Tbh, I scored a Gregory pack off a guy in Denver 8 years ago and it still looks brand new after dozens of trips. But last month I bought a used Osprey from 2020 and the straps are already fraying, plus the zipper sticks. I'm wondering if the quality actually dropped after 2015 or if I'm just noticing stuff I didn't care about back then. Has anyone else seen a clear before-and-after difference in gear durability over a specific timeframe?
I was getting my gear ready for a weekend at Hocking Hills and noticed my 10 year old synthetic bag felt flat as a pancake. Turns out the loft had dropped by almost 2 inches over the years, which means it's probably only good down to 50 degrees now instead of the 30 it was rated for. Has anyone else had luck reviving old synthetic fill or just bit the bullet on a new bag?
Found my Kelty backpack from a 2014 trip to Yosemite in the basement, and the foam seat pad turned into sticky, yellow dust when I touched it. I guess the foam just degrades after 10 years in a humid garage. Has anyone else had foam rot on gear that old and found a fix?
So I was looking at my tent from a swap meet and got curious about the specs. I looked up the model online and found out the floor fabric is only 30 denier. That's basically like a trash bag, no wonder I got damp ground last trip. Most decent backpacking tents have at least 70 denier on the floor, some even 150. I bought it for $40 six months ago and now I get why it was so cheap. Has anyone else gotten burned by a tent with super low denier ratings?
I swear, two years ago you could grab a used two-person tent for 20 bucks tops, but now I'm seeing crusty ones with missing poles listed for 50 after the pandemic camping boom. Is it just me, or did the whole market for used gear jump in price overnight?
Picked up a North Face stormbreak from a guy on Craigslist. Looked fine in his backyard setup but the fly seam let go at 2am during a light rain in the Sierra foothills. Spent the rest of the night huddled in my truck. Should have pitched it in my own yard first and sprayed it down with a hose. Has anyone else had luck with seam sealers on that model or is it just junk at this point?