How Do I Prepare For My First Backpacking Trip?

To prepare for your first backpacking trip, you will want to get in shape for backpacking, study what you bring, and have an experienced backpacker help you pack your backpack. Spending slightly more money for more effective and efficient gear (or borrowing if you can) can save you unnecessary stress and muscle fatigue.

Before venturing out, try out some of the skills you will be using close to home. Practice using your backpacking stovetop, preparing a dehydrated meal, and camping in a tent/sleeping bag.

For your first backpacking trip, try to go with someone who has been backpacking before. In addition, print out a map of the trails on which you will be hiking and study the distances. As a beginner, choose a distance that will not be too challenging.

RELATED: 6 Survival Skills Every Beginner Should Know

How Do I Get In Shape For A Backpacking Trip?

The best way to get in shape for backpacking is to practice.

If you are a beginner, start by going on a fairly challenging hike near your home twice a week. Increase to three times a week. When this becomes more manageable, over the course of weeks or months, begin to add weight to your back. Start with a normal-sized backpack with a hip strap for support. Pack a few water bottles to begin, and then increase the weight over time.

As you become stronger in this specific set of skills–hiking while carrying weight–lengthen the hike as well as the weight. This will prepare you for the backpacking trips that most interest you.

Another way to get into shape for backpacking is by getting a gym membership and climbing the “stair-stepping” machine 2-3 times per week. This will build your quadricep muscles sufficiently to help you climb an especially steep backpacking journey. Once again, you will want to start with no weight at a speed that is comfortable for you. Slowly, increase the amount of weight you are carrying on your back (either in a backpacking backpack or just a regular school backpack), as well as the speed of the machine.

One other aspect of backpacking that often goes overlooked is the amount of back strength needed. To increase your back strength, consider using the rowing machine at your local gym as well as lifting weights.

What Are The Essentials For Backpacking?

A Backpack

If you’re wanting to make backpacking a full-time hobby, you’ll want to make sure and invest a decent amount of money into a quality backpack. If you use a normal backpack, like a school or 72-hour kit kind of backpack, you might pay for it through back and hip pain after the hike.

If you’re willing to invest, you will need a sturdy, reliable, lightweight backpack. Preferably one that is specific to backpacking. You want this backpack to be able to hold most of the weight of the pack on your hips through a supportive hip strap. This is an investment that is necessary for having a positive backpacking experience.

A Tent

Certain tents are made specifically for backpacking. Although they are small, they provide shelter from the weather as well as any predators in the wild.

The tent you get for backpacking should be lightweight. After going through this list, and adding to it with your own essentials, you’ll notice your pack starts to get kind of heavy.  Buying a quality, lightweight will save your muscles and energy in the long run.

A Sleeping Pad or Bag

Backpacking often leads to tiny campsites with very little flat ground. Save yourself an extra sore back by packing a lightweight, thin backpacking sleeping pad. Pack a sleeping bag that can help you retain heat if camping in a cold area.

Some Food and Water

Backpacking favorites include packs of oatmeal, a cup of noodles, trail mix, granola bars, dehydrated meals, pancake mix, hot chocolate mix, dried fruit, and beef jerky.

In most cases, the sleeping bag will be the biggest thing you put into your pack, so make sure it’s one that is built for your specific type (location, climate, temperature) of hiking.

A Compact Backpacking Stove

A lightweight backpacking stove is essential for boiling water and cooking food. My favorite is the trifold stove that uses butane as fuel. You can get 3 to 4 hours of cooking out of one tank of butane.

I love the fact that this stove folds up and with the fuel is able to fit inside of the pots for easy storage.

A Quality Water Filter

In case you run out of water before you reach camp or are stuck in an emergency situation, you will want to have a water filter to drink from nearby sources of water. Staying hydrated is a must.

The Sawyer Mini Water Filter is compact, light, and can filter up to 100,000 gallons of water. It can also screw right onto a water bottle for easy use. Check out this quick review I did comparing Sawyer to the LifeStraw.

A Flashlight

Necessary for navigating the dark, a flashlight can help you after the sun goes down.

Toilet Paper and Toiletries

Although not many people talk about this one, you will need to pack in your own toilet paper. There are usually wooden toilets at major campsites, but no toilet paper is provided. In addition, pack in a toothbrush, bug spray, and sunscreen.

If you don’t want to worry about bringing a large roll of toilet paper, you can always use Coin Tissue. Check out my video explaining all about Coin Tissues.

Trash Bags

Most backpacking areas have a “pack it in, pack it out” rule, meaning you must carry any and all trash you accumulate out of the campsite. The trash bag can be tied to your backpack as you hike out of the campsite.

A Permit

Camping overnight in backpacking sites almost always requires a reservation or a permit. Check out individual park sites in order to align with whatever it is they require.

