News You Can Use for Our Philmont Adventure

Dear Fellow Trekkers and Parents,

Our Philmont trek will most likely be the experience of a lifetime and for many of you, the capstone of your Scouting career. For many of us, part of preparing for our trip over the next year-and-a-half will be carefully selecting the right gear for your Philmont adventure. It is important to make solid, well thought-out choices-the right choice, and once, that will positively impact the quality of your Philmont experience for yourself and for others. That's one focus of our upcoming clinics,-to help get you thinking about these important choices and why Philmont recommends certain gear. Understanding the "why" certain gear items are recommended and understanding and even embracing "the Philmont way" derived over decades of high adventure experience at Philmont, will help you with these choices. Informed choices are often the best-made choices, whereas impulse choices are often much less so. We all have been in Scouting long enough to recognize that gear can be expensive. I want to not only help with the "why" and the "informed"part, but point you to bargains and savings opportunities, particularly with regard to key pieces of gear.

One of the best pieces of advice I can give anyone going to Philmont is to shamelessly look for bargains and sales on great gear at reasonable prices and often at deep discounts. Cheap can be just that-lousy gear on occasion, or "you get what you pay for", but it certainly does not have to be that way at all. Here's a great tip for clothing items for example-you would be amazed what you can find at Goodwill, Ross, T.J Max, and Target if you know what to look for. A great performing, wicking tee shirt, for example, might be found at Ross or even Good Will at a fraction of the price you might find a similar piece of performance clothing or gear at REI. Many online stores like REI, Sierra Trading Post, MooseJaw, and others have outlets where substantial savings can be had. Now is the time to shop gear outlets too, when gear companies are introducing new versions of already excellent gear, often with last year's products at clearance prices. Many outlet items found at excellent prices are often priced only because the manufacturer is changing colors for the 2016 line. 

Nobody expects you to have all the gear you will carry on the trek, not tomorrow or the next day. Most of us have seen the phrase, "Wait for it...wait for it, right? Well, patience and timing can be a be a virtue when it comes to catching great gear bargains in addition to knowing just where to look. Two if my favorite outlet sites to watch for great deals and sales are Sierra Trading Post and the REI Co-op Outlet. If you sign up for Sierra Trading Post's emails, they will send you links for coupons to additional markdowns for already low-priced, high quality gear. Their return policies are excellent as well. Another great way to save is to take advantage of being an REI Co-Op member. REI Co-op members will frequently receive on line coupons for use in the Charlotte store, their online outlet, and their online store. Nonmembers often cannot take advantage of these additional discounts. As a member, every full price purchase receives a 10% dividend that is returned back to you annually in April for other purchases. Members receive last year's dividends just in time for REI's biggest sales event of the year, the April Anniversary Sale. REI also has Members Only Garage Sales on gently used items with 30-60, and even 80% savings on gently returned items. The next one will be on Saturday, March 12th. Ask me how to become a member if you are not-its both easy and a lifetime membership only costs $20. The dividends you receive over the next year or so can easily offset your initial cost of becoming a member.

The last piece of advice I can give is do your research. Google and the world wide web is your friend in this quest. Reading reviews can also be infinitely helpful. Lastly you can always give me a call, drop me an email, or ask my opinion on gear items before pulling the trigger. Rest assured, I am glad to help anyway I can, especially when it comes to savings and making well informed purchases. My hope and prayer is that information like this will be immensely helpful to you as we journey together!

Yours in Scouting,
Tim