Backpacking Gear I Should Have Bought Sooner!

Buying the right ultralight backpacking gear is often a long process of trial and error. I share a few backpacking gear items that I wish I would have bought sooner. Lightweight gear is often expensive and many times not comfortable. I wanted to make sure the backpacking ultralight and lightweight gear I bought was not only comfortable
but worth the money spent.

THE GEAR:

MY OTHER GO TO GEAR:

MY CAMERA GEAR:

[DanBecker]

For those of you commenting about the music… I am well aware it was a terrible idea and way too loud! I’ve never put it in another video since. So thanks everyone for that suggestion and thanks for watching!

[wholemilknotchocolate]

I was on a backpacking trip this weekend and this was the first time I used trekking poles. I didn't realize how important they were until then. They made the hikes so much easier

[Komainu]

For those that scoff at trekking poles I guess they have excellent knee's and have great balance.


For everyone else- just give them a try. Watch a few videos on how to use them, and borrow a pair or buy a moderately priced well reviewed pole. I personally like Black Diamond and their flicklock system over twist to lock as they seem more durable and easier to use.


Poles will: Help with alleviating the strain on your knees (especially downhill). Help with your balance at all times (I have been saved from falling or twisting my ankle/knee so many times. Just a minor tweak can have a large negative effect on your experience). Can be used as a dual purpose item when combined with lightweight shelters that use a pole as part of its structure.

[JacquesItch]

Dan has put together another common sense, plain-spoken video. No hype, just solid information. Well done, my neighbor to the north!

[olliehopnoodle]

I have one of those chairs. It is a delicious luxury. After a long day of hiking it is so nice to have a reasonably comfortable chair. It's a bit small for me (76" tall and 200 plus pounds) but it still works. It's one of the things I can't give up. Great video!

[Jemoja]

Love your comment about trekking poles. I recently was in Scotland, and just at a tourist attraction on a wee island (iron age broch, Isle of Mousa, Shetland). Basically, you can walk around the island in about an hour. However, being Scotland, the trail goes into some dodgy terrain (including a cliff). I was stuck on the cliff trail until some other folks walked by with trekking poles on their daypack and lent me one (just one really .helps for stability). I used it, loved it and won't go back to Scotland without my own pair. .

[kellyjohnson]

Thanks to watching these you tube videos I finally got a quilt. I got the UGQ 20 degree. Took it out for the first time this past weekend in 40 degree weather overnight. I was so roast toasty. So much better than my zero degree mummy bag cuz I was always roasting too much in it or my butt was freezing cuz of unzipping it to cool down. Never get rid of it cuz it is a zero bag but the quilt will be my go-to spring, summer, fall bag. And trekking poles are awesome. They got me back on the trail after serious knee injuries. And the come in handy for so much more. Thanks for posting.

[sillllverback]

You can cut one of the sawyer bags at the bottom inside the fold of the flap, leave the cap on and fill from the bottom using it like a scoop tranfer
to an uncut sawyer bag or folding and roll the cut bag like you would a bry bag and squeeze.

[michaelpowell]

For any new to backpacking/camping people here. Temperature ratings are for "you will live at this temperature" not you will be comfortable like you are at home. For example the overnight temp last weekend for me was 33 degrees what bag did I grab? I didn't grab a 20 degree; I grabbed the 0 degree. If the temp said it would be below 25 I would have grabbed the -30 degree. Sleeping bags/quilts are definitely not a "this is your best option", it is person specific. That could be overly warm for a lot of people but for me it is comfortable.

[ArmednotTriggered]

At first I thought trekking poles were a nuisance and now I won't travel without them! They saved me from busting my butt so many times in Glacier NP. My mom didn't pack hers for a trip to Joshua Tree and she ended up getting injured. They are a must-have for slippery rocks, steep elevation points, and loose gravel.

[calvinharris]

Thanks for the info. I like the way you get straight to the point and don't yak yak yak like a lot of other people do. Thanks for not wasting my time.

[venebarcalulu]

My first video here, and I don’t usually comment, but I just loved the enthusiasm & high energy. I’m not the only one. 😂

[ToreOnYouTube]

I'm 28, and I've used poles for many years. It makes one hell of a difference. You can hike way longer, when you offload to your (before) unused arms.

[guisspino]

I love my helinox. I can understand why people don’t want to carry a chair when fast packing or covering miles. But I almost exclusively hike to a basecamp, stay for a few days, and then shoot out to different day hikes around the area. For me, after a day of hiking I want a real seat by the fire.

[secondslater]

G'day from Western Australia. FYI... A trekking pole in Australia is called a stick, generally cut from a tree when needed and then discarded when not.

I see people on my hikes using ultralight trekking poles and carrying them in conditions when they don't need to use them aka flat terrain. Their hands are tied up with ultralight trekking poles, gloves on whilst in sweltering heat to prevent blisters, sweat running down their face and getting in their eyes because they don't have a hand free to wipe it away.

I have a collection of ultralight trekking poles from walks I have done when people put them down and forget them (or simply discard them because of the nuisance they cause).

Seriously, cut a branch from a tree or collect a fallen branch, cut it to size and use it as a trekking pole when extra stability is required, and then discard the stick when it isn't needed or use it for firewood.

Saves hundreds of dollars.

[lvbuckeye]

MSR Windburner stove is my #1. I've never used a Jetboil, but that Windburner boils water in one minute flat. Expensive? Yes. Kinda bulky and heavy? Yes. But it's SO worth it. Nothing is better than eating less than ten minutes after you set up camp, and since it boils so fast, you save a bunch on fuel. I've literally been eating before a Pocket Rocket stove even achieved a boil. It's that fast.

[paulangelo]

It's called G. A. S. : Gear Acquisition Syndrome. Musicians get it too. I know. My name is Paul, and I have GAS.

[mtnbeargirl]

Great ideas. We have a permanent camping site with a tent, covered with a tarp, we let up. But watching this, , I'm going to get a quilt, and stop using all the blankets. Thank you for the video, Dan.

[HeyItsTim]

Great video Dan. This is such a huge problem for me. Knowing what to get before your experienced. I keep selling my old stuff though to avoid my wife saying, "YOU BOUGHT ANOTHER

[garrycollins]

CNOC bags are the bomb. I have 2 20 degree quilts for me and my granddaughter. When I go on very cold trips (below 20 degree) she does not go, I double them up, works great. I stuff one footbox into the other, snuggle in the inner bag and run stretch cord under my mat tying the upper quilt edges together to keep the two quilts in place. Flexible options.