RELATED: What Things Do You Need to Survive in The Wild?

What Should You Not Bring Backpacking?

Avoid anything unnecessarily heavy, such as cans of food, too many clothes or shoes, or bulky items. Only include the minimum of what you need for the number of days that you will be backpacking.

We have such comfortable lives that sometimes it’s hard to not pack everything you could possibly ever use in the wild. Packing things for the “what if” scenarios should be limited. Chances are you’ll end up only using half of your stuff but still have to carry the additional weight throughout the who trip.

What Should I Pack For A 3-day Backpacking Trip?

To start, pack the above 10 necessary items. Make sure to plan out your meals for each day, taking into account that you will be burning more calories than usual with the physical exertion of backpacking. Pack extra snacks. The average amount of food per person per day should be around 2 pounds.

In addition, make sure to check the weather in your area and prepare accordingly. It is necessary to select a sleeping bag that will keep you warm. Pack a disposable rain poncho in case of rain and wool socks in case of cold.

How Much Weight Should My Pack Weigh For A 3-Day Hike?

On average, you shouldn’t pack more than 20% of your body weight on any backpacking trip. For example, if you weigh 150 pounds, your pack should not exceed 30 pounds.

As mentioned multiple times in this article, every item you choose needs to be considered based on the weight it carries. 3 days of hiking is a long time to pack around items you never use.

Go as light as you can on your first trip and if you decide it would have been nice to have something you didn’t bring, bring that item the next time around.

RELATED: Minimum Calories Per Day To Survive

Why Do Hikers Go Missing So Often?

Although this depends entirely on the individual situation, most hikers go missing when they are (1) on their own, (2) in an unfamiliar area, and (3) overly confident in their skills or surroundings.

The best way to stay safe is to always be with another person. Hike in places that you know, or hike with others who are familiar with the area. If the area is known for being at higher risk, bring a first-aid kit for injuries, as getting injured while missing greatly increases your chances of death.

Always approach hiking or backpacking with humility and awareness. Letting down your guard can be fatal.

Is It Okay To Hike Alone?

As mentioned above, It’s not a good idea to hike alone. If you still decide to go at it alone, it should be done with a calculated risk and should only be done cautiously and with preparation.

Being extremely familiar with the area where you are backpacking lowers this risk, as well as being well-versed (and practiced) in survival skills.  Especially if you are hiking alone, never leave the trail. If you are a beginner or even an intermediate backpacker or hiker, stay safe and use the buddy system. 

Did you know that 5 million people die annually from diseases caused by unsafe drinking water? That’s crazy to think about. How do we have such good filtering technologies and we still can’t find a way to scale that across the globe? Whether you are out in the wilderness or unfortunate enough to not have automated filtering processes at hand, it is important to know the how to’s around filtration and purification. There is no surefire way to visually inspect water and know if it is safe to drink in the wild. Unless you are 100% sure it doesn’t have any bacteria or viruses, I would avoid drinking it without putting it through a proper filtration and purification process.

How Long Do You Have to Boil Water to Kill Bacteria?

You need to bring your water to a rolling boil for a minimum of 1 minute to kill all the bacteria and pathogens. This is for elevations under 6,562 feet (2000 meters) altitude. If you live at a higher elevation, you should increase your boil time to 3 minutes.

US Center for Disease Control

“Boiling can be used as a pathogen reduction method that should kill all pathogens. Water should be brought to a rolling boil for 1 minute. At altitudes greater than 6,562 feet (greater than 2000 meters), you should boil water for 3 minutes.”

Is Boiling Water Enough to Kill Bacteria?

  Boiling water is one of the best methods to clean water, making it safe to drink.

According to Health.gov

“Boiling water kills or inactivates viruses, bacteria, protozoa, and other pathogens by using heat to damage structural components and disrupt essential life processes (e.g. denature proteins).”

The Bottom Line to Purifying Water

Let your water come to a good rolling boil for at least 1-3 minutes to kill all of the bacteria and pathogens. If you don’t know your altitude, it’s best to keep it boiling a little longer just to be safe. Here is a good guide to follow based on boiling water at certain altitudes:

1. Water temperatures at 160° F (70° C) kills all pathogens within 30 minutes.
2. Water temperatures above 185° F (85° C) kills all pathogens within a few minutes.
3. In the time it takes for water to reach the boiling point of 212° F (100° C) all pathogens should be killed, even at high altitudes. To be safe, it’s recommended to let it boil for another 1-3 minutes.

Purified vs Filtered 

In my article about how to identify venomous snakes, we learned that there is a difference between a venomous snake and a poisonous snake. Just like I used the words venomous and poisonous interchangeably, I’ve also been using the words purified and filtered interchangeably. Am I wrong for doing that? Let’s find out.

