Looking For a Way to Enjoy the Last Days of Summer? Check out WSUV’s Gear Rental Service

WSUV’s Recreation Center offers a variety of opportunities and services to help make exploring the Pacific Northwest accessible and affordable for students. The Recreation Coordinator, Amanda Robinson, said that the purpose of the Rec Center is “getting students outside, connecting with other students, and also exploring the local surroundings.” 

One way the Recreation Center strives to achieve this mission is through its gear rental service, which allows students to rent a wide range of outdoor equipment. 

The Recreation Center is located on the East Side of the WSUV campus in the Annex Building, right next to the Red 4 Parking Lot. Once inside the building, students are immediately presented with displays of some of the different gear they can use. Robinson explains that there is “really something for everybody to try something new.” 

The gear available for rent includes differently sized tents, sleeping bags, camping chairs, backpacks, fishing gear, kayaks, snowboards and more, including smaller essentials like lifejackets, boots, and helmets.

Joshua Bergstrom, a fourth-year college student at WSUV says that he hasn’t used the rental service before because of a lack of time in his schedule but that he has heard of it and thinks “it’s super important to help people get outdoors and build community, especially at a satellite campus such as WSU Vancouver.” 

Bergstrom says the gear rental service has “a great variety of products that allows for both summer and winter sports activities” and that he is particularly interested in renting out some paddleboards eventually. 

One of the primary goals of the gear rental service is to be considerate of student budgets. Robinson discusses that the equipment prices offered at the Recreation Center are “significantly reduced” compared to local rental companies or outdoor stores. “Accessible pricing is where we’re at.” 

One of the most popular items rented during the summer by students at WSUV’s Recreation Center are stand-up paddleboards. As a student, the cost to rent a stand-up paddleboard, the paddle, a lifejacket, a pump, and a waterproof case for your phone is $16 for one day and $32 for a whole weekend.  

At Cascade Paddleboards, a rental company in Portland, the cost to rent a stand-up  paddleboard, the paddle, an ankle safety cord, and a lifejacket for 8 hours is $75. At Peach Beach Rentals in Camas, it costs $60 to rent the stand-up paddleboard, the paddle, and a lifejacket for any amount of time in a day from sunrise to sunset.  

“I think it’s a great discount for students,” Bergstrom explains. “It offers students a very  cheap way to get outdoors. I still do think that it could be cheaper at times because of the amount of money that we’re paying in tuition.” As a college student, affordability is important for Bergstrom, and he believes that the same is true for other students as well.  

Robinson said that during the summer months, the amount of gear they rent out takes a dip compared to months when more students are in school and on campus. The fall and winter seasons are usually busier as students are renting out skis, snowboards, and taking advantage of the discounted lift tickets to Ski Bowl at Mount Hood that the Recreation Center offers.  

Something that the Recreation Center wants to work on is having more students be aware of and make use of the gear rental service year-round.  

Bergstrom thinks that the Recreation Center should make the gear rental service more visible to students because of the important role it serves on campus. “I know that WSUV puts out signs and stuff concerning events that we can sign up for. Maybe they should put out more signs about the rental service.”

One idea that Robinson has to help bring awareness to the service is going to high-traffic areas of the campus and displaying the equipment that they offer so students can learn about and become interested in the idea of renting out gear.  

Robinson says that if there were anything that she could tell students about the gear  rentals, it would be that, “We want people to use it, and we want people out there doing things and exploring their environment, and we’re happy to show you how to use some of the gear because we really want people out there feeling comfortable with what they’re doing.”