Budget prepping and camping

Everyone loves saving money right? When it comes to camping, prepping,tools and a few other things, the cheapest option isn't always the best one. As they say, "buy once, Cry once." I find this isn't always true to be honest. I see a lot of people in the camping, bush craft and prepping world sometime spend waaayyyy too much on products while spending next to nothing on others. Outdoors gear is like a ying yang, there needs to be balance in the world. So say you go camping 4 times a year, and mostly buy seasoned and split wood, I don't see the need for you to go out and spend $150 on the lumberjack 3000. A simple store brand or main stream brand ax would do. On the opposite side of the spectrum, If your doing a 7 day hike across the mountains, your a fool if you buy a $3 flashlight and dollar store batteries. I like to play it straight forward in this field, it could cost you your life or other's lives. For this you need to look at a few things like what are you buying and will your life or others absolutely depend on it. There are ways to save on gear and not sacrifice quality. I will explain a lot of these ways and how exactly they work.

If you haven't already, after you read this, read some of my other blogs about items, Many of them are reviews on items I found on sale or for less than regular price.

Sales- pretty plain and simple, search online for local sales and online bargains, Beware of knock off brands and only shop on trusted sites.

2nd hand stores- overstock and surplus- You can often find great deals on used and older version of items in these types of stores.

Bargain outlets/Whole sales- places like Harbor freight and Ocean State Job lot and more often buy their stock from other retailers in bulk one time buys or seasonal clearances and sell them next year. They also sell non branded items or brand them to their store. Beware, some items are great buys(made in the same factory as the Name brands) and others are junk or very low quality. You can find some serious deals in these places and i often find myself in them searching for stuff. It is often a buy and try kinda deal though, as sometimes you don't know the exact quality of the gear.

Member/Frequent shopper clubs and lists- sites like SHTF survival, amazon, Bjs and more offer discounts to members or rewards for people who shop there often. Also subscription boxes and alike offer a fixed price and send you a mystery box of gear every so often.

Status accounts- If you are/were Military,LEO,Fire,EMS there are sites like govx and physical supply stores that you can shop in that offer goods and usually at a discount.

Status accounts cont.- brands like Gerber and Leatherman and more offer discounts to the above fields but also offer discounts for people who work in the field- Linemen,Oil riggers, maintenance and more.

Big box stores- They often sell package deals in store and online near holidays like Fathers day, Christmas and 4th of July for us Americans, Often tools,tents and other items are packaged and or go on sale for less than usual.

Clearance bargains- This is the often best but hardest to find deals. Stores and websites often change product line ups 3 to 6 month before the actual holiday or season has passed. They put heavy discounts on the goods the longer they stay. Its not uncommon to see things like hunting gear in November at almost 75% off its original price.

Yard/garage/estate/flea market sale- These are hard to actually find something your looking for, But are Great places to find deals on stuff you could need, may want to have to trade or items friends or family are looking for. Gear is usually listed for pennies on the dollar of the actual retail value. Plus with cash you can easily negotiate deals with the seller.

FB market place,Ebay etc- These shopping apps and such offer gems left and right. I once bought a $100 CB radio for $15 and resold it for $80.People often view items as not valuable or just want it gone and will list it accordingly. you can bid on places like ebay and other apps of the sort for the chance to get an item for next to nothing.

As always, before you depend on a item, field test it yourself and do some research on them. Part of FSG is doing those field tests and item reviews, often will be for Budget items and such. If you have questions about how to hunt for these deals or on a specific item, let me know. If I don't know about it I will find out for you.