Resources for Women Who Backpack

“I was at my inlaws last night for a little party for my brother inlaw. His girlfriend and I were chatting about her desire to start bping. She went to a local outfitter that's going outta business and offered a pack to her that was around 250 or so, which I thought was way too much. She has ben messured and she is a small torso. She has been out a couple of times (She LOVES Nordhouse Dunes in Michigan and goes quite often), but doesn't have the right equipment and tends to "car camp" it more than bp it. Any ways, I said that one of the best ways to learn/get started was go out with some bper's and observe how they do it (that has worked real well for me). What I would like to do is put together some resources for her that approach bping frm a womens point of view. I'm sure there are things that I just know nothing about. I'm searching around right now and any help some of our fine posters would be helpful! Thanks in advance.....”

“I know that there are discussion groups online specifically for women backpackers - I think Texaswoodswoman frequented such a group.

There is also a forum over at the *other site* specifically for women it's called "Women's Pages".”

“But that\'s mostly just women griping about men and their periods, and hitting on eachother.

The only thing a woman needs to know that\'s different than what a man needs to know is what to do with those blasted \"sanitary products\" and how to deal w/ Aunt Flo on the trail. It\'s all the same otherwise. ;)


BTW Q, I have a Lowe Netherworld Narrow Dimensions (should adjust to fit a small torso) if she wants to borrow it indeffinately to get started. She can return it whenever she finds a pack for herself, be it months or a year or so. Lemme know if she\'s interested.”

“I haven't been a backbacker long, but something I have learned is that my pack sits differently than on my husband's. Since our center of gravity is different (women's around the hip area; men's in the chest), I tend to overbalance if I'm not careful with how I pack my pack. Other than that, not much difference.”

“Yeah - I guess I realy can't vouch for the quality of the conversation on those sites.

I would consult:
Sass
treebait
Tango
Tarabull
Tex
om
Skully

and many others that I will get flack for leaving out here.”

“I guess this is my best resource for this info. There's not much out there. That BP site for women was dunb, you were right Sass. I guess I just don't know what the difference is, that's why I asked. You never know. Thanks for your time and info everyone!”

“LOL... I just hit that women's page the other day. And got into trouble immediately. While all the "sisters" were lamenting some gal who got ditched, but THEN she managed to get ahold of the guy after two weeks... and they were just backing whatever she said. I said, hey, maybe you want to rethink this and look at it better and then move on.

Wow! That didn't go over well! I wasn't being "supportive." I asked if "supportive" meant strictly validating/confirming the view expressed by the original poster. (OK, so a couple gals did finally back me up a bit)

Sheesh.... "Women's pages"...”

“Sounds like you wandered into the "hikin' Oprahs" group, Lizs.”

“Noticed on those women pages: They talk about tampons on peeing like a man. They hate "s e x y" backpacking cloth, and hate everyone that wears s e x y cloth.

oh, oh, oh!! forgot! and they dog out the men if they are brave enough to post a stupid thread. lol

Once in a while they have okay answers, but I can get the same answers on this board.”

“Lady J ???

What the #@%% is that thing?”

“'Aunt Flo', LOL. I never heard THAT one before, Sass.”

“Believe it or not, I learned that from Birch!”

“Everytime I go out on trail I learn new stuff, however the first rule of thumb, would be pack weight: no more than 25% of your bodyweight. 20% is even better. That includes all gear, food, water that will be weighing you down. Use a single person tent, you'll be more comfy in warm & cool temps and they weigh less than 1/2 what 2 person tents do. As for "aunt flo" I prefer pads on trail as they are more reliable and you can use those little wrappers again. Also can double as first aid items! Other wise I try to avoid being on trail at that time if at all possible.”

“best way to learn for me so far:
trial and error.
If my pack too heavy on one trip you can bet I am not stupid enough to pack that heavy a second time.”

“I'll never use pads again on the trail. They wad up to one side, or start chafing while I walk. That's REALLY painful. Innies are the way to go for me.”

“I don't think backpacking is much different for men than it is for women. You just have to find the gear that works for you.”

“"innies"? lol, that's a new one.


Q - just bring her hiking w/ us. We'll show her the strings, err, the ropes...”

“Hey Sass I have herd the Flo thing also.

8)

And the Lady J they have at campmor.”

“LOL @ Tarabull!

I agree, there's really not that much difference other than some personal hygene issues.”

“ok...call me silly or vain...but I take make up...just liner and a bit of shadow....”

“You're so silly! ;)

I take a comb and toothpaste.”

“Y'all worry about hygiene too much. My last long trip, I didn't shower for 7 days. When I got home, my told me not to put my hiking clothes in the hamper, lest they befoul the clothes already in there.”

“lol, I didn't wear deoderant for 8 days. =) It's better that way because you can't smell other's funk, just your own.”

“More so vain.......LOL.....”

“Q
I agree with Tarabull. Just bring her out with us. I've got an extra smaller pack (gregory) that she could borrow for a weekend. Along with an extra sleeping bag and a few other things. I bet we could hook her up pretty good for a trial trip. But I can't go til October. :-( Speaking of that I need to get your bear canister back to you!”

“D - not rush on the can. I'd love to bring her out. There are a couple of newbies that would like to get on the trail and they've expressed great interest. The info has been great, thanks again everyone. I'll let her know about the gear. I'm sure that through all of us, we could outfit a small army! I'd like to get something going maybe fer sometime soon, but I have to find a comfortable trip for them to do. I don't want to "break in the newbies" by doing what they might think is a deathmarch. Maybe Reid Lake?”

“or green lake? Close to home = better chance of getting away for us.”