Backpacking Nightmares: What NOT to do

what on Earth is this guy carrying I asked and you well you speculated and today we're going to break it down hey everyone Stephen here with my life outdoors and it's been a long time since I did an intro like that I bet some of you didn't even know my real name today we're talking about everything you shouldn't carry or do on a backpacking trip but instead of just coming up with a list which I try to do but I wasn't happy with I decided to pick on this poor guy who I found on a stock video website which means it's okay because he's just an actor he's never actually tried to go backpacking but I didn't stop there I decided to drag you into this and invited you to pick on this poor guy because I see stuff like this all the time and airports and magazines mostly from tourism departments who hire a video production team who has never been backpacking a day in their lives but decide that they can make some believable backpacking footage so they hire an actor throw a pack on and a rolled up sleeping pad to signal to you this guy is an on no Day hike no sir he's backpacking see here backpacking backpacking backpacking weight what's this guy doing is he on a Day hike or is he backpacking we don't know because we can't see his rolled up sleeping pad and so that's the first thing I'm going to pick on is this cheap uncomfortable and cold foam pad that this guy's carrying which look if that's all you got then no judgment here but as Dudley jarbone points out not only is this pad going to be uncomfortable but the main problem is it's only got an R value of 1.4 which if you don't know your sleeping pad is half of what keeps you warm at night and your sleeping bag simply can't do it because you crush the insulation when you lay on it and an R value of 1.4 is only going to be good for warm summer nights at low altitude which if that's all you're doing then fine but at least spend a little bit more and get something like the climate static V which has the same R value but is much more comfortable and takes up a fraction of the space but if you just don't want to spend the money at least get one of these folding Z Light pads that has an R value of two for just a few bucks more and ultimately compacts more because these rolled up pads are always wanting to come unrolled okay emberlight points out that his low lifter straps are not tightened look notice how his pack is leaning so far back that it's only going to cause pain as he carries what looks like a considerable amount of weight but these straps right here are called load lifter or magic straps and they're used to not only lift the load slightly off your shoulders but Pull It in close to your back the closer the weight is to your back the more comfortable it's going to be all this guy needs to do is cinch these straps down and this pack is going to be 10 times more comfortable I guarantee it speaking of straps cyber X4 points out that his hip belt isn't tight in this shot but I also notice that sometimes he doesn't even fasten his hip belt at all which means there probably isn't really any actual gear in this pack it's just a prop for the video but ignoring that and assuming that this thing is actually full of gear it's got to be something like 50 pounds or more which there's nothing wrong with a heavy pack hike your own hike but I don't care who you are that is going to take a toll leaving you sucked of energy at the end of the day and before you jump into the comments and say 50 pounds really isn't that much there is a reason why Airlines limit your check bag to just 50 pounds so they don't have to subject their employees to lifting that much weight over and over again and the problem is probably things like this metal water bottle that has to weigh something like five to ten ounces on its own not to mention that what is that it's like a leader at the most not even that it's not even enough water especially for as much weight as this guy is carrying unless he's stopping to filter every couple of miles and maybe he has to because how does this guy even access his water it's it's not in a pocket or a bladder I mean it's clipped onto the outside of his pack which okay fine that's what you want to do but how is he going to reach it and all the videos I see this guy is by himself except for well maybe the camera guy maybe the camera guy is going to get his water for him seriously though you don't have to carry a metal water bottle or even a now Gene for that matter just get a couple of smart water bottles and I get asked all the time why smart water bottles the main reason is they have a standard 28 millimeter thread size and they are light and durable the 28 millimeter thread size is important because that is what fits on most squeeze style water filters and the plastic is really durable it's not those kind of crinkly type plastic water bottles that you see all the time which means you can reuse these over and over again in fact I've got some that I've been using for over a year so don't waste your money on a water bottle that won't even screw on your filter just get yourself some smart water bottles but my favorite thing is what idler points out he's wearing a polo shirt and it's kind of hard to tell but it seems to be a cotton polo shirt which is just a big No-No when it comes to backpacking