It’s Alive! BackpackingJargon.com

[Rex Sanders]

BackpackingJargon.com, my long-term passion project, is finally online.

Nearly 600 entries with simple descriptions of unusual backpacking words, acronyms, and phrases. Designed for American backpackers unfamiliar with some expressions. These are not comprehensive definitions.

See the web site to suggest additions or corrections.

— Rex

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

Thanks!  now I don’t have to use Urban Dictionary (ha ha)!  Thanks for the link, it is suprising how many terms / words I didn’t know.

[AK Granola]

Nice! Get it out into social media and make it *the* dictionary of choice.

You didn’t really define through hike. Too bad because you could settle many debates if your definition became the standard. I think of it as completing a named trail, end to end. But what length? And can you stay in a hostel? Can you slack pack? But I suppose that is the debate taking place (regrettably?) in group camps all over (when they could be discussing the beauty, the nature, the satisfaction). I find it bizarrely fascinating that many people want to enforce “rules” on outdoor hiking, as if it’s a chess game. HYOH is as well followed in the hiking community as “thou shalt not kill” is followed by Christians. When people start these debates in camp, I get up and leave.

[AK Granola]

You could also add “pulling the trigger” as a term for online shopping for hikers. Not sure why a violent action with a weapon is used in lieu of making a purchase, but I guess that’s capitalism! But I see it all over these forums. Is it just BPL or a hiking community thing?

[Rex Sanders]

Added pull the trigger and other suggestions. Tried to avoid many controversies, like fully defining thru-hiking. Social media push coming RSN.

Thanks for the kind comments. HTH.

— Rex :-)

[Ray J]

I’d add “Trowel”.  You have “Potty Trowel”, which I’ve never heard.  Heard lots of “Trowel/Trowel’s”.

[Bonzo]

Should be a fun read; thanks!

[Rex Sanders]

Continuing to update backpackingjargon.com as suggestions come in or inspiration strikes. Recent additions include:
Kula cloth
Menstrual cup
OP
PBC
Pee cloth
Piezo igniter
PRD

Tell your friends, and enjoy!

— Rex

[Rob]

One of the ones I enjoy that I don’t see is “snot rocket”.

[Mark L]

I contributed “No-See-Um” since I saw other pests in there but not that.

Where I grew up we used that term all the time. Cause we got bit by them all the time.

It’s also used to describe tent mesh netting (“no-see-um netting,” e.g. https://ripstopbytheroll.com/collections/noseeum-mesh-1), though I neglected to link to any of those descriptions in my submission.

I’m wondering if it’s an Eastern or Appalachian term. It’s ubiquitous where I’m from but I have heard some people in my travels ask “what the heck is a no-see-um?”

I see blackflies listed. I’m not sure how far down that road you want to go, but the more feared flying things where I’m from are horseflies. (And worse yet of course are yellowjackets, which make me carry baking soda into the backcountry)

Mark

[AK Granola]

Our no see ums are often white Sox instead of black flies. But in Alaska we’re lucky enough to have both! As well as horseflies, deer flies, yellow jackets and white faced hornets. You want fear and loathing, step on a ground nest of white faced hornets. Bring Benadryl- the baking soda is useless.

[Mark L]

“Although the white-faced hornet is a member of the same species of wasp as the yellow jacket, they are by far more aggressive.” lol

That’s saying something, given our yellow jackets will go after you if you just look at them funny.

I brought up a size comparison – yikes!

Though those hornets look like babies next to our Cicadia Killers. Which, luckily, don’t attack. But the first time I moved to NC and saw these little helicopters flying toward me with their paralyzed prey held beneath them like an Army giant lift helicopter, I wondered if I hadn’t strayed into the Land of the Lost. (I wasn’t going to post this because it’s off-topic, but then I saw the thread subject again – It’s Alive! – and realized it’s relevant :)

 

 

[Steve M]

Here’s two more  (CX hiking terms):

Highway Tree Path:   A fallen tree that allows one-way travel (single track) above the underbrush.

Freeway Tree Path:  (More rare)  Same as above…but allows 2-way travel (double track) above the underbrush.

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

Are you making this up?  This is crazy.  Anyone else heard of these terms?

[John K]

Jon, do you have any skyhooks in stock for the ultralight smoke shifter I ordered?

[Rex Sanders]

Some backpacking jargon is regional, trail-specific, or specialty-specific – hello hangers! I’ve learned a lot putting this together. No doubt almost everyone will find expressions they have not read or heard before.

Currently at 628 full entries and climbing. My editing neurons are getting a workout.

Keep the suggestions coming; see the website for instructions.

— Rex

[BlackHatGuy]

“Is it just BPL or a hiking community thing?” (re: pulling the trigger)

Neither, it’s a well-known phrase, at least where I grew up. Been hearing/using it for decades, well before I got into backpacking. It’s even the title of a 2009 romance novel.

[DriCamp]

This is great, Rex, thanks! You’ve cleared up some landscape-description terms for me that I was never quite sure their precise meaning.

[Eric Kammerer]

Litesmith has a Trail Lingo page you could check against: https://www.litesmith.com/trail-lingo/

[Eric Kammerer]

headwall

noun
The highest cliff of a glacial cirque.
The steep cliff at the back of a cirque.

 

[Rex Sanders]

Comments on the Litesmith Trail Lingo page versus Backpacking Jargon:

– Never saw this until mentioned just above
– About half as many but longer entries
– Different editorial approach
– Found or inspired several new entries, many “Why didn’t I remember that?”

We seem to have used the same sources for some entries. I rewrote (and rewrote …) everything for clarity. But there are only so many ways to say something clearly and accurately in a few words.

Thanks for the link.

— Rex

[Rex Sanders]

I won’t be promoting Backpacking Jargon on social media.

“If you are not paying for it, you’re not the customer; you’re the product being sold.”

Please tell your friends about BackpackingJargon.com without using social media. Text messages, phonemails, live telephone calls, and face-to-face conversations still work, even if they are out of style. I’ve heard rumors the Post Office delivers something besides junk mail and bills, but have no first-hand experience in this century :-)

Thanks.

— Rex

[Ken Larson]

NCT  –  NORTH COUNTRY TRAIL

https://northcountrytrail.org/

[Rex Sanders]

Lots of updates to backpackingjargon.com, currently at 723 entries and growing.

Please send additions or corrections using the instructions on the web site.

Thanks.

— Rex

[Rex Sanders]

827 entries now in backpackingjargon.com.

See the web site to send corrections or additions.

Thanks.

— Rex

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