Opinions About Routes Etiquette

[TacoLand]

Appreciate the Patagonia comment, Taco

Arc'teryx or death

Arc'teryx is my favorite, but Patagonia is free ... what's a dirtbag to do?

[Kauri]

Appreciate the Patagonia comment, Taco

Arc'teryx or death

And I'm a longstanding fan of Columbia. Guess there's no hope for agreement with this bunch 

[Daymoth]

Appreciate the Patagonia comment, Taco

Arc'teryx or death

Arc'teryx is my favorite, but Patagonia is free ... what's a dirtbag to do?

How are you getting free Patagucci??? 
Yall talking brands above my budget.

[DAW89446]

Gee … how did I ever survive Pic-N-Save, White Front and Kmart? 

[netllama]

Gee … how did I ever survive Pic-N-Save, White Front and Kmart? 

Did any of them survive you?

[DeathValleyDazed]

Did any of them survive you?

Good one, netllama.   However, I'm with David on this topic because last December I hiked to No Name Canyon and The Tucki Wash wearing deep green rubber-plastic work boots from Walmart for $20. I broke them in around our small ranch and wore them building trails in the mountains behind our home. I got them a size larger than my usual size eleven, placed some arch support insoles and wore two pair of high quality thick hiking socks and was totally comfortable hike for miles through alluvial fans, canyon beds, and those muddy salt flats. In fact I wore today splitting firewood and feeding our horses. 

Of course I've got two pair of REI hiking boots as well but I did not want to ruin them on that unforgiving DEVA terrain.

One trip to DEVA I parked at Desolation Canyon for my first hike to scale that east wall with all the holes in it that leads to colorful basin and could not find my REI hiking boots. I had not packed them, duh! All I had was a pair of Merrill's which were comfortable but not suited at all for my plans. Needless to say that curtailed much of my more adventurous hikes on that trip including the Desolation east wall. 

[Kauri]

Yall talking brands above my budget.

I should admit that I get Columbia stuff at half-price or less via the “Columbia Company Employee Store.” No I am not an employee there nor do I have any connection to a Columbia employee, but they do often extend invites to the store to various other organizations, e.g. the service dog organization which I’m a volunteer for. And that makes their gear a lot more affordable.

[MojaveGeek]

Yup, you gotta score a discount, or get stuff at clearance houses like Sierra Trading Post (in Reno, but good mail order).

[DAW89446]

Gee … how did I ever survive Pic-N-Save, White Front and Kmart? 

Did any of them survive you?

[TacoLand]

Yeah, all of my gear was straight-up army surplus (except for shoes / boots) until I worked for Patagonia for a few years. And that gave me the chance to swap out everything I owned for much better gear.