Spending big money on outdoor clothes, pennywise or pound foolish?

[fightingquaker13]

I post this as an honest question and I have no dog in the fight. My basic POV is that material possessions can be broken down into two categories. STUFF and GEAR. STUFF, I buy at Walmart or who ever is cheapest. GEAR, whether its guns, fishing tackle, cooking supplies, camping gear, or car parts etc, I buy from the guy who is selling the best I can afford. Your mileage may vary, but basically my attitude has been that the money I spend on something is directly related to either how many times a week I use it, or what the consequences of it failing are.

Now, this leads me to my latest conundrum, and or epiphany. I hope someone can talk me down here, because otherwise, I will wind up endorsing very expensive clothes. That violates the gear/stuff rule that has dictated my shopping habits for 25 years. And yet.... (cue Twilight Zone music)

My dad wants to go back to Jellystone Park. So I am getting my GEAR together. North Face down sleeping bag? Check. MSR Stove? Check. Sierra designs tent? Check. Sage and Loomis fly rods? Check. All of these products are 15-25 years old and all of them work as well now as they did the day I bought them. And let me tell you, none of them were cheap.Hell, if I hadn't been getting the employee discount from the high end outfitters I worked at in college, my bug out bag wouldn't look nearly as cool.

And yet here is the thing. Today I did a load of wash of my camping clothes. It included a hunter green  Patagonia synthetic  Guide Shirt that I've owned for 28 years. Its got a strip of webbing that runs through the buttons and holds them in place as opposed to thread. The chest pockets are exactly the right size to hold a fly box. Its got a silicone treatment that washes off stains like mud, blood, fish guts and paint ball splatters. It drys from soaking wet to dry enough to tolerate in about an hour on your back, or on the line, and you can throw in the washer and dryer, no need for an iron, and it pops out with zero wrinkles. And it looks as good now as the day I bought it. Price? About $80 back in 1989, which was a lot of cash for a shirt Honestly, I wish I had bought ten of them, because I will weep the day that thing finally dies. And frankly if had bought ten, I'd own about ten cool weather long sleeved shirts. No need to buy another.

I also washed  two pair of quick dry Ex Officio shorts. I've owned a hundred pair of nylon cargo shorts, since I live in Fl. and wade fish. It just occurred to me that I've owned these two pair since since I bought them for a rafting trip in 1994, and they are still looking ok, whereas probably a dozen others from Wally World have gotten trashed. Price? About $50 each in 1994. Again, not cheap, but still here.

I cleaned up my boots, a pair of Vasque leather gortex 6" models that set me back a couple of bills when I was twenty. And hey, I still own them. And what do you know, my Filson oiled cotten hat is still here as well.

So, here is the question to the board. At what point do you start classifying clothes as gear and amortizing the cost by the service life, versus just buying the cheapest stuff that will do the job?
FQ13

[tombogan03884]

Price is no indicator of value. For an example, cargo pants, you can pay $60/pr for name brand that has features you do not need, like 5-11's, do you REALLY need the pockets for knee pads ? Or you can buy Mil surplus that come in the same colors with out the mall ninja queer features for $10 a pr, and they probably last longer.
Features, construction,durability, and applicability are more important than price.

[Timothy]

The clothes I wear to work are less important than clothes for a specific function but I'm still trying to purchase American made goods where I can. 

Quality is foremost and I don't pay retail if I can help it.  I've worn the same LL Bean canvas duck winter coat for the last six years and a Bean barn coat for fall and spring that's just getting broken in at about 6-7 years.  Both bought for about half what they were listed for because of the timing of the buy.

St Croix rods for the last twenty five years, Abu Garcia reels for the most part and I can fit most of the lures I use in two cargo pockets.  My fly rod is a cheapo as I only use it for panfish with a Cortland reel...Someday, I'll set myself with a 9-10 weight striper rod for inshore but Loomis is steep, probably stick with St. Croix to keep my relatives in Wisconsin happy and drop some coin on a decent reel.

 

[fightingquaker13]

Price is no indicator of value. For an example, cargo pants, you can pay $60/pr for name brand that has features you do not need, like 5-11's, do you REALLY need the pockets for knee pads ? Or you can buy Mil surplus that come in the same colors with out the mall ninja queer features for $10 a pr, and they probably last longer.
Features, construction,durability, and applicability are more important than price.

