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Getting outside is free, but camping gear is not.
Although camping can be an affordable vacation, expensive equipment puts it out of reach for some Michiganders. To lower this barrier to the great outdoors, two Michigan “gear libraries” lend out equipment to their communities for free.
“We’re basically saying to people, ‘Hey, you don’t need to go out and spend thousands of dollars,’ especially if that’s not an option for you,” said Sam Truby, the Thrive Outside Grand Rapids gear library supervisor.
Thrive Outside Grand Rapids lets city residents borrow high-quality supplies like tents, sleeping bags, cooking kits and hammocks. The organization also teaches people how to use the equipment with a crash course on camping.
Grand Rapids resident Aaron Cole recently used the gear library instead of crowdsourcing camping supplies from friends. He borrowed a sleeping bag, a lantern, water jugs and cooking equipment for a Fourth of July weekend trip to Northern Michigan.
“It’s exciting to know that I don’t necessarily have to buy everything,” he said. “I just don’t camp often enough that I’ve ever thought I needed to buy the stuff.”
Related: Gas prices keep surging. What does that mean for summer road trips in Michigan?
Grand Rapids is one of a dozen communities across the United States that got a Thrive Outside gear library grant from the Outdoor Foundation, an organization dedicated to increasing access to the outdoors. A slew of major companies, including Michigan-based Wolverine Worldwide and Carhartt, support the program.
“We look forward to continuing to support Thrive regions in historically under-resourced communities across the country who are utilizing a collective impact model to help make the outdoors accessible for all,” Stephanie Maez, Outdoor Foundation Executive Director, said in an April statement.
On the other side of the state, Detroit was recently awarded an Outdoor Foundation grant.
It will support existing efforts of Detroit Outdoors, a partnership between Detroit Parks and Recreation, the YMCA of Metro Detroit and the Sierra Club, to boost kids’ access to nature.
Detroit Outdoors lends out equipment to community and school groups that take local children camping. It also runs a leadership training program to teach people how to guide a camping trip.
“That model of using gear and leadership training to get kids connected to nature and the outdoors is rooted in a decade’s old approach of trying to support the people in the lives of kids who have trusted relationships with them,” said Garrett Dempsey who leads Sierra Club staff.
Related: Michigan 2022 travel trends: Where to go, what to expect when trip planning
Camping usually requires tents, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, cooking kits, water jugs and flashlights— all of which can cost hundreds of dollars. Beyond the supplies, campers also must pay for food, rental fees and gas to travel to campgrounds.
“It can become pretty daunting and expensive to buy all this stuff,” Dempsey said.
In Michigan, campsites cost as little as $20 a night in state forests, but fees vary.
State park camping rates increased this year between $2 and $8 per night to keep up with the cost of living and inflation. But Jason Fleming from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources says the state carefully considers rate hikes to preserve parks as a “significant part of our culture.”
“You have to be thinking about it from an affordability standpoint, because we’re trying to serve as many people as we can,” he said. “Our market is not a specific area or a specific household income, we cover the whole state.”
Despite the other costs, gear libraries still address the high price of equipment.
“We can’t tackle every part of the formula, but we’re starting to see what we can do to chip away at it,” Truby said.
Related: 7 types of campers you’ll find in Michigan campgrounds
Gear libraries could also provide relief to those feeling the pain of inflation.
With gas hitting $5 a gallon, airfares climbing 25% and hotel prices reportedly jumping up a third, nearly half of Americans aren’t planning to take a summer trip this year because they can’t afford it, a recent Bankrate survey found.
Meanwhile, interest in camping has surged in recent years — both during the pandemic and now during a hot inflationary period.
Camping accounted for 40% of trips in North America last year, according to a 2022 Kampgrounds of America report. Nearly 57 million households went on a camping trip in 2021 compared to 48 million in 2020 and 42 million in 2019.
In Michigan, state park campsites hit 94% occupancy heading into July with nearly half of locations more than 97% full.
Gear libraries also focus on promoting diversity, equity and inclusion within camping.
The KOA report found more than half of last year’s 9.1 million first-time campers were people of color. Although North American campers were 88% white a decade ago, those numbers are starting to shift.
“We believe that an important way of sort of breaking down those barriers around race and class in the outdoors is by helping people… experience that time in nature, in a safe environment with a leader that they trust,” Dempsey said.
More on MLive:
New bathrooms, fishing pier: $16M in improvements coming to 10 Michigan state parks
DNR reminds state park campers not to arrive before 3 p.m. check-in time
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