solotripper wrote on Jul 30^th, 2009 at 11:19pm:

It's hard too even know where too lay the blame for so many being un-prepared. I guess you would start with the Outfitter IF they used one, then the trip leader and work down from there.

I don't think you could blame an outfitter for that mess.  They shouldn't ever knowingly send out a woefully unprepared group without first trying to convince them of what they really need, but different people have different ideas about what they consider necessities.

I would hope that most outfitters take an active role in trying to make sure that groups (that partial outfit) are properly geared up.  If they convince a group to rent a few more items it's good for their business, and it's good for the group.  I would also hope that they'd give them a list of recommended pre trip reading.