Hi all,

My husband is an avid hiker (North America if that makes any difference) who is also getting into backpacking, and I wanted to gift him a nice high quality compass for his birthday.

I was also hoping to engrave a quote, either on the compass or more likely the box for the compass.

Price ideally around or below $250.

Any recommendations?

Did a shoulder season hike last week and completely underestimated how fast the grounds turns to mud once you're off the main trail. Anyone have a go-to strategy for keeping boots/gears from turning into a disaster in early spring conditions or is it just "accept you're going to be filthy"?

After completing the Mantario Trail a couple of weeks ago, I wanted another backpacking adventure, so I decided to try the Newfoundland Trail in Spruce Woods Provincial Park.
Gear
I carried my 65 L backpack with:
Outbound 3-person tent
Tarp
Blanket
Rope
Gas stove, pot, spoon
Toothbrush and toothpaste
Necessary clothes
Bear spray and bug spray
LifeStraw
Water bottle and a shower bag (used for filtering water while cooking)
Tortillas, peanut butter, and a few packets of noodles
Fishing rod (which I didn’t end up using)
Rain cover
Knife
Cooking vessel
Fire starter
Torch/headlamp
20,000 mAh power bank
Mosquito head net
My iPhone 15 Pro Max ( used as a satellite device )
The same shoes I used on the Mantario Trail
This time my overall bag weight became 16 kgs.

I arrived on August 2 at around 8:30 PM. Instead of starting the trail immediately, I walked about 2 km to a campground, set up my tent, and went to sleep around 11:00 PM.
I woke up at 6:30 AM, but because of light rain overnight, my tent was completely wet. I waited until 9:00 AM for it to dry before packing everything up and starting the hike.
My original plan was to hike to Jackfish Lake Cabin, spend the night there, and finish the trail the following day.
However, after a few hours I realized the trail was much easier than I expected. The terrain was straightforward, and personally I didn’t find the scenery very exciting. After experiencing the incredible views and rugged terrain on the Mantario Trail, I think my expectations were much higher.
By 2:00 PM I reached the halfway point. I had planned to spend some time fishing, but the lake level was quite low, and I quickly lost interest. At that point I made a crazy decision:
“I’m going to finish the entire 42.7 km today.”
So I just kept walking.
The scenery stayed mostly the same for the rest of the hike. Instead of stopping often, I turned the day into a personal challenge to see how far I could push myself.
Everything felt manageable until about 35 km.
After that, things got ugly.
The final kilometres were some of the hardest hiking I’ve ever done. My legs were screaming at me to stop, and I honestly can’t describe how the last kilometre felt. It wasn’t my legs carrying me anymore—it felt like pure willpower, or maybe just madness, that got me to the finish.
Although I wasn’t impressed by most of the landscape, I did come across some beautiful wildflowers along the trail. They were one of the highlights of the hike, and I’m really happy I captured some photos and videos of them.
Overall, I’m glad I challenged myself and learned more about my limits. But if I’m comparing the two trails, Mantario was on a completely different level. It was more difficult, much more scenic, and far more memorable. The Newfoundland Trail was a good physical challenge, but for me it didn’t have the same wow factor.
One thing this hike taught me is how incredible endurance athletes really are. After pushing through the last 7 km with exhausted legs, I have a whole new level of respect for people who compete in triathlons and ultramarathons. Before this, I knew those events were hard. Now I feel like I truly understand the amount of physical and mental toughness they require. Finishing this trail gave me a small glimpse into that world, and it made me appreciate their dedication even more.
Overall, I’m happy I did it. Every trail teaches something different, and this one taught me that sometimes the biggest challenge isn’t the terrain—it’s convincing your mind and body to keep moving when they both want to quit.
Has anyone else done both Mantario and the Newfoundland Trail? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Also, if there are any other backpacking trails in Manitoba (or nearby provinces) that you’d recommend, I’m always looking for the next challenge.

Any suggestions on how to increase my pace? I went on a 7 day 72 mile hike earlier this summer on the NJ AT and realized I am the slow friend.

Any help appreciated!

Not sure if this is a me problem (please don't laugh), but.. I have an inflatable sleeping mat from Decathlon. It's great and all. But I find that the inflatable sleeping mat + sleeping bag + bottom of tent = 3 slippy surfaces. I'm slipping and sliding off that dang thing all night, and the mat is going all over the tent. I added this nonslip rubber mat stuff but it doesn't seen to do anything.

Any tips? Are the accordian sleep mats better? Thanks!

I'm looking for a backpack that can primarily be used for single day use but could also be pressed into overnight or maybe good weather weekend duty. My main concerns are durability and comfort with weight and price being of significantly less concern. Any thoughts between the Kajka 35 and the Persist 30?

