Backpacking

[tommygirl3272003]

Here we talk about Backpacking in details. As a clue, some of the topics to talk about are:-

What Is It? – An introduction to backpacking

Why Go? – The benefits of longer hikes

Gear Loads – Ultra-light, light, typical, & heavy

Gear Types – Organizing your gear by function

Pack Weight – Looking at the load you are carrying

Going Lightweight – The advantages in lightening up

Weekend Hikes – Taking short backpacking trips

Happy Discussion.

[tommygirl3272003]

Backpacking refers to hiking while carrying a pack on your back. A backpack with extra gear and supplies usually implies longer trips. But what you take with you and how far you hike is really up to you. John Muir, the founder of the Sierra Club, used to go for several days with nothing more than a coat and what little food he could fit in his coat pockets, and he would roam far and wide. Others take packs with them that are so heavy that they need help just putting them on, and they may not hike for more than a mile or two from the trailhead.

Since most people take a certain amount of gear with them on any hike and since they usually carry these extra items in a pack, most hiking in is also backpacking - more or less. The term backpacking has come to more generally mean any hiking that involves spending one or more nights out in the wilderness while on the trip, also know as overnighters, as opposed to day hikes where the hike begins and ends on the same day.

Day hikers generally carry a much smaller pack with only a few articles of extra clothes, a simple emergency first aid kit, some water, and perhaps some food in their pack. Overnight hikers typically carry larger packs and more gear since they may need a storm shelter of some sort and extra insulation for warmth in which to spend the night as well as a larger variety of clothes and usually more than one meal. Why not we users post some examples of what a hiker might carry on both a day hike and an overnight hike. Remember it varies depending on the hiker in question.

[tommygirl3272003]

Backpacking can add new dimensions to your hiking experience by extending your stay in the wilderness. The additional benefits of backpacking are two fold. Backpacking gives you a chance to extend and enhance your hiking experience and the meaning it brings to you on a personal level. Secondly, it opens up more new territory. You can travel farther into wilderness and see more of the natural world when you aren’t constrained by always having to return at the end of the day.

The longer you stay out in the wilderness the more layers of artificiality are stripped away and the deeper your understanding of nature becomes. Perhaps the most dramatic and immediate effect is noticed when you extend your stay to include a full day's cycle of both light and darkness. If you have never tried hiking out and staying for a day or two, you should at least try it once. It is quite an experience.

Naturally enough with more to gain there are also more risks involved with backpacking than with simple day hiking. When backpacking you are often travelling farther from sources of help should you need it. For this reason it is best to make your first overnight foray in the company of an experienced backpacker if possible. A little experience goes a long way towards preparing you for coping with the additional challenges of backpacking.

Preparing for a backpack trip involves selecting, assembling, and packing the gear and supplies that you will want and need with you on your adventure. The business of selecting gear is important to the success of your trip. Too much gear or the wrong type of gear can result in a crushingly heavy load that would spoil the hike for even the best physically conditioned backpacker. Wrong choices or too little gear can mean a lack of comfort and, depending on conditions, perhaps even safety. There is a whole section devoted to gear and supply selections. Studying it will help you select the gear you need to make your backpacking adventures a success. Gear choices for many backpackers are ongoing, evolving, and ever changing. There is no right or wrong way to go backpacking. Just learn what works for you.

Often you can borrow or rent the extra gear you will need to give backpacking a try, and it is a good idea to do so for your first trip. You may not like backpacking (though if you like hiking I can’t imagine why) and decide that you prefer to stick with day hikes. Borrowing or renting the gear you need for an overnight trip in that case will avoid wasting money on gear that you won’t use again. Borrowing or renting also gives you a chance to gain some experience so you can more wisely select the gear that will be right for you should you decide you want to go again.

However you do end up going about it, I urge you to give backpacking on an overnight trip a try. If you wake up during the night, take a moment to listen for any new sounds, and if the sky is clear, look up at the stars. Once you have tried I think you’ll want to go again.

[mayusdon4real]

Hi,

Tommy is really doing a good job here.....I'd want to join in the discussion...

I'd be talking about Hiking Gear Loads...

There are several things that can spoil a hiking experience. Being ill prepared for the conditions encountered is one way to spoil a trip. Being over prepared or attempting to carry too much is another way to spoil a trip. Finding the ideal gear load is a balance between carrying too much and carrying too little, and there are many considerations that must be taken into account when attempting to find that balance.

The gear loads referred to here are for overnight or backpacking trips. Most day hikes don’t require enough gear to make gear loads a problem.

In the 1960’s and 70’s most backpacking was done with external frame backpacks, and most loads were fairly heavy. Then there was a shift to using more internal frame backpacks and a seemingly new interest in lighter loads. But as time went on and the new internal frame packs became more sophisticated they and gear in general it seems began to get heavier and heavier.

Why? Well gear manufacturers, in an effort to stay competitive, add features to make their gear more attractive, and they produce gear that is even more indestructible so they can afford to offer lifetime warranties - the sorts of things that generally appeal to the consumer public.

