CRY ONCE
I am a cheapskate. I’m totally serious. I loathe spending more money than absolutely necessary on vehicles, clothing, or equipment. Not only is it wasteful, but in a long career as a freelance writer always waiting for intermittent checks, I’ve never had the funds to waste in the first place. And that philosophy has led me to buy only the very best products I can find. High-quality equipment not only performs better, it lasts longer—virtually always long enough to more than make up the initial, painful difference in cost over a shoddy product. In fact, good equipment lasts long enough for one to simply forget how much it cost initially. I own a Marmot Grouse sleeping bag now over 20 years old, whose premium goose down still lofts warmly on frost-bitten nights. I…