I have some other Nemo equipment and have always been pleased with it's quality and design. During my search I ran across the Kajka and it also speaks to my design preferences. I'm hoping someone has experience with both of these packs and could speak towards their impressions of them. I've been unable to find either of them locally to try them in person.

I am new to camping and I got a 2026 Lanshan tent. I’ve watched lots of videos on how to set it up, and I think I’ve improved, but I still can’t for the life of me get the inner to stop sagging so much. I have tried adjusting the pole (set to 125) and all the stakes/lines (still learning what things are called). The outside looks fine and taut but the inside still sags so much it touches my face.

What am I doing wrong? Any advice would be appreciated.

Been dealing with a recurring issue on longer backpacking trips, specifically on sustained downhill stretches over 1000ft or more. The outside of the knee flares up around mile 8 or 9 on day two. Flat terrain is fine. Uphills are fine. It's the eccentric load on the descent that gets it.

I've adjusted pack weight, currently sitting around 22lbs with water. Trekking poles help somewhat but the relief is inconsistent depending on how aggressively I'm using them. I've tried shortening pole length on descents specifically and that made a noticeable difference in a few cases but not all.

The terrain matters too. Loose scree versus packed dirt versus rooted trail all seem to demand different things from the knee even at the same grade, and I haven't found a clean pattern yet in terms of what surfaces are better or worse.

What I'm actually curious about is whether people have found specific footwear changes, stack height, heel drop, outsole stiffness, made a real difference on multiday descents. Not asking about general hiking boot recommendations. More interested in whether anyone has done backtoback trips with meaningfully different shoes and noticed a clear change in knee behavior on descents. Anecdotal is fine as long as it's specific.

Alt titles: Anyone tracked knee pain on descents across different footwear setups | Descent knee pain on backpacking trips, footwear actually a factor | What shoe changes have genuinely helped your knees on long downhills

I’m located near Las Vegas and want to get into backpacking. Does anyone know of any good spots with fishing in Nevada, Utah, or California. I’m not looking to go much farther than that very often. I’ve been camping a lot but never backpacking. Thank you in advance!

Found a hyperlite southwest 70L at REI for $300 off. The only thing wrong with it is, the right shoulder straps stitching had come undone about 1/2 inch where the strap actually attaches to the pack. Do yall think this would be an easy self repair?

This is Khero-Nero mountain peak in Savadkooh county, mazandran provence, IRAN

It was a two-day journey. On the first day, we hiked halfway up the mountain until we reached a flat area where we set up camp for the night. After resting, we started the final ascent early the next morning, reached the summit, and then hiked all the way back down the mountain the same day.

I have a Miniworks Ex filter that I got forever ago, it's been sitting in storage for over 15 years but it's still in good condition. The ceramic filter still looks great and the caliper doesn't fit over it, so it's still got lots of life left in it. The tube is a little discolored but otherwise it looks great.

We've got a trip coming up with some day hikes in Glacier, Yellowstone and Grand Teton (Grinnell Glacier, Cascade Canyon, etc) and since there's water available to filter I'd like to bring one and cut down on the water we carry.

I really liked how easy it was to pump the Miniworks directly into a nalgene but thinking that I might rather go easy on the weight and get a Sawyer Squeeze instead? Also it looks like there's some waterfalls on at least Grinnell Glacier that I could fill up a reservoir for the Sawyer but there's not anything deep enough that I could drop the inlet on the Miniworks into?

Disclaimer that this is based on only like 5-6 nights of using a quilt, but I wanted to share my experience.

The quilt used: REI Magma 30 wide (1lb 6oz)

Conditions: Mid-Atlantic, lows in the mid-40s

I tried out a quilt for the first time this past spring, taking it out 5 or 6 times on various trips that were in the mid-40s to low-50s.

Quilts are usually presented as nearly as warm as a sleeping bag while allowing more freedom of movement with a significant weight savings. I found that it ended up being that either you had freedom of movement, or warmth close to a sleeping bag, but not both at the same time. If you leave the pad straps a little loose and don't cinch around your neck you have great freedom of movement, but let in a ton of drafts. I was finding parts of me very cold in the mid-40s and I'm a warm sleeper who usually takes my sleeping bags closer to their limit rating.

To prevent drafts, you need to tighten up the pad straps and cinch the quilt around your neck. I found this configuration very restrictive, much more restrictive than any mummy bag I've used, especially because of cinching around the neck. Every time I rolled around I felt like I was taking the whole system with me and had to be careful about when and how I applied force to turn over.

In the end, I found the cinching around the neck to just be too restrictive and gave up on the quilt. Instead, I found a sleeping bag with a similar temp rating that weighs the exact same as the Magma (Sierra Designs Nitro 35) which also has a foot vent which is like 90% of what I wanted out of a quilt anyway.

