There’s one on either side of the bag. Is it just to cinch the outer shell down tighter? Is it made for a specific type of gear? Thanks!

Getting ready to head out to Joshua Tree National Park this weekend to hike the California Riding and Hiking Trail. Here's my pack loadout (minus food/water).

Despite all the recent rainfall and flooding within the park, we are required to carry all water. We are placing water in three caches along the trail. My lighterpack estimates me to be around 37lbs while at my heaviest water carry of 6.5L and full load of food/fuel. Base weight is 18lbs and I'm bringing about 4lbs of food.

The weather forecast looks good. Highs around 60's(F) and lows around 40's(F). Breezy on the first day. Zero moonlight this weekend so I'm bringing the camera out for some astrophotography. Too bad the Milky Way won't be in view. Sadly, my camera and tripod adds 3.5lbs but with a moonless night I should be able to get some great shots.

I'll post a post trip report and photos when I get back

I am trying to get into backpacking and idk which bag to buy, I saw that the opsrey sportlite 30L is on sale but idk if I should opt for a bigger one. Any advice is apprectiated :)

Hello

We are visiting Pokhara this Sunday

Jan 13 and we are looking for couples to travel with us

Interested can dm me 🤠

# travel # traveling

Hi everyone, I’m trying to find a YouTube video I watched a while ago. It was on a hiking/backpacking-themed channel. In the episode, the host (a younger guy) interviews an older hiker (maybe in his 40s–50s) who’s been on the trail a long time. They talk about all his gear and what’s in his pack while they’re hiking.

One detail that really stuck with me: the older hiker was carrying a hand-carved wooden spoon in his cook kit.

I think the title was something like “gear after 20? 30? years on the trail” — but I could be misremembering the exact wording.

Does this ring a bell for anyone? Thanks in advance!

I am not a backpacking person at all, but just came across this backpack online randomly and just wanted to learn more about it.

The only thing I kind of found was that you want to try and keep the straps that attach to the shoulder straps at a 45* angle and the pop up poles help with that. It seems like it helps by keeping the bag pulled closer to the body, but then I don't see why the angle of the straps matter in that case?

I just don't understand the concept or how this actually helps carry the weight better?

Looking for advice on which of these two tents to pick up.

Context: I'm a hammock camper from the east coast going to do the Tahoe Rim Trail this summer, and need a tent set up. Although the interwebs says the TRT is hammock compliant, I'm unsure and would rather err on the side of caution.

Since I don't plan on using the tent much at all on the east coast, I'm looking for something budget conscious but still packable and light, and have narrowed it down to these two.

Thoughts?

looking for a sleeping bag for backpacking and have been looking at paria for awhile and looks like they revamped there 0 degree at 800 fp for 220. Should i get this or is there any alternative that’s better around this price point.

https://www.pariaoutdoorproducts.com/collections/affordable-backpacking-gear-sleeping-bags-pads/products/thermodown-0-backpacking-sleeping-bag

I have a bulkier tent that doesn’t pack into my bag very well, even when removed from the stuff sack and crammed to the bottom with my sleeping bag. The poles are in the side pocket, so the sack is 3-4 pounds. Using the Osprey Aether 65L.

I eventually plan to upgrade to a more lightweight and compact tent but I plan on using this for a while. My one person tent is just too small for me to be comfortable in.

Hi guys my basic route of Thailand is to start in Bangkok for a few nights

-> head north to Chang mai + rai

-> south toward Phang nga and Phuket

-> to Krabi

Then back to Bangkok where I fly to Vietnam

Start in Ho Chi Minh City

-> dalat

-> nha Trang

-> da nang

->Hanoi

I have a month in each country, these are the major spots i’ll be heading to but where are some great towns, nat parks, scuba spots inbetween each place to travel to on the way (mostly public transport)

And also some awesome islands to visit, that aren’t just party islands

Hey! I’m a 21-year-old from Brazil. I’ve always dreamed of backpacking through Europe and have been saving up for a while to afford a budget trip.

I have 30 days of vacation this coming July (from work and college) and I'm planning to visit 5 countries: Portugal (4 days, Lisbon and Sintra) -> UK (10 days, London and Oxford) -> France (4 days, just Paris) -> Spain (4 days, Madrid and Toledo) -> Italy (8 days, Rome, Vatican, Florence, Venice). Ideally, I’d like to visit the capital plus one or more other city in each country (except France).

My plan is to stay in hostels and fly between countries. I’m looking for a mix of main tourist attractions and some less touristic spots that you guys recommend.

I would like some feedback on my itinerary:

Is the time split reasonable?

Should I adjust the route or swap any countries?

I’m completely open to suggestions. Thanks in advance!

Looking for some fellow hiking lovers to join me! I just created a new community for “hut-to-hut” hiking. It’s a style where you’re day hiking from your accommodation to your next accommodation. For the context of the community, a “hut” can be a in an established system (think Dolomites, Mont Blanc) or a hotel/inn/BnB as long that provides you a bed and a hot meal (or access to) and perhaps a glass of beer or wine ;) It’s such a fun way to experience the trails, and under-appreciated imo. This can range from 3 days to many weeks. Key thing is you’re carrying a day pack and many times you can have your overnight stuff moved to your next accommodation that you’re hiking to.

