Hi Jenny,

I'll try to name a few styles of backpacking first.

• Bushcrafter
• Bushwhacker
• Cheapskate
• Fair weather
• Gear Head
• Gourmet
• Heavyweight
• Lightweight
• Minimalist
• Soloist
• Survivalist
• Thru-hiker
• Trail Only Hiker
• Ultralight

Some of these might be considered stereotypes:

• Bushcrafter
• Clueless
• Newbie
• X-Treme
• Techweenie
• Survivalist
• Thru-hiker

I'm sure others here can add to that, but, I don't think anyone can be purely one of those so...

I'll say by choice I'm a "fair weather lightweight cheapskate bushwhacker", which is not at all stereotypical.

How that relates to the food I bring:

I have friends who are heavyweight backpackers and food is no small part of their total weight. Same could be said for me, but my food is generally a lot lighter than theirs. So is my kitchen gear, which limits what kinds of food I can bring. My heavyweight friends seem to have no limits they consider other than if they can lift their pack before they leave.

I primarily think about food both in terms of weight and the space it takes up in my pack. The "fairweather, cheapskate, bushwhacker" styles have little to do with that for me. You could be any of those too and not be concerned about the weight or kind or volume of food you bring.

There's a bit of crossover in those lists but stereotypes, by definition, are "a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image", and that is very true when it comes to backpacking, at least here in the US.

As I see it, most of us incorporate several of what I'm calling "styles" of backpacking, so none of us are stereotypical. In fact, the backpacker here who I'd have to say is the most "X-Treme" is also the least stereotypical.

We have a few honest to goodness "Thru-hikers" here, but I'm not sure the stereotype fits the reality of those who are real thru-hikers either. The stereotype I see always depicts some kind of inner struggle that motivates them and the hardships of backpacking they endure to cure themselves, but what I see here are those with a passion to get outdoors and see and experience all of it they can. There's no cure for that, and they know it. And I don't think they feel there's any hardshipiness in for them. They love it all.

The one "style" we all have in common here, on this forum, is the "Lightweight" style. That's what brings us here, but that's not stereotypical either. Most of my friends who backpack carry 6-packs of beer and steaks and potatoes and who knows what all...