Blog — August 26, 2026
How We Built Our Backpacking Kit for Half the Price
A practical backpacking gear strategy: start early, stay flexible on models, shop smart, and prioritize comfort where it matters most.
Getting Interested in Backpacking
When we decided this would be the year we tried backpacking, we knew our first trip could make or break whether we ever wanted to go again. If we showed up with super heavy packs and slept terribly, we'd probably talk ourselves out of ever doing it again as we were already a bit reluctant. So before we bought anything, we wanted a plan.
There's a saying in the backpacking world: you can pick two out of three. Comfort, weight, or price. Our goal was to find a way around that. We wanted a kit that let us actually enjoy the experience, without paying the ~$3,000 we were seeing for a full recommended setup of gear.
To be fair, there's plenty of budget gear out there you can get by on, it's just not always the most comfortable or durable. Sleep was the one category we weren't willing to cut corners on. Sleep is very important to both of us and I knew I'd regret it if we tried staying cheap here, but that gave us an interesting challenge. How can we find a good balance between comfort, weight, and price? The best solution we found was to do everything you can to find high quality used gear, take advantage of sales and cashback offers, and be patient in hunting for the best deals.
Start early and be patient
One of the biggest advantages we'd had was timing. We started looking for gear in February, when demand (and prices) on Facebook Marketplace were super low. We also made ourselves wait for the right deal instead of grabbing the first listing at a decent price. That helped us land a brand new Nemo tent for ~$300 off retail. Shopping for backpacking gear outside of the summer is a super easy way to save money. Check out our gear cycling blog post to learn more about buying in the off season.
Shopping portals
For the items we couldn't find secondhand or weren't comfortable buying used, cashback shopping portals like Rakuten and Capital One Shopping made a big difference. Capital One Shopping in particular came through with some great offers last spring: $50 off $100 at Scheels, $20 off $100 at REI, $20 off $50 at eBay.
One really good trick we used was Dummy bookings. When we knew the item we wanted, we'd search for it on the retailer's site without actually buying it, then wait a day or so. Very often Capital One Shopping would then email us a targeted deal for that store or product that was way better than the normal percentage cashback. It isn't guaranteed, but we personally had really good success with this for REI, eBay, and Scheels.
Note: One thing about Capital One Shopping: it can be finicky about tracking your purchase if you use an ad blocker, so we turn ours off before checking out. It just saves you a lot of trouble later.
Stay flexible on the exact item
Not being tied to a specific model of gear was another good money saver. When we were shopping for Hayden's pack, we went to REI for a free fitting. The pack that felt best on her ran about $400. We waited a few weeks, kept checking and couldn't find a deal on that one, but eventually we found an older model of a similar pack on a website we'd never even heard of for $110. We checked Trustpilot, took the leap, and it arrived in perfect condition.
We're not ultralight, and we're okay with that
Our base weights land around 13 and 15 pounds each, but we're not chasing ultralight status even though some of our gear is ultralight. What we're focused on is getting a good sleep at camp and being comfortable without carrying packs weighing 30 pounds and honestly, we've slept better on trail than we normally do at home on every trip so far.
The full breakdown
| Category | Item | Paid | MSRP | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tent | Dragonfly OSMO 2P Tent | $200 | $499 | Brand new on Marketplace |
| Packs | Peak Design Outdoor Backpack 45L | $100 | $329 | Used on Marketplace |
| Packs | Osprey Kyte 48 | $110 | $220 | New - random retailer |
| Sleep System | REI Magma 15 | $280 | $399 | REI - portal + card offer |
| Sleep System | Sidewinder SL 20 Women's Sleeping Bag | $60 | $199 | New on Marketplace |
| Sleep System | Nemo Tensor Ultralight Insulated Sleeping Pads (2) | $380 | $440 | Combined after shopping portal |
| Sleep System | Nemo Fillo Pillows (2) | $40 | $90 | New - marketplace |
| Cooking & Water | MSR PocketRocket Deluxe | $40 | $85 | Scheels - Capital One Shopping offer |
| Cooking & Water | Backpacking pots | $7 | $25 | Temu knockoff of Toaks pots |
| Cooking & Water | Sawyer Squeeze + Vecto water bag | $40 | $65 | REI Sale + portal stack |
| Electronics | Black Diamond headlamps | $30 | $70 | REI Sale + portal stack |
| Electronics | Anker power bank | $14 | $40 | eBay auction |
| Miscellaneous | Lightweight stuff sack kit | $14 | $55 | Amazon knockoff of the expensive sea to summit ones |
| Miscellaneous | BV450 Jaunt Bear Canister | $30 | $100 | Used once - Marketplace |
| Totals | $1,345 | $2,616 | ||
The final numbers
Our total cost: $1,345
MSRP if we had bought everything brand new without shopping around: $2,616
That means shopping around, being patient, and stacking offers saved us $1,271.
If we hadn't gone all in on our sleep system, our total probably would've landed closer to $850 lol. Colby's sleeping bag was the one splurge that really moved the needle on the budget.
Backpacking doesn't have to cost this much
You definitely don't need to spend $1,345 to start backpacking. Borrow or rent what you can, spend time searching for deals, and slowly improve your gear as you learn what you like. Backpacking is a hobby that can be as expensive or inexpensive as you want it to be.