>>299506Understand the financial thing... getting into offroad riding isn't cheap. When someone asks me about getting into sleds/bikes, I always tell them to set a budget, then out of that budget buy all the gear first, using what's left to buy the bike/sled. That way you're not tempted to do something stupid like ride without the right gear when you do buy the vehicle.
Even though you're not doing "extreme" stunts, you're still inexperienced and will get up-close and personal with the dirt many times.
Protective gear is the difference between learning from that mistake, brushing off the dirt (or shaking the snow out of your helmet), picking the bike/sled up and riding again vs. limping back to the truck and being hurt for the next few weeks.
Used gear (except helmets, never do that) holds its value fairly well. Ebay, craigslist, forum flea markets/classifieds, etc are good places to look.
A lot of it's priorities too. For me, my top priority by far is snowmobiling, so a lot of my paycheck goes towards that. The motorcycle gets me through the summer till the snow starts falling again. Fortunately a lot of my sled gear works on the bike.
I guess what i'm trying to say is don't let that "i don't ride hard" attitude lure you into thinking you don't need decent gear.
