Learning a new sport isn鈥檛 cheap. (The聽least expensive mountain bike聽reviewed in our Summer Buyer鈥檚 Guide costs $3,400. The cheapest SUPs: $1,200.) And you aren鈥檛聽done after the big purchase鈥攁ccessories often stealthily add to the bill. The solution? Borrow, buy used, and look for good deals. Also聽recognize that the cheapest piece of gear is the one you鈥檝e already bought. These five pieces might already be sitting in your garage waiting for a new life in your new sport.
Trekking Poles as Ski Poles
After breaking my first set of old borrowed backcountry ski poles,聽a聽buddy loaned me his , which I happily used for the second half of my first season of backcountry skiing. If you already have trekking poles, repurpose them. And go ahead and swap out the聽baskets for for under ten dollars.
Ski Buff as Lake Buff
The same Buff you use to keep comfortable in extreme cold can also work remarkably well in extreme heat. While Buffs are available specifically for cold聽and warm聽weather, a simple synthetic one will serve you well on the聽lake or river by keeping bugs and sun off your face while wicking away聽moisture. It鈥檒l also keep the frost off your nose when you ski.
Rain Jacket + PFD as Kayaking Dry Top
There鈥檚 no replacement for聽a well-built dry top. The gaskets and waterproofing are safer for expert touring kayakers. But if you鈥檙e聽more worried about protection from splashing water and the elements than you are about聽rolling, a lightweight rain jacket will swap in for a kayak-specific splash jacket. I have found that a tightly cinched PFD keeps ocean or lake water from splashing up underneath my聽rain jacket.
MTB Elbow Pads as Kayaking Pads
Hardcore whitewater kayakers have been using elbow pads for years聽as an extra layer of defense while running steep creeks; repurposing your mountain bike elbow pads makes sense if you鈥檙e a beginning聽kayaker. Plenty of novice boaters have experienced swellbows鈥攂aseball-sized elbows resulting from impact鈥攖hat could easily have been avoided had they donned elbow pads on the river. Wearing elbow pads also allows a paddler to use more of their arms aggressively when encountering rocks, which will likely save an aspirational kayaker a number of swims.
Voile Ski Strap as Pretty Much Anything
A 聽is arguably the most multiuse piece of sport-specific gear you can buy. On top of strapping a pair of skis together on a pack or for聽storage, these simple stretchy plastic straps with a metal clip can be used to secure gear to any pack, vehicle, bike, touring kayak, or raft. They can be used to rig up nearly any backpack malfunction, and I have even used them to hold up a pair of pants that lost a button. Their dynamic nature lies in the fact that they are as durable as they are simple鈥攖wo invaluable聽traits when you need to fix a problem in the backcountry.
Want more ideas for repurposing your gear? Check out these bonus ideas:
- Vaseline as antichafing cream and .
- Lacrosse ball as massage ball.
- 聽make the best split boarding boots.
- Leather utility gloves make some of the best ski gloves.