Backpacking gear I wish I would’ve bought sooner

what is up everybody welcome back to the channel my name is Dan and in this video I'm going to be telling you about the backpacking gear that I 100% wish I would have bought a whole heck of a lot sooner as a matter of fact I've got nine pieces of gear we're going to be talking about in this video and the first one is a piece of gear that even brand new Backpackers that I've gone backpacking with will 100% refuse to take this piece of gear because they think for the most part that it's got some sort of a stigma attached to it that like only old back Backpackers old people who are Backpackers will be using this item trekking poles trekking poles are super helpful they will keep the weight off of your back and onto your arms as you're hiking they have multiple times stopped me from falling tripping and getting hurt on trail now I prefer the twist lock Pole to the flip block pole because they're a little bit skinnier and they're a lot easier to slide into the outside of my backpack into a water bottle pocket for Easy Storage number two is an extra collapsible water bladder probably my least favorite thing to do when I'm backpacking is filter water whenever it's time to do it I'm almost always completely exhausted and I would much rather take the time to sit down and take a break you've got to find water you've got to get to the water then you have to carry all your water bottles down to the water then you have to filter the water and then you have to carry it all the way back up to your backpack assuming you took off your backpack but what I found that makes it super easy is carrying an extra water bladder so all I do is take the water bladder to wherever the water source is scoop up the water and then bring that back to where my water bottles and filter are usually by a water source it's pretty awkward to fill up your water bottles because it's Rocky or Sandy or muddy and you're going to have to balance the water bottle the whole time and I found that it's usually a little bit easier to find less awkward places to fill up your water bottle right near the trail and the other big benefit is that you get extra water storage if you're planning on having to hike a few dry miles or you're planning on just cooking more at Camp next on the list is a trekking pole tent now I love a good double wall freestanding tent for a lot of reasons they have a lot more luxuries they're usually better with condensation they have a lot more head room and they're just easier to set up overall but I found that I actually use trkking poles on every hike no matter where I'm at so I figure I may as well put them to use at camp and save weight on my tent trekking pole tents are much lighter weight easier to set up in the rain and they actually pack up really small and since I am only pretty much sleeping in my tent I find that I don't need all the added luxuries of a freestanding tent number four a real pillow for years I used one of those blowup pillows at camp in my tent because I just wanted to save the weight but I never really got good sleep on it so finally I realized that my problem was is that I needed to mimic how I was sleeping at home in my tent and uh I don't sleep with an air pillow at home I needed essentially to trick my mind into believing that I was at home so that my body could adjust to sleeping no matter where I was at so I switched to this pillow and I have never looked back the next gear item on the list is probably the most important a satellite Communicator if you follow my Channel at all then you'll know that back in February of this year I had to get rescued from the north R of the Grand Canyon because I got something called rabdo myisis I won't get into the details on it but I'll leave a link in the description below so you can check it out if you want to now we were lucky enough to have cell service on North Rim to call 911 but I realized that if it could happen to me it could absolutely happen to anyone how many times have you fallen on trail Twisted an ankle gotten elevation sickness and every time it's happened you thought to yourself wow that was close I'm glad it didn't get any worse I know now what worse looks like and I can tell you that it 100% does happen so I'm willing to pay as much as it costs to have the ability to reach Emergency Services if I ever get in a situation like that again and it's a huge peace of mind for my family because I can connect with them at any time via text message just like I do when I'm using my cell phone when I've got cell service next on the list is good navigation how I navigate is by using an app on my phone and the app that I use is onx Backcountry and they just happen to be the sponsor of this video onx Backcountry is an app on your phone that works just like a GPS it will show you exactly where you're at on trail you can hold the phone out in front of you and point it in any direction and it will point exactly on the map which direction you're going if you're at a fork on the trail if you just step off the trail maybe you got to use the bathroom and you've kind of hiked into the woods a little bit and you get spun around you can look at your phone and it will point you exactly back to the trail or in the right direction now if you get their elite membership which is only $99 per year you can actually see private and public lands so you'll know if you're hiking in an area where you're supposed to be or not or if you're camping in an area where you're supposed to be or not so I'll put a link in the description below for onx Backcountry and they've given me a coupon code for 20% off which means that it's only going to cost you about $23 to download the app and use it another piece of gear I should have bought sooner is a large enough pot to hold all of my cooking gear it is frustrating when you have to find your pot your stove and then you have to dig around for your fuel and then you realize you have it on the outside of your backpack because the last time you cooked that's just where you threw it because you were too lazy to throw it back in your food storage bag not that I've ever done that before now the ultralight Community loves the toes 550ml pot for a couple reasons it's super lightweight and it holds 2 cups of water which is exactly the amount you need for pretty much any freeze-dried meal on the market now I've used one for many years but it only will hold a fuel canister and this super tiny BRS stove which is not my favorite stove I just don't find it to be super reliable my favorite stove is the pocket rocket Deluxe it is a little bit larger and a little bit heavier but I find it to be super reliable it has a regulator and it also has a built-in igniter so I decided to get the tokes 750ml pot because it's a little bit taller and it'll hold a fuel canister and my pocket rocket Deluxe and put a lid on it and it's still pretty lightweight and now I don't have to store my fuel or my stove separately number eight a lightweight chair there is nothing like having a great comfortable place to sit when you get to Camp after a long hi hike now they do make foam pads the foldable ones and the ones that roll up but they are super uncomfortable in my opinion all they do is pretty much take the bite out of the ground so in my opinion having a lightweight chair is by far the best now having a lightweight chair certainly is best but you're going to pay a premium for it so there's a ton of like 2B chairs on Amazon that are pretty inexpensive but if saving weight is your game then the helinox cheer zero in my opinion is the best chair out there but you are definitely going to pay a premium for it and finally fin number nine is blister tape I discovered that most new hikers that I take with me out on trail have zero intention of getting a blister so little intention actually that they don't even consider it and then guess what they get a blister and then their trip is miserable enter Luco tape a blister forms because of the shoe rubbing on your sock and your sock rubbing on your foot but the minute you put tape on your foot that's going to stop all of that rubbing so the minute you start to feel any sort of a hot spot or any pain at all in your foot stop what you're doing and bust out some tape and put it on your foot the reason I love lucco tape is because this stuff does not come off of your foot at all it will literally stay on your foot the entire hike if you've ever used something called mle Skin that stuff lasts for like an hour and then it moves off the blister area and then you're going to get a blister anyway all right I hope that helps you guys out if it did please make sure you subscribe to the channel and we'll see you on the next one

Channel: Dan Becker

Views: 347,865

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Id: ETZCoczrJLY

Length: 7min 28sec (448 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 20 2023