Gear I Was WRONG About!

hey friends steven here with back country exposure i'm going to make a little bit of a bold statement today and say that oftentimes i feel like us as backpackers get into a trap of how much weight can we save and how ultralight can we be and we miss out on really cool pieces of gear that either create a more comfortable experience in the backcountry or they're just awesome pieces of gear to use and i want to talk about gear for backpacking that i was wrong about now this kind of comes from the fact that i either decided early on that something like a jet boil which is something we're going to talk about in this video was too bulky it was too heavy and it was too cumbersome of a stove system to use for backpacking and i'm here to tell you that that's actually not true there's so many cool advantages to having a system like this that we're going to talk about here in this video but also other pieces of gear that i thought well that's just bulky that's just heavy that's just going to add to the weight of your pack and i've kind of over the last year really changed my mindset to think i want to be comfortable i want to enjoy myself as much as possible in the backcountry and going as lightweight as humanly possible is not always the most appropriate for the experience that i want to have in the backcountry and i want to thank backcountry.com for sponsoring this video you can find amazing pieces of gear from backcountry everything pretty much that we're going to talk about today but if you're just looking for gear in general and want competitive prices and you want to get good information on what gear makes the most sense for you start to chat with their gear heads those gear heads are going to provide answers to your questions give you all of the information that you would need for a specific backpack that you're looking for maybe a stove system or a sleeping bag sleeping pad anything if you ask the question they're going to be able to give you suggestions and help you really define exactly what you need for the backpacking trips that you're going to go on okay so the first two things that we're going to talk about are the stove system here from jetboil this is the minimo system and i'm going to pair it with the ceramic skillet quick skillet from msr and having a system like this in your backpacking trips and everything really opens up great opportunities for you to enjoy more types of food than just dehydrated meals you've got a fairly large pot here that would allow you to cook pastas and ramen and you could do like a stir-fry and all sorts of different kinds of things in this pot itself and i think that sometimes depending on what type of hiker you are is going to determine how important food and cooking and everything is to you if you're somebody that is doing high mileage days and the last thing that you're really concerned about is the time spent in camp you're most likely just more concerned about getting the calories into your body and going to bed but for a lot of us that's not really how we do things a lot of us like to just go and get to camp get set up and we spend a bit more time in camp than i think other people who have different priorities and that's totally fine so having something like this that is versatile that has a pot stand here as well that's going to essentially let you stick a fry pan on here cook up like a quesadilla all sorts of different kinds of things i've made calzones and such and this is a great great option and system to have in the backcountry that really doesn't take up that much space and weight in your backpack now the next piece of gear we're going to talk about has to do with sleeping pads and for a really long time like almost eight years i exclusively slept on the neoware x-lite sleeping pad and over time i kind of realized that you know i'm not getting super great sleep and i think that investing in your sleep for backpacking is one of the most important things that you can do for your backpacking system you need to just find what pad works best for you and in some cases a heavier weight pad is going to provide a better sleeping experience and a good example is this pad right in front of me this pad weighs about two pounds in weight with an r value of about 3.1 3.2 i believe this is the nemo quasar 3d sleeping pad and no it is not the lightest weight option on the market but i can tell you that this has some of the best sleep qualities for me that any other pad has been able to provide very specifically compared to the etherlight xt from sea to summit which i have raved about being an amazingly comfortable sleeping pad so when you find something that works for you disregard how much it actually weighs as long as you are getting the best sleep possible now i do still believe that yes focus on saving weight and i'm contradicting myself a little bit here but at the end of the day comfort and your personal goals are what are most important and for me getting really good sleep for something that doesn't weigh that much more than some other options out there i want to get literally the best sleep i can possibly get in this sleeping pad this hit the ticket uh for me uh starting this year i absolutely love the sleep that i get out of the nemo quasar 3d sleeping pad or the etherlite xt as well which also fits into that realm of a little bit heavier and bulk but you just can't complain about good sleep from a good sleeping pad now the last piece of gear that we're going to talk about is something that i had written off as just silly and not necessary for uh taking on a backpacking trip and that has to do with a sleeping bag liner i've always had the idea that like if you're gonna sleep in colder temperatures just take a lower degree rated sleeping bag and don't bother with the fuss of a sleeping bag liner and i finally decided you know what get on board with how awesome these actually are and one of the things that kind of like deterred me from wanting to use a sleeping bag liner is the fact that it always seemed like well that's just going to get tangled up and be messy and like twisted and stuff and constrictive inside of a sleeping bag and as i've been using this see the summit sleeping bag liner i have actually noticed a significant difference in how i sleep in colder temperatures in general so using a sleeping bag liner like this it really does do what people claim it to do it adds warmth to your sleeping bag and as i've been using this for several nights so far i haven't noticed an extreme amount of getting twisted and issues with being in the sleeping bag and in fact with my zen bivvy system that i'm using this weekend using this inside it actually helps quite a bit in terms of any potential kind of draft points that come from the light bed from the zen bivvy which is not an enclosed full sleeping bag this helps ensure that i stay extra warm inside of my sleeping bag and bring my degree rating down just a little bit more to ensure that i'm comfortable at those temperatures that i need to be comfortable at so everybody the point that i'm making in this entire video is it's okay to be wrong about gear and to make assumptions and think that's not going to work for me but there are really so many great pieces of gear out there that we could be using that uh maybe weigh a little bit more they're a little bit more bulky or they cost a little bit more whatever the situation is there's so many cool options out there of gear items that are worth using that don't necessarily fall into that quote unquote ultra light mindset of you have to have a 10 pound base weight or less to have a good time in the backcountry i've really had my eyes open to that not being the only way to get out and backpack and have a good time in the backcountry it's all about your goals what you're trying to accomplish and use the gear that allows you to accomplish and complete those goals that you have so thanks for watching thank you to backcountry.com for sponsoring today's video thank you so much for watching today guys have a good one we'll see on the next one

Channel: Backcountry Exposure

Views: 72,966

Keywords: backpacking, ultralight backpacking, backpacking gear, jetboil minimo, minimo stove, nemo quasar 3d, best backpacking gear, backpacking sleeping pad, best sleeping bag liner, backpacking hacks, outdoor adventures

Id: feiIJzG-BrU

Length: 9min 21sec (561 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 24 2022