Backpacks

The gear you bring along on your camping trips and outings can make all the difference in how much you enjoy yourself outdoors. If you are going backpacking in cold climates, go ahead and get a nice warm sleeping bag. Don't tourture yourself all night long because you settled for you old, thin, poorly insulated sleeping bag. And how about your backpack? Is it too big? Is it too small? Ideally, you should have a pack for long trips, a pack for short trips, and another for day hikes. If you can spare the extra money, you should plan ahead and get the right size pack for the occasion. What is your tent like? If you are going to be car camping, then the weight of you tent doesn't matter. And if you're like me, the more room in the tent the better. So, get a big tent for car camping. However, if you're going backpacking and you'll have to carry your tent, then you definitely want to go lightweight. If you're going with a group and you might be able to get one larger tent and distribute components of it throughout each of the groups packs. That way, you don't get stuck with carrying all the extra weight. If you don't sleep well on the ground, then you definitely want a sleeping pad. You can get a 3/4 mattress that will accomodate your upper body adequately and save on backpack weight.