Anybody who has been to other NANOGs should have a lifetime supply of t-shirts by now.

Technically, I think "gear" is a reference to network hardware.

The purpose of the Beer and Gear is for the vendors to send members of their engineering teams to have technical conversations with NANOG meeting attendees. As has been noted, there are plenty of other venues where you can go to oooh and aaah over hardware; NANOG would like to differentiate itself by being a forum for the exchange of technical information. It would seem to me to be possible to do that without having the latest piece of iron to lean on, but certainly that is an opinion others might not share. Have you noted your opinion on the survey form? Stephen