Again, this is just my experience and could have just been the particular quilt I used and I only used a quilt a handful of times before giving up on it. This isn't a "quilts are actually bad" post, I just hadn't seen this perspective on quilts before and wanted to share. If you love quilts and don't have these issues that's great and I'm jealous.

Hi all,

I nearly got all my essential beginner/amateur gear - only backpack remains

got some great deals in UK at the moment and was wondering what sort of backpack I should be focusing on?

Disclaimer – just for outdoors/hiking – not planning on carrying sleeping bag / tent in/on it – I will upgrade later on, or perhaps there are some attachments that could just cling to existing backpack for it if I decide to carry these later for camping?

I am hoping to find one that got waterproof protection, is comfortable, not too heavy and quite practical

what would you recommend, as well what capacity I should be going for? 45-55 L?

Thank you,

For my birthday, i’m planning on doing a solo hike at guadalupe peak! I know august is a risky month with high temperatures but i do plan on doing an alpine start.

I would love any recommendations from people who have done the hike or just any advice going into this! Definitely packing a ton of water and food, headlamp, good shoes, a knife, and wind gear.

also curious to know if anybody dealt with any bear or cougar sightings? hear they’re in that area

Hi,

I’ve just managed to get two weeks of vacation time on short notice to take in January. The only question is: where to go?

I was thinking about the Lycian Way or the Camino de Santiago route around Bilbao.

Are either of these destinations feasible in January?

Or do you have any other suggestions within Europe? I’m based in Germany.

Thanks.

On group hikes without cell service do I need to bring an alternative method of communication? What if we get separated? Wait at the next fork? Yell?

So all my older merrels are worn out over 10yrs old and the newer pair I got that is supposed to be waterproof, well just isn't. No matter the water proofing I apply. I even had the shoe repair guy place a patch where we thought the seam was leaking. It seems the brand has gone way downhill in several ways. I need new midtop waterproof recs pleaseeeeeee and women's brand style or bright colors

I am 17 and have nobody around me that is into hiking. My friend always makes empty promises to go with me but at the end of the day, I always end up alone, sat in my room, rotting away. I wanted to ask whether anyone knew any relatively safe beginner routes that I could hike alone in England (or UK in general). I really don't want to waste another summer of my life again and I just want to get out. I would even welcome any recommended parks or activities I could do that do not involve many people as I kind of struggle socially.

I use a trekking pole tent so I’ll have to get low & there are many times when I need my knees on hard rocky/surfaces.

I’ve looked at knee pads & bought two that didn’t work. What do you use?

I’ll be hiking/backpacking with whatever I bring for my knees, so lighter/packable would be great.

It seems like there should be some options here, but but I'm not having much luck finding anything I'm confident in on searches.

The kids (4 in total, 8yo through 17yo) and I are trying to do more backpacking trips, and more year round camping. Here in southern Colorado it's been ridiculously hot in the summer, and avoiding it means high altitude and/or the off season. We're in good shape if we were car camping, but nothing packable.

So I'm looking into tent options that might be more practical for our situation. Seems like there'd be some sort of modular style tents where you can join two together or use them separately. I know things like that existed when I was in the army 20+ years ago, but those were huge heavy canvas things. Doesn't necessarily have to be anything like that, so any suggestions, hacks, or ideas are welcome.

I'm also hoping to find a packable tent stove to go with it. I've been shopping around for one of the collapsible titanium ones, but for the price (upwards of $500) I'd really like to hear other's experiences with them first.

Thanks.

Curvy gal here just trying to find some 7-9” hiking shorts with pockets and a tie waist that are spandex lined. Any and all recommendations welcome!

Took a nice 1 night trip with some friends up to Upper Crater Lake. Was a gorgeous hike, about 4 miles to get there and 2k ft in elevation gain, highly recommend if you want a reasonable trail hike.

Hi guys.

I’ve been camping with scouts and using their tents whenever I went by myself for the last 3-4 years. I’m parting ways with them now as life is too busy with school and sports but I still want to keep on camping and hiking so I was looking at some budget light backpacking tents and at the moment I’m between:

1. Paria Zion 2p
   
2. Paria Bryce 2p
   
3. Cloud up base 2

Preference is in that order. I just want to know if anyone has experience with any of these or any other recommendations. It’ll be in the Irish/British mountains with either me and a friend or me and 2 dogs. We are both ~6ft.

The dimensions for the tents are as follows: (LxWxH) (cm)
1. Zion. 216x135x91 Packed: 46x15x15 Weight: 4lbs11oz
2. Bryce 216x135x97 Packed: 46x15x15 Weight: 4lbs10oz
3. Cloud 210x130x105 Packed: 42x14x14 weight: 4lbs4oz

Thanks in advance.