look cotton retains moisture and it holds that moisture next to your skin and it takes forever to dry synthetics and wool actually Wick moisture away from the body they dry quickly and ultimately will keep you warmer and cold weather because your skin isn't wet and they will keep you cooler and warm weather because the evaporation actively cools the area this is the reason why professional sports teams aren't running around in Cotton jerseys I don't spend a ton of time talking about clothing on this channel but the right clothing is an important part of backpacking I like to wear a simple synthetic t-shirt but a lot of Backpackers prefer a sun hoodie like this one the Moosejaw sells from Outdoor Research a good Sun hoodie will not only keep you cool and Wick away moisture but it'll block the Sun from hitting your arms and the back your neck in fact moose Shaw carries everything thing you need to be properly outfitted for backpacking weather is just a synthetic t-shirt a sun hoodie both ultra light and traditional backpacks tense sleeping pads and more they have everything you need and if you use a code mlomj which stands for my life outdoors and moosha you'll get 10 off most things moose shot sells five percent off things that are already on sale some exclusions do apply go check them out through the link in the description get the stuff that you need while helping support this Channel at the same time now speaking of clothing I'm just going to assume this guy has at least one extra pair of clothes in his backpack because yep look here he's wearing a different shirt now everyone needs to hike their own hike but I will say you really don't need an extra set of clothes and almost 20 years of backpacking you know how many times I've changed clothes while out on the trail never once look you're going to be dirty and smelly and a change of clothes really isn't going to help that much so free up some space and the extra weight and just don't bring the extra clothes but the thing that I find the funniest about this guy is he seems to be lost a lot if you notice he's got a map out on almost every single shot or or maybe he's just reading an article on five ways to line your low like Jon Stewart's 63-49 suggests but I'm going to say he's lost because if you look here he stopped to kneel in order to help Orient himself and he's even got his Compass out which is my favorite part because in several of these shots he's wearing his Compass around his neck which means he must be using it a lot look I'm going to be honest with you I don't remember the last time that I used a compass I used to carry one just in case but some time ago it broke and I just never replaced it because it's much easier to use the GPS app on your phone that will not only tell you exactly where you're at but how far you have to go to your destination I like to use natural Atlas because it's the first GPS app that I've seen that uses the trail measure tool that snaps to the trails if you're interested I did a full video about natural Atlas a while back and I will link to that video down in the description go check it out now the paper map I won't say anything about because I do think you should have a paper map just in case all your batteries die and I should probably say the same thing about a compass but I'll add that if you're going to carry a mapping Compass first take the time to actually learn how to use them for everyone else just get a nap oh but look look he's unpacking let's see what else he's got in his pack is that a propane can or is it just a really large ISO Pro canister either way how long has this guy planned on being out or or maybe that's maybe that's all you could find that did happen to me recently in Duluth Minnesota all I could find was a large ISO canister so let's give the guy the benefit of the doubt but let's see what else he's got in here I don't know what that is but look he does have more water but but this water is even less accessible than the metal canister on the side but oh uh that's the end of the clip now the one thing I didn't notice was a chair like Kyle from Kyle H chairs I mean Kyle hates hiking He suggests he's probably carrying a chair but I'm gonna push back on this because I really don't think so this looks like the same type of guy who drops in my comment section on other videos and says things like like really a chair insinuating the people who carry chairs are weak because all they want to do is be comfortable which are also the same people who will make fun of you for wanting to go ultra light claiming you're too weak because you can't carry all the weight and I've always been like you can't have it both ways if it's about strength then just carry the extra weight of the chair but I guess true men are intentionally miserable okay that's all I've got for today thank you to everyone who commented on my community post the other day it was fun to critique this fake Backpacker and hopefully we all learn something in the process thank you to Moose Draw for sponsoring this video please check them out through the links in the description like subscribe and do all those other things and as always thanks for watching

Channel: MyLifeOutdoors

Views: 88,972

Keywords:

Id: UFmbaPif-kY

Length: 10min 3sec (603 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 14 2023