Why are New Backpackers Worried about these 5 Things?

Why are New Backpackers Worried about these 5 Things?

Well hey guys it’s Darwin and I just recently got back from a 4-day three night section hike out on the Pacific Crest Trail with my buddy juice and I’ve been getting out and doing a lot of these smaller backpacking trips just kind of off the cuff lately and it got

Me thinking about how it’s so much easier for me now just to plan a trip out of nowhere get out to the trail and just start hiking because over the years after doing it so much it just becomes like second nature but obviously it didn’t start that way when my wife and I

First got into backpacking years ago I remember we would spend so much time trying to just figure out all the logistics of a trip uh where we were going to Camp every night how we were going to get to the start of the trail where we were going to finish the right

Gear to be using for the trip and I feel like this can be a pretty big barrier of entry for a lot of people that are just getting into backpacking and all these things that I now take for granted after doing so many miles on the trail can

Really limit a lot of people and kind of scare a lot of people from getting out and just enjoying the back country well recently my cousin Adam was here in town who is new to the world of backpacking and I decided to sit him down and have a

Conversation and pick his brain about what some of his top fears concerns and barriers were about being a new Backpacker and I feel like I gave him some pretty good advice but I figured I would share it with you guys to maybe help you along on on your backpacking

Journey for some of those things that you might need more information on and be concerned about just getting out and having a fun trip in the back country for you what are like some of the top things that are kind of uh maybe that you have questions about maybe

That you don’t feel as confident in getting into backpacking like like what are some of the main things for you well yeah I think I think I’ve been a hi ER not backpack yeah and I remember always like doing hikes and stuff yeah but not like

Getting out and like with a tent and doing like trips and a lot of that limitation is uh I mean it’s money I don’t like when you’re a young C are just get into it the affordability and so like so gear and just and just travel

Like taking the time off to go two trips and stuff yeah a bit of both yeah which is cu like that question of do I have hikes while I’m already thinking like well my PTO hours and how could I squeeze this around and what it like that is a barrier like

Revolves around my livelihood money but now I’m getting to the point where I’m like obsessively looking over gear yeah and it’s gear it’s like which is a big thing right and that’s like we should just get that one out of the way because that’s always going to be number like at

The top so so what are your biggest barriers with gear in particular is it knowing what gear to buy or like like does it have to do with money and budget and stuff so I will say that now it’s like more of what gear to buy and

Knowing how to navigate to gear that I should maybe be looking at the navigation through the gear outlet does it does it feel overwhelming at all like when whenever you go to look at like what tint should I buy what what backpack should I buy do you find it

Overwhelming yeah cuz now that I like obsessively look at gear yeah and part of that obsession is cuz the money that I am very attached to I want to make sure it’s going to I can’t just blow which is a barrier to yeah be a good

Investment and so I have five tabs open and I’m obsessed with like well this weight is 6 oun and that weight is8 I wonder that differently yeah that is hard to navigate it’s hard to know the areas to go to to find that gear and

It’s hard to get into the have the base knowledge to know what gear to look for gear is a big barrier for a lot of people and that’s because there’s so much of it and everybody has their opinion on what the best is but something that everybody has to realize

That is getting into backpacking is something I’ve been saying for years no matter if it’s a tint a backpack a pair of shoes or a cook system all gear is subjective it’s all subjective and it’s all subjective it’s all subjective it’s all subjective there’s no such thing as

The best backpack the perfect tent or the goat of whatever uh backpacking Gadget that’s supposed to make your time out on trail more efficient there never has been and there never will be the truth is only you know what is going to be the best gear for you only you know

What your comfort levels are or what type of hiker you are and what your needs are on the trail I know people don’t want to hear this but the truth is you have to buy something you have to take it out on trail and go through

Trial and error and figure out if it’s going to work for you just because a piece of gear is my best piece of gear doesn’t mean that it’s going to be your best piece of gear so I think the best thing to do is you can watch Gear

Reviews and you can read articles and you can look at specs and comparisons to get your information but don’t take any of it as gospel you have to make a list of what it is that you’re looking for for your type of backpacking figure out what type of Backpacker you want to be

Do you want to go out and spend four to 6 months on a trail through hiking it like me and do big miles and worry about being as ultra light as possible well your gear selection is going to be different versus if you’re somebody that just wants to get out every other

