External Backpack Frame

Series Summary

Backpacking and camping are two favorite outdoor activities. 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, learn about basic backpacking gear. First, take the time to pick out a backpack. There are two kinds of backpacks, external frame backpacks and internal frame backpacks, that have different advantages and disadvantages. Get tips for finding a backpack that fits. Also, learn how to adjust the straps on a backpack. Interested in camping tents? Learn about the basic tent features available, and find out how to pitch a tent. Using this series will help campers prepare for a successful backpacking trip. So, don't delay! Watch this free backpacking series today!

Video Transcript

"In order to go backpacking one of the first things you're going to need is a backpack obviously. You can't use the same backpack that you use at school to put your books in because it is not big enough and it doesn't have enough support so there is two different kinds of backpacks. This is the original and oldest basically kind of backpack. It is an external frame which means that you see all these metal parts here on the outside. External frame backpacks are the most standard kind of outdoor backpacking, that is what you are most likely to see but there is also a new kind of backpack called internal frames and we'll talk about those later. I like external frames better because they are cooler, this is the only thing that is touching your back. They are a lot lighter than internal frames but other people find the internal frames to be more comfortable. I like external frames because you have a lot of outside space that you can strap things on to. For instance there is a big space at the bottom where you can put your tent and a big space at the top where you can strap your sleeping bag on to and you can strap all sorts of other stuff on there too. So that is what an external frame is."