Anyone into backpacking/camping?

i cant really help with a pack i have a mad oldschool one but keep it simple. get a water purifier for sure, and pack a couple nalgienes. a tiny little stove and a basic pot/pan with a couple reusable dishes. just go with the necessities. bring some moleskin as well, you'll be glad you did.

hhaha for sure. Being a thuper scout I think i could lend a helping hand. Out of all the stuff the backpack is super important. The way it fits to the curves of your back and weight to size ratio are big things. Go to REI or similar store and they will sit down and fit a backpack to your back. Don't argue with them, they usually know what they are doing. Boots are another really important thing get ones that are good and fit well or your trips will be awful. I have a lowe alpine internal frame backpack 4500 cubic inches. Caries a lot of crap. Just look for a functional backpack that fits.

backpacking is awesome. i like a backpack in the 3000 cubic inch range for most trips i take, 1 to 3 nights out. the jetboil stove is pretty hardcore, and not too expensive. of course, a good light tent (i have a sierra design i like pretty well), a decent sleeping bag (will it be getting very cold when you plan to be camping? i find my 20 degree bag is good for most nights spring through fall), a sleeping pad (thermarest is generally the way to go. i have the z-rest. the self-inflating ones are super comfortable, but i have popped a couple). other than that? a head lamp. round these parts you usually want bear spray. first aid kit. some sort of water filter. thats about it. some packable food and your good to go. its really the best.

water wise i would use some sort of chlorine purification. its easy as balls, tastes amazing and is relatively healthy.
starting out you can get really really cheap external backpacks... but if your going to get into it i reccomend using an internal bpack just because they are so much better in the long run and make your overall experience much better.
i would also reccomend using a smaller pack in the begginning just because like your probably not going to be on that long of trips, but if you wanna pack a bunch of crap its sometimes fun. i always enjoy taking my 3500cubic pack and going on long weekend trips and just take the least amount of stuff as possible.

light backpacking is actually turning into a huge hybrid of backpacking and is starting to become insane with the combinations of tents/packs/pads/stoves/bags that can be put together to just get crazy small amount of weight... kinda rambled for a bit

thanks for the help guys. My roommate is taking care of the stove, and I'm getting the water purifierer. I'm looking at the MSR MiniWorks EX FIlter. Not cheap but it looks the most legit and safe. Iv'e been checking out backpacks for awhile and am looking to spend no more then like $120. If anyone would recommend a certain one it would help alot.

Hit up an REI garage sale if you can

Prepare to spend a ton of money. All the gear adds up fast. REI makes it super easy; you can get whatever you might need from them.

north face might have a couple cheap packs (the skareb?). i had a jansport for a few years that cost no more than a hundred, and served me quite well for hundreds of miles of trail

Sorry, I didn't see this post before. Don't go with filters for your water; they don't get the viruses. I've always used idodine and never had a problem. Iodine works while you do something else, filtering takes a while for you to do it. If you don't like the taste of chemicals, AquaMira is pretty much tasteless for a little more buck. Finding a legitimate backpack for under $120 will be tough- can't help you out there. I got my REI Mars (4500 cu. in.) for $225.

I through hiked the pacific crest trail this summer. (mexico to canada, 2663 miles) So yeah, I'm kinda into backpacking.

I go really light, without food or water my pack and all my gear is about 9 pounds and will be alot lighter this summer when I switch out some gear. In my opinion the lighter my pack is the more fun I'm having. I hike in trail runners, boots just seem miserable and overkill for most things. Don't stress the unimportant things. As long as you have a sleeping bag and a shelter you have all the necessities, understand that everything else is a luxury that is nice to have but unnecessary, so only take it if it is worth the weight to you.

Here's a couple nice pics from my hike:

Near sonora pass:


Deer in the sierra


Cold Swim


nice view



Goat rocks:


[img]http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ArUhbSEwTL4/SPt2zS5-25I/AAAAAAAAI7s/k3FPdAxE3Ok/s640/mem%20card%204%20317.jpg[/img] Finally there.

fuck, i guess none of those pics worked, heres a link to most of my pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/fwinchell

(fred is my dad)

Thanks, very helpful, I know at first I'm going to make a lot of stupid mistakes especially with gear and not being prepared. I'm not retarded though, if something were to go wrong such as not having enough food I wouldn't be too far from civilization.Mainly bouldering because ropes weight a shit load. Just find what ever we can, shouldn't be too hard in estes park.

get a filter if you think you're going to drink out of a lot of ponds and really shitty water, but otherwise, just go chemical, so light and cheap. You can use straight bleach, the kind you do laundry with, just a couple drops per liter. People seriously overrate the importance of treating water. I didn't treat anything for the last 2000 miles of my hike and was fine and knew many others who did the same. You're more likely to get sick from yours or other's hands than the water. Carry hand sanitizer and know when to use it. It's also useful as a backup firestarter.

Thanks, any advice that saves me money is welcome, those pictures are sick where is that?

all taken along the pacific crest trail





while we're on advice to save money, if it's not going to rain alot on your trip and bugs are not a major issue, you can get a basic silnylon tarp like the integral designs silshelter for way cheaper than a tent and it will save you several pounds. If you go light enough, you can use a frameless backpack which is pretty cheap as well and again will save you several pounds, check out the GoLite packs for a good entry level pack. If you don't already have a stove you can cook on an alcohol stove which burns denatured alcohol; 7$ a quart at hardware stores. You can easily make your own alcohol stove from a tin can if you look online. If you don't have a cookpot you can make a great, disposable, ultralight pot from a fosters can with the top cut off. If you need to buy a rain coat, don't let them con you into something super pricey, no raincoats breath really well. The GoLite Virga for 80$ or the Marmot Precip for 100$ are perfect three season jackets, anything more than that is excessive. You can be even cheaper on rainpants, and depending on temperature, you may not even need them.

colorado is boring as shit to backpack through, go to utah, their national parkers are way sweeter.

 agree that utah is better, but your probably from colorado and im from mass. Short camping trips here have been the most fun I've ever had