New hiker, Again!

Hello new user here.
I'm a new hiker again because the last time I was serious hiker was when I was in Scouts over 20 years ago. So, I'm 36 now and looking to get back outside. I set a goal almost a year ago to go on a four day, three night hike. My wife (who doesn't like the woods) asked how I was going to do this since I didn't have any gear. I decided to make and sell paracord bracelets. Not only did I have to learn to make them, I didn't know if anybody would buy them. Long story short I've sold enough to buy all the gear I needed plus some toys for my kids. REI recently open in Cincinnati and the employees are getting to know me by name. As a side note REI's employee don't care if you buy from them they all know what they are talking about.
My plan is for a buddy and I to go to Red River Gorge this summer. I still need to get a water filter and some odd and ends.
Gear I've purchased: MSR hubba, Therm-a-rest prolite, Osprey Atmos 65, MSR pocket rocket, REI travel sack +55, Nalgene camp cup, eddie baure base layer, hiking pole.
I will be posting a few questions in the coming weeks about food and general question.
thanks in advance
bj

Welcome - sounds like you're from the Cincinnati area; so am I. You'll love the Gorge - but there are a number of other nearby places in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana you'll also want to explore: Zaleski, Deam Wilderness, Mammoth Cave NP's backcountry, Vesuvius, sections of the Sheltowee Trace (which runs through the Gorge) and, up near Dayton, the Twin Valley Trail for those gear-and-training shakedowns.

Sounds like you're off to a good start on gear. MSR gear may not be the most cutting edge stuff available, but it's reasonably light, durable, and easy to use; they may not be the first to do something, but when they do it, they do it right. As far as water filters: check the MSR Miniworks and Hyperflow, and the Sawyer Squeeze filter.

Happy hiking.

Welcome aboard.

Sawyer Squeeze Filter is a good one to get now.

REI is just so-so for going lighter but a decent place to start. Too easy to get more than you need, too. They have a bunch of articles on the left side menu here and I wrote a paper specific to Scout/Scouters (but good for any newbies) that should help you out.

Far lighter gear is available than when you were doing it before! Thanks to this site I was able to cut my gear weight in half without compromising either comfort or safety, which meant I could keep backpacking despite a bum knee and the aches and pains of old age.

You'll find lots of good advice on gear selection on the home page of this site, left hand column.

Agreed - REI is not bleeding-edge ultralight. But they do carry things like the Sawyer Squeeze filter, and the lighter canister stoves, along with the Neoair pads and a couple of almost-2-pound packs, and a couple of tents like the BA Scout and Fly Creek 1 Platinum.

Not sure if it's a conscious effort by REI to go ultralight, or just the fact that (as good little capitalists) the mainline gear manufacturers have responded to the "cottage" makers taking a chunk of their market, with the result that gear as a whole is generally lighter now than it was 10 or 15 years ago.

Thanks for the welcome.
Yes Glenn, I am from the Dayton area and work in Cincinnati.
Thanks for the advise on the water filter. I am leaning towards the sawyer squeeze filter.
Question 1: how much water do I need to carry at the gorge? Question 2: when packing the tent do i need to get a stuff sack or keep it rolled in the backpack? I figure I can put the tent polls on the outside of the pack. but with the tent I'm alittle unsure what to do.
Still more question to follow
Thanks in advance
bj

I've switched to the Squeeze filter over the last year or so, and really like it. The only tip: if the water source isn't deep enough to fill the narrow-mouth reservoir, use your pot to dip water pour it into the reservoir; you'll sterilize the pot the next time you boil water.

I haven't been to the Gorge for a few years (been trying some new places), but I've never carried more than a quart while hiking. (I might carry three quarts for the last hour or so of the day, if I'm planning to make a dry camp.) Streams are frequent, no more than a couple of miles apart. Just watch the topography: Swift Camp Creek, for example, appears to run alongside the creek the entire way on the Forest Service trail map (the free one) - pull out the FS topo map (which you buy), and you soon realize that there are some stretches that are beside the creek, but 30 - 50 feet above it with no easy way down. For your first trip (can't believe I'm saying this), you might start out carrying two quarts until you're more comfortabe with the terrain.

