Is there a cure????

“All right I admit it I am a gear junkey!!!!!!

I but lots of gear.So what is the cure to stop.

I have told myslef that I am going to but just 2 more pairs of REI backpacking sox's and thats it NO MORE!!!!!!

So does anyone one have a idea how to brake me of this habbit?

8)”

“run out of money and credit”

“Freeze your credit cards, while they thaw out you will have time to decide if the purchase is warranted or not.”

“The first step is admitting you have a problem.Congratulations.”

“That would work!

Or maby I will try a little will power!!!

Ya right!!!!

8)”

“Hello my name is Mike and I,,,,I am a gear junkey!!!!!

Sob sob!!!!!

8)”

“You can never have too many hiking socks. A few years ago I dropped the credit card on getting about a half-dozen different pairs of merino wool socks from Sierra Trading Post. Those and my Smartwools make for one heck of a sock drawer.”

“Teenage sons who snowboard solved my sock problem. I can buy all I want and they just keep disappearing!”

“LMFAO Pathman!!!!!

Its more then that thought I spend money on gear all the time!!!

I have to stop!!!!

8)”

“Have you tried setting up a gear "allowance" for yourself, Crazy M? It'd be hard to stick to, but if you could mustard the will power, you could still enjoy the new gear without going terribly crazy (but then again, you are "Crazy" Mike)”

“Once you develop the perfect system, then you'll stop shopping for gear. Until something breaks...”

“You mean like a jar to throw change in?

I could do that.

Its hard thought!

8\”

“Get married. Then you won't have enough money left to buy anything.”

“FAT CHANCE!!!!!!

8)

Gotta gat a laugh out of that!

Ya I will when I find a girl that like to go backpacking as much as I do!”

“better yet get married, have kids, get divorced - then you REALLY won't have any money”

“Thats scary!!!!!

8o”

“hey since you got new socks...are ya giving away your old ones!?...hehehe”

“No I ware them out!

Then I give them to the dog to play with!

8)”

“Eww.”

“My dog likes it!

8)

The smell too!!!!”

“Hey HOI, that kinda answers what's the scariest thing that can come sniffing around your tent at night -- your ex wife wanting to know how you managed to have enough cash to buy it.”

“I just bought a new Hennessy Hammock!!!!!!!”

“Stop the madness!!!!!


8O arggggggggg!!!!!!”

“Crazy Mike. Just give me the money, then you can't buy any gear!

(Actually, my first thought was get married and have kids, but someone else beat me to that.) But I like my second idea even better!”

“LOL stumprider!!!!

8)”

“which one did you get walkindude - the asym ultralight?”

“AA I tried it but gave up!!! spend on!!!!”

“I got the Expedition. It was the only one they had.
I'm going to bring it to Sipsey this weekend.”

“If already married a helpful solution to gear addiction is to have a baby - apparently.

We are about 4 weeks away from having our first and little coop's "gear" budget dwarfs my own. Although I do admit we've had a lot of help from friends and family.

Maybe we can all hold gear showers for newbie backpackers. "OK Crazy Mike how many bows did we stick on you?"”

“What's the big deal? Everyone has hobbies and interests which cost something.

You could be obsessed with golf, fishing or hunting, motor sports, model building, quilting, gardening, photography, or pets. Instead you chose backpacking. No big deal.”

“Don't worry, spend the money while you can. Afterall, you can't take it with you.”

“"bing"=bingo.”

“Hmmmm, I see where Darryl gets his good looks.

there's a big debate going on in Montana over all the gambling here. People plug the poker machines with their life savings, but the cities love the revenue.

Tax the POOR!”

“Oh, Mike, in answer to your question, "is there a cure?' No! Join REI and at least get a dividend.”

“Effective rationalization is the key to enjoying gear addiction.

I need it, therefore I get it.

Don't fight it; there are worse addictions (trust me; I used to have most of those too!)”

“Donating the used stuff to others helps with the rationalization, too.”

“Yeah, listen to gearjunkie! And change your name to "It's Junkie Mike"

(BTW, I just bought a pair of pants from REI)”

“Don't listen to what they say Mike. Addmitting you have a problem in this case only leads to justification, like "I can spend a months pay on this tent because I am an addict. It's not my fault." Just keep buying small things to keep the cravings down.”

“So deathmarch, you recommend the backpackers equivalent of skin popping? That only leads to mainlining!”

“Ever go on a gear binge?

You roll into REI, get a big basket, and just buy whatever you want--barely even looking at the price tags. Adrenaline surges; your heart pounds; sweat pops on the brow. Anxiety rises because you can't find anything you don't already have, then Ah! There it is! A titanium hammock!The high is fantastic!

Sure, the next day there is some remorse. You ask yourself questions like: why do I now have more place settings of lexan than my wife has of china? Then there is the age old problem of sneaking the new gear into the house, so you can pretend you've had it for years.

You bide your time,swinging in your titanium hammock, until the cycle begins anew.”

“Gear binge? Oh yea! But coming down is tough. Ever feel like you need to hide the credit card bills?”

“I agree w/ deathmarch. Just buy small amounts to keep the cravings at bay. A titanium cup here, some socks there; it's more postage, true, but it may save you from binge-ing.”

“We need to develop a PATCH! Like a stick-on credit card or something!”

“I don't know, I think its the gear not spending money. If I got free, new, gear, I'd still be addicted. One important point in treating addiction-you can only be cured if you want to be cured. I don't think I want to be cured. It hasn't impacted my social or work like yet-at least I don't think it has.”

“it has impacted the home life however - it is getting tough to find a place to put all the gear”

“transferance. You need to transfer the compulsive behavior to some other endeavor. (Maybe posting to TT) There are some nifty make-your-own gear sites (ie LightweightBackpacker) where alot of your attentions must go into the creative aspects of fashioning the gear, rather than just purchasing it. Of course you still will need to purchase the raw materials, but then your hobby will be building, not buying.”

“I like Big Coop's idea of a New Hiker shower.

I'm free most of this month. Let me know when you have mine planned. I need a new sleeping bag, stove, water filter, pots, etc...”

“LOL Big Coop!
I hear ya. The baby gear buying has officially begun up here.

Four weeks you say? Wow, I can't hardly wait myself.

Of course we will need pictures.”

“Just buy everything at a discount so you can feel good about all the money you saved.”