Category Archives: Backpacking Gear

New & Improved Backpacking Gear!

Backpacking Gear, What's Up With That?

What’s Up With That?

It’s that time of year. Back in June the big European Outdoor Gear Retailer Show was held. At the end of July the big US show was in progress in Utah. I’ve never been to one of these events, but I’ve been to trade shows in other industries, which usually are not open to the public. So I have a very good and probably accurate perception about what goes on at the outdoor gear shows.

So what are these show? Manufacturers show off their “New” and often “Improved” gear in hopes retailers will place orders.

Out in the world of consumers, backpackers are waiting impatiently for newest and greatest offerings. On Internet forums the gear faithful are posting, “Anyone hear what is new at the show?” Folks with press credentials roam the floors of the shows taking pictures, grabbing brochures, and talking to sales reps, so they can run home and share all this wonderful information on their blogs for the panting public to lap up.

What’s not to be excited about? And of course everyone can’t wait until these products are released, usually in the fall or next spring, so their favorite blog or magazine can review all the new and improved stuff, and of course tell us what is best, what we must have, and where to buy it. It’s AWESOME!

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Set Up Your Compass Faster & More Accurately With A Map Protractor, Part 2

Backpacking Gear

In this post we will learn how to determine our location on the map using any compass and a map protractor. But first let’s review Part 1, with a little different spin so the concepts will start to become clearer.

Part 1 discussed the many steps needed to read a bearing on a map using a typical baseplate compass. It also discussed how many fewer steps were needed to read a bearing using a map protractor. In both cases, we are adjusting our compass by compensating for variance between Grid North and Magnetic North on the compass. The only difference being that using a map protractor requires the user to truly understand how magnetic north relates to the map so the bearing can be adjusted using 3rd grade math.

In Part 1, we described how to take a bearing from a map using a map protractor and transferring it to a compass utilizing the

EAST IS LEAST, WEST IS BEST method.

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PopUpBackpacker’s Headlamp Buyer’s Guide

Backpacking Gear,

Here we go again…

A frequent question I see on the Internet is, “What headlamp should I buy for backpacking?”

And of course, as the modern technology obsessed society that we are, it turns into a debate with a focus on such things a lumens, regulated output, reverse polarity, etc., etc. etc.

jesus h. christ. Its just a frickin’ light.

How to boggle your mind

I did an Amazon search for “flashlight” and got 134,831 results. “Headlamp” yielded only 89,472 results. How can something so simple be so difficult?

So, I am going to simplify things for you. However, I have no credentials that would make me some sort of subject matter expert. I do hike and camp a lot using headlamps and flashlights.

So, caveat emptor.

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Furoshiki Shoes

Backpacking Gear, Hiking

This isn’t a review…

My kids gave these to me as a gift. My son, Joe, is a runner so he picked them out knowing I have a preference for minimal shoes. I think they’ve been around for a couple of years, but I don’t spend my time reading about shoes.

Furoshiki is a type of wrapping cloth used in Japan for centuries to carry stuff, sort of like a poor man’s duffle bag.

 

But obviously more elegant

By katorisi – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3201706

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Set Up Your Compass Faster & More Accurately With A Map Protractor

Backpacking Gear

I am going to show you how to navigate quicker and more accurately with a map and any compass, by using a map protractor.

Few subjects elicit more debates among hikers and backpackers than the subject of map and compass. Nowadays the subject includes GPS units, smart phones, base plate compass vs. fixed compass vs. lensatic compass, what map to use, etc. Then there is the fact electronic solutions (GPS and smart phones) can fail or end up with a dead battery. Many of the electronic persuasion carry and map and compass as a backup, which means duplicate items to do the same task, meaning unnecessary weight. Some of the backup maps and compasses in use are less than optimal and in a no-shit-need-to-have situation might be poor options (think button sized compass and a large scale general map).

We need to keep in mind that the goal of using a map and compass is to always know where you are, not figure out your location because you are lost. Of course, with practice you can use a map and compass to figure out your location if you do get lost.

