| Hiking clothes and backpacking clothes need to | | | | thirty miles now without a blister in comfortable, |
| function to a higher standard than everyday | | | | lightweight, white nylon dress socks. They're less |
| clothes. That's why they're often more expensive. | | | | than an ounce and about a dollar per pair. |
| Shop all the sales you want, and you will save | | | | Buy Used Hiking Clothes |
| money, but that extremely expensive waterproof | | | | The only hiking clothes I won't buy used is |
| breathable coat will only be marked down to | | | | footwear. Other potential backpacking clothes are |
| "very expensive." Time for some more radical | | | | worth checking out whenever I find them at a |
| ways to find cheap hiking clothes. | | | | rummage sale or thrift store. I've found a |
| Consider what you really need for the trips you | | | | Gore-Tex rain jacket and North Face vest at a |
| have planned. If you'll be scaling peaks in Patagonia | | | | thrift store for a few dollars each. My thrifty used |
| for a month, you may have to stick with the | | | | wool sweater weighs just 11 ounces, and is |
| best sales you can find on the high-quality stuff. | | | | almost as warm as the newest models. |
| If, on the other hand, your trips are fair-weather | | | | One of my favorite thrift store discoveries was |
| overnighters, a two-ounce, two-dollar plastic | | | | silk shirts. I learned that they weigh just tree |
| poncho isn't out of the question. | | | | ounces, and show up on the racks regularly for |
| Even on the more extreme trips you can often | | | | $3. They are comfortable too, though on the trail |
| find cheaper alternatives. Did I take a $400 | | | | some of the styles make me look like I'm |
| waterproof/breathable rain suit to the top of | | | | searching for a wilderness disco. |
| 20,600-foot Mount Chimborazo? No, I took my | | | | Making Hiking Clothes |
| papery Frogg-Toggs rain suit. You'll find these at | | | | I can't recommend sewing your own hiking and |
| golf shops, and yes it's waterproof and breaths | | | | backpacking clothes, but I have made a few |
| well too. It cost me $49 for the set, and I have | | | | simple things. The sleeve from an old thermal shirt |
| used it for years, on many rainy trips, with only | | | | became a one-ounce ski mask with scissors and |
| one duct-tape repair. | | | | three minutes of sewing. Socks with finger-holes |
| Do you like to hike in running shoes, as I do? | | | | make nifty hand warmers. As an insulating layer, I |
| Start watching the sales on out-of-style shoes. | | | | wore a four-ounce piece of poly batting like a |
| I've bought brand-name $90 shoes for just $25. | | | | tunic under my Frogg Toggs, to the top of |
| With savings like that, I'll gladly be out of style. | | | | Chimborazo and other mountains. Finally, without |
| I stopped getting blisters when I gave up on | | | | too much sewing, you can often modify clothes |
| expensive, high-tech, too-hot hiking socks. I hike | | | | to make cheap hiking clothes. |