Greetings:
I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself. I'm 24 and never have been backpacking/hiking, with the exception of my military experience. I want to start hiking and backpacking, and a cousin of mine recommended this forum for starters.

I appreciate the time everyone puts into helping those of us that are less experienced learn what to do.

Thanks,
SilverWolf

Thanks. I am a fairly active poster here, but there are many others both more active, but also more experienced than I am.

If you take the time to search the forum archives and old threads, and to peruse the various pages of this site and follow their links, you'll learn an amazing amount. Welcome aboard.

Thanks for your quick reply. I have learned some already from doing exactly what you suggested: searching, reading, and following the links.

I hope that I can learn some more, and know it promises me to be an interesting road.

First question: Can my compass be a generic walmart compass? or does it have to be a specific type for best results? And why or why not?

I guess that's 3 questions- but ya get the idea lol...

Thanks again,
Silver

Are you planning on going off-trail very much? Are you backpacking in locations (e.g. deep woods) where the terrain is not open and easily read? If so, then you will need good map and compass skills and a compass that allows enough accuracy for reading degrees. Take an orienteering course to sharpen up.

For most on-trail jaunts a simple WalMart compass ought to be sufficient to use as a sanity check, when your idea of where you are on the map, and what you see around you don't seem to match.

Welcome. Hope you find your backpacking and hiking experience good. This forum (and the archives there of) has a lot of good info... you have found a good place to learn.

For a number of years I have been collecting notes on backpacking. Originally these notes were mainly for myself, but I have been slowly updating them so they are useful to others. Included in my notes is a list of backpacking resources that you might find useful.

--Mark

I honestly don't know yet what I'm planning to do. I don't know enough to know what there is to know lol... I do have map and compass skills, and I am starting small so I guess the walmart compass would work well for the beginning. I dont want to go too deep when I fist start, but I am also not nieve enough to believe that I cant get lost either. So, unless I read otherwise, I presume that the walmart one will work for now. Presuming that I enjoy it enough to continue and get serious about it- then I will buy the proper one at the time.

Does this sound reasonable?
Silver

Welcome to the board Silver.

I found 8 compass models on the Walmart website. Which one are you referring to? Some are better than others. Some are better at certain tasks than others. The best advice I can give you is to ask specific questions........for which you will get specific answers.

Every one in the army is taught Land Nav. Not everyone learns it. But, assuming you learned it at a minimal proficiency, then you should know how to shoot back azimuths and determine 8 digit grid coordinates. Here in the civilian world, they decided to play a nasty trick on us and change it all, well most of it. Civilian maps are a little different, and their grid coordinates are the biggest difference. Before I wonder off my point too far, if you want to do some of the same basic land nav you did in the army, then you will need a compass that can do it. Other wise, if all you need to know is where is north, any compass will do.

Years ago when I went to buy a good compass, I got one like I used in the Army -- with the sighting slit and mirror, etc. Then I discovered that I really didn't have much use for shooting azimuths -- what I really needed was a compass that I could lay on top of my map and work problems. Any of the clear flat baseplate compasses from Silva will work fine -- I prefer one with a built-in magnifier (when you get old you will understand) like this.

As for "what you don't know" -- well, your military experience will help a lot with being comfortable in the outdoors. You likely have decent camp skills, able to find a camp site, erect a tent (do you still use shelter halves? My Army experience is 30 years out of date....), that sort of thing. You will probably carry way too much stuff on your first few trips -- but you're young and can handle it. As you get out and hike, you'll pare down your load to match what you really need out on the trail.

I'd recommend The Complete Walker, 4th Edition, by Colin Fletcher. It's a great primer on civilian backpacking. Some of the gear ideas are a little out of date, but that's okay -- the general feel is all you need to get started.

Good luck and happy trails.

Thanks alot guys, I really appreciate the advice given. My skills are a bit rusty on land nav, but a bit of practice will take care of that.

Silver

I second the recommendation of The Complete Walker IV. Also, anything by Karen Berger is usually good.

Almost 30 years into this, I've never needed to progress beyond the Silva Starter compass. Of course, declination isn't a big issue (<5 degrees) where I hike, and I rarely if ever do any serious off-trail hiking. Mostly, in the Eastern U.S., I just need to know if the trail I'm on is running about the same direction as the trail I think I'm on, and which way to go when trails intersect and someone decided the markers would make good firewood.

