Travel Gear Mistakes Beginners Make & How To Avoid Them

The best travel gear will make your life easier in ways you don’t even notice. We’re here to share nine tips that will help you choose the right gear and travel smarter.

0:00 - Intro
0:34 - Getting G.A.S.
1:38 - Ignoring Quality
2:41 - Minimizing Measurements
4:20 - Forgetting About Fit
5:18 - Ignoring Ounces
6:18 - Missing Details
7:20 - Skipping Seasonality
8:16 - Foregoing Research
9:18 - Neglecting Your Gear

PRODUCTS MENTIONED

From backpacks to multitools, choosing the right travel gear is key to ensuring your trip goes smoothly. In this video, we’ll walk you through nine common gear mistakes and explain how to avoid them. Whether you’re already into one bag travel or are tired of bringing a second suitcase just to accommodate gear you never end up using, there are always ways to become a more efficient traveler. So, grab a notebook and get ready to jot down these tips that will help you make smarter choices before you even hit the road.

#travelgear #onebagtravel #packinghacks

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[palierto]

Hoodie fatigue. A layer with a hoodie alone can be a great thing for a windy walk or a chilly morning but when all (or a lot) of your layers has a hood, you start to have a lump of fabric that feels like you are hiking through town with a pillow between the pack and your head.

[blakew]

You touched on it, but it deserves its own point. Don’t settle for something you’re iffy about just because it’s on sale.

That EXPENSIVE jacket you’ve waited for the sale on? Spend the extra $100, or whatever, on the color you really want versus settling for the one on clearance. You’re more likely to use it, and you’re less likely to regret the purchase, and you’ll look better in it.

[rstainsbury]

“It can be a beach towel on the sand, a rag or a face cloth”
*Yeah, but not in that order!*

[Smootus]

Key point….unpack, clean, wash, repair everything as soon as you get back home….. and repairs on the go sometimes need a “ redo” ….

[DeputatKaktus]

Never, ever have anything loosely dangle on the outside of your pack. This might be OK if you are on a trail hike but deffo not at the airport or train station. Anything dangling around will not only annoy other people to no end - there is a real chance it will get lost or snag on something (or someone), resulting in some sort of damage. That said, the more mission critical your item is, the more you should go for quality. The motto is "Buy once, cry once". Also: Your gear should adapt to you, not the other way round. What may look like a neat idea on that shiny catalog page / website at 11 pm at night when you're cozy on your couch might turn out impractical, unusable or annoying out there in the real world. If needed, customize your gear. Nothing is set in stone.

[blackmoon]

One of my favorite hacks came to me when I was on a language study trip in kyoto. It was during winter, and it had been a very dry winter, to the point that locals, when they heard us talking about the weather were bringing up that normally there was a lot more snow. Well, we were all feeling it when we went to sleep. or rather, woke up.

this would be where the humidifiers would get pulled out. But we worked out, if you had a shower at night, and then, once done using your towel, you actually dampened it more, and squeezed out enough water to stop it from dripping, turned on the heater to a low temp, then hung it up where you sleep (as close to you as possible, but if you get it in line with the heater, it also helps a bit), it did the exact same job as a humidifier, for those who are not normally suseptable to dryer environments at least.

Extra bonus - for the weather we were expierencing, the towel would be bone dry by morning, so if you were someone who had their shower first thing, you still had a dry towel. Poor traveler's humidfier, and chances are you already have it among your other gear when you travel. unless you need an actual humidfier for other reasons, or are someone who is normally very suseptable to dryer weather, this does perfectly well for the unexpectedly dry nights.

[RoadRage]

Modularity is nice. I have a backpack I use for work that has my work essentials in it all organized in bags and pouches. I know what to add or remove for mission critical items for work. If I am traveling for work, I know which pre packed cubes I need to add in and grab my cube that has my travel necessities in it. It took me a while to figure out what I need and what I don't, but now it saves me hours for packing up to leave and if it is an emergency, I can be ready to go on short notice. I applied the same theory to my vacation/hiking/camping pack setups. The necessities stay in the bag ready to go and everything else is neatly organized in its own bag/container/cube or other appropriate storage item. It sounds like it adds weight but after perfecting it and realizing what is important and what isn't I have shaved several pounds off my pack.

