Free Pickup • Camping Gear • Tents • Sleeping Bags • Packs • Stoves
Camping Gear Donations in Albuquerque
If it's been in your gear closet for two summers without leaving the house, I want it. Tents, sleeping bags, packs, stoves, pads — any condition, any brand, any volume. Free pickup across the Albuquerque metro.
Quick answer: Free camping gear pickup across the Albuquerque metro from NMLP. Tents, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, backpacks, camp stoves, mess kits, lanterns, dry bags, ground cloths. Any condition, any brand, any volume. Premium gear (Patagonia, MSR, Big Agnes) gets resold to fund the free pickup; mid-tier and family camping gear routes to Boy Scout troops and summer-camp programs; nothing gets landfilled by default. Text or call 702-496-4214 to schedule — same week is typical.
New Mexico Runs on Camping
New Mexico has three national forests (Carson, Cibola, Gila), thirteen wilderness areas, the Continental Divide Trail running the full length of the state, and a half-million acres of BLM camping inside an hour of Albuquerque. The Sandia and Manzano mountains start at the city's eastern edge. Bandelier, Chaco, Carlsbad Caverns, and the Gila are all weekend drives. White Sands is two and a half hours south. Almost every household in the metro has at least one tent, one sleeping bag, and one pack in a closet somewhere — even households that haven't camped in five years.
That's a lot of gear sitting unused. Some of it is high-end equipment that someone bought for a 2018 backpacking trip they never repeated. Some of it is the family tent the kids outgrew. Some of it is the gear closet you inherited when your dad moved into assisted living. All of it has more useful life left in it than the storage container it's living in.
I do free pickup of all of it. One truck, one trip, all of it gone the same week you call.
What Camping Gear I Take
Shelter
Tents (any size — 1-person bivy through 8-person family cabin), tarps, ground cloths, footprints, rainflies. Broken poles fine; missing stakes fine.
Sleep system
Sleeping bags (any temperature rating, any fill — down or synthetic, unwashed OK), sleeping pads (closed-cell foam, inflatable, self-inflating), camping pillows, bivy sacks.
Cooking
Backpacking stoves (canister, liquid fuel, alcohol), camp stoves (2-burner Coleman classics, Camp Chef rigs), mess kits, pots, sealed fuel canisters, French presses, percolators, lanterns.
Packs & carry
Daypacks, weekend packs, expedition packs (60L+), hydration packs, dry bags, stuff sacks, compression sacks, panniers, duffels.
Water & navigation
Water filters and purifiers (Sawyer, MSR, Katadyn), bottles, bladders, compasses, maps, GPS units, paper guidebooks, NM-specific trail maps.
Light, tools, accessories
Headlamps, lanterns, multi-tools, knives (sheathed), trowels, repair kits, paracord, ratchet straps, camp chairs, hammocks, kids' camping gear.
If it would help someone camp, I want it. Don't pre-sort — bring the whole pile.
Premium vs Mid-Tier vs Basic — Brand Matters
Camping gear has unusually strong brand recognition in the resale market. Premium-brand backpacks and sleeping bags from twenty years ago still command meaningful prices on eBay, because the gear was designed to last and the buyers know it. Mid-tier brands have shorter resale lives but solid community-reuse value. Basic gear is consumable.
- Premium (high resale): Patagonia, Arc'teryx, MSR, Big Agnes, Thermarest, Black Diamond, Osprey, Gregory, Western Mountaineering, Feathered Friends, Hilleberg, Marmot Premium, North Face Summit Series. These fund the free pickup operation through eBay and Amazon FBM resale.
- Mid-tier (community route): REI Co-op, Kelty, Eureka, Marmot mainline, North Face mainline, Mountain Hardwear mainline. Goes to Boy Scout troops, Boys & Girls Club summer camps, family shelters with outdoor programming.
