Hiking shoulder strap pouches online store and hiking guides. Set yourself up for success by taking steps to be sure you’re physically, mentally and logistically prepared for your trip. To get ready for backpacking, follow these tips: Get physically ready: You’re not training for a marathon, but even a short trip can be physically demanding. At a minimum do plenty of day hikes and be able to comfortably handle trails with a similar distance and elevation gain as your planned trip. Do at least a few pre-trip hikes of similar difficulty wearing a backpack loaded with 30-plus pounds. You can also read our article on Backpacking Training Tips and Exercises for workout ideas, though you don’t need anything this comprehensive for your first trip.
Reducing backpack weight advice : Use Lithium batteries. They are more expensive, but last longer and weigh less. Go stoveless. There are plenty of non-cook, nutritious and tasty meal plans out there. Leaving the stove, cup, fuel and spork at home can save pounds. Tooth powder vs toothpaste. Yep, there is a “dehydrated toothpaste” and it makes a good substitute for the real thing on trail. See tooth powder recipes. Stuff the fluff manually. Leave extra sleeping bag compression sacks and tent bags at home. Instead, mash your sleeping bag and tent down by hand inside your bag. They will be more ‘flexible’ like this as well… not like an overly compressed ball. Find extra info at Ultralight Hiking Stuff Sacks Online Shopping.
You can also learn the primitive skill of creating a fire with a bow-drill. It’s empowering to know that you can start a fire with some raw materials. Just make sure you keep the fire under control. People trying to signal a rescue with fire have started forest fires that burned thousands of acres. Repair Kit and Tools: If you need to build a shelter, find food, etc., you’ll need some tools. I look at this hiking essential as a general pool of things that I might need to solve a variety of problems, not just repair something. Duct tape or Tenacious Tape to repair gear, Knife and multi-tool, Utility cord to rig up a shelter or trap, tent footprint which you can use to haul wood and other materials.
I (Ben) have been a professional full-time photographer for almost 16 years. In that time I developed a strong passion for hiking and backpacking. Like most landscape photographers carrying camera gear efficiently has always been a struggle and solving that problem involved dragging out my old sewing machine. Once I made a few camera bags I moved on to stuff sacks, dry bags and of course Backpacks. Boom! Hilltop Packs was born. See extra details on hilltoppacks.com.