View Full Version : Backpacker Gear Guide
hikerjohnd
02-04-2005, 10:19
Sorry about this, but I can't find the info on the net... Does anybody know if Backpackers 2005 gear guide is on newsstands yet? I'm going to town today and will stop and pick it up if it's out, but don't want to waste a trip if it's not...
Thanks!
Lone Wolf
02-04-2005, 10:30
Yeah it's out.
yes,i saw it last weekend,none of my gear i use is in it,most of my gear is custom made,plus no hammock stuff at all,backpacker gear guide is for yuppies
:sun neo
hikerjohnd
02-04-2005, 10:48
Thanks guys - I appreciate the info - I enjoy reading about all the gear out there and I'm helping a friend get into backpacking - I figure he'll be interested in seeing all the options.
--John
wel if your friend is only looking at that "remarkable" gear guide your friend won't be seeing all the options
Yea, you’d be much better off taking advice from people that actually backpack.
.
I was very disappointed with the gear guide this year. It seems get less and less useful every year.
hikerjohnd
02-04-2005, 18:33
I was very disappointed with the gear guide this year. It seems get less and less useful every year.
Yea - I just got home and started flipping though my copy - very difficult to follow and it seems to be leaning to reviews rather than just a list of what is out there...
:confused::confused::confused:
Blue Jay
02-04-2005, 18:34
Thanks guys - I appreciate the info - I enjoy reading about all the gear out there and I'm helping a friend get into backpacking - I figure he'll be interested in seeing all the options.
--John
Yes those are all the options if you're rich and don't hike more than a few hours from the car.
yeah, this year is the last for me and BP mag. the bean counters definitely hold sway...05 gear guide = vender driven junk. They claim to be in sync the 'lightweight revolution' but the offerings/reviews were pathetic. On one page (I forget which..i've already floated the guide downstream) they even dissed UL'ers for trying to shaving ounces. A portal pub for newbies, that's all it is. C
yes the gear guide is out. I am a subscriber to backpacker magazine. Normally I love the magazine and learn alot from it. I will have to concurr however, that this year's gear guide is a dissapointment. They only give a very few alternatives for the different situations.
I would second the notion of getting advice from veteran backpackers (ie post here on white blaze and do some internet research!).
What I would like to see ideally is a gear guide that not only promotes certain gear but tells you what gear and brands to avoid!! does such a thing exisit? anyone?
David (NH Hiker)
peter_pan
02-05-2005, 08:56
Ask your self if you are interested in an item? Then come to Whiteblaze and ask if any one has experience with it or has a recommendation for an alternate item. Ask for the pros and cons. You'll get plenty of good advice...pick and choose after carefull study and you'll do well and probably save some also. HYOH starts with select your own gear. Enjoy.
A decade ago, the BP Gear Guide may have been "cutting edge." Today, not!
What is "cutting edge" gear-wise on the A.T. and other long trails is what you read about on internet sites like this one. The small companies that produce much of the gear many of us use don't advertise in Backpacker, won't get reviewed or included in the Gear Guide, and could NEVER keep up with the orders if they were.
There have been notable exceptions. Go-Lite comes to mind. In its first year it was a small company with customers numbering in the low 100s, obtained mostly by word-of-mouth. Today, they are larger and mainstream enough to be included in BP. Of course they're not producing the gear many of us are touting these days, either.
I am convinced that Backpacker magazine and their web site is geared towards the novice backpacker and day hiker. As an experiment, lets see a show of hands from those who have actually hiked, or better yet, backpacked with someone from Backpacker forum.
white blaze is my favorite trail community website,lots a great people,sharing their experience,ideals,and so forth,the best gear i have seen is made for hikers
by hikers,jacksrbetter,ed speer,dancing light gear,antigravity gear,fanatic fringe
just a few of the great home grown how to,s that are my personal favorites
when it come to hammock camping,i have learned most from peter pan,i know i have been a pain in the butt to him at time,but he has really helped me a lot,
so the gear giude in backpacker is not my cup of tea,happy trails to all that hit the AT this year:sun neo
JoeHiker
02-05-2005, 21:08
I am convinced that Backpacker magazine and their web site is geared towards the novice backpacker and day hiker.
To be fair, hikerjohnd's friend is a novice backpacker so perhaps Backpacker fits, eh?
I agree that sticking to Backpacker is ultimately limiting and that he should steer his friend here. But while Backpakcer might lean towards the big guys and ignore a lot (most?) of the best stuff out there, the their guide does have useful info and (I think) honest reviews. It can be of some use to someone as long as they don't rely on it totally. As long as john makes his friend aware of all the great stuff out there, handing him the guide isn't a bad idea.
I was just thumbing thru it at Borders a couple hours ago...
I was happy to see that Brian's ULA Fusion was mentioned (P2 won an award last yr) but not much else in the way of small-business gear. Oh yah they did have a pic of the GVP Mariposa I believe.
There is no mention of hammocks basically becasue none of the major markets has gotten into making them. When Marmot and Sierra Designs enters the game, well Hammocks will be the greatest thing since sliced bread.
