One of the bigger problems with relying on scrounging and scavenging is how hard it is to replace anything. Sometimes the tag's worn down so much I can't easily tell who made a pair of pants, and searching for gray workout leggings might as well have me trying to find a needle in a pile of needles. There's also that I've got no way to find out where the item came from, or where I could pay money for another one - it turns out the stepstool I've got was manufactured by a company that doesn't exist anymore. It could be that the model of leggings was discontinued back in 2022.

I know I can buy some heavy-duty glue to repair the stepstool instead of trying to find a suitable replacement. I don't know how long the repairs would last, or what I'd do if I break it past the point of being able to fix it. Accepting I'll have to buy something close to it that isn't the same is going to take some time. Unless I happen to get unexpectedly lucky, but that's another thing about relying on scrounging: you have to take what you can get, and you can't ask to see something else in another color.