I pack my tent in 3 separate pieces: the tent poles and stakes, in the bag that comes with the tent, go inside my pack, in one corner (outside also works fine); my inner tent goes in one stuff sack, and the fly goes in another. This makes the tent easier to pack: you're loading two small bundles instead of one large bundle. It also means that, if the fly is wet, you can keep it separated from the dry (or at drier) inner.

Be sure to check out the Twin Valley Trail near Germantown, look up the Dayton Hikers (www.daytonhikers.org), and make friends with Andrew, Chad, and Abby at Great Miami Outfitters in Miamisburg.

Maybe I'll see you on a trail one of these days.

thanks i checked that out very nice think i found a replacement for the msr i was going to get

If I shouldn't shop at REI where do I shop Dicks, Walmart, online or some local shop? So far I've bought things from all of the above. I'm not going to be a ultralight hiker and REI has a very good selection. I do want to save weight where I can. But, cutting my toothbrush bristles is a little extreme. All the prices seem to be the same and at REI you get a dividend check at the end of the year.

I didn't intend to imply that you shouldn't shop at REI; it features good quality stuff, it's just not oriented toward ultralight. Neither is Great Miami Outfitters, where I buy 95% of my stuff. Both serve a much broader market of hikers than just ultralighters; the apparent bias you're sensing doesn't reflect any warnings about those stores, it merely reflects the bias of most of us here in the direction of light or ultralight. But, if that's not where you want to be, that's fine, too - we all want to hike ourselves happy, whatever happy means to each person (no one's going to hunt you down and inspect your toothbrush. )

For most of us, going lighter has been a lifetime process; it probably will be for you, too. It's often driven more by experience, learning what you can do without, than it is by what new gimmick is available. (35 pounds of ultralight gear is still a 35 pound load!) I'm now regularly under 20 pounds for a weekend, and I don't use bleeding-edge ultralight gear.

By the way, check out Great Miami Outfitters - they have a rewards program that is highly competitive with REI, and you don't have to wait until the end of the year to get paid. (No, I don't work for them or get anything from them; I just think they're a great local shop for those of us near Dayton.)

So, don't let all the ultralight talk here drive you away - you'll get the respect you deserve regardless of where you want to be on the weight spectrum.

Hi,
I don't buy much gear as I'm still using gear from 30 years ago, but when I do buy, I usually goto REI. You will get decent gear there as long as you are weight conscious. Going lightweight is more about what you leave home than what you take.

I'd suggest going on some local hikes before going overnight. Take all your gear and hike in a couple miles. Set up your tent, cook a meal, and then come back.

Sometimes the freestanding tents can be difficult to set up. Search on YouTube for how to set up the Hubba. Practice at home a few times.

Your pack may be a little big. Don't take it back, but don't fill it either. It's easy to add 20 pounds of extra things you do not need.

If you see a forecast for rain, sleep out in it. That way you will know if your tent leaks.

Above all, have fun

Going lightweight is more about what you leave home than what you take.

Amen. Every new backpacker should be issued a card with this written on it. Every morning they should recite it like the Pledge of Alliegance.

I keep tent, poles, stakes in their stuff sack in one of the outside pockets of my pack, so it's available to set up in pouring rain without having to open my pack. If I were to carry the tent inside my pack (which I may start doing since I recently acquired a cuben fiber tent), I would keep it right on top and separated with a waterproof barrier, probably a pack liner, from everything else inside, since said tent often gets packed wet.

On the lightness topic, I wholeheartedly agree with Aimless and Gershon!

im not a light backpacker either i buy from who ever has it cheapest.
i got my eta solo stove for 72.00 shipped from fedtactical.com because amazon wanted more. it was also lighter than a jet boil solo and also has a coffee press option.

i read reviews, ask questions and buy the lightest best gear i can find for the price im willing to spend. this year im having to buy everything from a to z because i haven't been in the wood over night for years.

i say get it where you want. because ultimately you get to carry it. just take your time and do research.

