Want to start backpacking...

,but I don't know how to start.
I am 15 years old, and have no formal job. I babysit on a schedule, and I am home-schooled. I have a backpack that works fine for day trips. It has straps that fit correctly, but is a made for school books and is not big enough.
I really want to start backpacking, overnight. I don't think there is anyplace close enough for me to get to. (not having a driving license). I would be okay if I start working toward my goal of overnight backpacking. I don't know where to start?

Don't discount walking locally with your gear and camping in the backyard. It's a good way to develop skills and test gear. Plus, it's makes it easy to bail out and go inside if you need to (much safer this way).

Agreed.

Until you can get a good pack, camping in the backyard, or at a local state park campground, means you don't have to carry your pack in. Dayhikes are always fun, and you can come back to your house/campsite and practice using your gear and sleeping outside. Not a perfect solution, but a definite start.

Check in with a local college - many will have outdoor programs, and may even let you rent gear until you can get your own. Also check with a local backpacking shop; it may sponsor guided trips, even beginner trips, and rent or provide gear. That's a good way to get started, and if your group is like mine, you may even have a gear head who likes to try the latest and greatest, than passes on his lightly-used "rejects" to others in his group. I was out with such a group a couple of weeks ago, and saw a lot of familiar gear coming out of packs - some of the packs looked familiar, too.

A gear list made just for you! PMags $300 gear challenge

The articles on the home page of this site, left hand column may help, too.

There are hiking Meetup groups and hiking clubs all over the place (try googling for your area), but they may be reluctant to take under-18ers even with a signed release from parents. Do try, though! Other options that might work for you are Scouting and finding friends who backpack.

Is there any way you can convince your parents that learning backpacking skills is a vital part of your education?

Maybe a Scout group near you perhaps? We have quite a few home schooled boys in our Troop.

I'd have to think you don't have to go far in NW WI to find some woods. Surely your family has friends with some wooded property once you've camped in your own yard.

With zero or little income it will be tougher but there are cheap options for most things - window shrink film for winterizing a patio door as a tarp (and the groundcloth), alcohol stove from a cat food can, etc. The paper I wrote was intended for new Scouts so it should give you some ideas.

What if SilentStone is a girl? I don't mean that in a wise-a** way. I simply don't know if the Girl Scout program offers any significant exposure to backpacking. I do know I've encountered lots of backpacking Boy Scout troops, but never a Girl Scout troop.

I've led groups of teenage girls, with a female leader. They're just as capable as boys (sometimes moreso; I've also led mixed groups, and some of the girls hiked some of the "I'm a jock" guys into the ground. By noon. Very capable, indeed.

Is there still a Varsity Scout (?) program for co-ed groups?

Varsity is still BOY Scouts. Venturing is a coed program in BSA. Ages 14-21. Look around for a Venturing Crew. The local BSA Council office would be able to point out local crews.
Or, https://beascout.scouting.org/ and enter your zipcode to see crews near you.

BTW, I've seen HAGS t-shirts at a local caving event. Girl Scout Troop - HighAdventureGirlScouts

It depends on the unit leaders. Most aren't comfortable getting out there.

ed

You can also consider checking in with Meet-Up and see if anyone in your area is running any day-hikes or weekend warrior trips. This would be a good place to start as well because it would put you in touch with other local people and you would not be alone. Good luck!

My Parents think that anything that is not sitting on my butt is education. I got our family ATV out today and started trying to fix it. (I barely know how to do an oil change) They took a pic and said it was part of my curriculum. I don't doubt that I could get them to see it as part of school, but they won't help me. They bought me a math book and told me to learn. (works fine)
I am a girl and girl scouts in my area ends when you are in 3rd grade. (ugh)
I am think I am going to make a makeshift tent with an old tarp I found for free on Craigslist, and hike to a trail that is about 4 miles away, hike a mile on it, than turn around and set camp up behind our barn. I am bring my cellphone and I know that I will have service, so I can bail out if need be. I plan doing that this weekend.
I am really into DIY so I might just start slowing making stuff, I am starting to save up for a good backpack.
I looked online for a club, but the only one I could find was 20ish miles away.
Thanks for all the tips.

Sounds like a perfect plan to me.

The harder it is, the better the stories will be in 30 years.

When I started backpacking 50 years ago, I had to carry my brother so the shoes he was going to hand down to me wouldn't wear out.

