Checking out gear libraries just makes sense
Sharing equipment makes outdoor recreation more accessible, equitable and sustainable.
PHOTO: MAINE BOUND ADVENTURE CENTER
By Amy Paradysz
WE’RE ALL FAMILIAR with the principle behind libraries: The community shares a collection of books so we can all access media without having to buy, own or store it. Gear libraries are built on the same notion: Sharing equipment makes outdoor recreation more accessible, more equitable and more sustainable. And sometimes it just makes good sense: Do you really want to own that pull-behind ski chariot that you might use once or twice?
PHOTO: MAINE GEARSHARE
Thanks to a new coalition called the Maine Gear Library Network, it’s becoming easier to access a wider variety of gear throughout the state. For example, although Kindling Collective in downtown Portland doesn’t have enough space to stock a wide variety of outdoor apparel, their members can borrow what they need through Maine GearShare in Brunswick at no additional charge.
“The network is a growing coalition of community organizations that are working together to make outdoor recreation more accessible, especially for rural, low-income and historically excluded communities,” said Maine GearShare Advancement Manager Emily Mackeown. “This means that more Mainers can enjoy the outdoors in all seasons.”
The lending or renting model varies greatly across the network. At some gear libraries, members can check out items for free—and membership may be as simple as having a card to your local library.
More commonly, there’s a fee to check out items, but gear libraries that are nonprofits or under the auspices of a public library or university can charge less than a for-profit rental business would.
Sometimes there’s a sliding scale based on socioeconomic factors; basically, people with more resources subsidize gear for those with fewer resources. At some gear libraries, groups like school outing clubs can save a great deal of money by purchasing a membership that covers hundreds of “participant days” worth of gear, eliminating choices of what gear, exactly, they can afford to borrow.
PHOTO COURTESY MAINE GEARSHARE
“Having lighter-weight gear, more comfortable backpacks, more comfortable sleeping bags—all that stuff matters,” says Hallie Herz, co-founder of Kindling Collective. “The right gear makes being outdoors so much accessible and enjoyable.”
And yet all that gear can take up a lot of space and require regular maintenance— including drying out tents, wiping down skates and fixing zippers.
“A lot of people have gear that they use once a year shoved in a closet, garage or basement,” says Eva Fury, the other cofounder of Kindling Collective. “Instead of storing something, why not store the stuff with us? We can figure out a way so that everyone can go out with highquality gear, and you don’t have to store it in your house. We’ll take care of it really well, and you still get to do the activities.”
Details about gear memberships and fees are generally found online, including how many days in advance you should request items. Some gear libraries make reservations as easy as putting items in an online shopping cart.
PHOTO COURTESY MAINE GEARSHARE
Maine GearShare
Brunswick
This time of year, Maine GearShare in Brunswick offers hiking and camping gear, snowshoes, hockey skates, Nordic skates, mountaineering equipment, cross-country skis and ski chariots for those with little ones looking for a ride-along. Anyone can rent gear on a per-diem basis—for example, snowshoe rentals are $10 for adults. To further reduce barriers to winter recreation, Maine GearShare stocks base layers, parkas, winter boots, hats and mittens for a wide variety of ages and sizes. For occasional campers, this gear library is a cost-effective one-stop- shop to pack everything from tents and sleeping bags to camp stoves and headlamps. There’s also a gear repair shop in case, for example, you’re looking for a zipper to be replaced. Individual rentals help subsidize what Maine GearShare specializes in: making it possible for school outing clubs, affinity groups and organizations doing equity-based work in the outdoors to get large numbers of people outdoors affordably and comfortably. Groups pay an annual fee to become a Maine GearShare member; the starter rate is $200 annually, which covers up to 150 participant days.
Katahdin Gear Library
Millinocket area
Katahdin Gear Library, run by the nonprofit Outdoor Sport Institute, offers a free membership to anyone with a library card at one of five libraries in the Millinocket area. With membership, your first night of gear rental is free and additional nights are half-price. However, membership is not required—rentals are available to anyone. Here are examples of their rates: snowshoes ($20 per night), cross-country skis ($30 per night), mountain and fat-tire bikes ($30 per night) and canoes, kayaks and paddleboards ($30 per night).
PHOTO: KINDLING COLLECTIVE
Kindling Collective
Portland
Kindling Collective, located in the Equality Community Center in Portland’s Arts District, is a queer-centered gear library, although their services are open to anyone who supports the LGBTQ community and the shared-economy mission. Memberships are on a sliding scale (and free for BIPOC folks). Winter gear includes snowshoes, microspikes, winter sleeping bags, ankle gators, and, thanks to a partnership with Maine GearShare, cross-country skis. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg on all the outdoor adventure gear they stock, from backpacks and tents to hydration systems and first-aid kits. Kindling Collective also offers skill-building courses in topics such as wilderness medicine and back-country self-defense outdoor experiences for queer and BIPOC Mainers.
Skowhegan Outdoors Basecamp Gear Library
Skowhegan / Somerset County
Skowhegan Outdoors’ Basecamp Gear Library provides free outdoor recreation equipment loans to Somerset County residents through a membership model. If you don’t live in Somerset County, you can still get an annual membership ($50 per person or $75 per family) to access gear at no additional charge, five days per check-out. They loan out camping gear, snowshoes, cross-country skis, hockey skates, mountain bikes, canoes and stand-up paddleboards. Skowhegan Outdoors also offers hundreds of free programs each year, including outdoor yoga, cross-country skiing, mountain biking and paddling clinics.
More Ways to Gear Up
PHOTO: MAINE BOUND ADVENTURE CENTER
Portland Gear Hub at Oxbow Beer Garden
The Oxbow Beer Garden in Oxford is adjacent to a Nordic skiing trail system (formerly known as Carter’s XC Ski). Oxbow welcomes visitors to use the trail, and nonprofit Portland Gear Hub rents cross-country skis ($35-$45) and snowshoes ($20) on site. To reserve equipment: portlandgearhub.org/xc-ski-rental
University of Maine - Farmington and Orono campuses
The University of Maine has gear centers on the Farmington and Orono campuses, where students, members and the public can rent equipment (at varying rates). At Mainely Outdoors in Farmington, for example, the public can rent snowshoes for $15 a day, a Nordic ski set for $14 a day or a fat-tire bike for $50 a day.
Maine Bound Adventure Center in Orono has an even greater array of winter gear, including mountaineering ice axes and sleeping bags for -30° F temperatures.
Curtis Memorial Library’s Library of Things
At Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick, you can check out a whole lot more than books. Their Library of Things offers hundreds of items that you might want to use only periodically—like snowshoes, a telescope or bicycle tools. To access the Library of Things, you need a Curtis Memorial Library card, which is free for Brunswick and Harpswell residents and $25 for a non-resident three-month library card. And then, of course, you can check out books … and museum passes including two Maine GearShare passes that can be used to get geared up for free.
Though Brunswick has the largest Library of Things in the state, many public libraries have items that you might not expect you could check out. For example, Norway Memorial Library has a variety of sizes of snowshoes and Scarborough Public Library has a pair of e-bikes.
Check out anything from musical instruments to microscopes from Maine’s Libraries of Things