Advice for a newcomer?

“I am SO happy that I stumbled on this site. I am looking for any advice you all can share with me. I have camped/canoed/backpacked a bit, but it was always with someone else's equipment and someone else planning the trip. Now I am ready to venture out, buy my own equipment (there's so much stuff!) though that may take me a while, and get out there! What words of wisdom can all you experienced sages send my way?”

“Your homepage link on your profile does not work.

Welcome vicsaw. You need to be a little more narrowed on your questions.”

“Rent major equipment before you buy if possible. And before every major purchase post a thread here, most likely someone has some kind of experience with the product and you can get some feedback.”

“Run, vicsaw, RUN for your life”

“Okay on the renting. Pardon the silly question. Where does one go?”

“i hate to say it but....


...ah forget it, I better not!”

“is there an REI in your area?”

“Where does one go for gear?

Campmor, REI, EMS, Cabela's, etc..

You can look at the websites for the stores before you buy anything and browse through different gear.”

“You don't need as much specialized equipment as many would like you to think...you just need the desire to get out there and the will to use whatever you have for now.

Be patient...your gear will come.”

“Hey newbie, 2poops is from your area. He's coming on an MD trip this weekend. Come with, you can hitch a ride with him if you'd like. The best way to learn, I've noticed, is to go out and do it.”

“Thanks, Buddur. But if I only used what I had for now, I would have to use quilts and my old school backpack. :) I shall look into REI. I think there's one outside of Chicago somewhere.”

“Keep in mind vicsaw that a lot of backpacking gear may not agree with you after a couple days on the trail. You buy a pair of boots from REI and they rub you wrong you return them no questions asked. That goes for all of their merchandise. Personally I will pay extra to be able to easily and readily return an item no matter what. That's worth a few bucks to me.”

“Don't try to color coordinate everything.”

“I looked at your webpage on your profile.
You are too pretty and girly looking to survive here unless you are very very hardnosed and tough.
Good luck, ha ha. ;)”

“Thanks Scorch. That is appealing, but I am heading up to Minnesota this weekend for a trip, then the next two weeks after that it's off to Boulder. Woo Hoo!! I am going to beg and borrow what equipment I can on those two trips. I'd take you up on that idea another weekend.”

“LOL @ violin. Why not? Gotta impress the bears.”

“You are too pretty and girly looking to survive here unless you are very very hardnosed and tough.

Stove you are just asking for it. Are you trying to imply that the rest of us girls here aren't "girly looking?" Why I oughtta....”

“You really have no idea. Do you always judge a book by its cover? Seems like you're jumping the gun a bit.”

“vicsaw - We get someone pretending to be a young pretty backpacking woman in here ever couple of weeks.
We call them trolls. You will be viewed with suspicion for a while until you go on a hike with us.”

“TROLL!!”

“SS is just messing with you. He's a good guy.

Here are my words of wisdom. You are an attractive lady and are new to backpacking as such any minute now the horn dogs will wander on this thread and try to hit you up. Ignore them or tease them mercilessly as you like.”

“And make sure you bring your friends!!!”

“And bring all your friends!

(Hush-up Scorchy!)”

“vicsaw posted very quietly on a thread of mine on Sunday. Doesn't appear to be a troll.”

“LOL
OK, you are a very adorable girly girl and I worship the ground you walk on! ;)”

“Oh yeah, backpacking. Go on a TT group trip. You will learn a lot from everyone and make some great friends.”

“: ) Aww Stovey”

“Damn, Chief... 24 freakin' seconds! LOL”

“Which thread lizs?”

“The horn dogs have arrived.”

“thanks, liz. BTW, hope you get a chance to pick up that book. But after this post, I'm scared. I am off to cruise equipment sites now. You have all been a joy. (And I promise I'm not a troll!!)”

“Don't be scared. It's all done in fun.”

“muah ahh ahhhhhh”

“LOL Buddur!!

welcome, vicsaw!!
where are you planning on going to in Minnesota?”

“Says you are from Indiana -- that's Crazy Mike's territory. Good lord, he gives equipment away to newbies and others. Plus he's relatively safe now that there's a Ms. Crazy Mike. CM will soon be inviting you on one of his many bping trips and referring you to his club website.

There are lots of great folks on TT, vicsaw, and I'm sure you can handle the horn dogs. Just give 'em he!!. Any gear advice you'll ever need can be found here, and it will be based on real trail use. Enjoy and welcome.”

“I didn't know little red X's could bark”

“That poor dog has some funny looking feet, and they are on backwards!

(click on the x to see)”

“I'll be going to my hometown of Pelican Rapids, about 3 hours north of the Twin Cities, to hang with the family and do a little snowshoeing with my dad at Maplewood State Park.”

“aww puppy dog”

“vicsaw!!

i knew a couple people from pelican rapids...i went to college up in Fargo....

I'm originally from Glenwood, MN”

“Welcome. Search old gear threads here. On the homepage there are gear reviews that may be helpful.”

“Where? NDSU, Concordia? I went to MSU for a year and a half.

And thanks again for all the advice thus far. I am aware of CMB's site and club. Just haven't jumped on a trip yet, but I will after the new year.”

“Take the gear purchases slow - you'll soon spend a fortune.

Start with pack, sleeping bag and shelter. Go to a reputable store, many mentioned above. Get the sales guy/gal to let you put weight in the packs and walk around with them and fool with the suspension system. A pack is a good thing to rent and most stores will do that.

Get in the bag and roll around in the store - light weight is great but costs more - should find a decent 20 degree bag for around 80 - 90 bucks if you shop. Campmor.com has great deals if your patient.

Tents are extremely personal preference on roominess vs. weight and bulk. Set 'em up in the store and crawl in. You can't change clothes in most bp tents, forget modesty in the woods. Tents are easily rented too.

Good luck - get out in the woods!”

“it IS a small world.

MSU....go dragons. (haha!!)”

“You sure picked a fine season to start your gearhunt.

For starters, other than good footwear, start with against-the-skin synthetic longjohns top and bottoms. You'll stay much drier by having undergarments that wick moisture away from your skin.”

“1.) Buy this book.

2.) Research your basic gear (boots, pack, tent, stove, etc.)

3.) Check out the Gear Reviews, check out Gear Site #1, and/or Gear Site #2 or search ebay for used/new gear.

4.) Ask questions here by doing a Search. You can enter anything related to backpacking that you can think of, and we prolly discussed it here in detail. Read the posts, and ask further questions if need be.

5.) Attend a TT trip. You can find some near you Here. The people that attend the trips know what they are doing, and can offer you helpful tips that will save you money, pain, time, and make your experience more enjoyable.

6.) Take a class on the subject.

7.) Stay away from me..... I'm one of the aforementioned horndogs.


Welcome.”

“I think we all blew out your bandwidth limit.

Ha ha ha

Oh well, it'll reset soon I guess and I'll look then.”

“You can't change clothes in most bp tents, forget modesty in the woods.

I can in my Eureka!”

“Well, I can, but I'd prolly pull a muscle and it requires me to make contortionist type moves.”