I recently saw a video of “mistakes” someone made and that he posits many beginners make. S
- Using a trekking pole tent instead of a freestanding tent that has affiliate marketing kickbacks available.
- Wearing boots instead of trail runners.
- Treating “survival ratings” on sleeping bags like “comfort ratings”.
- Not using a single pot cook system.
- Not simplifying things.
Some of these are common mistakes and others are not mistakes at all or are not common.
To start with, from the way I frame it I think the reader can tell that I obviously disagree with #1. I switched to trekking pole tents more than five thousand miles ago.
To be fair, the only active affiliate links I have are those included when I copy data. It seems only fair to preserve those even though it doesn’t create revenue for me.
Maybe when I go back to working affiliate marketing I’ll change my mind about which type of tent is better.
#2 is pretty much a standard belief. Bottom line is that for most hikers trail runners are more comfortable. So it is kind of true.
On the other hand Gear Skeptic went into the math and the studies and boots do not have any significant disabilities. Boots do last substantially longer and handle really rough terrain better.
#3 is a mistake many people have made. The entire industry was not as transparent on ratings as it should have been. The new standards are a vast improvement.
https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/understanding-sleeping-bag-temperature-ratings.html
A related mistake is that people will look at a bag with 12 ounces of down and one with 6 ounces of down at the same fill power and trust the manufacturer of the lighter bag that it really is as warm as the one made by someone else with more down.
#4 is something everyone eventuality seems to learn. Some have a pot and a cup but that tends to be the most complicated cook system after a while. If you are car camping or other “not thru-hiking” style backpacking, everything changes.
#5 — simplifying — is something I took to heart 6-7 years ago. Some of that is simple organization.
My electronics bag is always the same color. My bag with my water filter is always the same color. My bag with the trowel in it is always the same color.
Water prep is also easily simplified in the evening. I’m also a big fan of gravity filtering water or chemical treatment while I do something else at the same time to simplify my life.
I always fill my wife and my own air mattresses at night.
An additional point is kludges—they are definitely a mistake that people make.
kludge
/klo͞oj/
INFORMAL
noun
- an ill-assorted collection of parts assembled to fulfill a particular purpose.
verb
- use ill-assorted parts to make (something).”Hugh had to kludge something together”
True kludges are usually a mistake. Usually it makes sense to just get appropriate gear instead of slopping some quasi-solution together.
But. There are often solutions that are not “big box store” solutions that work well.
The list is long. For example:
- Footprints made of Polycro or Tyvek are slowly becoming mainstream.
- The Stanco Greasepot is an excellent cook pot choice.
- Double diamond quilts for summer trips along the AT when everything else is too warm.
- There are lots of good alternatives.
On the other hand, that two pound tarp you will bring to make your tent more waterproof—that is a kludge.
Taping a chopstick to a spoon for a long handled spoon—a kludge.
There are more, but you get the point.
For more reading on mistakes backpackers make, this is a good list of mistakes that are easy to make: https://thetrek.co/beginner-mistakes-backpacking-hiking/.