You will spend a lot of dough on climbing equipment. It ain't cheap, and you probably want to buy it new. I invested probably close to $1500 or so to get all my gear, mebbe more. Nice when you get it all together, and it is GREAT exercise. You will feel it after your first few times. Really opens up your options for doing tree work, though. I got the SRT setup and the gaffs all at once, so it was a big cash outlay. Both are a lot of work and you will build strength and endurance quickly if you stay with it. You can probably get into a gaff setup for around $500, but it is nice and safer to climb witha a rope, as a backup to the gaffs, anyway. Good luck. Lots of info around - spend some time surfing and you can learn a lot.