True BUT, when you start to look at hard worn clothes that are older than your car, your dog, and that cute little thing behind the counter at the coffee shop that you flirted with today, you do have to wonder whether they were worth the cash.
FQ13

[TAB]

Price is no indicator of value. For an example, cargo pants, you can pay $60/pr for name brand that has features you do not need, like 5-11's, do you REALLY need the pockets for knee pads ? Or you can buy Mil surplus that come in the same colors with out the mall ninja queer features for $10 a pr, and they probably last longer.
Features, construction,durability, and applicability are more important than price.

Another option is find a store that sales construction clothing and buy them there.  They run about $25/ pair and are tougher then mil surplus stuff, trust me been doing it for years.

[Sponsor]

[Timothy]

True BUT, when you start to look at hard worn clothes that are older than your car, your dog, and that cute little thing behind the counter at the coffee shop that you flirted with today, you do have to wonder whether they were worth the cash.
FQ13

And you tipped her well I assume!  I got carded the other day for a six pack, nearly gave the girl my wallet and the few hundred in it, but the wife was with me...

Having worked in the services industry, don't assume she was doing anything other than playing you old fella...

[david86440]

True BUT, when you start to look at hard worn clothes that are older than your car, your dog, and that cute little thing behind the counter at the coffee shop that you flirted with today, you do have to wonder whether they were worth the cash.
FQ13

The flaw with your theory is you are comparing things you purchased 20 years ago to what you can buy today. I don't care what brand it is, the quality just isn't there. Walk through LL Bean or Cabela's today and what is on the label? MADE IN CHINA.

I bought the majority of my clothes at LL Bean for years and years when I lived near them, but if I tried replacing those items today with the same quality, I can't.

I have several pair of Cabelas Cane Creek Cargo Pants with zippered inside cargo pockets. Cabelas stopped carrying them so I did some research and found out they were made by Woolrich and still available.  I ordered them thinking they were the same as my old ones only to find out they are now half the weight, cheaper zippers, crappy material.

If I hadn't gained 2" in the waist I could still be wearing my old ones! I just looked and Woolrich has them for $15 off.......they must not be selling very well and I know why.

http://www.woolrich.com/woolrich/browse/productDetail.jsp?icProduct=1518&icColor=KAK&icSale=true&cm_mmc=Mercent-_-csc-_-(1518)-_-Mercent&trackingCode=googlebase&mr:trackingCode=DF4495E6-C981-DE11-B712-001422107090&mr:referralID=NA

[Pathfinder]

I look for quality - the best I can get for available cash - for things that are important, like my arctic Carhartts for winter wear (even been quite toasty thank you when it's 30 below with a 25-35 MPH wind? Thank your Carhartts), my waterproof winter boots with the Vibram sole, even my Wusthoff knives. Carhartts are pushing 10 years of hard ranch work, boots are starting to show problems after 3 years of continuous daily wear from October to May, and the knives are from the last Century.

Like David said, name brands don't mean a whole lot anymore. I see a lot of expensively priced North Face cheap crap on people's backs, you won't see it on mine.

[fightingquaker13]

I look for quality - the best I can get for available cash - for things that are important, like my arctic Carhartts for winter wear (even been quite toasty thank you when it's 30 below with a 25-35 MPH wind? Thank your Carhartts), my waterproof winter boots with the Vibram sole, even my Wusthoff knives. Carhartts are pushing 10 years of hard ranch work, boots are starting to show problems after 3 years of continuous daily wear from October to May, and the knives are from the last Century.

Like David said, name brands don't mean a whole lot anymore. I see a lot of expensively priced North Face cheap crap on people's backs, you won't see it on mine.

In an ideal world, I would be wearing nothing but old school Filson, Willis and Geiger, and Patagonia (note I reference Patagonia's gear, not the eco fashion crap, as half their stuff is for serious use by grown ups,  and half is for kids, choose wisely when buying). Still, I have a nice North Face down sweater that compresses nicely into nothing  and is quite toasty. I also like my TNF sleeping bag, and really don't have a bad word to say about either TNF product. Again though, I tend to buy their technical stuff and avoid the trendy fashion pieces. YMMV and I grant they do sell some cheap crap to people who just want the brand. The idiots who buy it get what they deserve.
FQ13

[kmitch200]

I look for quality - the best I can get for available cash - for things that are important

Same here. If the money is there, buy the best they got. I bought a LOT of toys/gear when working so I have it now in retirement. 
My cold weather 'Herman Munster' LaCrosse pac boots may be large and clunky but my toes would be warm on the dark side of the moon, or the equivalent:
sitting dead still in a tree stand for 7 hours in wintertime MN.