Hi everyone,

It’s that time of the year again when you can get a outdoor backpack for dirt cheap. Altrec.com is having their semi anual sale again and this is a great opportunity to buy a great pack(or other outdoors stuff) online.

Altrec offers a wide variety of outdoor gear including backpacks of the top brands like JanSport, High Sierra and Mountain Hardwear. It doesn’t matter what you’re looking for they have weekend packs, daypacks, hydration packs, school backpacks and even dog backpacks for discounts between 10 and 60% off.

As i said, Altrec.com is specialized in gear and clothing used for outdoor activities like camping, hiking, climbing, surfing, wintersport gear and so on. So if you need anything for these outdoor activities pay them a visit and take a look around, i bet there is something there that you need for far less the price you pay elsewhere.

Go to the semi anual Altrec.com sale.

Happy shopping!

(Disclosure note: If you choose to buy from Altrec.com through the link on this site, i will be compensated. However, this article is in no way written to make you buy stuff, this article is to inform you on great outdoor backpack discount deals.)

Hi everyone,

I just stumbled upon this you tube video on outdoor backpack essential gear. The reason that i want to share it on the blog is because it shows some essential items that almost everybody uses or should at least bring along on every backpacking trip. The gear items are mainly basic stuff that most of you carry along but there are some great tips here especially for beginners in this video. To be honest, i learned some new things myself from this short video, hope you enjoy!

If you ever think about learning more about the outdoors and perfecting your outdoor backpack skills, think no more, take a class at NOLS. NOLS stands for National Outdoor Leadership School. It’s a non profit educational organization that teaches people of all ages technical outdoor skills, leadership and environmental ethics. And all this in “natures classroom”, meaning that their courses are given in nature itself around the world.

NOLS was founded in 1965 by mountaineer Paul Petzoldt. The courses that they offer range in length from 10 days to a full academic year and are pointed at people that want to learn how to lead. The way they try to accomplish that is the learn-by-doing approach that teaches students competence and responsibility that will last a lifetime. If you take a look at the website of NOLS you will find that they have a wide variety of courses to offer, all around the world. Just to name a few courses: Backpacking, mountaineering,rock climbing and wilderness medicine. Natures classrooms are located in the United States, Australia, South America,India and Scandinavia.

Some of the skills that are thought on these courses are leadership outdoor skills, learning to work effectively in a group and all of the technical skills that are required when you are out in the wilderness. These courses are given to you by highly experienced and motivated instructors with a love for the outdoors. There are many more things to see and learn from the NOLS website, you can visited them at NOLS.edu. I’ve embedded an introduction video from them below. If you want to learn how to become a leader, or take your outdoor backpack skills to a higher level, NOLS is certainly the place to find that.

As one of the students says in the video:“I wrote a letter home to my parents, trying to explain what I’ve been doing every day. I told them what we’ve been eating and where we’ve camped every day. I can describe all those things to my parents. What i struggled with was how to tell my parents what it meant for me to be able to do all these things.. and.. there are hardly words to describe what it’s like to wake up every day and think: something crazy cool is going to happen today!”

To me that just says it all, have fun everyone!

If you want to do some homework on buying an outdoor backpack you will be glad to see this video. It’s from backpackers magazine and explains almost everything there is to know about buying a backpack and what you should look for. Have Fun!

I know that there’s like REI, Northface, and Any Mountain. Any more else that are are popular. Also do you know if REI and Any Mountain have gift cards?

I’d try Dick’s Sporting Goods or Gander Mountain. you could also try online shops like Cabella’s.

Hi everyone,

I want to drop a quick post about ultra light backpacking, found a few great articles on the net that give you some good info on the subject. Outdoor backpack trips can be a lot less demanding when you know how to pack light. This can be done easily, you just have to know how, just read this post i found and save your back!

Hiking Light – Pack Lighter by Reducing the Weight of Your …

When you are going on a outdoor backpack trip all you can think off is how great and relaxing it will be. And so it should be, when you take a little time to prepare yourself for the trip when it comes to safety. Many accidents happen to outdoor enthusiasts that didn’t prepare for the trip in the wild. There are many things you can do up front to make your adventure as save as possible but in this article we will talk about 5 of the most important things you can do to increase your safety when going on a outdoor backpack adventure.

1. Make a plan, know your environment.

When you know what kind of area you will hike in, take the time to learn more about that area. Things you can look up are: local wildlife you should avoid, weather conditions, detailed map of the area. Try to contact the local ranger and ask them if there is anything else you should be aware of when you hike in the area. When you know all this, packing your backpack will also be more adjusted to the area.

2. Water and Food

It may sound silly, but think about how much water and food you are going to need for your trip, if you run short…well we all know where that ends. A common question is how much water you should carry along, because water also brings more weight. A common rule here is that you should drink about one gallon(4 liters) a day in a hot environment. You can also choose to drink from the rivers/streams that you encounter to spare water, but never drink this before you boiled it or treated it with iodine tablets and filters. Drinking water that was not purified can result in sickness, so bad that you are unable to continue the hike.