Weekend and do a small backpacking trip with your friends or your family so figure out what it is that you want out of a piece of gear then watch your reviews read your articles and do your own research and figure out what it is that you need is gear expensive yes but

Does it have to be no there’s so much of it out there at so many different uh entry levels whether you are on a budget or you have all the money in the world to spend you can buy a tint or a backpack or a cook system or whatever at

Kind of any price level and then you have to get out on the trail and you have to use it and figure out is it going to work for you in the long run so that’s the best advice I can give to anybody with the whole gear thing is

Watch things read things look at specs but keep in mind what it is that you are looking for not what I’m looking for not what I think is the best you have to put your own opinion together out of trial and error and figure out what’s going to

Make you more comfortable and more efficient in the back country okay so then moving from that so so gear what is what what do you think is one of the next big challenges for you being a newbie and getting into backpacking that that you feel uncertain about or are not comfortable with

Starting off yeah I feel like I don’t experience this but talking with my wife I feel like maybe she has a little or we’ve talked around this topic a little is the social uncomfortability sometimes that you face getting into like a new Sporter activity okay um like I guess a

Social judgment knowing that you’re new to it and you’re on trail you see someone on trail or online both bit of both I mean you feel it I mean it can go into your overwhelmingness that’s happening so the analogy is like you join a gym and maybe you don’t have much

Gym experience it’s your first time in the gym you don’t really know how to operate the machines and you feel like everyone is looking at you okay and it’s a mindset it’s an insecurity and I do have a lot of insecurity sometimes getting into new thing well I’m sure I

Mean everybody does right insecurity is definitely a barrier of getting into it and it’s something that I think I’ve struggled with I think it’s natural struggle with all right I sort of get this one and I can I can relate that anytime you get into anything you’re always worried about what are other

People going to think of me doing this new thing and I hate to use the O cliche term but I feel like it fits here and that is hike your own hike and not in the sense of well hike your own hike I’ll do what

I want more in the sense of worry about you and what you’re doing are you happy with the gear that you have on the trail then who cares are you comfortable with the amount of miles that you’re hiking every day well then be comfortable with that don’t worry about what other people

Are thinking about you on the trail why would you the thing is is you’re out there at the same time as they are doing the exact same thing in the same place so you’re on the same level in all of the 8 years and 14,000 Mi that I’ve

Hiked I have never once had somebody talk down to me because of the type of gear that I was using or where I was camping or the miles that I was hiking or any of that because all that stuff is stripped away when you’re on the Trail

And you’re all equal everybody is equal in the back country cuz you’re all doing the same thing and out there enjoying the same thing all that stuff that you see on the internet uh in comments on Facebook groups and Reddit forums is not the way it is out on trail I can tell

You that 100% people judge people online of the gear that they’re using and the miles that they’re hiking and and and what they’re wearing and stuff but that’s because people have nothing else better to do than to sit at at home and judge others on what they’re doing but out on

The trail it doesn’t happen at least not in my experience so get out enjoy the trail don’t worry about what someone else thinks of you do what’s going to make you happy and comfortable and enjoy the back country you you brought up navigation yeah planning your Trail yeah

Trip planning plan your Trail navigation resources to look so you mean like as far as an app or something for the actual navigation portion of it I want more resources in that area and especially trip planning like how do I know I want to start at this area versus

That location if anything I’m trying to base it off just water stops and I don’t really know what else there’s like a scare risk factor that’s associated with planning trips it’s sometimes hard to overcome trip planning and navigation can for sure be one of the most daunting things about just getting into

Backpacking and honestly it can be pretty daunting for people that have been doing it for a while for years people have asked me how I plan my trips where I get my information from from how I figure out my mileage and then how I navigate when I get out onto the trail

And what I can tell you is right now is probably the easiest time in history on figuring all this out and then safely navigating the back country because of the technology that is at our fingertips now with that being said I think that every Backpacker and anybody that’s

Going to spend time in the back country should learn how to use a map and en Compass because it’s a very important skill to have and this can always fail but again learning that new skill can be daunting it takes a while to learn how

To do that and some people just want to figure out the basics of just getting out there and I recently made a video where I showed how I planned routed and navigated a trip in the Grand Canyon if you guys didn’t get a chance to check

That video out or I kind of walked through step by step I’ll put it up here I’ll also leave a link down below but basically in that video I showed how I use something as basic as Google to just type in and find out where the best

