Backpacking Gear - An Introduction

Like all popular hobbies, backpacking has a whole industry grown up around it. Gone are the days of handmade wooden frame packs and old army surplus rucksacks (though the latter are seeing a revival). Today the avid backpacker has much more variety to choose from. Internal or external frame (if you can find one)? Boots or trail shoes? Trail sandals?!? Titanium or aluminum? Backpacking Espresso maker?!?!

There are so many options out there with respect to gear and so much marketing involved muddling the waters that it is near impossible, in my opinion, to find the "right" gear to have. I have read articles, endless forum threads, countless blogs and the one overriding conclusion that I have come to with regard to finding the "right" gear to have is: There is no "right" gear to have, there is only the "right" gear for you.



When shopping for gear the first thing that you need to do is sit down and look at what you want to accomplish. Are you going to do a couple weekend trips a year? Are you planning to do extended trips? Will you be hiking for a week or more? Answering these questions will go a long way toward narrowing your gear choice.

The next thing you need to do is look at what you are willing to sacrifice. Backpacking, ultimately, is an exercise in sacrifice. Generally the main sacrifice is weight for cost. The less something weighs, the more it will cost. Alternatively are you willing to put the effort into making some of your gear? The Internet is a great resource for the "Do-It-Yourself"-er. By putting in labor you can drive down costs.

If you are really interested in minimizing weight you can go ultra-light. Ultra-light backpacking is a form of minimalist backpacking where you carry just the bare essentials. No extra comfort here. The ultra-light backpacker generally has a combination of hand made and commercial products. Tarp-tents and even just silnylon tarps are very common. You need to be innovative when going ultra-light. Most of your gear needs to be dual purpose. Have light-weight hiking poles? You can use those as tent poles as well.

I personally am not an "ultra-light" kind of guy. I don't mean that weight minimization is not something I strive for, but there are some sacrifices that I don't want to make. Heck, I once saw an ultra-light guy that used those long skinny balloons for balloon animals as his air mattress. No thanks. I like my Thermarest just fine.

I plan on going through my gear list and breaking down what I carry and why. I will also try to gather some gear review links. One thing I am looking to purchase in the next year are new boots. I have a pair of Vasque that are about ten years old now and they are really starting to show their age. So, I'll drag you along on my adventure of buying a pair of new boots.

That's all for now. Look for more updates on gear in the near future.