Archive for the ‘Outdoor Backpack’ tag
Ways to Prepare Physically for a Backpacking Trip?
In the middle of June, I’m planning to go on a four week backpacking trip with NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School). It will involve hiking with a 60ish pound backpack in mountains at altitudes 8,000-13,000 feet. Right now I lift weights and jog 3-5 miles as often as I can (about 3-5 days a week), and in the Spring/Fall I normally ride my bike for 30 miles once a week. Still, I’m not really sure how else I can prepare for the trip. I know it’s a long ways away, but the earlier the better. Are there any good rule-of-thumb goals I could work to (such as being able to run X distance in X time, or something else like it) or any creative ideas? I’d love to hear from somebody, because I really just don’t have a lot of experience.
It sounds like you are already in pretty good shape and are doing a good job with the cardio-vascular exercise and prepartion. It sounds like you just need to focus on things that are not covered by your current exercises.
As the poster above notes, it would be good to do some practice trips with a full pack (similar to the one that you will be carrying on the trip). Making sure that you do plenty of exercises that strengthen your lower back and stomach muscles (situps, stomach crunches) will help with carrying a large pack.
Even aside from the weight itself, running or hiking without a pack is very different than with one – it takes some getting used to the lack of agility and change in your center of gravity. You should try to at least do some long weekend backpacking trips (especially if you have not backpacked before).
Another biggie based on your current exercises, is trying to get your body used to moving over rough terrain instead of flat surfaces like roads and sidewalks. This can make a big difference since hiking over rough dirt trails requires more muscle control and more joint stress than flat surfaces. I have known people that were in good running/biking shape that have had problems with weak knees and sore joints when they go on a rough trail for the first time (also a danger of falling and tripping because your feet are not used to it).
Being at that high of an altitude will also have a big impact on you (although less if you are good cardio shape, which it sounds like you are). If you don’t live at or near that elevation, than it may be hard to train for it. Try to arrive at the area where you will be hiking a couple days before your trip begins to allow your body some time to adjust.
Lastly, make sure that you are training for long term endurance and not just exercises that involve a short burst of intense energy. With either biking or hiking, make sure you do some sessions that last for multiple hours – maintaining a good pace for a long time period is more important than speed or distance. You want a lean efficient body, not necessarily a muscle-bound one. I known some weight-lifters who have very hard times on even moderate packing trips because their big muscles add so much weight and drain so many calories that they hit the wall early (they have trained themselves for short bursts of intense muscle activity rather than very long periods of moderate activity).
Sounds like a great trip – have fun!
Which brands of fabric dye/paint have high quality?
I want to decorate my black Outdoor Sports backpack with fabric paint or dye. I wanna know which brands are good and last long.
“Want to.” Say ‘wanna’ all you want to, but it is spelled “want to” — just like you did the first time you used it. Writing ‘wanna’ makes you sound whiny, which I’m guessing was probably not your goal.
Your backpack is black? How do you expect to be able to dye something that’s already so dark dye will not show? It won’t work. Fabric paint, on the other hand, can be made to work on black fabrics if you’re careful. Tulip brand is very good. You need to follow the directions for use and care exactly if you want the best results, of course, but if you do follow them carefully, your design will last a long time.
Tulip makes several kinds of fabric paint. The one that will work best for this is the “Soft” line. It comes in little bottles, not in writing tubes. You’ll need a small paintbrush to use with it. It says it’s opaque, but on black it still needs some helps. Get a bottle of the “cream” color (or off-white or eggshell, or whatever they’re calling it this week) and paint all your designs in that. Once that’s dry (give it time-and-a-half to be really dry so this will really work well — i.e., if it says 60 minutes, let it dry for 90) paint your designs with all the colors you were planning to use. Then let that dry for time-and-a-half, too. Let the pack cure before getting it wet at all. I think it says it needs to cure for a couple of days. Read the label so you get the best results possible. Have fun!
Outdoor Backpack fabrics: The Cordura fabric
What is Cordura?
Cordura is a brand name of INVISTA, that manufactures a line of different sorts of Nylon fabric. This specially woven Nylon fabric is extremely durable, has a high resistance to tearing, scuffing and abrading which makes it highly effective to use for outdoor products like backpacks. It can also be found in military apparel and upholstery or other apparel that needs to be very strong. The reason why Cordura is so strong is because it’s fabricated out of long nylon 6.6 fibers. Nylon 6.6 is a premium nylon fiber that stands out because of it’s resilience.