Backpacking trips were in my area and then I use something like a hiking app a navigation app to actually route it and then navigate when I get out on the trail now over the years I’ve used a lot of different Navigation apps but the one that I’ve started using in the last 6

Months especially because I’m just doing all these random last minute backpacking trips and it makes it easier on me is an app called Onyx Back Country what I really like about Onyx is some of the features that just make it easy for me to to get out kind of last minute like

The Discover feature so you can just kind of hit it uh it’ll pick up where you’re at your GPS location and then it will show you all the different trails that are around you some are day hikes but some are bigger hikes that you can turn into backpacking trips so like here’s a

15m trip on the Arizona Trail if I wanted to I could get out for a night it shows me the trail it tells me what the elevation gain is the losses the high point the low Point uh the difficulty level and then it gives me photos of it

It gives me uh different information if a permit’s required and probably the best feature on this that I really like is the weather feature so I can plan accordingly for what my trip’s going to be am I going to have to worry about rain am I going to have to worry about

Snow heat uh cold so then I know what gear I need to bring on that trip and then other features that are great for actually planning and routing a trip like the whole snap 2 feature so if I want to start uh planning a trip I can

Actually just hit a point I can build a route and then I can hit another point and it will snap to and it will tell me exactly how many miles are between my points so I can figure out how many miles I want to hike during the day or

Things like the whole 3D mapping feature which is really cool because I can actually see the trail and I can see if I’m going to be camping on a ridge or in a valley I can look at my entire trip and plan accordingly now if you guys are

Interested in kind of figuring that out for yourself and using features like that whole um like that whole discover feature or the weather feature or if youve just been wanting to get into planning and routing your own trips I actually recently partnered with onx Back Country they started supporting me

And the channel and you can actually get 20% off of uh the subscription to the app by using my link in the description box so I’ll put that down there as well but I’ve really enjoyed using this because it just makes it so much easier

For me to get out last minute and not have to worry about all of those Logistics of figuring all of that out it just makes it easier to get out and enjoy the trail and be safe navigating in the back country so check that out if you’re interested also check out that

Video where I show step by step how I used uh Google and then something like onx to plan and Route my trip but again right now is easier than it ever has been to get out and really enjoy the back country so like I have my trip in

The logistics plan when I’m on trail I feel like I have an issue with selecting the right campsite like sometimes with DNR you have to register with them so you know where you’re going to go but if you don’t have Nation park or something you have to go select campsites right

And I didn’t have that when I did the Blue Mountains out in uh Western Idaho Eastern Oregon that range and we you’re just picking random campsites every day well something that looks mildly flat with not a lot of rocks an issue I had though when we did that and why I felt

Like that wasn’t the greatest is I had such bad tent condensation ah yeah it was bad like I was soaked that morning it was awful is that cu the place that we picked and how do you mitigate an issue like that with picking your like campsite campsite selection is another

Big one that I take for granted because I’ve been doing it for so long and I know what to look for as far as a perfect Camp spot comes from one of Adam’s biggest questions was how he mitigates condensation and where I made a video recently where I talked about

Camp hacks and some of the things that I do to find the perfect Camp spot as far as a good flat piece of ground something I didn’t go into was actual location and something I think about a lot when I’m out on the trail so I look

For low points and high points I typically like to Camp a little higher out of a valley or away from a stream or water source because in the morning moisture usually settles low and I know if I camp next to a stream in a little Valley I’m probably going to wake up wet

With condensation but I also try to think about is the weather going to be okay for the night because if there’s going to be a thunder storm if it’s going to rain or be windy I don’t want to be too high and be exposed so it’s a

Bit of a Balancing Act the other thing that I look for is how safe the area is I want to make sure that I’m not camping in a burn area where there could be fallen trees and I don’t want to camp under a dead limb just in case the wind

Picks up and a limb could fall into my tent so I really think it comes down to surveying the area and figuring out where is going to be the safest and most efficient place to camp for the night again what I will typically do is I’ll

Find my last water source for the day I’ll get water and then I’ll probably hike another half mile to a mile away from that because I know that in the morning condensation is going to be a little heavier next to water so I like to get up away from that water source to

Where there’s more air flow so I can stay dry throughout the night and making sure that there’s no limbs around me it comes with time but just think about and look at the location and think about those things when you’re selecting your camps can we talk about like a a really

Insecure personal issue that I have with hiking I don’t know if you have this or have it experience it I have such a fear of pooping pooping so bad man I have I have a poop fear I have a poop fear it is a lot of people that have a poop fear