But once again some of the hikers that have to carry the all this gear have begun to revolt against heavy loads. This is particularly true amongst the growing numbers of long distance hikers where the difference in weight over a long trail can make a big difference in cumulative mileage.

The current wisdom of what’s true about pack loads is the lighter the load the more enjoyable the hiking but the more Spartan the camping, while the more gear you carry and hence the heavier the load the more enjoyable the camping but at the expense of hiking pleasure.

Hikers who go out to hike as opposed to just hiking to camp have always been interested in lightweight loads. John Muir, for example, used to head out into the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California with little more than a great coat and what provisions he could pack into its pockets.

A recent leader in the move towards lighter weight loads is Ray Jardine, author of "Beyond Backpacking" - an excellent book for those interested in going as lightweight as possible.

The resurgent interest in lightweight loads prompted by Ray Jardine and others has given rise to the fairly wide spread use of the term "ultra-light". The question is what do we mean by ultra-light? How do we define it? Naturally one might think ultra-light would be used to mean a pack load that is the epitome of lightweight, but I have heard the term applied by several hikers to their not so ultra-light loads.

Some hikers it seems are very concerned with labeling themselves as ultra-lighters. In fact one lightweight backpacking mail list moderator was so upset when I challenged his definition of ultra-light and confronted him with an alternative point of view that he informed me I was no longer welcome to contribute messages to the list.

Rather than calling any pack load ultra-light I think it is useful to define limits to what we mean by ultra-light, light, and so on. That way when we are planning a trip we have a better idea of what our gear imposed limitations will be. It can also give us an idea of what our backpacking expectations should be in terms of distances traveled. The definitions and attendant considerations developed here are intended as gear and hiking planning aids, and also to help clarify what is meant when these terms are used.

When Ray Jardine and his wife made their third hike of the PCT their base pack weights were about 8.5 lbs. each. A hiker on the AT known by the trail name of "Wolf" carried a daypack with a total load of about 15 lbs. including food and water. Others have also found ways to reduce their base pack weight to less than 10 lbs. Since this seems to be the lower limit for most backpacking, defining ultra-light as base pack weights of 10 lbs. or less seems like a reasonable starting point.

One of the things Ray discovered when he lightened his load was that he no longer needed to use a hip belt to transfer a good part of the load off his shoulders. Not having to use a hip belt helps contribute to a lighter pack and consequently to a lighter overall load.

I have experimented quite a bit with this myself. What I found was that I liked being able to get a portion of the load off my shoulders any time the load was greater than about 14 pounds, and definitely wanted a hip belt for any loads over 20 pounds. My communications with others confirms that this is generally true for other hikers as well. But the exact weight at which this will be true will vary some from person to person and with current physical condition.

Ray also discovered that with a lighter load he could wear lighter shoes reducing the load his feet had to carry. The conventional wisdom here is 1 pound of additional weight on the feet is the equivalent of 5 pounds of additional weight in the pack because of the extra motion each foot has to make while walking compared to the relatively straight line travel of a pack load. While some people have successfully carried fairly heavy backpacks (35 lbs. or more) in light weight running shoes the general consensus of opinion seems to be light weight shoes are fine for light loads but heavier loads are generally more comfortably carried when wearing heavier boots.

Lighter loads usually mean that you can travel farther with the same amount of effort. This may further decrease your load by reducing the amount of food and water you need to carry for a trip enabling you to walk even longer and farther each day. So lighter it would seem is definitely better if you plan on hiking long distances.

Does packing lighter really make that much of a difference? My suggestion is to find out for yourself. After you have gained some hiking/backpacking experience and you feel comfortable out on the trail and in the wilderness on overnight trips, try making at least one short, overnight trip with the lightest possible load you feel comfortable with. Leave your stove, pots, spoons, and cups behind. Take only food that does not need to be cooked. And do everything else possible to lighten your load without sacrificing safety. It can be a very liberating experience.

With more than 20 pounds or so total pack weight I have a hard time ever forgetting about that load strapped to my back while I’m on the trail. But with a lighter load, especially when it reaches that point where for some period of time I can actually almost forget that I am carrying a pack, the hiking becomes much more enjoyable. You know you don’t have to get back before dark and yet it’s like day hiking. Try it. I think you’ll like it.

[medadmissions]

Originally Posted by tommygirl3272003

Backpacking can add new dimensions to your hiking experience by extending your stay in the wilderness. The additional benefits of backpacking are two fold. Backpacking gives you a chance to extend and enhance your hiking experience and the meaning it brings to you on a personal level. Secondly, it opens up more new territory. You can travel farther into wilderness and see more of the natural world when you aren’t constrained by always having to return at the end of the day.

The longer you stay out in the wilderness the more layers of artificiality are stripped away and the deeper your understanding of nature becomes. Perhaps the most dramatic and immediate effect is noticed when you extend your stay to include a full day's cycle of both light and darkness. If you have never tried hiking out and staying for a day or two, you should at least try it once. It is quite an experience.

