We are sharing essential tips for first-time backpackers from our own learnings. There was so much research and prep work that went on behind the scenes to make us feel prepared for our first backing trip and we learned so much from taking our 1st backpacking trip, so we wanted to share all tips that we’ve learned with you.

The Ultimate Backpacking Equipment & Supplies List – We bought everything on this Amazon list to help with our first backpacking trip and used all of it.

Listen to our Havasupai Falls backpacking trip episode to hear more about our first experience in this special and beautiful place.

Backpacking Tips for Beginners – Episode Transcript

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Today we’re sharing essential tips for first time backpackers. When we went backpacking for the first time, there was just so much research and prep work that went in behind the scenes to make us feel prepared for our first backpacking trip. And we learned so much while we were on our trip, so we wanted to share all of those tips that we learned with you guys.

We did a lot of research and prep, but nothing will prepare you like actually being out there.

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We thought we were prepared until we were out there, so most of this is going to be from experience first hand from first timers. So we went all out.

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When we did our first backpacking trip, we did the Havasupai trip which is 4 days, three nights, and

to get to the campground it is a 10 mile trek in and a 10 mile trek out.

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And then on the days in between you’re hiking.

And I would highly recommend starting a little bit smaller than that.

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Choose a more beginner or moderate friendly trail for your first trip destination, and don’t pick a

trail that’s longer than a hike that you’re used to hiking.

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I mean, we’d done 10 miles before, but once you have that backpack on, it completely changes it.

One mile feels like 10 miles.

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Yes, and if you do decide to go out, just make sure you prepare well and invest in quality gear and

test your gear in advance.

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I thought I tested my gear by means of putting it on my back and adjusting straps, but that’s not

what we mean.

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We actually mean do a mock pack, put it on, test the shoes.

Like maybe even actually do a mock hike with the backpack on.

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If you can’t get out in nature and you have a treadmill and you could put it on a little bit of

incline, that will even help you prepare.

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I know a few days before my trip I started going up and down my stairs a few times to see how the

backpack weighed on me and how it felt so I could adjust it better, which really did help.

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But make sure you’re doing this in advance so that you can adjust what you’ve packed, because trying

to do it on the trail is going to be really difficult.

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And if you’ve never backpacked before, you don’t really know like the settings to do, like backpacks

have this hip strap on it that’s supposed to alleviate some of the pressure from your shoulders and

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your back.

But if you don’t know how to use it properly, then you’re just going to screw yourself.

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When you’re backpacking, make sure that what you get is as lightweight as possible because you might

think, oh this one item isn’t very heavy but everything starts to add up.

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So you want reliable items but that are also lightweight.

One thing that we did was we brought sleep mats and not air mattresses.

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But I feel like if I were to do this again, I would definitely invest in a lightweight air mattress

because it would just add so much more comfort.

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I would also really test your hiking boots.

I hadn’t worn mine in forever and they were a little bit too small.

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My toes were killing me.

And like when you’re already backpacking with something super heavy on it, you don’t want one more

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thing that’s going to hurt your feet of things you could get blisters, like wear wool socks.

That’s what I would recommend.

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And even with wool socks, the potential for blisters is there, as we found out.

So make sure to pack that moleskin just in case.

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Also practice using your equipment, like set up your tent in advance, make sure you’re not missing

any parts.

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And then if you’re cooking with like a Jetboil or stovetop, make sure to practice using that before

heading out.

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Because while we were in Havasupai Falls, there were two girls on the trip that we met and they blew

up their fuel canisters.

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They had two of them and they blew up both of them on their first night of a three night trip.

You don’t want that happening to you.

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All they had packed was freeze dried food, so without boiled water they would have starved.

Yes, luckily we made friends with them and we were able to share our stove tops, so that worked out

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well.

But if you’re in a remote area and you’re backpacking by yourself or you’re not in a big campground

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situation, that could be disastrous.

