Backpacking

[James.]

Re: Backpacking

for water filter lots of options today from slow drip to faster pump
I use a katadyn hiker pro pump filter, its about the size/weight of a soda can, taste never bothered me,
instead of crystal lite type of additive would consider electrolyte additive like a Gatorade powder,
whether to carry or not, personal choice, check laws/regs,
my opinion on the matter is if your already a ccw gun owner go for it,
if not consider it carefully, to me a lot of responsibility comes with gun ownership, don't believe its something that should be obtained/carried just for hiking,
if your a gun owner its more of a lifestyle,
clothing again personal, and my choice in northeast would be different than your AZ choice,
I like synthetics, such as synthetic fishing shirts and synthetic Tshirts
shorts/long pants, AZ whether probably better off with shorts, would go with something more durable than basketball shorts though, depending on trail can be some rough going whether sitting, bushwacking off trail, just see BB shorts getting snagged and tearing easily
past year or so I've been really liking wrangler brand outdoor series pants, $20 in most stores like target,
after trying 1 pair I went back and bought every color/style they had, great pants
for distance, hiking with a pack is different than everyday hike, depending on trail and weight it can dramatically slash miles you can cover
before your trip I would start carrying a heavier daypack even on short day trips
when hiking with my son on 5 mile day trips I load up my day pack with more than I need just to get accustomed to the extra weight
day trip where I would normally carry 5-10 lbs, I will carry 10-20 lbs instead, can even load it with rocks, if you find pack too heavy for comfort after 1-2 miles can dump some rocks
for the backpack, its doable, takes most people a bit of tweaking of gear to get comfortable overnight kit into 24l pack,
I see the pack has bottom straps, if you cant force your sleeping bag into bottom straps consider tying up the bag with cordage and securing it to the bottom strap, I did that to a friends jansport years ago when he was hand carrying his sleeping bag, worked just fine

Thanks. I looked up the Katadyn and some video reviews and it looks so amazing that I don't think I will even need the flavor packets. I also looked at the Wrangler pants and might have to check them out in the store.

thanks again for all the info.

[James.]

Re: Backpacking

my advise is get out there and enjoy,
safety first, good shoes/socks, take care of foot issues before they become a problem
think more people cut their trips short due to foot problems more so than anything else, take care of hotspots on the foot before it blisters, learn how to properly bandage a blister
I just about gave up on hiking boots and now mostly use hiking shoes and sneakers,
people spend there whole lives tweaking their gear,
I started out a s teen, lived in NYC, but had an itch to get out and explore, used to go to port authority bus terminal and take any bus that passed by a patch a green and would ask the driver if he knew any places to let me off near trails,
didn't have any store bought gear, my school bag, blanket from home, snacks for food, a bottle of soda(whatever parents had in the kitchen) jeans sneakers, and that was it,
later on starting accumulating more and more gear, then about 15 yrs ago had all my gear stolen from storage, past 15 years or so didn't want to be tied to my gear anymore so went back to minimal camping, cheap stuff from Walmart/thrift stores, etc, just the basics nothing specialized, now with son in scouts and doing more camping with my son am becoming a gear hog again, 5 sleeping bags 5 tents, knives out the wazoo, etc...
I am still struggling with myself over how to camp, sometimes its minimal sometimes car is loaded to the max and will decide at the trailhead what I am carrying
there is no right or wrong way, just get out and enjoy

I agree with getting out there. It was the reason I went with my brother on the bikepacking trip. I also agree with taking care of your feet. I work construction and know the value of good footware. Redwing boots for me.

[James.]

Re: Backpacking

Re: guns, IMO the weight and hassle limits their inclusion to the more "civilized" areas; I started carrying while camping when a crack/crank head walked into camp from a totally unexpected direction. When camping in areas where there are no homeless or druggies, I normally do not feel the need to carry. (Be aware that national parks and forests seem to be more and more crowded with undesirables . I keep a can of bear spray for this sort of situation.
https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/manag...arks2-2010.pdf

For clothing I prefer soft cotton; for some years there were a lot of cotton haters around , spewing disinformation like "cotton Kills",, its mostly B.S. wear airy comfortable clothing. and well broken in boots or shoes... you will normally see me in a cotton short sleeved shirt or long sleeved flannel and bluejeans. (along with a wide brimmed hat for portable shade).... basically work clothes.
Check out the weather forecast for the area at least the night before.
Bring a, water proof, poncho or rain jacket; some are not (its a personal preference thing).
Layer your clothing for more options.
Be aware that, especially in the mountains, the weather can change seasons in a few minutes (be prepared for it)... some years ago several acquaintances died in the snow during an April/May storm.

