Outdoor Gear Room

Mission

The Outdoor Gear Room strives to increase access to outdoor experiences through providing gear rentals at no cost to Macalester students. Additionally, the gear room managers reduce knowledge barriers to recreating in natural spaces by educating the student body about gear use, maintenance and trip preparedness.

Message from the Managers

We’re happy to help facilitate all your outdoor gear needs! Our free gear rentals are open to all Mac students for any and all outdoor recreation needs, whether it’s for an Outing Club trip, a class field excursion or a personal camping adventure – we’ve got your back (-pack)! Please feel free to send us an email with any questions you may have, make a gear reservation on our Rentle website or stop by the Outdoor Gear Room to just say hello.

Gear Borrowing Best Practices

In the Gear Room, we love clean, quality and organized gear because we love making sure you have the very best outdoor gear experience without worrying about a hole in your tent, mold in your backpack, or a broken stove. So please, help us keep your gear in tip top shape by following the Borrowing Best Practices below:

• Avoid stepping in/on gear with shoes on (especially tents)
• Dry wet gear as soon as possible
• Use a soft sponge or rag along with a mix of dish soap (only a few drops) and lukewarm water to hand-wash any stains on the gear

Please return all items:

• Clean
• Dry
• Free of food scraps
• Free of trash
• Stored neatly in their bag

If any gear returns from a trip wet or dirty, please let us know by email [email protected] and hold onto the gear item(s) until it is able to be returned clean and dry.