Under my $1 umbrella

Finding dirt cheap hiking gear at hardware stores, supermarkets, and more

You can buy hiking gear here. | Scott Trudeau CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

This weekend, I’m distracting myself from the Omicron variant news by going hiking with a friend and the weather is going to be horrible. Spattering rain, obnoxious winds, temperatures that dance on the razor’s edge of freezing, and the slight possibility of THUNDER SNOW. (Is it just me or do you start humming Bruce Springsteen’s “Thunder Road” whenever anyone mentions thunder snow?) Hiking in miserable conditions can still be kind of wonderful if you choose a trail that won’t be rendered dangerous by the weather and especially if you plan a recuperation that includes a hot shower with enviable water pressure, woolen garments, comfort food, and/or a fireplace.

But just as important as choosing your hike wisely is applying the same scrutiny to gear.

Don’t worry. This isn’t the newsletter where I suddenly try to talk you into buying a $300 rain jacket. Most of my hiking gear—including jackets and boots—has come from consignment stores at a bargain price. (The finest used outdoor gear shops in New England, for my money, are International Mountain Equiptment (IME) in North Conway, NH and the Outdoor Gear Exchange in Burlington, VT.) While some pieces of long-lasting hiking gear can be worth the investment, I’m a believer in recreational frugality. After all, one of the most attractive things about hiking is its simplicity. Unless you’re doing a long multi-night backpacking trip or trekking into places that necessitate stuff like crampons, you can usually skate by with pretty cheap gear. It doesn’t even have to come from specialty stores like REI. In fact, several of my hiking staples can be bought at hardware stores, grocery stores, and even dollar stores. And since we’re in the middle of a holiday-driven consumption wave, I thought I’d devote this newsletter to spotlighting some of this unorthodox and affordable hiking gear.

Before we begin, I’ll mention that this gear rundown doesn’t include the obvious hiking apparel like fleeces or windbreakers. Again, used clothing stores are a reliable bet for these things. The gear that I’m going to highlight might not seem intuitive to hiking but it can nonetheless be the difference between a glorious hike and a hellish one. With one exception, each item on this list can be procured for less than 10 bucks, and if you can keep a little stash in your closet or car so you’re always ready for to go hiking.

#1: TRASH BAGS/LINERS ($1-4)

There’s a solid chance that anything you toss into your backpack for a hike is going to get wet, especially in New England. It could be rainwater creeping in, or it might be the sweat from your on backside saturating the pack. You really don’t want to fish your fuzzy jacket out of your pack on a gusty ridge, only to find it soggy. Pack makers will try to cajole you into paying top dollar for the latest in waterproofing technology, but I almost always get by with trash bags. Just stick one in the primary compartment of your backpack, load your hiking supplies into the bag, twist it shut, and then zip up the pack. Unless you’re hiking into a lake, your gear should stay dry.

This is the most common-sense utility of trash bags for hiking, but I’ve found another use. On occasion, when hiking during fall or winter, I’ve had the rotten luck of encountering a brook crossing where I have no choice but to wade through cold water that’s deep enough to soak my boots and feet. In these instances, I’ve pulled off my boots and slid a trash bag over each of my socked feet to serve as a heat trapping device—so that my feet stay warm for the rest of the hike. Granted, the trash bag will also trap sweat moisture, so you don’t want to hike like this for more than a half a day unless the idea of developing mild trench foot gives you borrowed nostalgia for World War I. But if you’ve got a couple miles left before you can finish your hike and get your hands on a dry pair of socks, a pair of trash bags can help.

I don’t even remember what the third trash bag was for.

#2: PLASTIC WRAP ($1-3)

Smartphones are great for hiking photos and mapping apps, but they’re also a $400+ liability when the weather turns rainy or snowy. You could plump for a fancy watertight phone case, but ever since losing an iPhone to one of these “waterproof” cases on a kayaking trip in Nevada back in 2016, I’ve never fully trusted them. What I do trust and use regularly to waterproof my smartphone is plastic wrap. Not only does this stuff keep liquid out, but it’s thin enough that you can still press the buttons on your smartphone through the film. Keep a wad of it in your pack and when the weather goes south, wrap it around your phone tightly, a couple of times, and enjoy the rest of your hike.