Learn to treat blisters while they are still hot spots and carry a small re-rolled roll of duct tape.

IMO: don't set a must achieve agenda or number of miles; stay flexible and enjoy the world, scenery and wild life....

Google the area that you intend to hike and check it out in satellite view... realize that google and gps info can be wrong...

Enjoy!

I think the problem with cotton is that it takes too long to dry and if you are sweating somewhere where it gets cold you are going to be cold and wet. Not such a big problem in Arizona during the summer.

[toedtoes]

Re: Backpacking

I'm reading a book of laws and thought these should be shared here:

Barber's Laws of Backpacking

1. The integral of the gravitational potential taken around any loop trail you choose to hike always comes out positive.

2. Any stone in your boot always migrates against the pressure gradient to exactly the point of most pressure.

3. The weight of your pack increases in direct proportion to the amount of food you consume from it. If you run out of foof, the pack weight goes on increasing anyway.

4. The number of ztones in your boot is directly proportional to the number of hours you have been on the trail.

5. The difficulty of finding any given trail marker is directly proportional to the importance of the consequences of failing to find it.

6. The size of each of the stones in your boot is directly proportional to the number of hours you have been on the trail.

7. The remaining distance to your chosen campsite remains constant as twilight approaches.

8. The net weight of your boots is proportional to the cube of the number of hours you have been on the trail.

9. When you arrive at your campsite, it is full.

10. If you take your boots off, you'll never get them back on again.

11. The local density of mosquitos is inversely proportional to your remaining repellent.

[Malamute]

Re: Backpacking

Ive always worn wool athletic socks in my boots when on my feet all day working or hiking. I also use the Spenco insoles with the gel pockets. Both make it possible to work on my feet all day or hike all day, Id be tired, but my feet werent a problem. For boots I went to Hathorn Smoke Jumpers after Red Wing loggers started giving out much faster than they had previously. My dealer gave me credit for the last pair towards the Hathorns, they are a definite step up. They are rebuildable also, they use the old uppers and new lowers from the laces down. They are heavy, but super tough and make my feet happy wearing them all day. Rough rocky uneven terrain and loose rocks that wants to twist your ankle arent a problem. Having broken my foot twice, Ive recognised that exact same situations that caused the breaks that were a total non-issue with the loggers or smoke jumpers.

Guns are a personal thing. The modern plastic framed autos or lightweight revolvers can be fairly unobtrusive weight wise. Besides weird people, theres the occasional animal with rabies or just gone off the deep end that Id desire to be prepared for, but thats something everyone has to decide for themselves.

Some powdered gatorade is nice to help rejuvenate you after sweating a lot. I use old gatorade quart bottles for water bottles a lot, it makes it so you can bag up the powder in qt amounts easily.

[Malamute]

Re: Backpacking

Ive always worn wool athletic socks in my boots when on my feet all day working or hiking. I also use the Spenco insoles with the gel pockets. Both make it possible to work on my feet all day or hike all day, Id be tired, but my feet werent a problem. For boots I went to Hathorn Smoke Jumpers after Red Wing loggers started giving out much faster than they had previously. My dealer gave me credit for the last pair towards the Hathorns, they are a definite step up. They are rebuildable also, they use the old uppers and new lowers from the laces down. They are heavy, but super tough and make my feet happy wearing them all day. Rough rocky uneven terrain and loose rocks that wants to twist your ankle arent a problem. Having broken my foot twice, Ive recognised that exact same situations that caused the breaks that were a total non-issue with the loggers or smoke jumpers.

Guns are a personal thing. The modern plastic framed autos or lightweight revolvers can be fairly unobtrusive weight wise. Besides weird people, theres the occasional animal with rabies or just gone off the deep end that Id desire to be prepared for, but thats something everyone has to decide for themselves.

Some powdered gatorade is nice to help rejuvenate you after sweating a lot. I use old gatorade quart bottles for water bottles a lot, it makes it so you can bag up the powder in qt amounts easily.

I backpacked some when i lived in Flag. The area I liked was in a canyon, hiking in was easy, hiking out to the rim at around 7000 ft was a bugger. The first time i forced myself to go 100 steps before collapsing to rest, the next time I could go farther. after a few trips i could go a couple miles without stopping. I had about a 75 lb pack. Definitely old school gear. I weighed about 145 at the time. I loved it, I rarely ever saw anyone out there. There was a spring so i didnt have to carry a lot of water.

[James.]

Re: Backpacking

Thanks for the input everyone. I am feeling more educated with all the advice. So far I think I am going to go with my trail running shoes. They are great on my feet and relatively light. The gun, at least for the first trip, is going to stay home. I don't want the extra weight until I better know what my limits are. I have added the Katadyn water filter to my wish list on Amazon. I might still do some powdered Gatorade because "its got lectrolites!"

