and a half, thus 5.5 weeks last year sleeping in a tent. Without good functional camping stuff, it would have been pretty miserable.