They mentioned the GG Nimbus Lattitude I believe and mentioned the Ozone in a list, but didn't even mention the Vapor Trail or the Virga. Geez. They were very high on the new and improved G Pack though.
Also not mentioned was Western Mountaineer which I thought was kind of ridiculous but a Feathered Friends bag was recommended.
They also seemd to be high on Osprey packs which is great, but none of the ones that any thru-hikers are using. Also they are way into Marmot and Mammut packs. Go figure...
Anyway, I could go on forever. It was OK, but obviously there is better info here. Afterall its a gear guide, not a gear guide for thru-hikers. It is what it is
I treat backpacker the same way I treat the Indianapolis Star... Sunday only... Gear Guide only. I occasionally leaf through BP but the only issue I have bought for several years is the gear guide. I used to be a subscriber (6 or 7 yrs ago). I found I was most interested in gear reviews and info on new upcoming gear. Unfortuanately it seemed I had to wade through too much puppy-poo to find the stuff that I was interested in. There are only so many poorly written trip accounts that one can read before the mind goes numb. Too many would be Bill Brysons.... (I wont even go into what I though of his AT "hike".)
Anyway, the gear guide has been a must for me the last several years.... but I agree that it just aint what it used to be.
For those trying to kick the addiction:
trailjournals.com
backpacking.net
backpackinglight.com
and of course whiteblaze
mdjeeper
02-06-2005, 01:23
I like BP for the most part, about 30% of it I just turn the pages on though as it doesnt relate to me or anything I would do or be interested in. I didnt care too much for this years gear guide at all, which I treat any magazine as only a source of info and dont put much faith in their reviews anyhow.
JoeHiker
02-06-2005, 16:21
I was just thumbing thru it at Borders a couple hours ago...
Also not mentioned was Western Mountaineer which I thought was kind of ridiculous but a Feathered Friends bag was recommended.
They did mention the Western Mountaineering Ultralite.
NICKTHEGREEK
02-06-2005, 16:39
Yea, you’d be much better off taking advice from people that actually backpack.
.
The crew from Backpacker magazine at least used to be a pretty salty crew of real backpackers. They went places where every other tree wasn't blazed and there were no shelters ever 10 miles, and towns every 3 days. Unfortunately the publisher wanted to go in another direction with the magazine, but don't let that fool you they know their stuff. Steve Howe in particular, is a backpacker's backpacker, if they weren't pretty savvy they'd be Bear turds a long time ago.
Personally I mourn the passing of what the magazine and the gear guide was just 6 years ago and hope it gets back on track.
People who backpack (never mind people who backpack regularly) are an increasingly small slice of the overall outdoor recreation pie.
Thirty years ago the outdoor recreational pursuits for the average person was fairly limited. Sure, there have always been extreme climbers, mountaineers, kayakers, etc..etc. but for the AVERAGE person, it was limited to backpacking, hiking, camping, hunting, cross country skiing, a bit of canoeing, etc.
Today? With advances in tools, lots of places teaching the skill set, etc., there is a plethora of outdoor activities for the average person to choose from. if you were to go to a place that has an active outdoor population, the magazine section will astound you: trail running mags, rock climbing mags, bouldering mags, mtn biking mags, ad infinitium. And there are tons of what I call "Outdoor Lifesyle Magazines" now: Outside Magazine, NAtionional Geographic Explorer, etc. All these mags are not just for super-duper atheletes, but Joe Shmoes like you and I. Thirty years ago people living out of their car trunk would climb Yosemite. Today? Your average Joe Shmore (middle- upper middle class Joe Shmore, I should say) thinks nothing of buying the latest and greatest climbing gear and spending two weeks climbing in Yosemite.
****(Note the difference between mags and Mags. One is a magzine, another is a 30 yr old named Paul Magnanti. :) ).
What does all this mumbo jumbo mean for Backpacker Magazine? Backpackers, from a marketing standpoint is a stagnant if not shrinking market. Most backpackers buy their gear and are done with it. Backpacking is seen as an "old fogey" activity by many people. (Not that it reflects reality, but that is the perception it seems).
In order to make it seem more vigorous, manufacturers label if "fast packing" to sell gear aimed at people who essentially backpack many miles a day. (From my brief time in the ultra world, seems no one buys more gear than people who are into sports where you have to push yourself in a competitive environment. )
Backpacker Magazine has changed because the outdoor industry has changed. More people are indeed outdoors...but less people are backpacking. The largest segment of backpackers are the Baby Boomers. Gen X (and now Y) as a whole do not backpack as much and chose to spend the bulk of their outdoor time doing other activities. By changing the magazine's focus, the publishers reach a larger amount of poeple. Less useful for those of us who backpack extensively; useful if you are trying to sell advertisements and want to generate revenue.
For backpackers of all stripes there are on-line resources. In the meantime Backpacker Magazine will evolve to be less about backpacking and more about "the outdoor lifestyle".