Having accessible “pockets” on your pack is useful for keeping little bits of gear handy without taking off your pack. But consider a multi-use pouch that can also be worn as a standalone fanny-style pack.
About Ryan Jordan
2019 REI Sale (11/15 – 11/25) – Recommendations, anti-recommendations, and other ideas
The biggest REI sale of the year is going on right now – November 15 through 25, 2019. It’s called the GUGO sale – “Gear Up, Get Out”. Here are some resources to help you save money on decent gear.
Publisher’s Blog: Unlimited Members No Longer See Banner Ads
This post is available for Unlimited Members only. As of today (October 30, 2019), we’ve turned off all network banner advertising for Unlimited Members, providing a faster, less cluttered, and less intrusive browsing experience – this post provides the details.
2019 Highlights + What’s Coming (Video Podcast for Unlimited Members)
This blog post is available only to Unlimited Members.
How Much Food Should I Pack? (How to save weight on backpacking food based on the energy-mile theory)
A mathematical model to calculate how much food to pack for your trip based on terrain and mileage with minimum weight carried in the pack.
Maceration, Immersion Foot and Backpacking
A short, detailed discussion on immersion foot and maceration, how to deal with it in the backcountry and when not to.
Lightweight Backpacking Gear for Mountain Travel (Case Study)
In this video, I walk through my gear during a 9-day summer trek in the high mountains of the western US. This was a trip with friends and family – 3 other adults and four children ages 7-11. We moved camps every day but one, and spent 70% of our miles off-trail, with camps up to about 11,600 feet. Scroll down for gear notes and trip photos!
Lighten your pack, and your body
I’d like to address what I do in each of these areas at some point in the future, but for now, I want to expand on why I believe a lean body weight – in addition to carrying less weight in your pack – is really important for a backpacking lifestyle.
Crossing Rivers and Water Shoes
Crossing rivers “ultralight style” – that’s when you simply walk through the water wearing your hiking shoes and keep walking on the trail once you get to the other side.
What is ultralight backpacking? (how we talk about ultralight)
To me, ultralight backpacking is the idea that one should solve a problem using as little as possible, but that which is used to solve the problem should be as effective as possible. Defined as such, the actual weight of individual pieces of gear, or one’s pack, matters less, and takes a back seat to the performance-to-weight ratio of a piece of gear.