Gear Fetish. Rewards for learning.

I’m as guilty as anyone, maybe more than most people, of lusting over pointlessly expensive gear. New motorbikes when I don’t ride the one I have, expensive fishing knives when I’ve not even caught a fish, olympic weightlifting gear when I can’t even squat my own bodyweight.

Maybe instead of taking on a new activity to justify the purchase of yet more gear, the gear should be the reward for mastering a new activity? I resisted temptation last week and bought the (almost) cheapest fishing reel in the shop to go on the ancient rod that my neighbour gave me. And I decided that the fancy lighter rod and the fishing knife might just be the reward for learning how to fish. But first I have to bring home enough fishy dinner to cover the cost of the stuff I have already bought.