Backpacking Tips and Tricks

Following are a few things that we have found helpful in our backpacking adventures.

I  give credit to the many hikers and resources we consulted in learning what we know now.

For futher tips or information on specific trails, visit the Travelogues, or check out additional reading materials.

• 1. When packing your food, divide each day's food into separate Zip Lock bags.  This will ration your food for you ensuring your don't run out, and makes sure you are eating enough as well.  You will not have all of your food strewn out over the ground looking for that package of trailmix you so desperately want from the bottom of your pack. If you're wondering what food to pack, reference our gear and food lists to see what we've packed along.

  2. Hikers are one of the demographics that keep Zip Lock in business.  Take extras.  Double bag your food (who likes eating soggy bagels?).  Double bag your garbage.  Put your camp socks in a bag.  Keep your fire-starting material in a zip lock.  etc etc etc  After a long day, dryness is synonymous with happiness.

  3. Take two changes of clothes.  One for hiking one for camp.  You don't get all that dirty at the campsite, and you don't sweat all that much.  One pair of camp clothing is fine even for eight-nine days.  One pair of hiking clothes is fine as well.  Everyone stinks and sweats when they hike.  If you have a really bright, dry, windy day, you may be able to quit early, and wash your hiking clothes for the next day.  Don't do this unless you know for sure they will be dry for the next day, though...

  4. Leave your cotton at home.  Cotton has been dubbed as 'killer cotton' on hiking trails.  That means no cotton shirts, sweatshirts, pants, socks, or even underwear.  Cotton is fine to keep  you cool around home on a hot day, but there you have dry things to change into.  On a hike, you can start to shiver even if the temperature is 20 degrees Celsius.  Cotton will not keep you warm if it is wet.  Stick to other fabrics like polyester (it's no longer as scratchy as your dad's suit used to be), wool, fleece, and quick dry materials.  The number one killer in the wilderness is not starvation.  It's hypothermia.  People have died in the middle of summer because they couldn't warm up.

  5. Take a toque (knit hat), and gloves.  We take these even in July and August.  You won't regret you did.  Nights have a funny way of getting cold.

  6. If you are going to be hiking along a section of beach, sand, or gravel, take a pair of old work socks, and cut the foot off.  Wrap the remaining tube around the top of your hiking boots and up your leg as a makeshift gaiter.  This will prevent any stones or sand from entering your boot, saving your feet from blister agony, and your sanity from having to stop and get that annoying pebble out of your boot again.

  7. Put an old paint cap in the top and bottom of your tent pole bag.  They will pack much nicer, and won't puncture anything.

  8. Purchase a couple of dry bags for your food and pack all 'bear attracting' items in these bags.  You can hoist the whole mess up a bear pole or up a tree, or stash it in a bear cache and sleep easy even through a rainy night knowing that you have nothing in your tent that would attract a bear, and that your food is staying dry and cozy.

  9. Take gatorade crystals along with a few smaller water bottles.  Plain water is good, but the extra boost from the sugar and a new taste is a welcome treat along the way.

  10. Stop in the middle of the day for a cup of soup.  The salt will replace the mounds that you have been sweating out in the heat of the afternoon.

  11. Put M&M's in your trailmix.  Chocolate may or may not sound appetizing when you are packing, but they become an amazing treat on the trail.

  12. Separate your tent and your poles and divvy up the load.  Just because the tent came all in one bag doesn't mean you have to carry it that way.

  13. Don't skimp on boots.  Don't skimp on packs.  If your feet and back ain't happy.. ain't nobody happy.

  14. Keep an eye out for Outdoor shows in your area.  There are often a few vendors there that are clearing out last year's stock for the coming season, or try to sell clothing and supplies on volume.  Some vendors are purposely keeping some of their inventory back in their stores because they can't compete with these 'sell-off'ers'.  We've picked up on some great deals over the years.

  15. Bring an old shower curtain.  They weigh only ounces, but are a handy tarp or footprint or anything else you could imagine.  And they don't cost $40.

  16. Leave your plates and bowls at home.  Eat right out of the pan, and use a thermal mug as a bowl and a cup.  The mug is durable, can hang on the outside of your pack, is great for soup, for oatmeal, for coffee/tea/hot chocolate.

  17. A candle lantern is handy for extra heat in your tent if you need it.  Just make sure you hang it out of the way of flammables.

  18. Bring firestarter sticks.  They are light, and on the one day where you really need a fire to keep warm, you will need an extra boost to get the wet wood to catch.

  19. Bandana.  A hat, a dishcloth, a washcloth all in one.

  20. Tuck your t-shirt into your underwear. It looks funny, but will protect your waist and hips from chafe and burns from the elastic waist band. After a while it even looks hip!