Planning a Simple Outdoor Equipment Lending System Among Friends
It's very common for outdoor enthusiasts to have a bunch of equipment that they only break out for a few trips each year. Meanwhile, someone else could really benefit from using that same gear for a hunting trip, camping trip, or skills weekend but can't afford to purchase it for themselves. By setting up a pool of shared gear, both of these issues are solved. But informal sharing of gear has it's own problems, mainly that it's easy to forget the condition of the item, the return date, and who has taken the missing fuel bottle. Decide which gear belongs in the pool When selecting gear to add to your pool, start with items that are durable, easily inspected for damage, and won't cause issues due to personal preferences such as size. Items like cooking pots and pans, tarps, a saw, a lantern, water containers, game cameras, a pack cover,…