What is Backpacking?

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SAR-EMT40

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I have a definition of hiking in my head and I have a definition of what camping is. I want to know what the word backpacking means to you. To me I think it means the same as camping, I think. What does it mean to you?

Obviously there are no wrong answers here. Unless you disagree with me. :p ;) :D

And I don't want a dictionary definition. I want your definition.

Keith
 
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)
 
I usually say this to my non-hiking friends:

Camping = sleeping outdoors
Hiking = Heading out for a walk in the woods
Backpacking = Hiking with everying you need on your back for a night (or more) of camping.

- Ivy
 
poison ivy said:
I usually say this to my non-hiking friends:

Camping = sleeping outdoors
Hiking = Heading out for a walk in the woods
Backpacking = Hiking with everying you need on your back for a night (or more) of camping.

- Ivy
I'll second that but would like to add; Backpacking = Hiking with everying you need on your back to be warm, dry and well-fed for a night (or more) of camping.

Just because that's how it is for me. I enjoy going lighter, but not uncomfortably so.
 
trailbiscuit said:
Backpacking is humping a heavy pack a long way, eating crappy food and sleeping uncomfortably, so you can get up and do it again the next day.

And I mean that in the best possible way.
LOL!

Why not call it badbacking?

I like backpacking but hardly ever get to do it because life happens to me when I make badpacking plans.

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

I sleep well on my overnight bushwhacks because I'm so frigging tired by the time we throw everything down and crash.
 
Backpacking; verb; from the Latin, meaning "intentionally venturing into the woods, desert, canyons, ridges, etc, for a minimum of two days and one night, for the express purpose of becoming as tired, smelly, bug-bitten, and under-nourished as possible, all the while mentally planning the next trip."
 
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Regular answer:
Living off of the stuff in your backpack... which you happen to carry

Poetic answer:
Waking up with the sun, going to bed with the moon.
 
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?

Jay
 
What is it?

So is it three days of backpacking if, on the second day you don't move camp, and just take a day hike?
 
Backpacking = Hiking + Camping(self-sufficient)

poison ivy said:
Hiking = Heading out for a walk in the woods

At the risk of thread drift (sorry Keith) I ask

What is hiking?
Does it have to been in the woods?
Does it have to include elevation change?
Does it have to include a mountain?
Must you bring a pack?
Is hiking necessary to be backpacking?
Hiking certainly doesn't require bushwhacking, but does bushwhacking include hiking?

If I go for a walk along the river at lunch time, which is wooded, on a path (or trail) am I hiking or walking?

If I'm following the Heritage Trail (Manchester) behind the mills, which is asphalt, is it hiking or walking?

When I ask my kids if they want to go hiking, they will sometimes ask "up a mountain or in the woods?" In their 5 and 7 year old brains, both are hiking.

Signed,
Devil's Advocate
 
Interesting take! I would go 'hiking' alot when it was nothing more than a 2-3 hour walk in the woods. I've done 4K's in less time....
 
bikehikeskifish said:
Backpacking = Hiking + Camping(self-sufficient)

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.

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

Jay
 
"Backpacking" is...

getting dropped off on the auto road by your best bud and then hiking DOWN into the gulf for a few days w/ everything you need on your back. that's the way you do it, get your ride for nothing and your elevation for free (hmm, that could be a Dire Straights tune)... :D
 
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poison ivy said:
I usually say this to my non-hiking friends:

Camping = sleeping outdoors
Hiking = Heading out for a walk in the woods
Backpacking = Hiking with everying you need on your back for a night (or more) of camping.

- Ivy
Simply put. That about sums it up for me too.
 
bikehikeskifish said:
Is hiking necessary to be backpacking?
To me it is, as is camping away from roads even if you hiked there

The general public defines backpacking as carrying your gear in a pack instead of a suitcase, so somebody who travels around Europe by train and stays in youth hostels may be said to be backpacking if they have a pack frame although I'm not sure what they would say about a duffel bag with straps
 
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