It wasn't so bad except when the bear chased us. You should have seen it. There I was -- running up the trail and my brother was whacking the bear on the head with grandma's old iron skillet. Luckily, he managed to break one of the bear's teeth, so he only got one hole in his butt. After that episode, everyone called him bear ass. We couldn't tell my mother my brother had a hole in his butt or she would have punished us and blamed my father for letting us go. We did have a hard time explaining the claw marks on Grandma's skillet.

Just a thought. Do you have a bicycle you could ride to the trail?

That IS a perfect plan. My first backpacking trips were with a tube tent ( they now cost about $8--back then they cost $2) and we did pretty much what you are planning.

You might check out a local community college, as they often have programs like this...or at least a faculty member who is interested in these activities. That would be a good connection to make.

Since you like making things for yourself, you might try Googling Yukon Packs. They are easy to make and virtually free. They can be as comfortable as an expensive pack. My guess is once you start looking, a pack will appear from a friend or family member.

VENTURE Scouts - that's what I was thinking of.

I've never run into a Venture crew on the trails, though - I don't know how successful that program is, or whether it's stronger in other parts of the country. Sure seems like a great idea, though.

Let me guess: it was snowing the whole time the bear was chasing you uphill, right?

SilentStone, it does sound like a pretty good plan - but, since you'll be using some untested gear, you might pick a nice night. Don't forget a ground cloth. If you don't have a sleeping pad, you might get cold just lying on the ground. A closed cell pad (are they still $10 at Walmart?) prevents that.

If you do find you're into making your own gear, see the separate section MYOG on these forums. I think Gossamer Gear used to post free patterns to make their G4 pack, and I think Henry Shires might have made his original tarptent pattern available on the TarpTent website at one time. I haven't checked recently, though.

Enjoy your first trip!

There's tons of other good sources for DIY plans and ideas as well, like questoutfitters, diygearsupply, hammockforums.net, youtube, and the other backpacking forum, just to name a few.

I have to say they don't sound like the typical home school parents I know.

You would want a Venturing Crew (though not all do outdoor programs) if there's one close to you. There are several around NW WI. You can filter results for Venturing at beascout.org

If you can sew at all, the world is your oyster. You can make your own pack.

As for your trip, you'll need a foam pad or some kind of insulation from the ground and enough insulation of some type on top of you depending on what the lows will be but you don't need much else. You don't even need a tarp if there won't be any rain or dew - what they call cowboy camping.

Bears hibernate when it's snowing. Did I mention lightning was striking trees all around us?

The snow reference was made for exactly that reason - once disbelief is suspended, it's all or nothing!

Gotta admit I like the lightning better, though. How large were the hailstones?

Glenn, I omitted any reference to snow because I knew you would ask.

The hailstones were trivial. Only softball-sized.

There is more to the story which does sound unbelievable. The bear's tooth went right through the flask in my brother's back pocket. The moonshine leaked out and disinfected the wound. This caused my brother to scream so loud it scared off the bear. We used the cork from the flask to stop the bleeding from the hole in my brother's butt.

Did I mention the tornado that carried us both back to the trailhead?

When we landed unharmed at the trailhead, there was a large wooden box with the words "Trail Magic" carved in the top. Can anyone guess what was inside?

I surrender!

That was great - was that all you, or a little bit of "Rocky Mountain High"?

Speaking of John Denver - google "Saturday Night in Toledo, Ohio." Hilarious - and being from Ohio, I've been to Toledo - he's not too far wrong.

Glenn,

I added one more item. See if you can solve the riddle.

I would start at your local library. Look for books on hiking and camping or backpacking. If you have one nearby, a used bookshop may have some books as well. The Boy Scout manual would be a good start. Also, there are dozens of good websites with gear reviews, hiking tips and instruction, lessons on weather and navigation, first aid guides to local areas all over the country, you name it.

YouTube has hundreds, or more likely, thousands of videos of the same--gear tests, trips people have taken, instructional videos on any subject you can think of. Some are put up by companies who want you to see how their products work, but most are by campers and hikers who want to share with others. Lots of DIY projects, too. You can learn how to make an alcohol stove, make a shelter, start a fire, cook, how to choose campsite, use a compass, pretty much everything you'll need to know.