I want to reiterate once again, pack super light things that you can have as multi purpose things

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that are moisture wicking.

And you know, one of the things that we always say is always pack enough underwear to shit yourself

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three to five times a day.

But maybe don’t do that on this one.

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Like you won’t need it on this one.

Let’s just say that.

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Also, if you’re going with a group, make sure to split up the items that everyone can use because

when we went, everyone had like their own first aid kit and everyone had like soap and different

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things.

But if you can just get down to the essentials, that’s going to make a difference in the weight that

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you carry.

And don’t underestimate the weight of things like this hammock that I brought last minute.

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Like it weighs like 1 LB It’s fine, but everything weighs a pound and 2 lbs and 1 LB and 3 lbs and

it all adds up.

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I know even Savannah had brought a 7 LB tent, and 7 lbs doesn’t really sound like that much, right?

But a lot of backpacking tents are made to be super light, like 2 lbs or 3 lbs.

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A 7 LB regular tent it makes a world of difference compared to a 2 LB tent.

Yeah, the tent we had I think was 4 lbs or just under 4 lbs and Kim and I split that.

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So we were carrying 2 lbs each where Savannah was carrying 7 lbs to herself.

Makes a huge difference.

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The backpack itself makes a huge difference.

There’s different size backpacks measured by liters.

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Depending on how long your backpacking trip is, you might want something that’s 48 liters or 60

liters or 80 liters, but whatever it is, the general rule of thumb is it should not weigh more than

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20% of your personal body weight.

Take it from me, you really want to stick to that, because I didn’t and Oh my God.

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You also want to pack it strategically.

You want heavier items on the bottom and then lighter items on the top.

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So just keep that in mind as you’re packing.

You don’t want it to be top heavy.

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And when it’s on your body with the straps around your hip, there should actually be room to put

your fingers on top of your straps on your shoulders so that you’re not feeling the weight there.

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I would also say pack the snacks easily accessible because there was a point on this backpacking

trip where I thought I was going to die and thought I wouldn’t make it.

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And I really just wanted to eat a snack and I couldn’t find it.

And when you’re already at the brink of death, like a snack, it’s like the stickers commercial.

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You’re not yourself.

Like make it easy on yourself.

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You’re so dramatic, on the brink of death.

That’s how it felt.

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And another tip we have for you guys is to plan your route.

So make sure you know your trail, your potential campsites, your water sources, and always have a

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map or GPS available.

Know also how to use a compass and read a topographic map.

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So we knew on our Havasupai Falls backpacking trip that there was only one campsite, but there was

like different sections and that there were different bathrooms.

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So we knew that we wanted to secure a site that was near a bathroom and near the water source.

And so I actually had the trail map already downloaded knowing even though I knew you could only go

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one way, but just so I had Peace of Mind and see to see how far we were and to just be able to plan

things out more strategically in my head as we hiked through.

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You had the map downloaded on your phone, but when you ditched me because you’re a superhuman

backpacker, I was left on the brink of death.

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Not sure how much farther it was.

And I mean, that really just adds to it.

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Just like the comfort of knowing you’re one mile away or two miles away could really save your life.

You’re on the brink of death again.

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I can post the video I put I actually recorded a video just in case I actually died just to let

people know like this is what happened to me.

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Oh my gosh.

Another tip for you guys is to stay hydrated.

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Make sure to bring a water filter or purification tablets for safe drinking water, and then make

sure to pack your backpack with your water bladder.

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I even purchased a light collapsible water storage bag that could hold, I want to say it was 3

liters.

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And we just had that around at camp so that we didn’t have to go to the water spigot so often.

And that was really helpful.

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Definitely check the weather before you get out there too.

You’re going to want to kind of have an idea of what could happen so that you can pack the red count

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of layers or protective clothing.

But things do change.

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I know when we were on this backpacking trip, all of a sudden snow was in the forecast.

Yeah, that was a little scary.