Food is also an important thing you should think about. Try to pack some high energy foods, salty snacks and complete meals along. Both food and water keep you energized and make sure your body stays fit to complete the hike. A good tip here is to pack your food items in a sealed bag or container. Local wild life may smell your food and come in for a closer investigation, resulting in injury or worse and loss of food.

3. Think about your Fire source

When you go on a outdoor backpack trip, never forget to bring something along that allows you to start a fire. Whether it is for heating, cooking or just a warm cozy fireplace at night think about it. You can ask the local ranger about the regulations in your hiking area regarding fireplaces. He can also advice you what kind of wood will give you the best fires if you don’t know this and if there are any existing fire places in the area. When you choose to bring matches, make sure you pack them waterproof or you wont have a fire at all. Some areas are known to get very cold during the night even though they are hot during daytime.

4. First aid kit and knowledge

Always bring along a first aid kit and if necessary update it with special items used for outdoor injuries. With this first aid kit also bring along a cell phone. When first aid is not sufficient you may need outside help. Again, you can ask the local ranger if there are special measures you should take in the area of first aid or any encountered emergencies. It’s also life saving to know what to do with the first aid kid, so take lessons and bring your first aid knowledge up to date. If you are going to hike as a group, there should be more then one person that knows first aid. If this person gets injured now one will know what to do.

5. Never go on a hike alone

Going on a outdoor backpack adventure all by yourself is never a good plan. If you get lost, or injured it is much harder to get back than in the safety of a group. And even if you carry a cell phone rescuers may not get to you in time, if you hike in a group others can start immediately with first aid care or guide rescuers to the spot. Even when you hike in a group, let the homefront know where you are going and which route you are planning to take and when you think you will be back. Also inform the local ranger of these things.

These are just a few tips to make your outdoor backpack adventure a little more safe so it can be a lot of fun in stead of a disaster. If you have any additional tips please don’t hesitate to comment on this post.

Most backpacks can get real dirty after a longer period of use, some even so dirty that you would seriously consider buying a new one because all hope of getting it clean and smell good has been lost. On top of that outdoor backpack cleaning isn’t exactly the most exiting thing you can do with your time. So i have put together a few tips for outdoor backpack cleaning that will make the job a little bit easier and maybe even bring new hope for your “dirty smelly backpack”.

First things first, i want to tell you how you should not clean your backpack. Never put it in the washing machine. Even on the lowest temperature and on the delicate cycle most backpacks cannot endure this. It can bring damage to the seams, sometimes there is a chemical waterproof layer that will fall apart or the different laminate layers of your backpack will melt or stick together. So only use this method if the label says you can, or when all else fails. For the dryer it’s the same story, always check the label if it is possible to machine dry your backpack, most backpacks won’t survive this, due to the high temperature and the rolling around in the machine.

Oke so lets start with the right cleaning method.

First we start with the vacuum cleaner. Make sure that you suck all the loose dirt out of the inside of the backpack and also out of all the exterior pockets. You do this first so you wont rub even more dirt into your backpack when cleaning it. If you have any sand or other dry dirt on your backpack, try to rub it off with a brush or anything like that and vacuum clean it again. You can use one of the vacuum attachments for this, or do it at the local car wash.

After the vacuum cleaning it’s time for the real cleaning. What you need for this is a bucket or something else to put in some hand warm water. As a cleaning substance i always use dishwasher cleaner with degreaser. You can use about 2 tablespoons on a bucket. You’re also going to need a sponge or rag or something. You then start cleaning the inside of the backpack first. Dampen the sponge or rag with the cleaning water and begin to wipe the backpack clean. Do this for as long as you need to, just make sure that you clean the sponge or rag many times so you do not spread the dirty water all over your backpack, use fresh cleaning water if you have to.

For the outside of the backpack you do the same thing. Again, use clean water, if you use dirty water the only thing you’ll do is wipe in the dirty water. If your sponge or brush can’t get into the smaller pockets of your backpack, use an old toothbrush to get into those little corners. Once this is done inside and out, do it all over again but this time with pure water and no cleaning substance. This is to get rid of any soapy water and remaing dirt water. Ring out the rag or sponge because we don’t want to soak the backpack material with water.

When you are done it’s time to dry the bag. You can hang it upside down on a line, preferably outside where the wind will help drying it through and through. If the weather conditions don’t allow it you can hang it indoors, but make sure it has enough “breathing” area so it won’t get smelly after all.

That was it, if you use this outdoor backpack cleaning method on a regular basis it won’t take too much time and it will extend the lifetime of your backpack. Hope this article was useful, if you have any cleaning tips of your own, please share them in the comment section down below.