Car vs. Backpack Camping

Series Summary

Backpacking and camping are two favorite outdoor activities. Whether you are the recent college graduate who wants to find yourself by hiking across Europe with a good pair of a shoes and a pack or a mother of three who wants to take the kids out for some fresh air on a day-hike, getting outdoors with a heavy pack on your shoulders brings you in touch with nature and primitive human culture. Camping usually entails tents and sleeping bags, but backpacking, too, can involve sleeping outdoors, depending on the journey. Trudging through forests and up mountain passes draws fresh air into the lungs and puts your backpacking skills to the test, pushing you to wonder if you brought the best gear and packed your backpack tight.

In this free video series outdoorsman Brant Bowers teaches you all about gear for backpacking and tips on being a safe and polite trekker. Brant covers the differences between camping on foot or with a vehicle, how to get to trails, and the differences between conventional and minimalist approaches to encountering the wild outdoors. Brant shows you kinds of shoes and boots for backpacking, which clothes work best in different weather, and what packs might be right for you. Brant also includes tips on trail etiquette and how to be eco-friendly and leave no trace when you backpack or camp.

Video Transcript

"At Bill Jackson's when I have a customer come in. I often ask what are you doing are you backpacking or are you car camping? And its important to know the difference. In car camping weight is not as big a issue. Space might be a issue depending on the size of your car but car camping equipment such as tents you can actually stand up in maybe weigh twenty pounds. Stoves with two burners perhaps even a grill. Even cots but in backpacking you have to think in terms of weight and keeping it down. Right now pack weights are usually around thirty pounds or so. Buying the light gear; maybe a four pound two person tent. Sleeping bags under two pounds. A stove that you fit into the palm of your hand and a looking at everything if you take four things and cut four ounces off of them you can knock your pack weight down a pound."