hiking gear

[beerbaron105]

I recently moved to a new town with a pretty wellknown and awesome mountain/hiking trail called "Rattlesnake Point"... im thinking about starting some hiking there this summer because i love the outdoors and nature so much

Are there any useful guides on the net or sites where i can pack up a basic hiking kit with tent and such, food, water, tips....

any help greatly appreciated

[Andvaranaut]

If you are really serious about it, and think you'll be doing it a lot/want to spend some money, go to http://forums.backpacker.com and read up in the gear section and you'll be able to get yourself some good information. http://www.backpackgeartest.org/ is a great site for gear reviews as well.

You really don't need a tent, if you any old waterproof tarp laying around you can just use that. Look up how to tie a taut-line or trucker's hitch and you just need to tie those on two trees and you are set.

Food, use your imagination, I know for winter trips I take 2.5 pounds of food per day, which equates to 4500-5000 Calories per day. Just don't skimp on it, personally, I hate being hungry on the trail.

Water, you can use Gatorade bottles, you really don't need Nalgene's if you are just hiking around in the summer. Make sure you've got enough of it though.

If you've got any other questions feel free to ask me, I love backpacking.

[beerbaron105]

yea i wouldnt mind doing day hiking in the trails and possibly just find some random small clearing and setup an overnight trip, i probably wont do anything more then a day and one nighjt to begin with anyways since im just starting - and i want to make sure i have enough food incase something happens

how much water do you carry on an average hiking day in the summer?
and ive been on ebay and i see lots of hiking gear and military gear, are these good buys? some are priced pretty cheap.

[beerbaron105]

just wanted to add what about MRE's as a food source, those military spec "meals ready to eat"

[mntbikedude]

just wanted to add what about MRE's as a food source, those military spec "meals ready to eat"

I think MRE's are ok for like a meal but they are heavier than bringing freeze dried..

As far as equipment goes, military surplus is a good source for some equipment but alot of it is heavy out dated stuff.

As far as afordable tents go. Wenzel has one called the starlight that you can find for $29.99.
http://www.wenzelstore.com/acatalog/Sport_Tents.html

It's a good lite weight tent and theres one from Backcountry II I can't think of the who makes it. I own both of those and the backcountry is real nice and is around $99. You can spend alot on a high tec backpacking tent but both of these are afordable, easy to set up and do a good job.

[Snoopis]

I'll make a couple suggestions based on my experiences. First, try not to hike alone, and if you do hike alone, tell someone where you're going, and how long you will be gone.

I always bring a few glow sticks and a flashlight. When you pack the flashlight, pack fresh batteries separately. I usually put them in a plastic bag, close to the flashlight. I don't put them in the flashlight, because there is a chance you might bump the switch and turn it on, draining the batteries. I've had a 3-4 hour hike turn into an 8 hour hike, and it would have been a long, cold night without light to follow the trail.

Get a basic first aid kit. Bring some toilet paper(you never know!).

I usually bring some extra food and water/gatorade and leave it in a cooler in the car. You'll appreciate it after a long hike.

If you have to climb something, take a good look at it and make sure you will be able to climb back down when you return. Before you climb/jump down something, take a good luck and make sure you make it back up when you return. I almost got stuck on a mountain once because I tried to take a different route down, and I "climbed" (read:controlled fall) down two rocks, and then discovered about 50 steps later that I was at the edge of a cliff. I had to backtrack and go UP the two rocks that I had just came down, and I almost couldn't do it. I was already extremely worn out from the initial climb. I wasn't anywhere near a trail, hadn't told anyone where I was going, and there was camping allowed for 10 days, so nobody would have even wondered why my car was parked at the bottom. I probably would have died of dehydration within a few days if I hadn't been able to make it back over those two spots. I made it, but that was probably the only time in my life I've been truly scared.

[Andvaranaut]

Water depends on how hot it is. I usually bring two 1 litre water bottles on trips in the summer, you can use Gatorade bottles for that, a litre is somewhere around 32-34 ounces if memory serves me correctly. If you fill them up before you start you can usually last until you cross another stream. Purify your water with something like Aqua Mira, KlearWater or Potable Aqua to kill bacteria like Giardia. You don't want Giardia, it's gross...

MREs are heavier than bringing meals that you just need to boil water for, like Cous-Cous, Pastas, stuff like that. They will work if you really want them though.

Hiking alone on your first trip is something I wouldn't advise, but after you get some experience hiking alone is an incredible experience, all your senses are so keen and it leaves so much time for reflection and though. Personally, I love it.

Some of the equipment you can make yourself. For instance on summer trips I use a stove that I made out of three 12 ounce Diet Coke cans. All you really need is a box-cutter and some spare time to fool around. You can find the plans here (http://pcthiker.com/pages/gear/pepsistove.shtml). Mine boils water in under 6 minutes if it's not cold out. I also use a Tyvek stuff sack that I made out of a USPS Tyvek envelope, and a Tyvek ditty bag for my first aid stuff.

First aid kits are always good, mine just has basic stuff...bandaids, some Advil Liquigels, Neosporin. I can't really think of anything else you would find a dire need for if on the trail, especially on a day hike.

A backpack is something I wouldn't skimp paying for. The last thing you want is an uncomfy backpack, you have to carry it all day. Gear can really cost as little or as much as you want it to, it just depends on how much you like camping. You can get most camping stuff from Wal-Mart for really cheap prices, or you can go to a place like www.backcountry.com or www.backcountrygear.com and spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars depending on when and where you are camping.

You can IM me at clem097 if you want to talk about more stuff, I love camping :)

[bilnv]

Here is another option for gear. Sierra Trading Post (http://www.sierratradingpost.com/). You can find some good gear there at a good price. Also I use Ebay sometimes. Just make sure you know the retail price before you start bidding or you could loose your shirt.

Campmor (http://www.campmor.com/) is pretty good also but I have never ordered much from them.