Is Purified and Filtered Water the Same Thing?

Purified water and filtered water are often confused with each other. Most even use the two terms synonymously. While both types of water go through some sort of filtration process, purified water is cleansed and purified through an additional process. This is typically boiling water, reverse osmosis, distillation, or deionization. Water Filtration: It is important to remember that water filtration only focuses on removing impurities such as sand, dirt, and living organisms such as bacteria.

Microbiology Online

“Bacteria are single-celled microbes. The cell structure is simpler than that of other organisms as there is no nucleus or membrane-bound organelles.”

When putting water through a water filter, you need to understand that the water might come out looking cleaner, but there could still be a lot of chemicals and potential viruses left behind. If this is the case, it is still unsafe to drink the water until it is put through proper purification. Water Purification: Water purification focuses more on removing the deeper impurities from the water. Impurities such as biological contaminants, viruses, chemicals, and other unseen materials.

How to Ensure Your Water Is Safe to Drink

If you are in the wilderness and want to make sure you’re 100% safe to drink the water, you should both filter and purify your water. Put it through your filter (I recommend the Sawyer Water Filter) and then boil it for 1-3 minutes. Unless there has been a nuclear attack and there is a risk of radiation exposure, this should take care of cleaning the water and making you safe to drink.

BE AWARE: Boiled Water Might Smell Funny 

If you boil the water directly from the lake without filtering it first it might still smell like lake water. It will for sure smell different than the water from your house. Boiling the water purifies it to drink, but it won’t remove the sediment and some of the outdoor odor naturally found in the water. 

How to Know If You’re Sick from Drinking Dirty Water

Most people see symptoms related to unsafe water from stomach cramping and diarrhea to serious illnesses and diseases like typhoid and malaria. As 60% of the human body is made from water, having access to safe, clean water is imperative. Most of us have heard the myth that you need to drink eight glasses of water daily. While this is a good rule of thumb, it’s not entirely accurate as you need to calculate the amount of food you eat, and what your body needs for proper digestion. Some people need more, others need less. However, one thing I’ve learned while hiking through southern Utah in 100-degree weather is that your body will tell you when you need more water. If you don’t have room to pack enough water for your outdoor journey, you should at least pack the tools to enable you to purify and filter your water. Pro Tip: If you’re thirsty, you’re already partially dehydrated. To be safe, you should drink enough water to never feel thirsty.

ARTICLE RECAP

How long do you need to boil water to make sure it’s safe for drinking?

• 1 to 3 minutes at a roaring boil

Is boiling water enough to kill bacteria?

• Yes

Is Purified and Filtered Water the Same Thing?

• No

How to Ensure Your Water Is Safe to Drink

• Filter it and then purify it

How do you know if you’re sick from drinking dirty water?

• Stomach cramps and diarrhea

CONCLUSION

The last thing you want to do in a survival situation is getting sick from drinking bad water. Especially if you’re alone without anyone to help you. Water is the one thing that keeps us alive, but if we don’t respect the fact that clear water is not always clean water, it could very well take our lives. Take the water you need when going on a planned outing, but always have a backup way to filter and purify the water just in case your planned outing turns into something unplanned.

The other day my daughter and I caught a cute little garter snake in our front yard. When I was trying to get her to hold it, she asked me if it was poisonous.  I told her it wasn’t poisonous, and that if it did bite her it wouldn’t hurt. That’s what I was taught growing up, so it had to be true, right? That night I found myself fact checking what I had told her. I wanted to make sure I was telling her the truth. I also wanted to be able to teach her how to identify venomous snakes so there was no doubt about it in the future. *Pro Tip: If you’re wanting to pick up a snake but are questioning if it’s venomous, it’s best to just leave it alone.

How to tell if a snake is venomous

According to SnakeRemoval.com, there are 3 common traits most venomous snakes have:

1. It is a big, fat snake (quite common to see these types of snakes in the United States versus other regions of the world)
2. The snake has a rattle at the end of the tail
3. It has elliptical pupils (Please don’t get close enough to figure this one out)

Can you tell if a snake is poisonous by its color?

When it comes to identifying snakes, it is important to know the snakes native to the area you are in. There are over 600 species of venomous snakes in the world, but only 200 of them are deemed deadly to humans. That being said, there are only four types of venomous snakes in the U.S. Each type contains many subspecies with size and color variations. This is to help them blend into their environment and become camouflage for their own protection. Trying to identify a snake using color alone would be very difficult to do with any amount of accuracy. For example, venomous coral snakes and non-venomous scarlet king snakes both have a banded pattern of yellow, brown and black. The difference between the two types is that the red bands touch the yellow bands on a coral snake whereas red bands touch the black bands on scarlet king snakes. Aside from this example, there is really no way to be absolutely positive if a snake is venomous by color alone.