Why use it in an Outdoor Backpack?
As was explained, Cordura is highly resistant against all sorts of ‘outdoor abuse’ because of the fabric it’s made off. But this isn’t the only reason, it also has a great strength to weight ratio. So it can keep the backpack light while still be extremely durable. Another great benefit is that Cordura has a great water resistance. Now this does not mean that Cordura products are totally water proof, you still have to keep in mind the seams and zippers of the outdoor backpack that also need to be waterproof.
According to the Cordura website their fabric is one of the strongest available today, which means it is:
- 10X more durable than cotton duck
- 3X more durable than standard polyester
- 2X more durable than standard nylon
Before it will be used, Cordura tests the fabric to make sure it meets their quality and durability standards.
Brands that use Cordura in their outdoor backpack products include: Curtlo, Granite Gear, Big Agnes, Osprey, Mountain Hardwear, EMS, The North Face.
If you want to know more about the Cordura fabric, you can visit these websites:
A guide to pack your outdoor backpack
Packing your Outdoor Backpack for an outdoor trip is something that you shouldn’t take lightly. When you pack it the wrong way your trip is going to be a lot more difficult and maybe even irritating because the weight is distributed wrong and you end up constantly digging in your backpack looking for the stuff you need. You can use this article as a guide when packing your outdoor backpack. First of all there are a few basic rules when you pack a backpack. The stuff that weights the most should be in or on the top section of the backpack. This is for a better center of gravity and weight distribution, for more detailed info see this post about how to wear an outdoor backpack correctly.
The way that you should pack your backpack is in order of usage, but keep in mind the weight aspects. So stuff that you are less likely to use on the bottom, gear that you are going to use but not a lot in the middle and gear that you use a lot on the top of the backpack. Now this is just a basic layout, it isn’t always possible to pack this way if you want to keep the weight on top but you get idea. Make sure you make a list of the gear you want to take along, you can mark off each item as you pack it to make sure you have everything you need. It’s also a good thing to place all the gear you want to take along around the backpack in different categories based on usage, so you can actually see everything that you need to take along.
S0 lets start packing! First you start packing the gear that you almost never need or take with you just in case, put this on the bottom. Examples could be extra clothing, rain fly and any other items you might not need at all. You can also place your tent on one side, vertically so you can access is quickly at nightfall. A cooking stove if you carry it along can be placed on the other side. Use the straps on the top and the bottom of the backpack to carry the sleeping bag and your mattress. In the middle of your outdoor backpack you can put stuff like outer wear, foods, cooking gear and so on. make sure you put the rigid stuff in first and then use the clothing to fill up the gaps, this will save a lot of space. In the top of your backpack you can put the stuff that you will need most. This may include water bottles, snacks, primary clothing and so on. The exterior pockets can be used to store items that you may continuously need like a GPS device, camera, phone or any other items that you use a lot. Some outdoor backpacks have special pockets for sharp items like ice axes or other tools, so make good use of them. Your first aid kit should be either in the big exterior pocket or in your backpack on top to ensure easy, fast access. This is just an example of how you could pack your backpack, how you do it depends on the stuff that you carry along and also on the environment you will be hiking in. For example in more wet environments you wouldn’t place your sleeping bag outside of your pack. There are a lot of ways to pack your backpack right, be sure to pack in order of usage and keep in mind that most of the heavy stuff must go in the top section and the lighter stuff on the bottom. It’s always a bit of give and take between usage and weight but it’s always better then creating the center of gravity on the bottom of your backpack. At the end, put your backpack on and adjust it to the load. Tighten the hip belt and then the shoulder straps, for more info on adjusting your outdoor backpack, take a look here.
Another interesting article on packing your outdoor backpack:
How To Decide What Goes in Your Hiking Backpack - Whether you are going for a day hike or backpacking on a trip that will take a couple of days or more, the following are just a few of the very important items that must be present in your hiking backpack. Needless to say, you…..
