[Snowbrushy]

I go to thrift stores and garage/yard sales with an eye for hiking and camping gear. This past Winter I purchased two interesting things.. * It is a large day pack design that I would never been able to afford back in the mid 1970's - a orange Schonhofen Professional (non-frame) knapsack made of heavy Cordura. $5.99. I believe that these were originally semi-custom packs which were later sold under the Early Winters label. * A duck billed baseball hat. After I had this $1.99 hat home and looked at it closely and found it to be of a high quality with a leather strap in the back. The front of the hat says, TEHAMA, and Carmel. And the back above the strap says, Fac Diem Meam.

[SusanHikes]

Was the hat signed by Clint Eastwood?

[Snowbrushy]

A printed tag on the inside of the hat says, TAHAMA/Clint. Not his actual signature. Apparently it's a golf course that he has a half ownership in. Fac Diem Meam means - Make My Day.

[Brucester]

I never find anything good outdoor gear-wise at thrift stores. There's good stuff supposedly.... Not always gear though. A coworker-friend, he was browsing a thrift store and came across this painting. It wasn't to his taste and laughed about it to his wife. Month later while watching the news.....his Pollock painting selling for much more than $19.95.....

[forest gnome]

hmmm new arcy'tex jacket...rei on sale 349$...GOODWILL 10$!!!!

[Ranger Smith]

Was at Goodwill yesterday with the wife and showed her how they price shirts.... $7.99, $7.99,$7.99, $7.99....one with an REI label (VERY old and ugly) $19.99.

[trestle]

Goodwill is essentially a for-profit business with a slightly amoral CEO.

[Snowbrushy]

I harpooned a Pork Pie hat of tan wool felt made by a famous hat maker at a Value Village for dirt cheap. My size, and says it's waterproof. This one has a slight broad rim which gives it a western look. I think I'll wear it with my external frame pack! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pork_pie_hat

frank-lloyd-wright-architect

[wolffie]

I always pick up sh!t when I'm walking the dog, and some of it's really good sh!t. Much of my current top-line clothing came from The Mother of All Yard Sales, wherein the wife of some bicycle athlete exactly my size was selling off his (surplus?) gear, hopefully with his permission. Top-quality stuff. I got easily > $1,000 retail price worth of gear for $35. Perfect fit. Included a fine elctronic weighing scale. Same day, two Sierra Designs down jackets in perfect condition for $20 each. My big pack is currently a high-quality and very comfortable 5.4 lb. nearly expedition-size pack for $7. All my wind shells (parkas and pants) are from rummage sales, Value Village, and 2nd Ascent, including two high-tech Sierra Designs ultralight top-quality wind shells for $5 (prolly $100 retail). Great deals -- if you don't mind hot pink & robin's egg blue for a color combination. Got a serviceable mtn. bike for $5 -- for those washed-out roads. Many of my wordly possessions -- stereo, electronics, furniture, outdoor clothing -- came from the Lakeside Rummage Sale. Last few times I've been there, it wasn't so great though.

[contour5]

I found somebody's collection of Italian designer sunglasses at Value Village the other day. Five pair for under $10 total, and they're all pretty nice glasses. Probably over $1,000 retail, originally. Bummer somebody probably died, or something, but I figured I better grab 'em before some other bargain hunter jumped in there and took 'em. One of my fave places is the Dollar Store. Ziplock bags, in quart and gallon size, for a dollar a box. Dog permethrin for a dollar a bottle. Dog collars made from .75 in. webbing with a nice plastic buckle for a $. 40 pack of antiseptic wipes... for a dollar... even have travel packs and boxes of individually packaged ones, too. Mesh stuff sacks- three for a dollar! Don't buy any of the shampoo... A lot of the food items (whoa! microwave cheeseburgers!) are also seriously suspect, although the little 3-packs of Jif peanut butter are great. Also- olive oil in tiny bottles for a dollar! Plus, you get to see where the poor people and the senior citizens shop!

[forest gnome]

there was a story about huge fake -counterfit brands at those stores...just some bad ingredients... sorry to rain on your post contour...only bags I found to work are freezer ziplok bags...way thicker than others...anyway....

[contour5]

Well, a lot of the food items are not very appealing, and even some of the more appealing ones are nearly expired, but occasionally there are some great deals. The quart and gallon ziplocks are freezer bags, and work fine for me. Last summer Grocery Outlet had Justins maple almond butter squeeze packs for 79 cents each, at least until I spotted them and bought all 9 boxes...

[Snowbrushy]

On Monday at lunchtime I saw a big 3 family yard sale. Junk everywhere. As I left I asked if they had any camping gear. The woman shook her head, but then said wait and walked me over to two tent sacks on the ground. The bags were original with names. #1 REI Half Dome: $5.00 #2 MSR Hubba: $5.00 What could I say?