Backpacking the Light and Easy Way

Backpacking the Light and Easy Way
Copyright 2006 Niche Empire

Appreciating the great outdoors is both fun and tiresome. It is fun for those who have backpacking experience and tiresome for those who have no knowledge about it. Backpacking is both an art and science of sorts.

The first important thing to bear in mind is traveling light. Traveling light can be a source of fun since you will look at backpacking not as a burden but as an activity that is full of promise. So how do we pack?

1.     You must carefully choose the type of your backpack.

a.     External Frame Pack – Put the heavy articles that you will bring in the lower part of the bag. It will help you balance for better hiking.

b.     Internal Frame Pack – backpacks made to hug on to the body. Place the heaviest item you have in the middle section of the bag so you can turn around easier without the momentum of the bag beating you down.

2.     Packing up your sleeping bag – this item is the bulkiest among your gears in backpacking. You can put sleeping bags in compression bags (a stuff sack with straps on the side to curtail the size). The sleeping bag inside the stuff sack can be placed in the bottom of an internal frame pack. In an external frame pack, you can tie your sleeping bag to the frame outside the bottom of the pack.

3.     Packing up your tent – Split your tents into its parts: the body, the poles and the rain fly. By doing this you can spread the weight into your pack. The poles can be tied outside, the tent body and rain fly can be stuffed in the top of your pack. This will even serve as a waterproof for your other gears.

4.     Clothes and smaller items – Camp shoes, socks and the like are a perfect fit for the bottom of an internal frame pack. Concerning packing up clothes, it is advisable to put it first into a stuff sack so it becomes organized. It will also serve as extra protection against rain or getting wet.

5.     Raingear – Put it in a place where it can be easily retrieved like the top of your pack or at pockets.

6.     Water bottles – many packs nowadays have built in pouches for water bottles.

7.     Lunch/food – You can put it into pockets.

8.     Toilet Paper – Put it in a place where it can be easily retrieved. You must have easy access on it, especially when nature calls… in a jiffy.

After doing it a few times, you can get accustomed to your backpack and make ways that will be light and easy for you.

Backpacking follows general rules that any backpacker must never forget.

•     Be quiet, reflective, and enjoy silent surroundings. Being rowdy and obnoxious is a no – no!

•     We should try to outfit ourselves (tent, pack, clothes, etc.) with subdued colors that blend with the (wilderness) environment--we should consider ourselves as humble visitors.

•     Do not pick, cut, chop, smash, carve, stab, or otherwise offend living plants (that includes trees).

•     Cook meals using a small backpacking stove--wood resources are scarce and getting scarcer, along trails.

Backpacking is such a thrilling experience. It lets us appreciate Mother Nature and makes us more in tuned to our environment.

Just do not forget it is advisable to backpack in-group.

Let us conquer the outdoors and backpack now!