Those aren’t cracks, they’re Saran Wrap ridges! | Christine CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

#3: DUCT TAPE ($2-5)

Of all the universal solvents in life, duct tape comes close. People use it for everything from sealing home heating systems to de-linting clothes. It’s tough, water resistant, and applicable to many hiking maladies. I’ve used duct tape to repair a boot when the sole has come loose (hiking nightmare fuel,) to keep floppy bandages and moleskin affixed to hiking scrapes and blisters on sweaty days, and to temporarily patch holes in jackets. Got a half-used roll lying around? Make it your hiking tape.

I’ve done this too. | Brenda Denton CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

#4: PARACORD AND TARP ($7-10)

What is paracord? It’s a strong type of cord that serves as suspension lines for parachutes. But in the backcountry, it can be used as a clothes line, as a means of securing gear to a backpack, or…when paired with a basic tarp…it can yield a rain shelter for hikers. If you’re hiking somewhere rugged and the forecast is calling for torrential rain, consider throwing a folded tarp and a few lines of paracord in your bag. It should weigh next to nothing, take up virtually no space, and if you find yourself in a typhoon, wiping rainwater from your eyes, you can string the paracord through the holes in the corners of the tarp and affix it to trees and other elements to create a temporary shelter from the downpour. This tutorial from Field & Stream explains how to do this.

Boss Level tarp stringing. | Harry Harris, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

#5: COCONUT OIL ($5-8)

Not to be one of those people who swears by coconut oil as an elixir for everything from treating eczema to acquiring washboard abs, but I have found this illustrious high saturated fat to be useful on the trail (especially the little packets of coconut oil that are sold at Trader Joe’s.) Long periods spent outdoors can lead to dry and irritated skin. Sometimes, in addition to applying sunblock, I’ll add a dab of extra virgin coconut oil to the mix. The other subtle benefit of coconut oil is that it contains medium-chain triglycerides that can provide a quick boost of energy. If you’ve run out of snacks and need an extra boost to finish your hike, a hit of oil could do the trick.

#6: UMBRELLA ($8-20)

Of all the things I saw in the woods while working as a backcountry lodge caretaker in the late 2000s, one of the most sublime sights I can recall is our lead carpenter, Dave, hiking up the trail to the lodge on a rainy day with an umbrella in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, whistling to himself. I’ve never seen any other human being looking so at peace in the forest: so at home. And ever since that Dave sighting, I’ve hiked with an umbrella and I’ve found it to be more effective than rain jackets in certain weather conditions. Obviously an umbrella won’t make much sense on a windy day or on a claustrophobic trail amid thick trees. But if you’re hiking someplace roomy, with fairly easy footing that doesn’t require the use of your hands, stick a collapsible umbrella in your bag or lash a full size one to the side of the bag. Not only is an umbrella useful in rain, but it can also provide sun protection on those broiling July days in New England. People will look at you with wonder and disbelief.

Bliss. | Monty VanderBilt CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

#7: WATERPROOF POWER BANK ($60-120)

Finally, we arrive at the one piece of unconventional hiking gear on this list that will cost you more than 10 bucks, (while potentially saving you many hours of being lost in the sticks.) For better or worse, smartphones have become an integral part of the 21st Century hiking experience and their greatest weakness is limited battery life: especially during winter, when frigid air temperatures can prematurely knock your battery capacity from 90% to 15%. After having my phone “go dark” on several urban hikes last winter—not wanting to find myself in the same situation in the mountains—I started bringing a waterpoof power bank on longer hikes. This is basically an external phone battery that you charge at home or in the car with a USB cable, and then you just zip it in your bag with your smartphone’s applicable charging cable. That way, if your phone conks out mid-hike, you can power it back up fairly swiftly. The model that I’ve been using is the Poseidon Pro, which doubles as a flashlight and comes with a neat multi-tool carabiner that’s also become part of my hiking gearbox. Don’t use this sort of device as a substitute for bringing paper maps or telling somebody about your hiking itinerary, but if you’ve embraced smartphone-augmented hiking, bring your own backup power source!

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