Any women members left?

Let’s not forget the posts about how quickly one can pitch a tent … or boil water.

“I’m a member of a few groups on Reddit (including the UL group) but I hate the format.”

I did when I first joined as well, then realized I could change how things appeared (not saying you don’t realize this as well) and now neither like nor dislike it any more or less than BPL, but there are certainly differences between the sites. I do appreciate how I can more easily follow who’s responding to whom on reddit.

BPL: technical discussions that you just don’t see on reddit (though, tbh, I have little interest in most of them, but do find a small number of them illuminating). smaller community gives the site more of a community feel.

reddit (for the three or four groups I subscribe to): more members involved generally means broader input of info. No silly ‘but the children!’ moderation. I can edit my posts at any time, even weeks after making it. Certainly some of the folks (and companies) that used to post on BPL now do so much more frequently on reddit. I can read any thread without paying, and those threads are up to date, even if I don’t sign in, which is not the case on BPL.

Both sites have their share of snark, probably more on reddit than on BPL simply due to the numbers. But just as many helpful folks/posts on reddit (perhaps more, again because of numbers) as on BPL.

That’s just a quick list, there are, of course, other differences. But I find that I spend as much time on reddit these days as I do on BPL, and get just as much from reddit as I do from BPL.

Mina, I’m very interested in your diversity-related questions.

Mina I read your trip report about the Colorado Hike. It was great!. I have a suggestion for a trail name: Mynamite.

Mina, I’m very interested in your diversity-related questions.

Yes. But these kind of conversations often turn into a Chaff-type conversation.

So as a white male of above average income and older, I feel comfortable saying this is the majority of the membership. As such, I often see so many remarks that would be off-putting to women, children, minorities, and other non-typical BPL majority groups.

“I’m here. I carry an extra pair of underwear. Maybe that’s why I’m not ultralight?”

lol; same here. Plus baby wipes…

I am interested Karen.

I don’t see the ratio as a problem as long as no one is discouraged from joining or posting. In general it seems women are quite welcome on this forum.

I’m happy to see Katt and Karen post that they fell welcome here. I certainly welcome their input. But if we want this community to be more diverse (and I am not assuming that everyone does, just positing an “if”) then I think we have to do more than just make welcome those who arrive by chance.

We would also have to actively encourage others to participate. I don’t see any evidence that is happening. So maybe that is the answer. We are happy to welcome people of different genders, backgrounds, etc. But we aren’t going to go out of our way to find more of such people….

Sounds like society in general.

OK. Now this is chaff.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink. If a certain demographic doesn’t have a passion for ultralight backpacking then all of the outreach efforts in the world won’t help much. I’ve noticed Dixie on the YT channel Homemade Wanderlust has gotten into lightweight backpacking more lately and it’s women like her who are most likely to bring more women into the fold. Heck, she gets almost a million views on some of her videos. I don’t know if she ever lurks on this site, but if you do Dixie I for one think you’re adorable, and quite knowledgeable too.

Women not as competitive as men? Don’t buy it. Women might channel their competitiveness in different ways, but I wouldn’t underestimate their desire to be on the cutting edge one bit. It’s true men are more prone to try and one up each other with their attempts to be alpha, however, we look foolish doing it (I plead guilty) , whereas women tend to simply observe and say less. There are more female lurkers on BPL than you might think.

^^^

” … I for one think you’re adorable, and quite knowledgeable too.”

Well, Monte, I find you pretty cute as well.

David G, and Nick–If I do post diversity questions, it will be backpacking-specific.  Still thinking about how to present them, though.

obx hiker–I’m glad you liked the Colorado trip report.  Thanks for the trail name offer!  No one actually *on* the trail has ever offered me a trail name, although I’ve always assumed if they do it will be something like “Featherweight” or “Scrawny Weakling.”  I work (very) part time in the camping department of our nearby REI.  Many customers say they couldn’t backpack, too old, too non-athletic, whatever.  I get to point out that I am older than they are, and smaller, and if I can do it they can too if they want to.

Nick, You are right that there are sometimes comments that are off-putting in the forums.  I don’t usually think they are meant that way, just cultural ignorance.  Perhaps instances could be pointed out, gently.  But one hesitates to risk derailing a thread.