[BucketListTravellers]

Great point about measuring your body so your gear fits to your actual dimensions. This would make a big improvement to comfort, particularly as we move around reasonably frequently.

[DGALV]

Design/color should be considered as well, I bought an Oakley backpack with a camo design for a trip to the Caribbean and was told by their customs that they don't allow camouflage prints because of their military

[sassytbc]

These types of videos are so helpful. I am Planning a trip to Scandinavia, and am only allowed 20 lbs carryon, including my bags. Weighing each item is a huge help.

[ilostwaldo]

Getting familiar with your gear is easily underrated. I'm still kicking myself over naiveté with my Patagonia Nano puff jacket. Somehow, I managed to be blissfully ignorant of it's ability to pack into its pocket until AFTER the 2 month backpacking trip it was purchased for. I was too focused on weight saving 🤦‍♀️

[gary-pvvz]

Re head circumference for hats, hats with a leather sweatband will eventually become smaller as the leather shrinks through use. It’s always better to go up a half or full size. To get a good fit fold up some tissue or paper towel and insert it between the hatband and the hat fabric. Do this at the *back* of the hat not the side. Now your hat fits and if the band shrinks just remove the folded paper. Simple and easy. Does not apply with cloth hat bands.

[ThatCleanMT]

Huge peeve of mine which you touched on. Having tons of shit hanging off a persons bag with carabiners. It not only looks ridiculous, it’s unsightly, disorganized and gets in the way. I went on a group trip down the Cali Coast with friends and one sloppily packed his bag and had almost exactly the amount of shit you showed the guy in this video with. We flew home at the end of the trip and his bag slowed us down during tsa since they scrutinized the hell out of his bag and all the dangling things from it.

[JoshAbenojar]

Love your content! I always get great ideas on how to travel more efficiently! It'll definitely help me in the future when i travel to different countries and make new content for my channel! thanks for the quality video as always!

[PackHacker]

Thanks for the support, Miguel!

- Austin

[JustJessee]

Could we get a video that breaks down a lot of the common, but misunderstood, pack features like the "Pig Snout"? I've had so many backpacks over the years and there always seems to be some aspect of them that I stare at and have no idea what the through process was that went into its inclusion. I'm sure there's enough to fill a video to break down these things, their names, and intended uses.

[jamesbrincefield]

Another tip for jackets. A high-quality jacket lasts forever so higher-end brands like Arc’teryx and Patagonia sell lightly used jackets in addition to new ones and you can get some crazy good deals like that if you check it frequently. If I need it immediately obviously I’ll just buy it, but if there’s no rush I’ll look for gaps in my wardrobe and check every few weeks throughout the year to see if there are any deals that are too good to pass up on and it seems to work pretty well. I’ve probably saved over a thousand dollars by buying things on there that I would have ended up buying at full price once fall/winter came around anyway.

[frogturtle]

best lesson I’ve learned is just spend time on Reddit lol. Any item you can think to carry has been talked about by numerous people, and you can use their experiences like reviews to decide for yourself

But it can be a double-edged sword as sometimes a piece of gear everyone says to buy may be a bad purchase for your specific needs

[mechkitten]

Buying narrow shoes was a game changer. Thank you Brooks for offering great shoes in narrow widths!

[nadrile]

It’s a small thing, but in Fjällräven, the ä is spelled pretty much exactly like ‘a’ in bad, bat, man or “bad Batman”!

Packing mistakes:
- just in case extra clothing, also not taking some extra clothing in case. It’s a mixed batch depending on activity. Also for some situations a fleece blanket is much versatile, better, smaller and warmer option than a warm hoodie.
- elastic paracord might be better option than carabiners for hanging stuff on backpacks.
- not having proper clothes if the weather gets wet, windy and cold in warm climates.
- too short charging cable
- Packing too full, not having a small pouch for tech that can be used as a sling or hip pouch.