I've been looking around and I honestly cant find a decent forum having to do with backpack camping.

Anyone know if a place that aint testical gear queers, hipster yuppies, or survivorman wannabes?

i wanna go for a walk in the woods, and sleep.......why's everyone gotta make it so damn complicated and meaningful?

Rokslide.com might do it got you. Hunting forum, with pretty good back pack sub.

Check out trailspace.com, it's actually a gear review site but they have a minimal forum. There are some of each type you mention posting in the forums but you'll get balance, at least. And there are some of the most knowledgeable people I've ever encountered there.

What's wrong with this place?

There are a lot of backpackers/campers here who are knowledgeable and do more than just go for a "walk in the woods and sleep."

As a city slicker who's only two camping trips have come at the convenience of a Winnebago, I've learned a lot from this place.

Chris

Cool, thanks for the suggestions.  I'll give them a read.

i was actually looking for a suggested gear list for a 3 day trip....but the ones i've found seemed to have a lot of overkill, and no realistic low-budget alternatives to high-dollar crap i'm gonna use a few times

i will say up front that i've never camped out of a backpack before.  but how hard and complex can it be?.....its Michigan, in August......not February in the Rockies.

i've only had an interest for a couple weeks and so far, i've been to the local surplus looking for a USGI canteen, they didnt have any......guy tried to sell me a hydration backpack thing.....i want a CANTEEN

he asked me where i was going, and how long......said i needed to pack in like 4 gallons of water......its an island with two lakes on it......in the middle of a great lake.....no need to carry water dude

Just cause they make the stuff, dont mean ya need it

Biggest hurdle i see is how to keep my beers cold

thanks again

well, nothing, but theres no backpack camping forum that i know of.....

Whiteblaze

Hoodlums forum

I like bushcraftusa.com

Whiteblaze/Hammockforums or Backpackinglight

three days worth of beer is a bit heavy.

consider scotch.

My 3 day packing list is generally the same, seasonally dependant, as my 30-45 day packing list.   The first question: Are you camping or hiking, e.g. are you walking to a spot, setting up shelter and staying there for 3 days (camping) or are you walking all day, sleeping at night in a nice spot and then walking again the next day to a different spot (hiking)?

I prefer to hike. My base weight in spring/fall, everything excluding consumables (food, fuel), is aorund 10 libs.  This includes my pack, shelter, sleeping gear, cook gear, extra clothes and ditty stuff. Winter it's around 15lbs and summer around 7 lbs.  For planning purposes food weighs about 1.5lb per day.  That's for hiking on groomed trails such as the AT or Benton McKay.

Camping, which I occasionally do, is a different story. If it's a short walk in, say 5 or 10 miles, I'll carry some beer and other comfort items. I always have a small plastic flask with Jamesons...that's MEE.

My specific gear list list will not be what you're looking for. My big 4 (shelter, sleeping bag, pad and pack) weigh around 3.5lbs but cost approx. $1200.  I'm old and fat and the weight savings out weigh the cost.


You'll need:

- Tent/ Shelter

- Bag

- Pad

- pack

- stove and cook gear

- rain gear

- extra socks

- dry sleeping clothes

- Water filter or tabs**  (don't fuck this up in beaver country)

- Ditty (head lamp, a few bandaids, extra lighter, compass/maps/gps,  maybe a set of batts, etc..) and your phone.

- small knife and folding saw if camping

- etc..


Here's agood start point for cheap, light weight gear

+1

http://www.ar15.com/forums/f_10/1_General_Outdoor_Discussions.html

I hang out here from time to time just for the backpacking gear talk.  I've received a lot of good advice on gear and camping near my AO.  

For me the gear depends more on the deal I get than the name and only partially the weight.  I have several other hobbies, I can't sink my life savings into camping.  Besides it's supposed to be "roughing it"  otherwise I'd sit by a fire in my backyard.

Deals can be had but don't skimp on a pack and clothes.  Unless you'll be miles and miles from civilization, you don't need top dollar gear you'll bet your life upon.

I agree 100%.  I have always shopped more for deals then specific stuff.  Years later I have a pretty extensive kit with more then I need or will probably use for a variety of outdoor activities.

I could go on and on with brand or specific recommendations, but unless I have a general idea of what some one is looking for I wouldn't want to begin recommending random items...  

