For Beginners

When winter arrives and we start to get snow, I like to get outdoors and go snowshoeing on the local trails near my house. In just a few hours, I can get a great workout and enjoy the solitude of the winter woods. If you’ve never been snowshoeing, I suggest …

If you want to go winter camping or backpacking but want to save some money, there’s no reason you can’t use a winter sleeping pad with a higher R-value all year round instead of buying separate three-season and winter sleeping pads. A sleeping pad like the Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XTherm is a …

Do you have a lot of hiking, climbing, or backpacking gear that looks identical to your friends’ gear? Does it get all mixed up in the car or in camp so you can’t tell what gear is yours? Here’s an easy way to color code your gear with colored duct …

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 develop the physical fitness required to hike all …

“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 times to count. After a long day of …

Hiking rain jackets don’t keep you dry in the rain; they keep you warm. If you don’t believe me, go hiking in the rain for 4+ hours and see if the clothing inside your jacket stays dry. Unless you’re hiking someplace with extremely low humidity, I bet the clothing under …

How would you like to eliminate the weight of your backpacking stove and the fuel container (canister, liquid fuel bottle, or alcohol bottle) that you use to carry your cooking fuel on backpacking trips while still being able to boil water and cook meals? What would that save you? Anywhere …

Do you find the jargon and terminology around camping and backpacking tents confusing? This handy illustrated guide helps demystify tent terms and technology, so you can find the tent that best suits your needs. A-Frame Tent Classic pup-style tent patterned after old army tents where the walls form an ‘A’ …

Above Treeline. If those words don’t scare you or at least raise your guard, then you should read this post carefully. Above Treeline occurs at about 4,500 feet of elevation in my neck of the woods, in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  When you get up to this elevation, …

Had a reader contact me recently asking me how I managed to get any sleep when backpacking solo. He’d gone on their first overnight trip in Dolly Sods (WV) and been freaked out worrying about eastern bears at night and being attacked while he lay in his hammock. My response: “I am …

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 …

A lot of SectionHiker readers contact me asking for advice about which ultralight shelter they should buy. These purchases are almost always driven by weight reduction desires, but often in the absence of any considerations about the environmental conditions they need the tents or shelters to perform in, interior size, …

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 …

Stuff sacks are an important part of any hiker’s or backpacker’s packing system. Unfortunately, most of the stuff sacks that manufacturers include with their sleeping bags are just awful in terms reducing volume or quality and you’re better off buying a better one.  The purpose of this article is to review …