Dude I have such a severe one like there’s a lot of people you’re not the only one you might have to poop and somebody might see you poop that is one one of my worst fears pooping admittedly this has never been a problem for me but

I know there’s a lot of people out there that this is a big barrier for people worried about what happens if I had to go to the bathroom when I’m out in the woods it’s going to happen I know a lot of hikers that will go out and try to

Not go to the bathroom until they finish their trip which is crazy unhealthy but odds are you’re going to have to poop in the back country and the best thing that you can do is be prepared with good leave node Trace principles and the proper tools to be able to bury your

Turd and take care of your business on the trail making sure that you’re 200 ft away from a trail a water source or a campsite to be able to dig your cat hole then digging your cat hole 6 to 8 in deep with a TR always making sure you

Have one of these in your pack do your business and then use something like toilet paper or a bedet what I use uh but if you use toilet paper pack it out take a Ziploc bag and put your poopy paper in that yeah that’s why I use a

Bedet I don’t want to pack out my poop paper don’t leave it in the back country folks and making sure that you’re bearing it up and covering your tracks so it’s not getting uncovered and flowing back on the trail gross now as far as a little tip and trick of what I

Do when I’m going to the bathroom on the trail if I have to go to the bathroom I’ll actually take my trekking pole I’ll stick it in the ground next to the trail lean my pack up against it grab my TR and my bedet then I’ll hike 200 ft off

Of the trail and this lets people know coming down the trail that there’s somebody that’s going to the bathroom so they can keep their eyes on the trail another thing is if you have to go to the bathroom and you’re on a switch back if you have somebody else with you you

Can have them stand guard so if you’re going to the bathroom where you can’t really get 200 ft that far off the trail if it’s an emergency have them stand with their back to you a little bit away and tell people that are coming up the trail that there’s somebody going to the

Bathroom folks it’s just something that’s going to happen odds are you’re going to have to go to the bathroom when you’re out there so have the proper tools understand good leave no trace and uh just deal with it poop happens something we didn’t cover yeah if

You were to look back at your younger self you’re like dealing with existential dread and want to change up your life you’re going to do the at what would you tell yourself something we didn’t cover everything that I just said no we didn’t cover it so it has to be something we didn’t

Cover no I mean but it but it is the same thing it’s that like all this like that one shirt you don’t need that shirt or like remember to take this with you idiot no because you need to go through trial and error you need to make

Mistakes you need to go out on your first backpacking trip with too much stuff in your pack with the wrong tent with not you know the right amount of clothes you need to be cold your first night you need to wake up wet from condensation the next day you need

To uh accidentally you know not to put yourself in danger this but you need to get you had a tagline you used to tell me this is it embrace the suck embrace the suck you have to do so you would tell your younger self embrace the just

Do it just because that is how you’re going to learn you have to make mistakes you have to yeah you have to you’re never going to get it right the first time some of those mistakes are really going to suck and don’t quit yeah yeah they’re absolutely going to suck but just

Like if don’t let it detour you from from what you can do with it make the mistake and and use that to learn how to do it for you the comfortable way to do it for you what’s going to work for you to make you comfortable in the back country that’s

The that’s the best thing yeah just a learning experience man cool all right I’ll go and learn and learn and poop in front of people stop bringing that up I yeah thank you for the advice on again I’m like just starting this getting more and more into it I mean I

Do have that connection with you that I like it helps to be able to reach out and thanks for letting me text you silly questions but I’m glad you let me come on and just ask my silly questions in front a lot of folks and yeah tell a lot

Of folks about my favorite pooping in public and appreciate it yeah you’re not the only one you’re not alone it’s everybody all right so there you go some of my advice for some of Adam’s top fears and concerns and barriers getting into backpacking hopefully some of this

Advice can help you as you get into backpacking and on your backpacking Journey again if you want to check out some of those videos I mentioned or check out onx I’ll leave those links down below but just know that everybody goes through this learning process and

It’s all trial and error you just got to get out there you got to make mistakes and you have to learn as you go and know what’s going to work for you guys I hope you’re doing well I hope you’re taking care of yourselves I hope you’re taking

Care of each other I love you and as always thanks for Watching Pap

What are the TOP Fears & Barriers that New Backpackers want more info on?

Route Planning & Navigation – https://youtu.be/XGaIhW9AxZ0
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