Backpacking Gear You Should Buy First And Why

hey what's going on guys Devin here with backcountry exposure I want to talk about five gear items for backpacking that I feel like when you first start out should be the gear items that you invest in first to ensure that you have a great experience on the trail now before we dive into this there is going to be a bonus item so make sure you stick to the end to be able to see what that bonus item is but also this is a discussion that is very much focused on investing in gear that fits within your budget that's a really important part of this because the gear items that I'm about to show you may not fit within your budget or you may not be interested in these particular items so just know that your personal investment is different for every single person and what you choose to buy should be the right piece of gear for you but I feel like these five and the bonus items should be the first items that you invest the most into in your backpacking system the first item is going to be your backpack a backpack is the key part of a backpacking experience that's why it's called backpacking you are loading all of your gear into a beautiful piece of equipment to put on your back and this happens to be the Gregory Zulu 40 so far I love this pack it's been really great fit for me but your investment into a pack will make or break your backpacking experience if you just jump into something and buy it off of any website without trying it on or you don't really know what you're looking for you purchase the wrong size those kinds of things man you are not going to enjoy yourself on the trail because it's going to fit weird on your back it's going to put pressure in weird places it's not going to be a fun time and so a backpack really should be the first thing that you invest in and make sure that it fits you properly so that you have a good experience the second piece of gear that you should spend your money on invest in to get something that's really good is a proper shelter for your area where you're going to be backpacking the environment the conditions that you anticipate to expect here in Utah it's very dry and so we do have pretty big rainstorms that come in but they don't last the same kind of way that they do out on the East Coast or up in the Pacific Northwest that kind of scenario and so make sure that you take time to really research and find a shelter that fits within your budget but also gives you the protection that you're going to need for the environment and the conditions that you will experience in your particular area that may be a hammock that also may be a tent whichever is your preference hammocks are great and they have a lot of different options to be able to do something that gives you really good weather protection but if being a ground dweller and using a tent is your is your jam then go with the tent and find something that fits you fits your gear and is going to protect you from the elements and the weather that you will experience the next piece of gear for you to spend your money on and really invest in to make sure that you are comfortable in the backcountry is a good solid sleeping bag again spend what your budget allows and get the best piece of gear possible for your budget that could be a quilt like this ugq bandit quilt or it could be something off of Amazon that is kind of a more generic brand it may be synthetic fill which could be a benefit for the area that you are backpacking in because down like I've got here in this if it gets wet then it loses its ability to keep you warm so synthetic could be a good option for you and also save you money by doing that but invest in a good sleeping bag something that's going to keep you nice and warm for the conditions that you're going to experience very often people will talk about that are new backpackers that I bought a thirty degree bag and I got down into freezing temperatures and I was cold not every sleeping bag manufacturer has their degree ratings as a comfort rating very often they are set up as a cold rating so if it's 30 degrees as a cold rating then 4045 degrees is going to be your comfort rating most likely with that particular sleeping bag so it is important to do your research and even email ask questions talk to other people on forums that may have used that product and make sure that you understand that okay this 20 degree bandit top quilt this is a 20 degree comfort rating it's not a cold rating and so I know that to compare to maybe a Z packs or two outdoor vitals or to Perea outdoor products whatever it is if I am going to invest in a bag make sure you do your research to get the right temperature rating for the conditions that you will be sleeping in whether it's only summer or three season and even adding winter into that to make sure that you stay warm and comfortable in the backcountry now the next piece of gear to talk about is a proper sleeping pad again for the conditions that you plan to experience while out on the trail there are hundreds of different sleeping pads for you to choose from and they all are going to have different features different thicknesses different temperature ratings are value ratings that can be pretty complicated but I'm trying to create some kind of trend or theme here that these big three items that we're talking about right now really need to fit your style your system your conditions and environment so that you can ensure a safe and happy and awesome backpacking trip so this is the Nemo tensor Alpine this is a four-season sleeping pad overkill for summer use only this is a highly insulated pad so I may not need to purchase this if I never intend to do any four season backpacking if I am a weekend warrior that does simply in solely summer trips then I am going to probably invest in a pad that doesn't have any insulation in it and that's going to keep me warm and comfortable for my time on the trail if you are going to be doing three season backpacking then getting an insulated pad maybe not this extreme but just a basic insulated pad that has an r-value of at least three it's gonna be a good way to go to keep you nice and warm and comfortable another option that is really inexpensive is to go with a closed cell foam pad that could be the therm-a-rest z light that is that accordion style type of pad or the Nemo switchback there's even the Big Agnes option or the super cheap like ten dollar closed cell foam roll-up pad from Walmart lots of different options out there but invest in a pad that is going to be long enough wide enough for your body type and is going to keep you warm or comfortable for the weather and temperatures that you plan to experience now I intentionally talked about the big three items at first because I do feel like those are really important pieces of gear that you should invest in first they are your most expensive pieces of gear your most bulky most important pieces of gear in my opinion for you to spend the bulk of your money on everything else you can go way more inexpensive with and invest in more expensive things later in that kind of stuff but to follow the theme of safety and comfort items of items that you should invest in first before anything else is going to be a proper water filter system this could be a myriad of different options different products I just happen to have the hydro blue versa Flo hollow fiber filter and the NOK vecto 2-liter water bag you could get the ever-new bag you could use the Sawyer bags you could buy the Sawyer mini you could buy gosh a UV filter like a SteriPEN you could not take a water filter and just use aqua mirror drops there's so many options of things to do but invest in something that's going to work for you and be what you want to use I love the versa flow it's been a fantastic filter it's never failed me it's inexpensive I can get it in a kit for 30 bucks I can spend 20 bucks and get this awesome water bag this system together is fantastic you saw your mini the Sawyer squeeze the sawyer micro all of those are great as well aqua mirror drops there are other options out there as well but invest in a quality water filter system now let's talk about the bonus item for you to make sure that you're investing in and I feel like this is an item that gets skipped on quite a bit from people but I want you to invest in a medkit that fits within your medical training your medical understanding of first-aid and have a kit with you so that you can take care of yourself in the backcountry if you get hurt it just drives me nuts when I get on and watch a video and people are like oh yeah duct tape and two band-aids and some superglue is a medical kit no it's not there's not a med kit a med kit is something that is going to allow you to treat cuts scrapes bruises ah just all of the the things in first aid and it's worth carrying that extra weight to have a proper kit to be able to take care of the things that you might experience in the backcountry if you get a massive cut and an infection in the backcountry and he didn't bring anything to be able to take care of that man that would suck I would not want to be the person that said I told you so securing a good high-quality med kit could be a premade kit it could be something you put together yourself it doesn't really matter just have something more than a couple band-aids and duct tape that is not a first aid kit first aid kit needs to have all of the elements to be able to properly take care of injuries and cuts and medical things in the backcountry well guys that is the five and bonus item of backpacking gear items that you should invest in first when you first start backpacking it could be whatever you want there's a bunch of links down in the description to be able to go through and sift through some different options would love for you to use those links as they do support the channel thank you for watching guys if you're not subscribed to the channel please do subscribe I hope you have an awesome day we'll catch y'all in the next video see you later

Channel: Backcountry Exposure

Views: 157,326

Rating: 4.6250553 out of 5

Keywords: backpacking gear, beginner backpacking, learn how to backpacking, learning to backpack, ultralight backpacking, sleeping pads, best backpacking sleeping pad, best sleeping bag, down vs synthetic, outdoors, adventure, cheap backpacking gear, budget backpacking, camping, hiking

Id: g-tuflHxun0

Length: 11min 24sec (684 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 31 2019