Old issues of Backpacker are online.

bump! This is actually really, really cool people.

whoa !!!

This is really cool !

What is really interesting is looking at the old advertisements, do you have or have used what was advertised in backpacker 10, 20, 30 years ago?

My answer is to somethings yes but mostly no.

Thanks for the link, plenty of winter reading here.

I browsed through these old issues on Google Books several months ago (I also remember reading the originals when I was in high school). Somehow Backpacker's latest incarnation just doesn't compare to the old issues from the 70's. Thanks for the reminder about them.

It's also interesting to see the companies that are no longer around. I owned equipment from Trailwise, Snow Lion, and Fabiano — all 3 are gone…

The ads are more 'interesting' than the articles (in a way). And there are PLENTY of full pages ads there! In fact, with that much advertising in each issue, I reckon they should have been able to give the mag away.

Cheers

Thanks for this!

Fun too look back at the year I was born (Sorry Roger).

Amazing how, for the most part, gear design seams to be recycled over time – especially shelters.

It IS really cool! Starting "winter 1973;" neat vintage, historical reference. I started poking around one issue and found an old Leica add–espousing, among other things, its light weight–and a review of 50 down/50 feather sleeping bags. For those hesitant, there is no charge for looking at the stuff, either…

You are right. This is really, really, cool. Prior to this, I had two choices for online Backpacker Magazine content: One, rely on the Backpacker site, or two, my local library. The Backpacker site was notoriously poor. It didn't list all of the material that was in the magazine (or it left out charts, etc.). The search functionality through my local library was good, but I had to sign into my account and do a bunch more navigating. This is much better on all counts. Thanks for the tip!