Common venomous snakes in the United States

Poisonous snakes in the United States are classified as pit vipers, which include most species of rattlesnakes. All snakes have heads that appear to be somewhat triangular, so it’s best to not try and tell if a snake is poisonous just by looking at its head. Pit vipers are the most common snake in North America. A pit viper classification means the snake has heat-sensing pits under their eyes. The head will have a triangular shape and their eyes look like slits. Vipers will have fangs, which have venom sacks attached to them.

What to do if you see a snake

Encountering a snake in the wild is something you do need to be aware of as some are very dangerous. Always do research before a trip to know what snakes are native to the area, and which ones you need to watch for.

• What to do if you encounter a snake

• • If you see a snake, DO NOT pick it up. DO NOT poke at it with a stick. Freeze and slowly start backing away from the snake. Certain species of snakes will play dead but will strike when you are close. Don’t take the risk. Just leave it alone.
  • A snake is less likely to strike if they do not view you as a threat. Make sure you are not cornering the snake. Always give the snake a way out.
  • If a snake is coiled up, or you hear a rattle or puffing noise, proceed with caution. This usually means it’s ready to strike. Slowly back up until you are a safe distance away from the snake. This should settle it down and if you are lucky, it will slither away.

*Pro Tip: Do not step over fallen logs if you cannot see the other side. Snakes tend to hide in fallen logs, or near the log. Wear thick boots when you are in the wild as they can protect you in the event you encounter a deadly snake and get bitten.  

What to do if you’re bitten by a venomous snake

The good news for those in North America is that most of the snakes you see aren’t poisonous. The main snakes to watch out for are the coral snake, water moccasin, copperhead, and rattlesnake. If you encounter one, and you are on the unfortunate end of their bite, use these tips as soon as possible.

• Handling a snake bite
  1. Before you do anything else, call 911.
  2. Move a safe distance away from the snake and remain calm! Remind yourself that the chances of dying from a snake bite are close to none. Thanks to modern medicine in the United States, only one in 50 million people die from snake bites every year.
  3. DO NOT run or get your heart rate up. The faster your heart beats, the faster the venom will travel through your body.
  4. Remove tight clothing around the bite before your body starts to swell as it fights the venom.
  5. Position yourself to have the bite below the level of your heart so the venom doesn’t travel to your heart faster than it needs to.
  6. Clean the wound with fresh water, but do not flush it. Cover the wound and get medical attention immediately.

*Pro Tip: Do NOT use a tourniquet, apply ice, cut the wound, or attempt to suck out the poison. DO NOT try to capture the snake, focus on remembering the color, shape, and size so you can tell your doctor.

What is the difference between a poisonous snake and a venomous snake?

The common vernacular for a snake that has venom is a “poisonous snake”. After doing this research I’ve found that we’ve been saying it wrong this whole time.

• A poisonous snake is a snake that will hurt you only if you eat it.
• A venomous snake is a snake that has venom and can hurt you through a bite.

Can you eat snakes?

The simple answer is yes. The vast majority of snake species are edible, regardless of whether they are venomous or not. A word of caution, snakes can eat rodents that could be poisoned with a toxic substance and that can pass to humans.  Most snakes taste like chicken, right? I’ve had snake a few times in my life and from what I can tell, they all taste like chicken. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to eat snake. Especially if you’re in a survival situation. Before you jump in and just start killing yourself some snakes for dinner, please be aware of your local and state laws. If you’re interested in cooking up some snake for your next family party, I’d recommend checking out this article called “How to Cook A Snake in 8 Easy Steps“. What is the most venomous snake in the world?

• The Fierce Snake or Inland Taipan is the most venomous of any snake in the world. A single bite could kill 100 people!
• Here’s a comprehensive, visual list of the most venomous snakes.

What is the most venomous snake in North America?

• To find which snakes are in your area of North America, use this interactive North American snakes.
• The cottonmouth, commonly known as the water moccasin, is the most dangerous snake in North America.

What venomous snakes are in my state?

• Here is a venomous snake list for each state to help you know what snakes are native in your region.

Snakes are often portrayed in popular culture as one of the scariest, most dangerous reptiles. There is a lot of misinformation about snakes, so it is important to know what type of snake you are dealing with. I cannot stress enough the importance of knowing the native snakes in your area so you are aware of what types of snakes you could encounter. Conclusion So, is the garter snake venomous? After doing all of this research we find that the garter snake is indeed NOT venomous. Garter snakes are one of the most common snakes in Northern America. Many people love having garter snakes in the neighborhood as they do a great job ridding homes of other pests like mice. Still, use caution when handling any snake, but now you know that these little guys won’t kill you.