Are normie hikers just consoomers at this point? It seems like the point of hiking is just to buy from a brand, cope with the purchase, rate 5 stars, feel good, rinse repeat. I bought some 1.5 inch self-inflating air pads with glowing reviews saying you can sleep with them on your side, but my pelvis scrapes the ground unless it is fully inflated, in which might as well go for ccf pad. I am 5'9, 155 pounds so it is not me. I bought a big agnes 3.5 inch air pad, same shit. I read people saying they have this 15 yo thermarests and just use those, but the new trend seems to be this uberlight, ridiculously low denier crap that won't last a season and is 2.5 inches.

Which brands do you buy from? Most pads are like 40 denier, air pads especially (if they even list it, fuck you big Agnes). I want lasting, quality gear, but it seems like it is just a roll of the dice, as everything has 5 star reviews from idiots.

How should I buy my gear? I'm leaning towards just getting high quality gear used on let go or craigslist, maybe ebay or last season items for cheaper and hoping for the best.

What do you think, /out/? Any spectacular single items you can really recommend? How do you shop?