Most backpackers bring a map and compass whether or not they know how to really use it. One piece of navigation equipment I rarely see in use by backpackers is a map protractor. In this post the protractor will be presented as a serious tool that backpackers may want to consider, and for those who have used and then abandoned a map protractor, perhaps a re-visit might be worthwhile.

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How to Maintain Your Backpacking Gear

Backpacking Gear

With proper maintenance you can reduce the amount of gear you need to purchase.

In January of this year I did a couple of trips using mostly 30-40 year old gear that has lasted.

There was a time when the average American maintained things. People did the required maintenance on vehicles, and instead of replacing simple things like household appliances they fixed them, often doing the work themselves. Today we are a throw-away society. If something breaks we simply put it in the trash and buy a new one. Our society has become insane. Plus all this trash isn’t good for our environment.

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Long Term Review: Therm-a-Rest NeoAir Mattress

Backpacking Gear,

Normally this isn’t the place to search for gear reviews. Reviews are infrequent and I don’t claim to be an expert. There are blogs that do several reviews each week and generate a lot of traffic, but as I stated in The Business of Backpacking, buyer beware.

The best and brutally honest reviews are done by Dave Chenault at Bedrock and Paradox, but he doesn’t have hundreds of reviews in his archives. Another blogger you can trust is Paul Magnanti. Paul doesn’t get into the deep details as does Dave, and Paul is more interested in just hiking a lot and using the gear he already has, which means he isn’t doing many gear reviews because his kit is well established and doesn’t need constant upgrading.

There are two reasons why I am reviewing the NeoAir; first is I have been using it for 7 years, which to me seems like a reasonable amount of time of use to be objective and accurate, and secondly, I think the NeoAir is a game changer. But with anything in life, it is best to start at the beginning…

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How to Attach an Air Pillow to a Backpacking Air Mattress

Backpacking Gear,

Five years ago, at the age of 60 something and admitting I was getting older, I started using an air mattress on almost all of my backpacking trips. Prior to this I usually used a simple foam pad. I had, over the years, tried a few thin air mattresses but they were too bulky and heavy and always got relegated to the car camping gear inventory. With a foam pad or these older air mattresses a pillow wasn’t necessary. Spare clothing always sufficed. But in 2010, I purchased a Therm-A-Rest NeoAir mattress, which is 2.5” thick when inflated. Being a side sleeper this mattress, unlike the thin mats of the past, required a pillow placed on top of the air mat. So I bought an inexpensive inflatable pillow. Keeping it on the mat during the night wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t irritating enough to investigate a solution, until this trip…

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Book Review: The Ultimate Hiker’s Gear Guide, 2nd Edition

Backpacking, Backpacking Gear, Book Review

This is a review of The Ultimate Hiker’s Gear Guide: Tools and Techniques to Hit the Trail, by Andrew Skurka, published by National Geographic. I don’t do many book reviews. I have uploaded close to 700 posts and pages to this site and I think there are only 5 or 6 book reviews.

There was a time when book reviews were the domain of newspapers and magazines with full time writers who reviewed books for their readership. The purpose of the reviews was to recommend good books and to warn readers about the poor ones, while at the same time providing feedback to the author.

Today this has changed. Retail websites, especially Amazon, allow their customers to post reviews and then the website calculates an overall rating base on customer feedback (i.e. 4.2 out of 5). Unfortunately on these websites, it is the rare reviewer who has any stated qualifications to provide a book review of value or worthy of consideration.

The other thing that has changed is the blogs (like this one) that post book reviews. How this usually works, is the publisher or author offers a free book in exchange for a review.  There is no requirement for a positive review, but in my opinion a free item in exchange for a review makes an objective review very difficult for most people; although there are some folks who are completely truthful in their reviews.

Last month I received an email that National Geographic was looking to provide advance copies of The Ultimate Hiker’s Guide to some bloggers in exchange for a review and would I be interested. Well, I don’t do quid pro quo. So I wasn’t interested in a free advance copy. The book won’t be available until March 7th. However, I was planning on purchasing the book, having read the first edition several years ago. Based of this offer for a review, I was able to purchase a copy in advance, and I paid the full retail price.  So let’s get on with the review.

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