COC has gear! To use COC gear please read the Gear Policy below. To make an appointment to check out gear fill out the form at the bottom of the page!

Note: gear checkout is on a case-by-case basis due to COVID. Please use the form on this page

Gear Policy

The Cornell Outing Club owns and maintains a sizeable collection of outdoor equipment or gear. An incomplete list can be found here. Outing club gear is available for use by any club member provided they are on an outing club trip. COC does not rent out gear. For a trip to be a COC trip it must be announced on the listserve or groupme and open to other club members. This is to encourage accessibility and to develop community.  This is rule is explained in more detail below. Gear is issued at the sole discretion of the Eboard.

Announcing a Trip on the Listserve

All trips using gear must be announced on the listserve/GroupMe a reasonable amount of time ahead. For overnight trips that should be at least 72 hours in advance. Ex a weekend trip departing Friday should be on listserv on Tuesday evening. More time is always better. For local trips this can be 36 hours ahead. A Saturday day trip should be announced no later than Thursday evening.

A trip on the listserve should have a rough plan, consisting of intended destination(s), approximate time, activity and any required skills needed to go on the trip

A trip should include how much space is available, since outing club trips are often limited by car space it is encouraged to save at least one seat for a future friend. Saying that others will need to drive themselves is okay but discouraged. Trip leaders must ensure that everyone has the necessary experience and equipment for the trip.

For high-risk activities including but not limited to rock climbing, winter activities, and whitewater kayaking, trips should be pre-approved by Eboard. If you have a question please ask.

All trips will be asked to fill out a short debrief form.

Why Eboard will deny your request for gear

Safety, most outing club trips have some inherent risk, if you are leading a trip you and your participants must be able to adequately understand and mitigate said risk. This is particularly true for technical climbing, and whitewater kayaking equipment as well as trips during the winter months.

Exclusivity, Outing Club is an inclusive club. We encourage people to go on trips with those who they don’t know. If you are leading a trip just for your friends and not being inclusive of others you will not be lent equipment.

Gear already loaned out. While COC has a lot of equipment occasionally it will all be in use. In this case, it will be loaned out based on who requested it first. Eboard occasionally runs larger official trips in which case all gear is reserved for the week or weekend.

Previous misuse of gear, excessive damage, failure, or late return are all abuses of the gear privileges.

If you need to check out gear, make sure that you have paid your semesterly dues ($10/semester) and contact us to schedule a time to lend you the gear you need! Semesterly dues can be paid Venmoing the club (@cornelloutingclub) or in cash to one of our E-Board members.

Why doesn’t COC rent out gear?

COC is a student club, we have no employees and are funded by a limited budget from Cornell. Checking out, checking in, cleaning, drying, and repairing gear can take a tremendous amount of time that our hard-working eboard members don’t have the time to spare. Because of this, we have chosen to allow our gear only to go out on COC trips, and we ask that you return it clean and dry! But remember 1. anybody can lead a trip, and Cornell Outdoor Ed rents out a full suite of gear for personal use

Paddling On Bebee Lake

Bebee lake is one of the gems of the Cornell Campus. Paddling on it is a great short break from the hubbub of school. Unfortunately, it is very visible and the gorge/dam present can be dangerous for new paddlers. As a result outing club does not allow our boats to be used on Bebee outside of eboard-run open paddles.