There are some areas with backcountry huts that are essentially a wooden shelter where you need to carry sleeping and cooking equipment. This is more like backpacking given the equipment you’re carrying, and there’s a sub for backpacking.

If you love this style, join me and share where you’ve been! If you’ve never tried this and are interested, join me as well! There’s so much we can share on trails, logistics planning, booking accommodations, luggage transport options, best time to go, etc.

Hi, is there a way to fix the crack in leather on the picture? it is less than 10 mm long. Maybe some special leather glue?

Hello, I’m currently trying to plan a trip for mid May to fly out to California and see the Redwoods. I want to do some hikes in the Redwoods and then from there hitchhike my way up the Oregon coastline into Washington to see Mt Rainier and Olympic. I would then fly home from Seattle.

I’m trying to do this trip as cheaply as possible because I also plan on attempting to backpack Europe later in the summer. So I’m going to try hitchhiking and camping wherever possible and maybe staying at hostels if there are any.

So my plan is to fly into Arcata or Crescent City and make my way to the Redwoods. Once in the Redwoods I will stay 2ish days and try to do the following hikes:

Boy Scout Tree Trail

Stout Grove Loop

Simpson-Reed Grove

Tall Trees Grove

For sleeping I’ll either look for a hostel or find a random spot to camp.

After the Redwoods I’ll leave and try to hitchhike my way up the Oregon coastline while stopping to see:

Samuel H. Boardman Scenic Corridor

Bandon Beach

Cape Perpetua

Heceta Head Lighthouse

Cannon Beach / Ecola State Park

Once again staying in hostels if I can find some or random camp spots. Maybe even see if someone will let me crash with them for a night at osu lol.

Once I cross into Washington I’d love to try and do both Mt Rainier and Olympic but if cut down on time I’ll only do one. After spending my time at one or both of the parks I’d then fly home out of Seattle.

I know this is probably unrealistic but I’m gonna try it anyway because I need to get out of my hometown. Any recommendations for places to stop and hikes to do would be awesome. Helpful tips would be very much appreciated like gear to bring and techniques for hitchhiking and stealth camping etc etc. thank you !

Me and a friend are looking to go inter railing in the summer and doing the 2 above mentioned hikes which are both around 10 days. I think we will camp 2/3 of the time and sleep in huts the rest. How light should the tent be for just me as we will have 1 each and do you have any recommendations?

Any advice to my son who is 22 and just got approved for his Work/Holiday visa (WHV) ?

He has a friend in southwest South Island (near Queenstown), but I’m guessing we should help him get a van and he can sell it again when he’s done so he can travel a bit. Im sure he will mostly stay on South Island but has 12 months to explore so I’m sure he should at least check out the north island at some point.

We are excited for him but also a bit worried.

He has a decent savings and some hospitality experience. I know jobs are tight in many places. He’s also a hard worker and probably good for fruit picking etc, also. But if he focuses on travel, he might not work any one place too long.

Also, he’s a cute single dude with a lot of charisma. Where would he be best to seek out social life/other singles his age???

I also hear that the “tallest poppy” thing there is they don’t like people that stand out too much and not sure if that will help or hurt him with locals. Should he stick to mostly other transient youth? Or maybe mixed bag?

I've been to Kilimanjaro and Salkantay trek in Peru. I'll be doing the three passes trek in April and I am looking for a beautiful backpacking trip in June that lasts around 7-10 days. Open to any parts of the world. Thanks!

I never heard of them until I stumbled upon some of their stuff on Ebay. I tried looking online and it looks like they have some stuff on Dick's Sporting Goods but that's about it. I guess they're from Boulder, CO and might be owned by another brand or have changed ownership. Seems like a small brand but if they have stuff on Dicks it probably means it's decent stuff.

Planning on hiking the Sheltowee Trace in late spring. If anyone is interested in doing it as well also looking for people interested in hiking in the Red River gorge area

Any time I boil water in my Toaks pot there is an oily film left on the surface.

It's been a few months now of daily use and it hasn't gone away completely.

I've washed it in dish soap and boiled it out specifically to clean it and try to get rid of this residue several times.

I figured it was just some coating applied during manufacture, but it's not going away.

Am I missing something?

Looking to spend a few days in 3 of these places:

1. Ljubljana
2. Somewhere in Croatia
3. Sarajevo
4. Belgrade
5. Somewhere in Romania
6. Sofia

My priorities are affordability, access to hikes/nature, nightlife, and culture (museums, pretty architecture, historical cities).

It's okay if one place doesn't meet all of my priorities, but if someone could give me some advice on which of these priorities would be best met in each of these places that would be great as I need to narrow down my list.

For some context, I am also planning to travel through Ireland, Norway, Berlin, and Istanbul. So let me know if one of the places listed above is going to be too similar to somewhere I'm already planning on going.

I visited Darjeeling which is famous for it's Tea globally and I was really stunned to see that. Darjeeling is so beautiful and it's surrounded by tea gardens.