Hello,
You didn't say where you would be navigating
There are a million ways of doing things wrong and a good dozen very different ways of doing anything right, So you will have many very experienced people here, giving conflicting advice and stories. Enjoy the complexity... Choose your own path.
Get a GPS.
Jim YMMV

I'm planning on starting in Kentucky and surrounding. And that may be the best advice I've heard so far... "enjoy the complexity".

Thanks,
Silver

Welcome! If you haven't already found them, there are lots of excellent articles on lightening your pack and on gear selection listed in the left-hand column of http://www.backpacking.net/, the home page of this site.

Another good site for gear selection is Mark Verber's website. Lots of ideas for gear, from the latest technology to ultra-low-budget alternatives. Also tons of links to reviews and other sites.

I, too, like Jim's "enjoy the complexity" re navigation. It's definitely not simple! For instance, your topo map with 50' contour lines will not show a 30' sheer cliff that can stop you cold! Part of navigation is what might be called "micro-navigation," being able to observe the terrain that will get you from A to B in the least complicated manner! Another part is being able to discover the remains of long-abandoned trails (there are a lot of those thanks to continued funding cuts over the years).

You might consider looking for an orienteering club near you. That sport can be a lot of fun and will teach you a lot about navigation.

I've had a moment to check out some of the articles on the homepage- and find them quite interesting. I believe the ones I checked out were on "hiking ethics", "10 Essentials", and the backpacking checklist.

I'm finding that I could learn a ton of information from just reading this forum and the articles on the site. I havent had the chance to look at the other site in depth yet. Though I will have to find time this evening.

Again, I appreciate the time you all take to help those of us who are new.

Silver

I use a Wal-Mart compass, the one with the flat clear base.

Get a good topo map of the area you're going to hike and play around triangulating your position with the map and compass. Also use your map and compass to check your position on the trail every now and then. Forks in the trail, creek crossings, peaks, and the start of steep inclines or declines in the trail are all good places to check your position. Once you get the hang of that your pretty good to go wherever you want, on or off trail.

I'll suggest you visit Jason Klass' web site. He's got some great videos and instructions on "Homemade Backpacking Gear".

Craigslist is a great place to find high quality used backpacks and other gear. If you haven't got all your gear yet you could do well to check what's there before buying new.

I recently posted a message about "Trip Planning" and so far there have been some great responses. The gist of that thread is that your backpacking trips can be just a night or two long, close to home, and still be a lot of fun and provide a great deal of real experience, and how to plan trips for those goals.

Finally, welcome to the forum! Your friend did indeed point you to a great resource and I hope you enjoy your time in the wilderness as much as I have.

Bill

A compass? Is that similar to pizza?

So here is my big question: I'm reading alot about alcohol stoves. How do these work, and what type of alcohol do they use? Rubbing alcohol? Jim Beam? Moonshine?

Silver

Alcohol stoves use denatured alcohol (mostly ethanol) or HEET (methanol). Denatured alcohol can be found in the paint section of any hardware store; it is ethanol with a small amount of methanol added to make it unsuitable for drinking. HEET and similar products can be found at many gas stations. IMHO, ethanol is more environmentally friendly.

You can also use pure grain alcohol (Everclear) if it is legal in your state, but it's a really expensive option. You can mix it with reconstituted powedered juice drinks for human consumption.

Rubbing alcohol has too much water to work as a fuel. The same is true for most alcoholic beverages.

How do these work

If you've seen a can of Sterno, you've seen a very basic alcohol stove.

Basically, you pour some alcohol into the stove, which can be as simple as an empty tunafish can, but generally is a bit more elaborately designed in order to increase its burning efficiency and heat output. Then you light the alcohol on fire and put your pot above the flame.

I've found a camp stove that seems way too easy to make. I'm going to see if I can make it this evening. Wasn't it Edison that said "I've never failed. I've only found 10,000 ways that it wont work."? If that's the case, then it should be fun to try.

Silver

Here's my fave.. been using one for a long time.

http://www.jureystudio.com/pennystove/

My alcohol stove of choice is a Fancy Feast Stove. Weighs around 0.3oz and costs less than $1 to make-- there really isn't a need to pay $20+ dollars for a alky stove.

If you haven't looked yet, try going over to zenstoves.
Zen stoves

The site gives a lot of info on all types of stoves, including alcohol.

I'm going to try one more experiment lol.. I'll check out the zenstoves tonight sometime. Thanks for the site

Silver