Dirt Bagging" for Cheap Gear

Gearheads like myself find great pleasure in hunting down the nec plus ultra in the expansive (and expensive!) world of specialty backpacking and camping gear. How the world has changed these past four or five years! Now ‘dirtbagging’ is in and overpriced doo-dads are passe. Sgt. Rock , an Appalachian Trail through hiker, coined the term ‘dirtbagging’ and has collected lot’s of great gear ideas in this article at whiteblaze.net …the average hiker starts putting together a kit by going to the local outfitters, looking at the Internet, or picking up a catalog and then builds a shopping list. The fact is the latest high tech gear can be VERY expensive, and even the little things that you may need backpacking can add up if you try and buy everything new. Dirt Bagging is a term I picked up from a hiker named Nigel who used this term to define the use of re-cycled gear like soda cans for stoves and soda bottles for fuel or water; or using cheap gear like plastic sheets for tarps and grease savers for cooking pots. Dirt Bagging can actually be fun when you see what you can get away with. Here’s a few of his ideas: Pack Towel.

Synthetic chamois cloths for cleaning the streaks off your car after washing make good pack towels. You only need a piece about the size of a washcloth.

Bottles. You can use old soda bottles for lightweight and rugged fuel bottles, water bottles, olive oil carriers, etc. Bandanna. You may already have one of these somewhere. If not, take one of your old cotton t-shirts and cut a square out of it to make your own.

Floss. Sure you can use it on your teeth, but it also makes an excellent thread for repairing gear.

Cotton Balls and Vaseline. Take some cotton balls (about 12) and swab Vaseline all over them, then put them in their own zip-lock to make sure fire campfire starter. Be sure to read the whole article – there’s much more great advice.