No need to bump the thread. People will see it. Being the weekend, many of the members are with families and other non-work responsibilities. Give them time to reply. Many may not respond until tonight or tomorrow.
Given your age, you know you aren't going to get much support and you already admitted you could gain more without the gear so don't expect many to encourage you to use gear and shut down your developing HTPA when it's really unnecessary.
Regarding your prop, gear has a fairly long shelf life. It won't expire. There is no urgency to use it.