Monthly Archives: June 2009
Some Outdoor Activity Definitions
Reading through a bunch of hiking and backpacking message boards brought up an interesting subject recently; namely, what is “backpacking”? After some pondering, I think I have arrived at a satisfactory answer, to me at least. Hiking is walking (and only walking) in natural environments, often but not always, on trails specifically for foot traffic. It is the natural environment bit that separates it from walking. Camping is living outdoors temporarily(?) , often in the wilderness and generally in non-urban areas and may involve the use of a tent, primitive or natural shelter, or no shelter at all. Backpacking is the convergence of hiking and camping. To be backpacking is to hike while carrying all of the gear one needs to camp (shelter/cooking facilities/etc…).In my definition, it is also necessary to actually use those camping items to camp (or intend to). Synonyms to my definition of backpacking would be trekking, tramping (in NZ) and bushwalking. So, one can hike for… Read more
Gearing Up For Long Distance Backpacking
As many of you know now, I have gotten bitten by the backpacking bug after almost a decade away from any kind of outdoor adventure at all. One of the great things about this hiatus is that the state of outdoor gear has improved by leaps and bounds since I last had any interest in it. It is now within the reach of most folks to backpack long distances well outfitted carrying less than 15 pounds of gear, and sub 10 pound loads (food/water not included) are becoming commonplace. Excited by this turn of events, I set out to see what I could do to outfit myself with everything I would need/want for long distance backpacking while keeping the weight under 30 pounds From Skin Out (FSO). FSO weight includes not just gear, but all clothing worn and all food and water needed. Why thirty pounds? I came to that number based on an initial calculation of my Lean Body Mass (LBM), which is your body weight minus all body fat. For me, it comes out to about 143.5 lbs. Once that was established, I… Read more