- Basic (community + recycling): Coleman, Ozark Trail, Walmart house brands, Costco-floor gear. Still useful for first-time campers and family-shelter programs; what isn't usable enters the textile recycling stream.
You don't have to know which tier your gear is in. I sort it at the warehouse. The reason I'm naming the tiers is so you understand the donation actually goes somewhere thoughtful — not all to the same destination, not all to the dumpster.
How the Sort Works for Camping Gear
- Pickup. I bring a truck, we load it, you don't lift anything you don't want to.
- Warehouse triage. Premium-brand items go through condition grading (resaleable, repair-and-resale, parts-only). Mid-tier items get cleaned and inventoried for community routing. Basic items get a usability check.
- Resale. Resaleable premium gear lists on eBay or Amazon FBM, with the listing revenue funding the free-pickup operation (gas, truck, time, warehouse lease).
- Community routing. Mid-tier and family camping gear goes to named recipients: Boy Scout troops in the East Mountains and South Valley, the Boys & Girls Club summer-camp program, and family-shelter outdoor programming.
- Recycling. Sleeping bags too damaged to clean enter the textile-recycling stream (fiber recovery — see how textile recycling works in NM). Damaged tents have salvageable fly material recovered. Damaged fuel canisters go to Albuquerque's Household Hazardous Waste facility.
When the Camping Gear Piles Up
Almost every camping-gear pickup I do falls into one of five scenarios. None of them are unusual; you're not the first person to call about any of them.
- The kids outgrew it. Scout troop gear, kids' sleeping bags, the family tent you bought when the youngest was eight and the youngest is now in college. Whole-pile pickup, one trip.
- We don't camp anymore. Knees, time, kids, life. The gear you bought enthusiastically in 2014 is still in the garage. Resale will fund a lot of pickups; community will keep using what's still good.
- Inheriting a gear closet. A parent passed and you're cleaning out the house and there's a full wall of camping gear from forty years of weekends in the Gila and the Pecos. I'll come look at the whole estate — see estate cleanout service.
- Upgrading. You bought a new tent and the old one needs a home. Whole-gear-class pickup or single-item pickup, both fine.
- Moving. The gear isn't coming with you. Moving donation pickup handles books and clothing too — one truck, one call.
Camping Gear Donation FAQ
Will you really take gear that's broken or torn?
Yes. Tents with broken poles still have salvageable fly material and zippers. Sleeping bags that need a wash get washed. Sleeping pads with slow leaks are diagnosable and often fixable. Bring the whole pile — you don't have to triage.
Do I get a tax-deductible receipt?
No. NMLP is a for-profit business, not a 501(c)(3). Donations are not tax-deductible. I'm transparent about this upfront because some donors care — see the Is NMLP legit verification page for the full operating-model explanation.
What about fuel canisters and pressurized items?
Sealed, unused canisters are fine — I route those to Boy Scout troops and outdoor programs that consume fuel. Partially-used or damaged canisters need proper disposal at Albuquerque's Household Hazardous Waste facility on 5th Street (free for residents). I don't take those because mishandling pressurized fuel is a real safety issue.
How fast can you come?
Same week is typical, often within 48 hours for the Albuquerque metro. For Rio Rancho, Corrales, Bernalillo, and the East Mountains, also same-week. For Santa Fe, Los Lunas, Belen, and other NM cities, I batch the route — usually within 7–10 days.
Can you take everything at once — gear plus books plus clothing?
Yes. One truck, one trip, one call. Books, clothing, outdoor gear, household items, whole-house declutter. See the free-pickup service hub for the full scope.
Your Gear Closet Doesn't Owe You Anything
If it's been three summers and the tent hasn't been pitched, it's not going to be. Let me come get it — premium gear funds the pickup, mid-tier goes to scouts and shelters, nothing gets landfilled by default.
Call or Text 702-496-4214Josh Eldred — NMLP — Free camping gear pickup across the Albuquerque metro and most of New Mexico.