For Beginners

Many people like to eat freeze-dried backpacking meals on overnight trips or dehydrate their own food and make freezer-bag dinners because you just add hot water to them and they don’t require any cleanup. But I don’t mind cooking a hot dinner …

Shakedown hikes and backpacking trips are the best way you can train yourself to become a confident backpacker or day hiker. They provide a low pressure setting for you to practice new skills, learn how to use your gear, plan a hike, and …

“Oh crap. I forgot to bring my spoon,” said a backpacker I’d just met at the campsite. I know that exact feeling. I’ve left my big plastic backpacking spoon at home on the drying rack next to the kitchen sink too many …

Simple one pot backpacking meals are a great option if you want more variety in your backpacking diet, you want to eat real food with less preservatives, or you want to adapt your meals to seasonal or locally available ingredients that you encounter …

If you want to save money on backpacking gear, there are a lot of everyday items lying around your house that you can use. The only limit is your imagination! For example:   Trash Compactor Bags – Line the inside of your …

I’m a big fan of trekking poles for hiking because they help reduce the strain on my knees when I walk downhill, they improve my balance when I’m hiking over rough ground or crossing streams, and they are useful for establishing a …

Fleece is a synthetic fabric that’s proven ideal for outdoor recreational use because it’s warm, fast-drying, and extremely durable. Fleece clothing requires no special care and can be machine washed and dried for years without shrinkage. Stylish and available in many different …

We’ve all brought dumb things on backpacking trips. Oh yeah. I’ve certainly had my share. But it’s still fun to laugh about them. Here are 10 epic examples that I collected from SectionHiker readers, that I think you’ll find humorous along with some valuable …

Knee Pain is a common symptom in hikers, runners, skiers, and cyclists. One of the most common types is pain around or behind the kneecaps, which is often diagnosed as Chondromalacia, Patellofemoral Stress Syndrome, or more commonly “runner’s knee.” The symptoms of …

When purchasing an insulated jacket for backpacking, should you buy one with a hood or without? I think it really depends on how you plan to use it with the other clothing you carry. In three-season weather, I bring a hoodless insulated …

Thru-hiking is a very specialized form of backpacking that’s more focused on long distances and high daily mileage to complete a trail within a given time frame than most backpackers who take weekend or weeklong trips. It’s kind of like the difference …

Winter day hiking and snowshoeing require a higher degree of physical fitness than hiking during the rest of the year because you need to carry more clothes, gear, emergency supplies, food and all of the water you need in sub-freezing weather. How …

I became a peakbagger sort of by accident, but I am a full fledged convert and climb a lot of mountains year-round on day hikes and backpacking trips. It all started when I hiked the New Hampshire section of the Appalachian Trail. That …

If you’re renting mountaineering boots for the first time or you’ve just bought a pair, here are a few tips for avoiding blisters at the back of your foot on top of your Achilles tendon. These blisters are incredibly painful and will …