Hey Omless,
Beginning with two thrift-store bicycles we added all second-hand and ebay/craigslist purchased gear to create two touring bikes that have taken us through the west coast of the U.S. and Southeast Asia.
Here is a link to our
gear and equipment page.
Some tips:
1. Create a google alert for all craigslist pages for the gear you need, for instance "site:
www.craigslist.org ortlieb pannier". Google will send you an email when the parts you want are for sale. Then you can email the person and, if they are trusted, have them mail it to you after you pay.
2. Create an ebay alert for the items you want. Use a snipe program to bid at the last second (a good free one is
www.justsnipe.com.)
3. Sign up for warm showers, (
www.warmshowers.com). A great site! Cycle tourers all over the world have signed up to offer a free bed (or backyard for tenters) for fellow cyclists.
4. Green or brown tent for free camping.
Good luck.