What is ‘budget’ wild camping gear anyway?
Wild camping isn’t like any other hobby. I’ve been into it for a couple of years now, and I love it. I’ve been documenting my journey (you’d be amazed how much there is to learn) and my camps on my YouTube channel as I’ve fumbled my way through it.
I’ve connected with some awesome folk, and even made a few friends along the way. But for some reason, in the wild camping community there seems to be a lot of banter, trolling, bitchiness and snide comments around the amount of money people pay for their kit.
Sigh. I know. Ridiculous right? And from what I’ve seen, you can’t win either way…
‘Hey folks, check out my new Hilleberg Soulo!’ says ‘John’.
… queue hundreds of comments about using kit you don’t need, spending far too much money on just a tent, and ‘FFS you could have bought a [thing] with that amount of money John!’.
‘Take a look at my new NatureHike Cloud Up 2!’ says ‘Dave’.
… queue hundred of comments about using kit that’s not good enough, not spending enough money on a tent, and ‘you should have bought a [tent that’s too expensive for ‘Dave’ to buy].
You get the drift. Don’t get me wrong, you’re always going to get the odd comment, it’s the volume of comments you see and the passion behind these folk that really seem to care about what other people spend their money on that shocked me.
I haven’t seen or heard of it in any other hobby.
Golfer? Spend thousands on your clubs.
Enjoy fishing? That £1,000 rod looks nice.
Photographer? That £1,600 lens was a steal!
It’s. Just. Weird.
Just to be clear, my take is:
- Buy whatever kit you want (as long as you can afford it).
- If you decide to buy an expedition tent for camping in a field, that’s your choice.
- If you buy budget gear, that’s also your choice (just make sure you test it properly, know it’s limits and stay safe).
I enjoy buying and testing budget kit on my YouTube channel. Not just because I’m a tight arse. But because I like finding a bargain, and helping people save money, either by finding good gear at a decent price, or advising people on what kit to avoid.
So. Thinking about the issue, I realised there isn’t a definition of ‘budget’. It’s subjective. So I wanted to try and quantify it as best I could to help with any discussions and justify my own stance.
Here’s my thinking…
According to Finder, the average Brit has a monthly disposable income of £889.
So let’s try and be realistic and say that each month, you’ll spend just 10% of that disposable income on your favourite hobby (which, if you’ve read this far I’m guessing is wild camping).
That leaves you with the princely sum £88.90 to cover everything you need each month, including food, fuel, clothing and any new gear.
So let’s be sensible and half that again, and say a single bit of ‘budget’ gear should cost less than £44.45.
That covers ongoing kit and upgrades once you’ve started, but when you’re just getting into the hobby let’s assume that you’re happy to save for a couple of months for the bigger items before you get going (tent, rucksack, sleep system, boots) and allocate a maximum of £133.75 for each of those (saving 75% of your disposable income for two months).
So for 2022 at least, I’ll be using these figures to help source and review budget gear. The larger items with maximum of £133.75, and £44.45 for anything else. And next time someone shows you their Fjallraven tent, their Jetboil stove, or their new RAB jacket, please try and pay a compliment rather than engaging jealous-toddler mode… (even if you do secretly hope it falls to pieces after a week).
