What is Backpacking?

[AMF]

So, what would a hut to hut traverse be, where say you don't need to carry a tent or sleeping bag and it's kind of like a bunch of dayhikes but staying in a hut overnight?

slackpacking

 

[bikehikeskifish]

So, I guess a stay at say an RMC or AMC hut in the whites or say JBL in the Adirondacks wouldn't qualify as backpacking. Although if you simply do a Bear Grylls or Les Stroud shelter out of pine boughs and trees, that would count.

No, it wouldn't. Qualified perhaps. It's my definition, remember?

What if you share a stove with another person? Therefore, technically not self sufficient in the strictest sense..

Well, if you share a load/tent/stove/water filter/provisions/etc. with someone else then together your self-sufficient, then I would say it qualifies. You could say "solo backpacking" to qualify it.

It comes down to subtle semantics and what both parties understanding of the word and each other, doesn't it?

Think about these phrases and the various contexts in which one might hear them:

"Take a hike" -- to us, that may be a good thing. To most, it is like hearing "Scram".

"That's a hike" -- to us, that may be someone complimenting us on our recent pemi loop. To others, it means a long and/or arduous journey.

"Let's go hiking" -- to me it likely means a NH4K. To my kids, it means Major or Pack Monadnock. To my folks, it means West Rattlesnake.

Take a hike,
Tim

 

[NewHampshire]

Camping= Drive the car up and set up with everything but the kitchen sink.....well, ok, the kitchen sink too.

Backpacking= carrying everything, including the kitchen sink, on your back (also includes tent in case the cabins or huts are full and an unplanned bivvy is needed )



Brian

 

[thuja]

"Backpacking" to me places emphasis on carrying stuff on your back, in a backpack. One hears of people "backpacking through Europe". This emphatically does not mean hiking from point A to B, camping on the ground, carrying all your necessities with you. It's just a way of saying you used a backpack instead of a suitcase, and stayed in fairly cheap places.

I personally never say that I'm "going backpacking". That makes it seem like the purpose, the motivation, is to carry stuff on your back. It's not. The backpack is simply a necessary byproduct of being out for more than a day. I would say "overnight hike" or "three-day hike" or "multi-day hike." The wearing of a backpack is understood, given the context.

My personal lexicon:

"hike": foot locomotion, generally in natural settings
This covers short hikes, day hikes, overnight hikes, multi-day hikes, off-trail hikes. Depending.

"walk". A more general word than "hike", but one could day, for example, "going for a four-day walk in the Adirondacks".









for the day, without an overnight stay: "day hike"
for

 

[cushetunk]

On summer overnights I can get my pack weight down to 3 1/2 lbs, excluding water, food, shelter and clothing.

I'm not entirely sure this was meant to be funny, but I find it hilarious! You must have cut the handle off your toothbrush.

And to stay on topic, I think backpacking is when you carry in all your overnight gear. Though really, I can't think of a time I've had to defend the semantics of this in any detail.

 

[Jay H]

No, it wouldn't. Qualified perhaps. It's my definition, remember?



Well, if you share a load/tent/stove/water filter/provisions/etc. with someone else then together your self-sufficient, then I would say it qualifies. You could say "solo backpacking" to qualify it.

Sure... Just pulling your leg...

It comes down to subtle semantics and what both parties understanding of the word and each other, doesn't it?

Think about these phrases and the various contexts in which one might hear them:

"Take a hike" -- to us, that may be a good thing. To most, it is like hearing "Scram".

My Windows screensaver for awhile actual said just that... It would say "Take a hike" in some kind of cursive script font.

"That's a hike" -- to us, that may be someone complimenting us on our recent pemi loop. To others, it means a long and/or arduous journey.

"Let's go hiking" -- to me it likely means a NH4K. To my kids, it means Major or Pack Monadnock. To my folks, it means West Rattlesnake.

Take a hike,
Tim

 

[giggy]

camping: large cooler for beer; usually stocked with enough ice to sustain at least 24 beers, meat and other goodies - of course a weber Q grill.

Needs to be sustained for at least 72 hours; usually a loud stereo system comes along for the ride with many mixed cd's to keep the masses happy. I find this combo usually works:

1) rock
2) new wave
3) rave
4) metal
5) someone always brings the dreaded MOE and Dead cd's as well

backpacking: invite he white mountain legend shizzmac along; but typically the beer limit is no more than 12 cans in the pack due to weight


I must be getting lazy or something - b/c I didn't backpack once in 2007. done camping quite a bit though.

 

[sapblatt]

backpacking:[/B] invite he white mountain legend shizzmac along; but typically the beer limit is no more than 12 cans in the pack due to weight

Yes - but they are usually Foster's Oil Cans - so it is really 24...

 

[dr_wu002]

to me backpacking implies at least one night out in the country - carrying your food and gear - I would still call it backpacking if I was going to a shelter, but would probably qualify it...
"Hiking" to me is just going out for the day - backpacking is going out for the night (s)

To me, this is an "overnighter"

A few days in the back country would be a "multi-day thing."

Parking your car and setting up your tent: "car camping"

Hiking into a campsite: "camping"

and a long distance, multi-week or month long walk: "backpacking"

-Dr. Wu

 

[KayakDan]

Backpacking to me is going into the woods,and not coming out the same day.With any luck,you carry in what it takes to survive until you come back out.
With a little more luck,and experience,you can do this without carrying more than your own body weight.

So,what is camping?

To me it's spending a night outside,not neccessarily in a tent. You can camp in your car(not to be confused with car camping). We camp on our sailboat all the time.
Is staying in a AMC hut camping? Is a three sided shelter camping ?

Then there's kayak camping,which is basically backpacking with a floating backpack,on a trail that's just one big stream crossing...

Geez..this is gettin really deep isn't it....

 

[Rols]

A hike for me is a trip in the woods that requires an expenditure of energy beyond normal walking. Key factors that separate it from a walk are terrain and duration.

Backpacking for me involves leaving close proximity to civilization for a period of time that involves at least one night. Carrying those things that are needed so you can be self sufficient is another criteria.