The JOY of Gear Making...

[JohnSawyer]

I love making my own gear. I will buy those things that are better than I can make... (I haven't had the guts to tackle down yet...) and I bought a WBBB, but I might be selling it off due to it being a righty and I sleep lefty due to a bad shoulder...

There's something fully gratifying knowing that you made it, fixed it, improved it, etc. I also like geeking out on things that others haven't tried (Anodizing aluminum, for example.)

That said, I don't often have the time to DIY, but I enjoy the time I do. (and the bragging rights when friends say "Wow, you MADE that?" But then, my friends are easily impressed...

Plan for tonight: Add DIY tie-outs to my $20 guidegear tarp, hang my WBBB on my DIY PHS with my DIY Whoopies, DIY Arrowshaft toggles (from SYB), fit my DIY IX UQ, crawl into my Down sleeping bag to TQ DIY conversion, put the Kindle in my DIY Ridge Line/Stuff sack organizer, grab my new Black Diamond headlamp (thanks to the PIF thread and RoundTrip) and read until I fall asleep... oh, and I'll be wearing my DIY fleece booties, and using my Climashield DIY pillow. With luck, my DIY kid will join me in his DIY Hammock, with the DIY PLUQ and my DIY fleece/insulbrite TQ with DIY Mule tape ring-buckle suspension.





John

[mountain_man_mike]

The silver lining about having a job that might not be here tomorrow is the disappearance would free up a lot of time for a bunch of DIY projects, many of which haven't even come to the thought stage yet.

A trek to Mt. Whitney 4+ years ago started it all and I haven't looked back since. That trip I counted 2 pieces of gear that were not store bought and not modified or completely DIY (including food), my Bear Vault and cooking pot. Now if I can just modify some weight reduction in the hiker things would be a lot smoother.

Happy Trails...

[GaHammockGuy]

Why Buy when you can MAKE

[mountain_man_mike]

Why Buy when you can MAKE

+1 to that... and what's an finger stitched to silnylon once in awhile anyway?

[wildcrafter]

i love it i am testing a new stove as i post this. The last few days I have been working on many stove designs just not satisfied with any of them yet.

[MAD777]

I agree completely! I think the planning/design stage is just as fun as the making and using!

It's similar in fly fishing. When I can't be on the water, I enjoy tying flies.

[Danvandanne]

I love DIY. First I made whoopie slings, then Down quilts and a DIY bushbuddy stove. After my success with the down quilts, I feel capable to make anything else I need. The only problem I have is that I am planning ahead and purchasing more raw materials than I have time to produce my gear so I am running out of space to store fabric and other supplies.

I see it as a good use of my time, I mean I could be doing worse things than making my own gear and saving money.

-Dan

[JohnSawyer]

I love DIY.
I see it as a good use of my time, I mean I could be doing worse things than making my own gear and saving money.

-Dan

Amen, brother. I just don't think we're really saving that much money... In all the playing with hammocks, I could have paid for 2 WBBB's. of course, there's nothing like the feeling of accomplishment when you've DIY'd something nice.

[trinni]

Amen, brother. I just don't think we're really saving that much money... In all the playing with hammocks, I could have paid for 2 WBBB's. of course, there's nothing like the feeling of accomplishment when you've DIY'd something nice.

Double that. I've spent so much time on my projects in which I could have earned the money to buy the stuff at least twice -- but there's nothing better than knowing it's done yourself!

[KerMegan]

and not only do you know who to blame if something fails, but you have the repair guy right there handy as well!
KM( who just got back from camping-got to sleep in hammock 2 nights running! squee!also, lower back is significantly improved..)