Have I been conned?

Depends on what you are looking for…

For me, I like BPL’s combination of up-to-date “spotlight” reviews and “time-delayed” but more extensive user experience reviews!

Most other publications are in such a hurry to rush out the latest and greatest that almost all their reviews are “spotlight” in nature — meaning mostly a rehash of manufacturer specs, plus a small sprinkling of initial impressions. These kinds of “reviews” can be fun and exciting to read, but not really helpful when it comes to making buying decisions.

I think a subscription here buys a tremendous amount of experience along with fair level of exposure to new products.
An example might be patagonias new wool line, out just briefly but already in use by members.
The “problem” is the information is scattered throughout the forums and in the reviews.
Unfortunately we’ve become accustomed to instant information from magazines and websites that really are just a rehash of a manufacturers press release.
If you want some information try posting it in the forums and see what happens.
I would rather spend $25.00 on this end and get things that work [I’ve easily saved three times that with one shoe purchase I was steered away from} versus
the other method which requires a big closet and patient spouse, come on over and I’ll show you how nifty that worked out.

Hi Nigel,

I’m an editor for the site and I be able to offer some perspective:

If you subscribe to a magazine, you get a new issue every month. Over time, you have a collection of past magazines but what you get monthly is the latest info.

At BackpackingLight, you get access to all of the “back issues” as well as weekly updates, reviews and articles. You also get Gear Guides and Review Summaries that pull together the latest information at that moment and are updated on cycles. It’s all here.

I’d invite you to explore more deeply. I was a fan before I got involved and it’s only better today. For instance, check out the SUL pack reviews that came out recently or my Carbon Fiber Trekking Pole Review Summary. That is just the tip of the iceburg. Once you look deeply, I think you’ll be impressed by what you find.

I’d go to the REVIEWS section and start there.

Best wishes,
Doug Johnson
Trekking Pole Editor

Doug, sorry if I was a bit harsh. Some of the stuff on here is excellent and like you say its great having it all at the touch of a button. I subscribe to Trail Magazine in the UK and have a huge pile of them in a corner that take ages to search through for various reviews. I realise you may not have the manpower but what I’d like to see is an annual review (along the lines of the rainwear one for this year which is very good) in all the main categories eg rainwear, softshells/windshirts, baselayers, boots, trail shoes, tents, headtorches etc. If you are thinking of buying anything in these areas you then have a comprehensive review to look at along with the spotlight updates and reader comment. Cheers

Nigel, there is nothing wrong with being annoyed that you payed up your $25 only to find out that the “cutting edge” information you came looking for in the paying members only section is outdated by several laps around the sun… and the actual cutting edge info is coming out of the free message board. Why appologize?

Of course, most of the readership complaints are that the BPL staff has produced a preponderance of reviews (667 at last count, not including the gear guide, which is not much more than spotlight articles sans personality) over actual articles of substance (a mere 137 – 148 including the packing lists)… so maybe its best not to encourage them?

Well… let’s be honest here… the info is plentiful… but the site really is a mess and is in deperate need of a complete overhaul.

Regardless… personally… I think it’s WELL worth the $25/year. I learned almost everything I know about ridiculously lightweight backpacking from this site. When I go backpacking… everyone I go with has traditional gear that was all bought at local stores (seems logical enough) and weighs a freekin’ ton. They all ask about my gear and this and that and I tell them that I buy and learn everything online… and the only thing I own from the local MEC or other stores are my socks and my Aqua Mira. I don’t think I could have done that without my BPL subscription.

Hey Nigel,
You may think the price paid for the subscription is more for the cost savings of gear than anything, but there is more to this site.

As far as the lay-out goes, most of them are in categories.

This site is also a little more unique than others in a way that they put a lot of emphasis on U/L gear. This is why you will find more articles and spotlights on tarps than tents.

I mean who really wants to read about the newest sub-4lb tent that’s out?

The other problem you will find is that U/L gear just doesn’t have the vast amount of changes as the rest of the gear that we are trying to get away from by going U/L.

Then again, if there are updates or break through on any piece of U/L gear out there, this site is all over it. They really do stay on top of things here that are important to the U/L community.

Well worth the $$ in my opinion.

Nigel,

I agree that at times the idea of a yearly metareview seems attractive. Truth is, such yearly summaries are driven more by company marketing than actual need. While I agree with you that the site needs some new reviews of windshirts, and a few other gear areas, I think that the editors do a great job of waiting for a) technical advancements to accumulate, b) design trends to emerge, and c) real-live tester feedback to be presented before attempting a review summary. Unfortunately for the web-bound gearheads among us, this doesn’t happen on a tidy timetable.

I think that the reader reviews could be more powerful than they are. But I bet a lot of readers are like me – they have gear that they like, but don’t have wide experience with the alternatives. All reviews are relative, so while I’m eager to post a review of my new Mountain Hardware Phantom windshirt, I don’t have much to compare it to in the realm of sub-4 oz garments.

Oh well!

Ben