Talking to a ranger at Big Bend made me question my whole kit

I was bragging about my new $300 sleeping pad at the Chisos Basin campground and this older ranger just laughed, said he's been using the same foam mat since 1998 because 'comfort is a state of mind.' He then showed me his 20-year-old tent with duct tape patches and it held up fine in a 40 mph wind gust that night. Anyone else have a moment where a total stranger made you feel over-geared and under-prepared?

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finley_gonzalez4927d ago

Wait, who actually needs a $300 pad to sleep outside? I used to be all about the lightest newest gear cause I thought it made me a better hiker or whatever. But one trip where my fancy inflatable pad got a pinhole leak on night two and I had to borrow a buddy's cracked foam mat totally flipped my thinking. That ranger's right, your body adapts to whatever you give it, and the extra weight on my back was honestly doing more harm than any comfort was worth. Now I rock a basic closed cell pad and my sleep is just as good, maybe better cause I'm not stressing about popping the thing. It's humbling to realize the gear companies are selling you solutions to problems you never had in the first place.