Finally:Good instruction on how to wear your outdoor backpack
Hi everyone, Today i came across a great(must see!) instruction video on how to wear your outdoor backpack. The video also describes clearly how to distribute the weight and maybe even better: why it is done this way…
The video runs for 8+ minutes but if you watch it all the way through, you’ll never complain about pain in your back or shoulders again, or at least not because of your poorly loaded outdoor backpack! Have fun.
Choosing the right outdoor backpack
Welcome to the Outdoor Backpack blog. On this blog you will find products and information that will help you find the right backpack for your needs. There are so many different outdoor activities and most of them require different sorts of backpacks. You may need an outdoor backpack for your hiking trip, need a good waterproof backpack for your kayak trip or simply a backpack beach chair that you can use if you like to travel along a beach. For all these purposes you can find a great outdoor backpack and we will help you find the right one. On this blog we also place articles about girls backpacks and even dog backpacks. You can find articles about adjusting your backpack, ideas on how to pack it and much more tips that you may find helpful.
The first thing you need to ask yourself when searching for an outdoor backpack is what will i use it for? Is it for a hiking trip, a one day trip or one of several days that may need to carry a tent and sleeping bag. Are you going to expose your outdoor backpack to a constant wet environment like a water sport environment, then you most likely want a good waterproof backpack. If you are going on a more challenging trip you may need to have a hydration pack in your outdoor backpack. So it’s really important that you look at the type of usage when you buy your outdoor backpack first.
The second thing you can look at is how much you are going to use it. Is it for a one time event or am i going to use it more often? These questions help you to determine weather you need a high quality backpack or perhaps a backpack of a somewhat lower quality and price will do just fine. This may sound logical, but your outdoor backpack must fit you well. A backpack that doesn’t fit you well leaves you with a lot of back pain and can really spoil your outdoor trip, so make sure it meets some of the basic requirements. One of those requirements is that it is an outdoor backpack with a waist band. If you adjust it correctly the waist band will fit tightly on your hips so you carry the weight of the backpack on your hips and not on your shoulders and back. This can save you a lot of back pain on a longer trip. The outdoor backpack also needs to be adjustable. The shoulder bands should be adjustable to your length. An outdoor backpack can have many sizes and shapes, choose the one that fits your needs, depending on the stuff that you need to take along on your trip.
Some backpacks are accessible through zippers on the top, back and even bottom. A bottom zipper can be real handy if you need an item that is on the bottom of the backpack so you don’t need to empty the entire backpack to get it. Also look at the different compartments an outdoor backpack has. This is also something that varies a lot between the different types of backpacks. You may need a few compartments to store a mobile phone, water bottles, gps, and so on. Look at the things you will carry along and what compartment storage you will need.
There are many different brands of outdoor backpacks, each of them have there advantages and disadvantages, some of them are cheap and some of them are expensive. Which brand and price you want also depends on usage and budget. But it’s a fact that a good quality outdoor backpack is a great investment and can last a long time. That’s why it’s a good thing to spend some time when you are looking for your outdoor backpack, it can save you a lot of trouble later on. So there is a lot to consider when you buy your outdoor backpack, we hope this article helped you in some way to choose the right one, just take a look around this blog,we will be placing new articles and great outdoor backpack offers frequently. Good luck and have a great outdoor adventure!
More interesting articles about an outdoor backpack:
- Backpack Straps – The problem with external-frame backpack is the center of gravity is very high and away from the body as a result of the instability. Maintain balance especially when climbing uphill is not an easy task with external-frame backpacks. …
- Finding the best hiking backpack to suit you – Choosing the best hiking backpack to suit your needs is actually easy if you know how, but you need to have the right information to do that. If you’re like many people who backpack, you have lots of different backpacks for many different situations…..
- 4 great tips to choose the best hiking backpack – Even for the casual hiker, the hiking backpack is absolutely essential. Whether you are hiking a trail alone, going cross-country with a group, or following a guide, your backpack carries the things needed to make your hiking trip a fun, safe, and enjoyable experience. The first thing to realize is that not all hiking backpacks are created equally. there are many, many choices out there in hiking backpacks….
Adjusting and fitting your Outdoor Backpack video
Hi everyone,
I found a good instruction video on properly fitting and adjusting an outdoor backpack. Doing this the right way can prevent pain in the lower back or shoulders, so you can have more fun, not pain when you go outdoors. Just watch the video, hope you enjoy it and helps you adjust your outdoor backpack!