For Beginners

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 on your hike. But if your existing stove …

Tenacious Tape is the bees knees for patching rips and burns in hard shells and insulated jackets, inflatable sleeping pads, tents, sleeping bags, and backpacks. I’ve used it many times since to repair the gear and clothing I like and want to keep using. Tenacious Tape comes in two forms: as …

A few  years ago, I wrote a series of posts on how to lighten your backpack, that outlined the basic principles of lightweight backpacking: weighing your gear, cutting the weight of your big three, selecting gear that can serve multiple functions, and eliminating everything you really don’t need. Lighten Up your …

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 backpack with a trash compactor bag instead of using …

Have you even spent a cold night in your sleeping bag because the temperature dropped lower than you expected? Here are a few tips and tricks you can use to increase your comfort level on those cold nights without buying any additional backpacking gear. Cover your collar bones with an …

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 good walking rhythm when synchronized with your arms. But …

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 colors, fleece pullovers and jackets, hats, gloves, mittens, …

I get a lot of questions from SectionHiker readers asking whether their sleeping bags will be warm enough for their backpacking and camping trips. For example: “I’m starting an Appalachian Trail thru-hike in February at Springer Mountain. Will a 20 degree bag be warm enough?” “My son has to go …

What backpacking gear do you need? Which features are the most important? Which manufacturers make the best backpacking gear? Who can you turn to for advice? Where can you get the best deals? The amount of information new backpackers need to digest can be overwhelming at first. Here are 12 of the …

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 insights for the beginner backpackers in our midst. …

Had a good question from a reader about camp security and keeping your gear safe during backpacking trips. For example: Do you hang your backpack up with others in the shelter? Do you leave your stove or your sleeping bag out when you go to get water? I think a …

The size of snowshoe you need depends on your body weight, the weight of your gear, snow type, and whether you snowshoe on broken-out trails or travel cross-country, on fresh powder. But if you are about to buy a new pair of snowshoes, don’t take manufacturer’s size recommendations as gospel. …

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 this type of knee pain worsen when walking up …

Plantar Fasciitis is a very common and painful foot condition experienced by many hikers. I know, I’ve had it. It is a repetition injury often caused by hiking or running and presents itself as chronic heel pain. This pain is caused by the inflammation of the ligament that connects your …