What's everybody think of this one? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004U8CP88/ref=ox_ya_os_product

Things I will not buy at REI:

Food - NEVER buying Mountain House again.
Tents - Lightheart Gear or Tarptent are lighter, often cheaper and work as well. right now I use a Lightheart Solo when I have to sleep on the ground.
Hammock - camping hammocks are the bomb. The best ones are made in someone's garage. Warbonnet for me.
Trekking Poles - Gossamer Gear is my fave.
Sleeping bag - ugh. A quilt for me, for 3 seasons.

Things I will buy at REI:
fuel canisters
clothes
lights
maps
lanyards for glasses, clips, little stuff
rope/cord
socks
sporks
in other words - nothing of much consequence!

I do like great Miami outfitters. I've been there many times. They just didn't have the best selection. Since I didn't have any gear to start I needed to see a variety.

Have you looked into the DYI alcohol stoves?

My favorite is the " SuperCat " stove.

It's about the best you can do for the money and lightweightness. Great for 1-4 day trips. Not so good maybe for cooking pancakes and bacon, but perfect for boiling water.

Why? It's not "great" but it's not as bad as McCheeseburgers.

Not enough caloric content or nutrients for the long haul. Too expensive.

And extremely high in sodium. Read the ingredients list, if you really want to be discouraged from ever eating Mountain House again.

There are other brands that aren't as bad, but most (except Mary Jane's Farm) can't be found at REI.

I'll let everybody know just bought this one. I figure for only 8 bucks if it only works once I got my money's worth.

I'll let everybody know just bought this one. I figure for only 8 bucks if it only works once I got my money's worth.

It's IMO not worth the money. Cheap Chinese knockoff, the pot supports are flimsy and, do you know how much CO2 it gives off? neither does anyone else. Potentially hazardous amounts....

Someone brought one of these on one of my trips. It will probably work for a while, but I'd bet you'll be in the market for another stove soon. Look up the cat can stove if money is an issue. Even cheaper than chinese knockoffs, and you know where it was made and it'll last for years as long as you don't step on it.

All freeze dried meals taste like heavily spiced paper towels to me. If I wanted to exist on spices, I'd take bottles of spices.

Real food has the advantage of having as many preservatives as you add to them, as much salt as you add, and tasting like - well - food.

I agree that the stove you linked to is not worth the money. It's also heavier than most top-mounted canister stoves.

I would be extremely cautious about buying any backpacking gear from amazon.com. For one thing, returning anything there is a real pain, as I have found out. REI and backcountry.com both have unlimited warranties and extremely liberal return policies. I understand that a few other firms do, too. At amazon.com, just contacting a human to arrange a return can take days!

For lots of info on recent model canister stoves, check out Hikin' Jim's blog, Adventures in Stoving. There is also an excellent article on the most recent advances in canister-type stoves on Backpackinglight.com, but it requires a subscription to read. Most of the same info can be found on Hikin' Jim's blog.

As Lori mentions, you can make your own alcohol stove out of a cat food can or two, or a soda can, for even less--even if neither you nor your neighbors have a cat and you have to throw the food away!

More comprehensive stove info here and (for a popular cat food can alcohol stove) here.

That is pretty close to mine list as well. I do buy food occasionally there, though. But, boys scouts will eat almost anything.

Welcome to the forum...I'm in Akron area and know the Mohican area..

Aimless - that's a good motto! I also try to think of three reasons that I need it with me. If I can justify it then I take it..If not then it stays home..hmmm? Is that why I hike alone most times?

Gershon, thanks for that advise. I've been setting up the tent in the living room (which my 20 month old loves). It is very easy to set and take down. I just got the pocket stove. So ill be practicing this weekend.

Well its set I'll be going to red river gorge July 18-21. A buddy of mine will be going with me. I'm getting excited. I'm not sure if I should be calling this my mid-life crisis or not but this will be a challenge (bad back and knees). I've been doing some local hikes.

Check out http://www.campmor.com/

Do you work for campmor?