Gear List

What gear to bring and how much to spend

The gear list provides some general guidelines for what gear to bring. If you don't already have everything on the list, then you'll have to decide which items to buy and how much to spend on them.

If you plan to do more hiking/outdoor activities over the next few years, then you should probably invest in better gear/clothing.

If you are only buying stuff to get you through this Enrichment Trip, or if you don't have much $$$ to spend, then don't buy really good gear/clothing. You won't need it.

For example, if you want to spend $75 on merino wool leggings, you can do so. Or you could spend $8 on some sweatpants. Both will work fine for the trip. If you are planning to bring these on multiple backpacking trips in addition to this enrichment trip, then the wool leggings would be a better investment. If you just want to survive the Enrichment Trip then buy the sweatpants.

The cheapest options for gear:

Rent from the Caltech Y

Borrow from a friend

Buy discount gear at an REI Garage Sale

The cheapest options for clothing:

Borrow from a friend

Ross Dress for Less, TJ Maxx (2 blocks from campus)

Buy discount clothes at an REI Garage Sale