Naturally enough with more to gain there are also more risks involved with backpacking than with simple day hiking. When backpacking you are often travelling farther from sources of help should you need it. For this reason it is best to make your first overnight foray in the company of an experienced backpacker if possible. A little experience goes a long way towards preparing you for coping with the additional challenges of backpacking.

Preparing for a backpack trip involves selecting, assembling, and packing the gear and supplies that you will want and need with you on your adventure. The business of selecting gear is important to the success of your trip. Too much gear or the wrong type of gear can result in a crushingly heavy load that would spoil the hike for even the best physically conditioned backpacker. Wrong choices or too little gear can mean a lack of comfort and, depending on conditions, perhaps even safety. There is a whole section devoted to gear and supply selections. Studying it will help you select the gear you need to make your backpacking adventures a success. Gear choices for many backpackers are ongoing, evolving, and ever changing. There is no right or wrong way to go backpacking. Just learn what works for you.

Often you can borrow or rent the extra gear you will need to give backpacking a try, and it is a good idea to do so for your first trip. You may not like backpacking (though if you like hiking I can’t imagine why) and decide that you prefer to stick with day hikes. Borrowing or renting the gear you need for an overnight trip in that case will avoid wasting money on gear that you won’t use again. Borrowing or renting also gives you a chance to gain some experience so you can more wisely select the gear that will be right for you should you decide you want to go again.

However you do end up going about it, I urge you to give backpacking on an overnight trip a try. If you wake up during the night, take a moment to listen for any new sounds, and if the sky is clear, look up at the stars. Once you have tried I think you’ll want to go again.

I guess there are professionals in here....Tommy, you did a lot good for beginners.

As for me, am Medi....I started hiking since late 1970's.....I remember while hiking for awhile with some other backpackers in the early 1970's the subject of how to lighten up our loads came up several times, and I know I was giving it some thought while I hiked each day.

These are my views....

Lightweight backpacking can increase you hiking pleasure, but it isn't for everybody. Backpacking style is a very individual matter. There are all kinds of backpackers, and I doubt if you will find exactly the same mix of gear in any two packs.

At one extreme you will find backpackers who struggle under an enormous 60 - 70 - 80 pound or even heavier load. Typically they do not travel very far and are more focused on comfort in camp than comfort while on the trail. Planning and preparing for this type of trip is fairly easy - if you think you might want or need something throw it in your pack. The only real limitations are is your pack big enough and can you pick your pack up and carry it. If your pack ends up being too heavy or your load too bulky, you simply eliminate some of the luxury items like your two volume set of birds of North America, or your cast iron frying pan, or the case of pop or beer, or your backup SLR camera, or take a smaller tent, and so forth.

There is a definite relationship between weight carried and the distance you can hike in a given day and how comfortable the miles you put in on the trail will be. So at the other extreme you will find backpackers with the absolute minimum of equipment. Their focus is on comfort and/or distance while on the trail not comfort in camp. Planning to go light is unfortunately more difficult than packing heavy. It takes very careful planning indeed to get your base pack weight into the ultra-light range.

Each backpacker must find the right balance for himself or herself. It has been my experience that more backpackers lament the weight of their pack while on the trail more than the lack of some luxury item while in camp, and I have found this to be true for myself as well. At the planning stage of a trip it is easy to load up, but once out on the trail a lighter pack is definitely more enjoyable, and a lot of the luxury items that seemed so worth while at the planning stage never even get used.

As you do more backpacking or begin going on longer trips there just seems to be a natural progression towards packing lighter. I don't know if anyone has actually checked this on not, but I believe out of the hundreds of people who start out to through hike a long distance trail each year more people with lighter packs complete their trip than those with heavy packs, and more people that start with heavy packs end up with much lighter packs, and hardly anyone ends their long distance hike with a heavier pack than when they started with unless they are forced to carry more to accommodate changes in seasonal weather.

[bangshift440rt]

would any of you recommend bringing a tent? if so, which ones would be small enough and light enough without sacrificing protection in a torrential rain?

[camperz]

I love backpacking tours.

I usually take about 20 lbs on my back and have a light gear.
Ya, bangshift440rt, Its good to take a tent.

[trek]

A big thanks to all the above guys/girls you have give write explanation and also some great tips thanks for your valuable tips.I have learned a lot by reading the above posts.Hope i can use some of it when i am packing my backpack some day.

[pavan]

The size of backpack you buy really depends on how much you are going to lug around with you, if you plan on taking only the bare essentials you could get away with a 35 litre backpack but on average a 50 litre one might be a better choice, especially as it will leave some room for any souvenirs collected on the way. Certainly unless you are camping then you will not need anything bigger than a 70 litre pack.

[sunny]

Bag packing, main thing is reduce the weight and carry only the necessary things for the travel. Few of the mail items are torch light, food, water.