Ryley‭

I've been surprised by how durable tent floors are. I've never used footprints, and I have a silnylon-floored tent (i.e. not very durable material) that has lasted hundreds of nights and still doe...

posted 13y ago by Ryley‭

I've gotten shin splints on long hikes - once 2 weeks into a hike, and another time 2 months. I wasn't able to determine how I got them though, which has really annoyed me! I get that I could pro...

1 answer  ·  posted 13y ago by Ryley‭  ·  last activity 13y ago by System‭

Keep the inside of your poles clean. If they get soaked or sandy or muddy, clean them out after your trip and let them air dry. Clean the actual lock mechanism occasionally. Depending on the pol...

posted 13y ago by Ryley‭

If you're hiking in dry, hot weather places, and you have a whole backpacking setup your best bet is to store your water deep in your pack. The sun is your only real enemy here. In the desert, I'...

posted 13y ago by Ryley‭

I would recommend making your own. I've used a bunch of the recipes from FreezerBagCooking and found them generally easy to make and incredibly tasty. You can adjust them to fit your budget or so...

posted 13y ago by Ryley‭  ·  last activity 8y ago by System‭

Shoes and a harness. Some places don't have belay devices or carabiners attached to each rope, so check on that beforehand, as you may need to provide your own. That's it. Chalk and a chalk bag ...

posted 13y ago by Ryley‭  ·  last activity 13y ago by System‭

It somewhat depends on how warm you sleep and how much you're willing to layer up in your bag. I've met people who claim they used one 30F bag the whole trip (with thick layers at the start, and u...

posted 13y ago by Ryley‭  ·  last activity 13y ago by System‭

Sadly, in North America, there is no rating beyond what each manufacturer decides for itself. I suspect that in the US especially, some thought goes into liability (i.e. if someone freezes to deat...

posted 13y ago by Ryley‭  ·  last activity 13y ago by System‭

I use this system exclusively, and there's an entire site dedicated to the variety of ways you can do it. I think it is generally called "freezer bag cooking", and the main site I'm aware of is ca...

posted 13y ago by Ryley‭

I think you pretty much covered it. Advantages of a tent: Keeps more rain/snow out (particularly if you have little skill in tent/tarp setup) Keeps out insects. For me, this is the big one - in...

posted 11y ago by Ryley‭  ·  last activity 11y ago by System‭

If you treat your gear well, it will almost all last a whole thru-hike. Rain Jacket If you have a bad year, you can have 80+ days of rain, and the shoulder straps of your backpack will wear out...

posted 13y ago by Ryley‭

I would call it a reasonable risk to camp in the desert without a tent (but with a tarp available if it was to rain!). I've "cowboy" camped 40 or 50 nights in the desert and never had any company ...

posted 13y ago by Ryley‭

My answer will assume we are talking about a quilt. You can get down quilts that are made of exactly the same material as a mummy bag (Pertex Quantum face fabrics with 800+ fill down). Most quilt...

posted 11y ago by Ryley‭

I think you need to separate this into two parts: Money spent before the trail starts, and budgeting while on the trail. Before you start, you're going to spend money on gear for sure. Your slee...

posted 10y ago by Ryley‭

I don't think you need to bypass them at all. You didn't say what time of year you'd be going, but in the later summer/fall, they are not nearly that deep. Also, at any time of year you could e...

posted 9y ago by Ryley‭