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It was actually snowing at the top of the Canyon, and they said that the wind was going to be really

bad one night, so people were moving their campsites.

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So just have that in the forethought of how you would get around this.

But don’t let that freak you out because I then started panic packing extra sweaters that I really

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didn’t need.

When you’re backpacking, you’re moving, you’re going to be hot, and so being able to shed layers is

9:54

great, but don’t let yourself panic pack and add on weight you don’t need.

I was actually like, I’ll leave these pants here.

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I’ll leave this sweater here.

I can’t take it.

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She was going to leave it for the villagers.

I think you did leave a pair of pants for the villagers, didn’t you?

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I think I did, but you were going to leave your whole backpack there.

I was going to leave it all there.

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Because you’re going backpacking, accidents are a possibility, so make sure to pack a first aid kit.

Make sure to include bandages, pain relievers, antiseptic, anything for your specific needs.

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I was actually hiking one day and a toenail ripped off when I slipped.

So trim your toenails before you go backpacking because it hurts and ibuprofen was super important.

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We were taking it every day because we were sore.

Yeah, backpacking takes a huge toll on your knees, your back, your hips, your shoulders.

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Like, everything will hurt if you’re not an experienced backpacker.

I mean, even if you are, it probably does still hurt.

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How long did it take your knee to recover from that trip?

Probably two months my knees were messed up.

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So take it from us, pack light, test your gear, pack some meds, and leave no trace while you’re on

the trail.

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Most backpacking is going to be leave your trace.

There’s usually not a dumpster out in the Backcountry where you’re going, so do that.

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You can choose compostable plates and things like that wherever it’s possible.

That’ll help, but just if it wasn’t there when you arrived, it shouldn’t be there when you leave.

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So we actually packed a trash bag to bring with us so that we could take all of our stuff out and

hike it out when we left so we can leave nature just as we found it.

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As far as snacks go, these are going to be very important.

You’re going to want things that are light but still calorie rich, like nuts, dried fruits, granola

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bars.

We even explored freeze dried meals and they’re not too bad, aren’t they?

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I actually really liked all of the freeze dried meals.

It’s not something I would eat on a nightly basis, but I thoroughly enjoyed them while we were out

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in nature.

We do have an Amazon shop list set up for the Havasupai backpacking trip that we took.

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We have linked different freeze dried meals that we bought off Amazon that we thought were good

flavors, so we’ll link that in the show notes.

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And if you’re going on a backpacking trip, check them out.

You also probably won’t need as much food as you think.

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I feel like we did over pack on the food because you think you’re hiking, you’re going to be hungry.

But we were so busy during some of the days that we didn’t have a chance to like eat full meals and

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we were snacking in the middle part like during lunch and eating mostly just breakfast and dinner.

So keep that in mind.

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One of our trip mates brought a whole backpack full of snacks and it was definitely unnecessary.

She definitely messed up because she not only had a cheap backpacking backpack on her back, but she

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also had a regular backpack on her front full of snacks that we didn’t need.

So don’t make that mistake.

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But even though we’re talking about all the things that could possibly go wrong, stay positive and

have fun.

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You just have to roll with the punches.

It felt so good to be in nature to disconnect without our phone.

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It was such a cleansing experience and I learned a lot about myself and how much I love backpacking.

I can’t wait to get out there and do it again, and I think it’s just a really great time.

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I got to agree.

I mean, I after being on the break of death for 10 miles, finally getting there, making friends,

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hearing the stream right next to your tent the whole time, it was an unreal experience.

And I don’t know if I’m ready to get back out there necessarily, but I would definitely do another

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short backpacking trip.

And Squatty’s, we hope that we have not scared you away from backpacking, that we’ve actually given

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you the tips that have encouraged you to do it.

Thanks so much for tuning into this week’s Just the Tip.

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Make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and follow us on all the socials at Travel Squad Podcast.

And have fun traveling this weekend.