Steve Gillman is a long-time backpacker, and advocate of lightweight backpacking. His tips, photos, gear recommendations, and a free book can be found at .
Ultralight Backpacking Skills - A Three Day Test On Lake Michigan, at the end of the Stonington Peninsula, there's a stretch of empty beach. Part of the Hiawatha National Forest, it's framed on either side by private property, with no easy access. To walk on the beach, however, is legal. Past the last cabin, the public land starts, and goes for six or seven miles. This is where I would test my ultralight backpacking skills and gear.I hiked a few...... Similar Editorial : by Tanja Kelly. | Source : Backpacking Hiking
Stay Warm - A Backpacking Skill Stay warm or die. That's what it comes down to at the extremes. More people die in the wilderness of exposure than from any other cause. Staying warm, of course, also means more comfort, and for backpackers, it can mean going even lighter, without more risk.Staying warm in the wilderness is about proper gear and good skills. Proper gear means clothing and equipment suited to the enviroment you're...... Similar Editorial : by David Wood. | Source : Backpacking Hiking
Ultralight Backpacks - The Lightest Why ultralight backpacks? Devotees of ultralight backpacking know you reduce your packweight most by concentrating on the "big three;" backpack, shelter, and sleeping bag. Forget those 6-pound backpacks, 9-pound tents and 5-pound sleeping bags. Reduce that 20 pounds to less than 5, keep the other gear to 5 or 6 pounds, and you can chuck the hot and heavy hiking boots, put on the running shoes, and...... Similar Editorial : by Patricia Gatto. | Source : Backpacking Hiking
Backpacking Recipes - The Simplest I need simple backpacking recipes because there is never a stove in my backpack, even on week-long trips in the wilderness. I often backpack with less than fifteen pounds total pack weight, and total means all food, water - everything. It's often in a daypack, so I don't have much room for a stove and fuel cannisters.I also don't want the extra weight. I don't want the extra trouble of cooking...... Similar Editorial : by Tanja Kelly. | Source : Teton Backpacking
Backpacking Light - Six Reasons Why Backpacking light, sometimes called fastpacking or ultralight backpacking, doesn't mean leaving anything important behind, or sacrificing comfort. My seventeen-ounce down sleeping bag keeps me warmer than my previous four-pounder did. I used to use a five-pound backpack, and now have a more comfortable fourteen-ounce one. I still bring all the necessary safety gear and food when I head into the...... Similar Editorial : by Nicholas Tan. | Source : Teton Backpacking
Backpacking Without Foot Blisters Nothing can ruin a hike or backpacking trip as quickly as foot blisters. The pain can be intense, and walking further on blistered feet can cause them to get worse, or to break and get infected. So how do you just avoid them altogether? Here are ten things that have worked for others.1. Wear running shoes instead of hiking boots. Not everyone will agree with this, nor can everyone forgo the extra...... Similar Editorial : by Tanja Kelly. | Source : Teton Backpacking
The Lightest Backpacking Food Those who like to travel light in the wilderness are always looking for the lightest backpacking food they can take. Of course, light doesn't mean crackers or other things that have little weight for their volume. When hiking you need calories above all, so the lightest foods are those that provide the most calories for the weight. Here are some to consider, as well as two other ways to cut the...... Similar Editorial : by Nomad Rick. | Source : Teton Backpacking
Backpacking At Ten Below Zero We were both thirteen years old and backpacking in Michigan without adults (times were different back then). Camping miles from the nearest road, in a single-wall pup tent, we tried not to move too much, because doing so resulted in a shower of icy crystals raining down on us - the frozen condensation from our own breath. When we got up that morning, the thermometer read ten or eleven degrees...... Similar Editorial : by Tanja Kelly. | Source : Teton Backpacking
Backpacking - Six Ways To Save Money As pack weights get lighter and going into the wilderness gets safer, backpacking also is getting more and more expensive. How do you save money without giving up the ultralight equipment and safety gear? Let's look at a few different ways.Backpacking? in the most remote places has become much safer now that there are personal locator beacons. One I recently saw advertised lets you call for help...... Similar Editorial : by Tanja Kelly. | Source : Teton Backpacking
Six Good Backpacking Habits When backpacking, habits matter. A better sleeping bag may keep you a bit warmer, and a cell phone or GPS unit definitely makes a trip safer, but the things you regularly do while on the trail are just as important. Here are six habits you should develop for wilderness travel.1. Foot CareBlisters and other foot problems are not always just painful inconveniences. If they happen far enough into a...... Similar Editorial : by Tanja Kelly. | Source : Teton Backpacking
Mount Chimborazo: Climbing Glaciers Near The Equator Driving Up Mount ChimborazoIt is easier to climb a mountain when the guide drives you to 15,000 feet. Don't get me wrong. Climbing that last 5,600 feet was one of the most difficult things I've done, but not for the skill required. The fact that the air was missing half of its oxygen is what had me quitting twenty or thirty times on the way up Chimborazo. It just gets difficult to move up there...... Similar Editorial : by James Muraguri Gichohi. | Source : Adventure Travel
Tom Sawyer Day It was late May, so Id stay warm in my homemade bivy, without a sleeping bag. I might wear my hat, and pile up some leaves to sleep on. If the mosquitos were bad, I'd use my headnet, which, I had learned, would also trap warm air around my head, keeping me warmer. I had matches and a lighter, in case I needed a fire in an emergency. Thirty miles of pedaling had brought me from my home in Traverse...... Similar Editorial : by Steven Gillman. | Source : Travel Agents Toronto
Less Extreme Adventures Extreme adventures and travel adventures are becoming more popular all the time. Some of us, however, want to have the excitement, without so much risk of injury, without getting shot at or kidnapped like Robert Pelton, and without spending a fortune. With that in mind, here are some ideas for less extreme adventure travel.- Summit the highest peak in your state. It might be less-than-adventurous...... Similar Editorial : by Stephen Currier. | Source : Transit Visa
Chimborazo: Climbing Glaciers Near The Equator Climbing the glaciers to the summit of Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador isn't highly technical. It is mountaineering, but how hard can it be, considering I went to 20,600 feet the first time I used crampons and an ice axe? Okay, I used them once for practice, on a sledding hill near my house. I climbed forty feet while people walked by with their sleds, telling their kids to stay away from me.It's also...... Similar Editorial : by Steve Gillman. | Source : Adventure Travel
Arrowhead Hunting And Rock Collecting We weren't planning to go rock and arrowhead hunting in Arizona. My wife and I just liked that hotspring in the desert. It was agood place to escape the Michigan winter for a while. Then we met Felix, an old Mayan Indian living in an old RV. After sharing meals and campfires for a week, he took us into the desert to show us ancient metates (grain-grinding stones) and arrowheads. We also found...... Similar Editorial : by News Canada. | Source : Travel Agent Hong Kong