Malamute, any chance you remember the names of the canyon or spring you mentioned?

I would also like to know what people do for food. I know there are the freeze dried meals where you just add water but is there a cheaper alternative? Or is it actually worth the cost? My brother likes to take Ramen noodles and add chunks of chicken. It was delicious but I am thinking that it doesn't have enough calories. Plus the chicken is packed in water and that seems like dead weight.

thanks again everyone.

[Malamute]

Re: Backpacking

Yes, i recall. Ill send a PM. It seems that so many post location info about great places online, then they become overun with people and loved to death. One guy that posts ride reports in the desert in utah never says the specific route (he doesnt have a GPS in any event), just encourages people to seek their own instead of copying someone elses route.

[Denni2]

Re: Backpacking

Thanks for the input everyone. I am feeling more educated with all the advice. So far I think I am going to go with my trail running shoes. They are great on my feet and relatively light. The gun, at least for the first trip, is going to stay home. I don't want the extra weight until I better know what my limits are. I have added the Katadyn water filter to my wish list on Amazon. I might still do some powdered Gatorade because "its got lectrolites!"

Malamute, any chance you remember the names of the canyon or spring you mentioned?

I would also like to know what people do for food. I know there are the freeze dried meals where you just add water but is there a cheaper alternative? Or is it actually worth the cost? My brother likes to take Ramen noodles and add chunks of chicken. It was delicious but I am thinking that it doesn't have enough calories. Plus the chicken is packed in water and that seems like dead weight.

thanks again everyone.

Check out Sarah’s Trail cooking website lots of ideas.
https://trailcooking.com/fbc/

Here is another link for recipes:

http://www.wildbackpacker.com/backpa...inner-recipes/

Heres one more:
https://hubpages.com/sports/the-best...ountry-recipes

[James.]

Re: Backpacking

Check out Sarah’s Trail cooking website lots of ideas.
https://trailcooking.com/fbc/

Here is another link for recipes:

http://www.wildbackpacker.com/backpa...inner-recipes/

Heres one more:
https://hubpages.com/sports/the-best...ountry-recipes

Gold! Bookmarked all 3. thanks.

[terasec]

Re: Backpacking

I would also like to know what people do for food. I know there are the freeze dried meals where you just add water but is there a cheaper alternative? Or is it actually worth the cost? My brother likes to take Ramen noodles and add chunks of chicken. It was delicious but I am thinking that it doesn't have enough calories. Plus the chicken is packed in water and that seems like dead weight.

thanks again everyone.

for food,
without getting into dehydrating your own(which can be done in an oven)
dried meals are probably best meals like mountainhouse are expensive($4-$6 per meal)
i use knorrs dry meals which costs $1 at most dollar stores
You could use ramen or even bouillion cubes as a base and add any ingredients you wish, rice, pasta, veggies, mushrooms, potatos, etc
can even learn to make flat bread, where you carry premixed flour, baking powder, salt, and just add water and cook at camp
in northeast i sometimes carry hard cheese which carries well in cooler northeast temps
i also sometimes have a hunk of cured meat

[MacGyver]

Re: Backpacking

Ignore this space.

[toedtoes]

Re: Backpacking

for food,
can even learn to make flat bread, where you carry premixed flour, baking powder, salt, and just add water and cook at camp

You can get krusteaz pancake mix and just add water.

And Bear Creek potato soup - it's more filling than other dehydrated soups and you could add various meat. You could cube cooked chicken or ham and vaccuum seal them.

[James.]

Re: Backpacking

for food,
without getting into dehydrating your own(which can be done in an oven)
dried meals are probably best meals like mountainhouse are expensive($4-$6 per meal)
i use knorrs dry meals which costs $1 at most dollar stores
You could use ramen or even bouillion cubes as a base and add any ingredients you wish, rice, pasta, veggies, mushrooms, potatos, etc
can even learn to make flat bread, where you carry premixed flour, baking powder, salt, and just add water and cook at camp
in northeast i sometimes carry hard cheese which carries well in cooler northeast temps
i also sometimes have a hunk of cured meat
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How are the Knorr meals on taste?

[James.]

Re: Backpacking

You can get krusteaz pancake mix and just add water.

And Bear Creek potato soup - it's more filling than other dehydrated soups and you could add various meat. You could cube cooked chicken or ham and vaccuum seal them.

Bear Creek changed their potato soup a while back and I have never forgiven them for it. :D

The vacuum sealing is a good idea.