Background

We are probably not planning to rent any gear during this trip. However, Ken's brother might. So, we did some resarch on what options were available.

We assumed Mark would rent the following items:

• backpack
• 2-person tent
• sleeping bag
• sleeping pad

We assumed that Mark would need to rent all of his gear for 6 days total — pick it up on day 1, start down on day 2, at bottom on day 3, up on days 4 and 5, return on day 6.

In doing this research, one good reference was the Equipment Purchase and Rental page at Hit the Trail.

There are probably other options than the ones listed below. These were just the places that we called. The information below is current as of February 2009.

Summary

Based just on price, REI or Peace Surplus seem to be the best bet. If we have a reason to go to REI anyway (i.e. there are things we want to buy there before the trip), that might tilt the balance in favor of renting at REI. However, Peace Surplus seems to have a good reputation, and it might be more convenient to rent in Flagstaff rather than Phoenix or Vegas.

Rental packs seem to be substantially larger than ours — 75L or 85L versus 45L for Julie's pack and 60L for Ken's pack. The larger rental packs will probably weigh more like 6 lb versus 3.5 lb for our own packs.

Likewise, for things like sleeping gear, these places seem to be renting the cheaper stuff, which in this business generally means heavier. For instance, the REI Camp Bed sleeping pad weighs 5 lbs all by itself, which is about as much Ken's sleeping bag and pad put together.

As a result, weight becomes one of the factors that need to be taken into acount along with price and location.

Details

Peace Surplus

Location: Flagstaff, AZ
Phone: (928) 779-4521
Web: http://www.peacesurplus.com/

Ken dug around on the web site first, and then called and talked to someone. The web site information is slightly out of date — the prices are right, but the equipment that you get for the price is not.

Backpack: Deuter 75+10 Aircore - $6/day
Tent: Kelty 2-man dome - $7/day
Sleeping Bag: North Face Allegheny - $3/day
Pad: 3/4" blue foam pad - $1/day

Total rental cost is $17/day, or $102 total for the 6 days.

The North Face Allegheny sleeping bag is a synthetic, 40 degree, rectangular summer bag. It might be a little light for the weather we are expecting.

Babbit's Backcountry Outfitters

Location: Flagstaff, AZ
Phone: (928) 774-4775
Web: n/a

Backpack: Osprey brand - $8/day
Tent: MSR or North Face - $8/day
Sleeping Bag: n/a
Pad: n/a

Total rental cost is $96 total for the 6 days. This includes backpack and tent only, since they do not rent sleeping bags or pads.

They couldn't provide a lot of details on the equipment that they do rent.

Four Season Outfiiter and Guides

Location: Flagstaff, AZ
Phone: (928) 226-8798
Web: http://www.fsguides.com/

Backpack: $10 first day, $7/day thereafter
Tent: $12 first day, $10/day thereafter
Sleeping Bag: $10 first day, $7/day thereafter
Pad: $5 first day, $3/day thereafter
Trekking Poles: $5 first day, $3/day thereafter

Total rental cost is $172 total for the 6 days, plus $20 for trekking poles if you want them.

We did not get any details on what brands of equipment they actually rent.

REI

Location: Las Vegas, NV or Phoenix, AZ
Phone: (702) 951-4488 or (602) 996-5400
Web: http://www.rei.com/

We would generally have assumed that that all REI stores have similar rental policies, but got slightly different stories at the two places we called. The guy at the Vegas store was much more helpful, and explained that REI does not charge for the day you pick up or drop off. So, if you rent for a weekend — say, pick up Friday, drop off Sunday — you only pay for Saturday. That probably explains why their prices are somewhat more expensive.

Backpack: REI Mars - $15 first day, $4/day thereafter
Tent: REI Half-Dome - $28 first day, $8/day thereafter
Sleeping Bag: REI Polar Pod - $10 first day, $3/day thereafter
Pad: REI Camp Bed - $6 first day, $2/day thereafter

Total rental cost is $110 total for the 6 days.

If you rent at REI, you definitely want to be a member. There is a huge savings in rental cost, probably enough to justify the membership just in the rental cost savings for this one trip. The prices shown above are for a member. First day costs are as much as $10 extra per item for non-members and the per-day rate after that is also $1-$2 higher.

The Phoenix store does not rent sleeping bags, only pads. We don't know why.

The Mars pack is an 85L pack.

The Polar Pod is a synthetic, 25 degree, mummy bag.