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    Fifty, sixty years ago, campers needed a car-top roof rack to lug their home-away-from-home to the backwoods. And backpackers would often opt to leave the tent at home in favor of saving pounds of shoulder weight. Now days almost no one sleeps without a tent, because, thanks to modern synthetic materials, tents are lighter, stronger, drier, and roomier than their canvass grandparents.

     

    The tent depicted in the photo to the left is a Contrail and is made by Henry Shires of Tarptents.  It weighs in at about one and one half pounds, and has room for one person plus the backpack.

     

    In choosing a tent, your only concern is which model to choose. There's a bewildering array of tent options available, not sure which tent to choose?  Fortunately, there are an abundance of resources on the web to help you choose.  Tutorial.com has some very good basic information to help you sort through the maze, and help you select the tent best suited to your needs.

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    Its fairly easy to lighten your load by 15 or 20 pounds, just by upgrading your big three components of your gear.  The backpack, tent and sleeping bag often amount to one third of you total pack load.  The photo to the left show a gearskin made by Moonbow Gear.  The gearskin weighs just one and a half pounds and is custom made for the user.   The closed cell thermal pad forms the frame.  Please see the MoonBow Gear web site for a description of how it works.

     

    At Lightweight Backpacking 101 you will find information about lightweight backpacking, weight-reducing tips, gear that can be used for multiple purposes, general packing information, gear checklists, backcountry ethics, and much, much more.

     

    Lightening the load of your pack is the easiest way to lose weight.

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    It doesn't matter if you are a hiking newbie, or an old pro, BackPacking 101 has trip-planning tips, gear lists, safety advice, and other essential wisdom every hiker should know.

     

    Brushing up on essential skills is something we should all do from time to time. Whatever your goal, this guide to getting started as a backpacker and hiker will help you enjoy a lifetime of safe, scenic, and satisfying adventures.

     

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    One pole or two?  Many regular hikers agree that trekking poles offer significant benefits. If you haven't yet tried trekking poles, consider the advantages to decide whether they're a worthwhile addition to your gear closet.

     

    With trekking poles, hikers use upper body muscles they don't ordinarily use. Using trekking poles during a hike creates a full body workout, enhancing the already significant aerobic benefit of hiking.

     

    Whether you are a hiking newbie, or an old pro,  Trekking Poles 101 will give you the information you need to use trekking poles to your advantage.

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    A list for women who love backpacking and hiking. This is a growing group of very diverse women who welcome members who hike anywhere in the world regardless of age or experience.  Many members are experienced long-distance hikers and emphasis is placed on helping members plan trips, including topics from gear to food drops to personal issues.

     

    The Women Hikers Yahoo Group is a growing group of very diverse women who welcome members who hike anywhere in the world regardless of age or experience.

     

Find a Hike / Upload a Hike

Final testing is underway for a new feature being implemented.  Yes, you will soon be able to upload your GPS tracks of all your favorite hikes.  Out new feature will allow you to view and download tracks which have been uploaded by your fellow hikers, and you'll be able to download those track to your GPS so that you can also hike that trail.

Runners, mountain bikers, and hiker whether on trail or off, are all welcome to upload their tracks here.  Once a track has been uploaded, you'll be able to see a map of the trail.  Then you will be able to download that track to your own GPS device

File formats supported will be Google Earth's KML and the GPX format supported by nearly all GPS makers.

With the support of hikers, mountain bikers, and explorers, this database of GPS tracks will benefit all outdoor lovers.

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