I suppose that the "Economizing" all depends on how serious you are about backpacking. Some/many here only get out an average of 10 days per year...10 years is only 100 bag nights. Any decent bag bought today should last at least 100 nights. Hard to rationalize $500 or even $5/day just for a bag when you do not use it that much. Factor in the tent, pad, backpack, etc and you are essentially spending ~$20/day, not counting food or transportation to and from trail-heads...Hobbes wrote: Speaking of money, I don't get the effort @ (false) economizing. It's a 500 mile r/t for me just to get to Lone Pine, so that's $100 in gas right there for every trip. Whether the bag lasts 30 years or just 10 years, at $500, it's only costing you $50 per year. Amortized over just 10 nights, that's $5. A Big Mac costs that much.
Add in all expenses, for novice backpackers who do not get out much, a 10-day trip will cost you ~$500 each...Agreed, can get a bit pricey.
However, some (like me) average ~100 bag nights a year...easily , well-over 3,000 backpack nights, so far, and counting. A long time ago I figured out that I liked going solo, that good fishing means high altitude, and being cold sucked - bought a WM Apache. (Think it cost me ~$400 back in the '80s…big money!) From the very first night out I was always warm in it...not sort of warm. I never had to worry about drafts, or losing large quantities of feathers, or weight. I felt safe... toasty and proud. I honestly thought that bag would last forever…might have too but some basshole “borrowed” it out of my tent Camp 4…(never stay there again)…sigh…even at 12 years old, that bag was still worth taking…there were more than a few good years left in it.
Economizing at first…(kids etal), I bought a NF Cat’s something, and then a Marmot Helium…both good enough bags but really not the same. Spoiled, 14 years ago, bought my WM Badger (they must be making the Apache smaller now?) and again I was a happy camper.
Much like Longri above mentions, I realize that any bag really won’t last forever…but another 10 years seems likely.
Good equipment, if well-taken care of, lasts…Great equipment - even longer.
+1Hobbes wrote:Avoiding being either cold or wet is 90% of the game. Money spent reducing/eliminating these factors is a pittance compared to the value of your time.