Whenever I’ve posted actual questions, and even, occasionally, answers, I’ve found this community to be very supportive.

(I could never keep up with the 20-30 mile per day crowd anyway.)

Karen, Jenny, Lisa, Erica, Katt, Thank you for this topic!

Any women members left?

They’re mostly out actually backpacking…

I’m here, too!  That’s a good point, Mina, about why some women might hesitate to post… I tend to read and lurk a lot more than I actually post, too, but I check in just about every day, and have been a member for a dozen years or more. I’m interested in underwear, too. I think women have a lot tougher time with finding good hiking clothing. Too much stuff designed for style rather than function, and too much pink.

As others have mentioned, I think that the need to pay before posting is a major downside .  Why not allow questions in the forums and only have long form articles and reviews and gear swap posts behind a paywall?

Seems like it would benefit BPL in that likely people would find reason to pay after finding useful answers and connection to like minded people.

David G, and Nick–If I do post diversity questions, it will be backpacking-specific.  Still thinking about how to present them, though.

Andrew Skukra has posted a few women specific articles on his blog written by guest authors. Might be interesting to check out if you haven’t.

Nick, You are right that there are sometimes comments that are off-putting in the forums.  I don’t usually think they are meant that way, just cultural ignorance.  Perhaps instances could be pointed out, gently.  But one hesitates to risk derailing a thread.

Yes, and also some people get upset with any subject that is not gear or trip specific. In this vein, one of the articles posted on Skurka’s site was about uncomfortable situations on the trail by women encountering men who acted in a perceived threatening way. One thing the article did not do is suggest how men should act when encountering women on the trail, especially solo hikers.

If I recall correctly, the payment to post was started when the forums started receiving crushing amounts of automated spam posts.  I am not tech-savvy enough to know whether there are now software alternatives to block all that spam so as to resume no-pay posting.  The fee probably is a barrier for new participants, and thus probably directly interferes with our stated mission of spreading lightweight backpacking practices.

Regular membership with access to articles, and lifetime membership, had as a listed perk getting fewer ads, or ad-free.  But the threshold fee for newbies who just wanted to participate in the forums, originally $5, came in the wake of, and was stated to be the solution for, the spam incidents.

I’m still here intermittently. The reality is that this forum isn’t as busy as it used to be, so I tend to only check it every couple of weeks and can get caught up on new content then. I do think BPL has gotten really good at having new articles and such, and enjoy those. The forums seems to be dying, though.

“The reality is that this forum isn’t as busy as it used to be”

+1

This time of year, ladies around here are where they are supposed to be…

I will agree that we have fewer women posting and we did not have many women posting to begin with. Honestly, I do not post much because someone will inevitably come along to naysay me and my experience.

Though that said I do not belong in the ultralight community. I carry an extra pair of those Ridge Merino Boy shorts, Decanted wine, and a liter of bourbon on my hikes.

@madscot: Regardless of the name of this site, I’d say that this isn’t so much an ultralight community as it is a backpacking community. There are plenty of people on here, myself included, who are not ultralight. People who want to naysay you and your experience show their own ignorance, not yours, imnsho.

Doug is not ultralight, he brings a chair : )

“I do not post much because someone will inevitably come along to naysay me and my experience.”

mansplaining?

I’m a woman. I haven’t posted because I was new to backpacking light and didn’t have a lot of time yet to explore this site. I am fairly new to backpacking light – hard to backpack light or ultra light when one is going out with kids (and carrying most of their gear). But I am starting to look at ultralight gear and even made a huge investment in a new tent. Just not sure if I want to equip my husband and I with new backpacks yet because 1. our backpacks work well and are just a couple of years old 2. ultralight backpacks costs pretty penny and may not work out (I am a petite woman) 3. I am trying to shed weight because I want to bring some supplies along to nature journal. But 4. we will never be truly ultralight backpackers because – gasp – I always need a book around. And the field guide. The kids carry their own books.

Jacqueline, your books and your kids’ stuff and your journal supplies are all important reasons to use strategies to lighten the rest of your kit to make room!

Welcome to Backpacking Light!

Yea lighten up for the fun things!