Thanks for the added intel guys

See, I always start here(and google), but i wanted to read in some places with a different "flavor" i guess.  This IS an AR15 site, it tends to lean a bit testical in most of its subforums.......and after hitting some of the suggestions, you guys seem to know what i mean. I don't need a gear list to tell me what to take......I know that.  I wanted to see what others from different points of view may take.  A hunter, a photographer, an indian, a redneck, a girl, a black guy.......you get the point.

Camping weekends are pretty common for us, or similar.  We own a place in the woods, a fishing cabin.  We do a lot of driving around geocaching or just cruising and we camp plenty.  We live in the middle of Northern Michigan's tourist country, so there's no shortage of stuff to do.


I know those things aren't quite the same, but my point is, we quite commonly live life out of a car for 3 days, do without convenience, amd shit in the woods......I just need to fit it in a backpack now.  We see a lot of city folk, and yuppies show up in a campground, they spend 2 hours setting up all their camping crap, and bring every peice "camping gear" that they they've been moichendized.......while ours takes 15 minutes, and we're drinkin beers and swimming.

I need to setup a group of four.  3 male (14, 15, and 41), 1 female(17).  None are Beiber lovin city-chimps, and the girl has a nice set of brass balls.  We ain't made out of money, so things need to be as cheap as possible.....but I don't skimp on quality stuff.

Most of the trips will be in warmer weather 50+ degrees, within 100 miles of home.  Water will be filter along the way......plenty of water sources here. (sawyer point one probably)  Food will be nothing special, but require nothing more than hot water.  No living off the land shit.  We usually scrounge firewood, but Some of the later trips involve national park rules regarding fires (looks like I need a Jetboil is all).  They will also have more first-aid needs for island isolation reasons.  Although there is a slim chance of running into a bear, I'd be more concerned about chipmunks. I carry a little 38 pistol with me generally, and I see no need for anything more, l only plan to bring the 5-rounds inside. I really don't know the hiking distance, but none are extreme.  Probably 20-25 miles tops, not counting walking in circles


I started with the packs, since they're kinda the core that it all revolves around.  I have enough parts for 4 Hellcats (medium i think), and 3 large MOLLEs coming next week.  Probably do some dyeing to them, so I don't look like an army man, and cause they're at least 3 different camo's.  I got extra for friends that may join, and because I got some good deals.  Still came in way under budget.

Tents are Kmart cheapies, but we have them and they serve us well enough.

All I really need is the water filter, some shoes for the boys, some smaller sleep stuff and i think we can make out first trip.

For a water filter I would look at a sawyer mini.  They work well and are very easy to use.  They don't process huge amounts of water fast, but a couple in the group would probably get it done.  Its my go to 90% of the time and I also have two MSR miniworks filters.  Watch Amazon and you can find them for less then $18 a filter  If your looking for a pump style filter the katadyn hiker is not bad option.  I had one for a while but don't really use filters much so I decided to standardize on my two MSR as they share parts.  The MSR miniworks is expensive, but a really good filter.

Shoes/ boots check out sierra trading post for stuff on clearance.  danner/ asolo/ Merrell/ rocky/ bates/ any of the major brands will work for what your describing.

If you use sierra trading post search for coupon codes.  You can often find 20~30% off and free shipping.

If your looking for quality watch danners website for sales and closeouts, though the really good deals always seem to be smaller sizes.

Watch the Cabelas bin and clearance.  Some killer deals can be had there off season.  I have always had good luck with cabelas brand gear.

For a pack I would recommend anything Kelty.  Pick whichever model fits your needs.  They are long lasting with a great warranty.  Super comfortable without moving to the crazy obsessive light weight ungodly expensive category!  

Hope that helps ya.  If you want pictures or more specifics let me know!

backpacker.com would be a start.

+1, I start there for all gear reviews.

Their website is stuck in the (technological) stone age.  i say that as a 5 year subscriber to their magazine.  I've tried to look up articles, hikes, and gear reviews.  That site is the worst.  Ads all over, no clear menu based pages or interfaces.  It's just a mess, that's been put on top of older messes.

None of us hike here...




Tons of gear list and ideas in the "BOB" thread up top man.just over look survival specific stuff. Your core items Will stay the same...water..shelter...food.




Good socks...boots...and filter win the day. The more you go out the more you'll learn about what not to carry lol










 

bpbasecamp
This is the new one. It's a little better.

Was gonna suggest this.