For clothes and gear, consider your local second hand shops. You'd be surprised what you might find in them. Not all will have any camping gear, but you may find nice shirts, pants and jackets very cheap. Look on Craigslist for things like sleeping bags. Many times people buy gear then decide camping isn't for them or they buy new stuff and sell what they have. EBay is okay if you know what you want, otherwise, better to see what you are getting in person. I got my big red parka on eBay but I spent a lot of time looking for a big parka before finding it.

That sounds like a great way to start! Have fun! By the way, the "price" to pay for all this advice is to file a trip report afterwards to tell us how it went!

Another article you might want to check out is this one: Dirtbagging and Deal Shopping You should be able to find a lot of gear right in your own home (or barn)! That "$300 Challenge" I cited earlier leaves out thrift shops and yard sales, but those are also great sources of inexpensive gear. You may have to visit several times throughout the year.

Thru-Hiker.com carries a lot of excellent lightweight fabrics. They have the really high quality silnylon (hiker-speak for silicone-impregnated nylon). They have kits for clothing and other items which include pattern and materials, but unfortunately they don't sell the patterns separately. If nothing else, looking at the kits online may give you ideas. That site also has lots of articles on sewing your own gear (look under "Projects"), which should help.

There is lots of DIY info on this forum, too. One of our members just made his own pack, using a pattern from Gossamer Gear.

You might want to smell that old tarp before you start sewing. If it smells bad, the coating is deteriorating and it's not worth the work you'll put into it. If that is the case, just set it up as a tarp (lots of info on YouTube on how to do this) for as long as it still sheds water.

I'm glad you're learning to fix a car! I'm afraid I've spent my life raising the hood, trying to look intelligent instead of perplexed, closing it again and calling AAA. I do know how to change a tire and, thanks to living downwind of Mt. St. Helens during the 1980 eruption, the air filter.

I had parents that weren't into the outdoors and for some peculiar reason, I live for them. I started "backpacking at your age with a laundry bag, a blanket, a kerosene lamp and a pot.
I froze, got very wet, was basically sleepless most nights, but had great times I will always remember. I remember being stopped by the police one morning walking down a highway with my face blackened from the kerosene lamp.I had no idea until I looked in his side view mirror. Cheap sleeping pads are great! A must I knew nothing about. As Oregon Mouse said, I hope you take some of the great advice and info offered and post a trip report. I hope you have the time of your life. Be safe, be careful.

Actually, that info has been there since 2005 :

Other places to bargain hunt are www.rei-outlet.com, thrift stores, local stores having sales, yard sales, used sporting goods stores and classified (local or online)


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Paul, it's just that the costs of thrift store (etc.) stuff were left out of the $300, which, with some lucky finds, could make the total a lot lower.

I think with all the time spent scrounging inexpensive gear, I'd rather wheel my lawnmower around the neighborhood for a month cutting a couple lawns a day.

Pawnshops are a good source of backpacks here.

Understood. But the idea was to make a list that was consistent. If I only added lucky finds, it could be a $50 gear challenge..and not as useful IMO for the real world. I once found a Patagonia fleece for $5. OTOH, I can always find an army liner jacket for $10 or so.

Hope that makes sense.


re: scrounging

Actually, all of those items can and have been found online or directly in the store consistently. Scrounging., of course, would be way to find the "lucky finds" mentioned earlier. My friend's wife is ALWAYS finding great stuff in the thrift store. Of course she does not work and has the time.

I just want to second bluefish. I started with an old shower curtain and a blanket, plus an old pot and an old spoon. My mom sewed a cover for a bottle for water. I had matches and a small pocket knife in my pocket and I found a small flashlight a bit later. I wrapped my stuff in the blanket, tied off the ends and slung it over my shoulder.

Like bluefish I won't pretend I was always comfortable, but I sure did enjoy it!!!

The best advice I can give you is get out and enjoy. When you're ready to stay out overnight, see what you can scrounge up and go. Remember, today you don't even need to cook (think Cliff bars, etc.). best, jcp

I like the idea that someone said to start with local library.
Also, I would check REI garage sale and craigslist for camping gear.

The famous Grandma Gatewood started out with shower curtain, blanket, a homemade denim drawstring bag, and hiked the entire Appalachian Trail in 1955. She did do a lot of scrounging (make that begging) along the way, but she made it and completed the trail twice more, the last time in sections. Ben Montgomery's Grandma Gatewood's Walk is a good read about this intrepid lady.

I would suggest starting out with shorter trips closer to home and, especially, not waiting until you are age 67!