Gear can be rented during Office Hours, which are usually held on Monday and Thursday evenings. See the Office Hours schedule for details. You must be a MITOC member to rent gear, but you can join MITOC when you make your first rental. Each member is allowed to rent gear for two people (2 pairs boots, 2 sleeping bags, 1 tent, 1 stove etc.).
You will have to leave a deposit check at the time you rent the gear. The deposit is to cover the cost of replacing the item should it be lost or damaged. See the list of rental gear for details. Your deposit check will not be returned to you, but will be destroyed once the gear is returned safely.
Gear must be returned at Office Hours within 1 week of the rental date. If you wish to rent gear for longer than one week you must make a special arrangement with the desk staff.
Rental fees will be collected when the gear is returned. As with the deposit, payment must be by check. Fees are calculated based on the number of days for which the gear was actually used, not the length of the rental. See the list of rental gear for the rental fees. Any purchases are also paid for at this time.
Most of MITOC's gear can be rented by any member. Some specialist items, however, such as technical ice tools, canoes and kayaks, require the permission of the appropriate club officer before they can be rented. See the list of rental gear for details.
MITOC owns two cabins in NH, Intervale and Camelot. which are available for use by MITOC members and their groups. Cabin keys may only be rented by key-holders; those who have been trained to use the cabin and who have contributed to its upkeep at a key-holder day. You must also book your cabin stay with the cabin manager to ensure that it is available at the requested time. See the relevant cabin page for details on how to become a key holder and the rental procedure.
As with the cabins, boathouse keys may only be rented by key-holders. In addition, you must make arrangements with the relevant club officer before you can rent a boathouse key. You can then rent a boathouse key at Office Hours, allowing you to pick up and return the boats at your leisure during the rental week. See thewhitewater, sea kayaking, or canoeing pages for details.
Unless special arrangements have been made, rentals not returned within a week are considered late. Late fines for equipement are assessed at the rate of one night's rental for every office hour the gear is overdue. Late fees for cabin keys are $10 / week overdue. If gear or payment becomes very late you will receive a reminder email. In the worst case, we reserve the right to use your deposit check to cover the cost of replacing the gear.
Members renting gear are responsible for any loss, theft, breakage or any other damage to equipment. Members should inspect gear before rental so that he or she will not be charged for the existing damages or missing parts. All gear needs to be returned clean and dry. We will not accept wet or dirty gear for return.
All gear will be inspected upon return.
Members returning damaged gear will be charged for the repair and/or replacement cost, as determined by the equipment manager.
Rental policy is changed slightly during Winter School, as described below.
MITOC's rental system works because we ensure that a single individual takes personal responsibility for gear the renter uses. This makes it more likely that gear will be returned quickly and in useable condition, so that it is available for more trips. Although we love to support campus organizations that want to take fun trips outside, we require that trip participants come in individually, become members ($10/year or $5/summer), sign liability waivers, and rent their own gear. As always, MITOC members are allowed to rent enough gear for 2 people (1 tent, 2 sleeping bags, 1 stove, etc.).
Gear is available to all MITOC members on a first-come basis. We are not equipped to take gear reservations, either by groups or anyone else. Although we have plenty of gear, we cannot guarantee that we will have what you need when you need it. Check out gear early in the week to ensure that you have everything needed for a weekend trip. Also, we run several large club trips each year that use lots of gear; email mitoc-owner@mit.edu if you would like their dates so you can schedule around them.
Although we hope that we can work with campus organizations to make their outdoor trips successful, if you want a true group rental or a guaranteed gear reservation you should consider renting your gear at a commercial rental business such as (in Boston) REI, EMS, Joe Jones (previously Bob's Wilderness House), and Hilton's Tent City or (in North Conway) IME.
If you decide to have your participants rent gear from us, note that individuals must check out their own gear and must leave a deposit check for it (we are not equipped to take cash or credit cards). No rental payment is required when you rent gear. Individuals must return their own gear, and are charged rental fees at that point based on the number of days each item was used. Additional fees may be charged if gear is returned late, broken, or dirty. Although we always require individual renters to provide their own deposit checks, we sometimes allow the trip organizer to provide a single check at the end to cover rental fees and/or membership; please arrange this in advance by emailing mitoc-owner@mit.edu.
Please remember that each member must individually return the gear that he or she rented. On a limited basis, a friend may return (and of course pay for) gear rented by a member if the member cannot make it to office hours. But we will not accept, for example, the entire group's gear returned in a big pile by just a few people.
Please email mitoc-owner@mit.edu with any questions. We hope that we can make this system work for your group.
Disclaimer
It is the member's responsibility to understand how to use any rented gear
properly and to understand the limitations of the gear and people using
that gear. We expect members to only rent gear that they are qualified
to use and familiar with. Renters should understand that outdoor activities
have a degree of risk associated with them and that gear may fail, especially
if used improperly. It is the every individuals responsibility to ensure
his or her safety in the outdoors and to use proper judgement with respect
to the use and condition of rental gear. We want you back. Please be safe.