Find out what trails are close to you.  Look online for trail associations that support the trail.  They will have links to good sources.

bushcraft and whiteblaze are both good.

boy scouts of america site is good

rei has some cool links

trails.com is ok

Try some of these....

http://camping.about.com/?once=true&
http://powerboat.miningco.com/sports/watersports/powerboat/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.owensyacht.com/tie.htm
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/index.html
http://www.backpacking.net/
http://www.booktrail.com/Safety_Survival/Far%20Beyond%20Defensive%20Tactics.asp
http://www.bpbasecamp.com/
http://www.actiongear.com/
http://www.camping-usa.com/usa.html
http://www.campmor.com/
http://delorme.com/quads/
http://www.equipped.com/sources.htm
http://joyofcamping.com/
http://www.fishingcairns.com.au/page6-1.html
http://www.reston.com/kta/kta.html
http://www.nps.gov/
http://www.nps.gov/parklists/pa.html
http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/
http://www.preparednessmart.com/
http://www.rei.com/
http://www.rothco.com/retail.html
http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/3094/
http://members.aol.com/troop632/trailhead/links2.htm
http://www.inquiry.net/
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/databases/freemedl.html
http://www.macscouter.com/
http://www.parec.com/pennsyl.cgi
http://therucksack.tripod.com/survival.htm
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/
http://www.korpegard.nu/jan/knots.html
http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=42.6898&lon=-82.6817&s=25&size=l&symshow=n&datum=nad83&layer=DRG25
http://www.trails.com/explore/
http://www.travelhealth.com/
http://www.us.orienteering.org/
http://www.usacampsites.net/
http://www.fi.uib.no/~jankoc/worldo/
http://ink.yahoo.com/bin/query?p=camping%2Bsurplus&z=2&hc=0&hs=20
http://www.canoemaine.com/
http://www.thebackpacker.com/

happy hunting

BushcraftUSA.com

No but it does mean I gotta buy it.

If you want a 3-day trip with beer, forget the backpack.

lol at the beer.  I hope you drink lightly or your pack will bet heavy.

Well the good news is your party so far is full of young and able campers.   Meaning they can carry a lot of the food and supplies.   Just because you're the honcho doesn't mean you have to carry everything.  

On the beer, if you're the only one drinking it, I'd settle for 4-6 beers just to say you had some around the fire.  Creeks make decent beer coolers.

Seriously, I just start analyzing your basic needs,  water, food, shelter.

Water, you say you want canteens, and you'll use lake water when that runs out.  Well you'll need to filter or boil lake water to make it safe.  Not a crap filter, it'll break when you're just getting started.  I would at least have a gallon aluminum pot for cooking and frequent boiling of drinking water, at least as a back up.   Boiling water takes fuel, either stove fuel or wood fuel.  It also takes time to boil and let cool.  For four people that's a constant draw.   A decent filter may be in order.  Needs no cool down time.

Food, I'd keep it simple; oatmeal in packets, bagels pack well for the first day or two.   PB sandwiches, ramen for lunch,  fried spam wiches.   First nights dinner can be fresh meat of some kind that can be brought in frozen and thaws on the way in.  Steak, ham steaks, etc.  The second night and you're into shelf stable foods like the spam, spaghetti, MRE type, or dinty moore if you don't mind the pack weight.   Don't go overboard on canned goods of course.  Think your utensils and cooking implements through.  Plan each meal and don't forget and plan two foods for the same meal that will need the same pot but cooked separately.  A common rookie move.  Tin foil is your friend.    

Don't over pack the packs especially for anyone not used to carrying a loaded pack or out of practice.  30 pounds maybe.  

For this time of year relatively light sleeping bags.   No need to haul army weight winter bags.

Your basic tent is fine.  You can help it by setting it up in the yard and spraying it with camp dry or even scotch guard carpet protector spray.  Also more weight but putting a tarp over the tent is always a good idea for the rains.  I suspect MI is like NY and your summer showers and thunderstorms can be heavy and frequent.


You will be roughing it one way or another;  either have it rough because you brought everything to make yourselves comfortable and it weighs you down or you simply suffer a bit through lack of comfort.   I've done both extremes.   A middle ground is where you'll likely end up.

Just take a tarp, bug spray, blanket, something to make fire with, filter straw and your food and beer. g2g

LMAO, this is all I had to contribute as well.

OP, backpacking isn't cheap.  Light gear that works is expensive, but generally worth it.  If you try to cheap out on your pack or sleeping bag you'll have a shitty time.

Get an Osprey pack, they have a size and budget for everyone, and their shit is fantastic.  Get it at REI so the pack geek can get you fitted up right.  Its worth it.