New Hiking

Hiking and gear always go hand in hand. You really can’t go with one but without the other. On one hand, your gear includes all the essentials you need during the hike. While on the other, what’s the purpose of owning hiking gear when you don’t use them? Below is a hiking and gear list to help you along the trail: Boots It’s not really hiking in the real sense if the trail is not all-natural. And by natural, we mean rocks and roots, definitely not pavement. So if you’re walking on that kind of rough terrain, the right hiking and gear item you need is a pair of sturdy boots. You know when a boot is sturdy by the feel of its soles. Remember that your boots protect your feet from sharp rocks and their construction helps keep you from spraining your ankle when tripping over roots and other obstacles – something that’s bound to happen if you’re on a rough trail and you don’t watch your step. Another thing, your boots should be more forgiving when it comes to getting dusty, dirty, and muddy. Imagine yourself wearing a pair of nice white athletic shoes and you’re walking over mud, crossing rivers, trekking along gorges…. Your feet won’t be a pretty sight afterwards. So what you need then is a pair of sturdy-soled boots with good ankle support. Pack Another hiking and gear item that makes it to the list is your pack. When you go out into the woods, you need to take along the 10 essentials and you need something to carry them in. Of course! You can’t very well carry them all with your bare hands. A hiking and gear backpack therefore is in order. And we don’t just mean any backpacks. Your pack should be one of those with wide padded straps and a waist belt as these two features greatly help in weight distribution. Hiking Clothing Now these depend entirely on the kind of trail you’re talking and the climate of the place. Most hikers in the North American woods tend to wear layers when going hiking. Their hiking and gear almost always include extra clothing as well. The inner layer of your clothing should be made of wicking fabric or some other fabric that could keep the sweat off your body. The middle layer is for insulation, so it could be made from polar fleece or a high-tech knit. The outer layer is a waterproof and windproof but breathable jacket. For pants, you need a pair of sturdy ones to protect your legs from branches. Insect Repellant Yes, they are a necessity and should be included in your list of hiking and gear equipment. Mosquitoes love hikers. They just do, for very obvious reasons. So what does a hiker have to do to keep them away? Bringing along a bottle insect repellant couldn’t be cumbersome, especially if they are specially made for travel. And you should always wear bug repellant no matter what time of the day.

More than just the “popular” or “fashionable” thing to do, carrying a hiking stick when you’re hiking is just common sense. Using hiking sticks, walking staffs, or trekking poles will save your bacon when traveling in the backcountry. What’s more, it will help prolong the life of your legs, feet, and especially, knees. Backpacking puts extra weight on your knees, hips, and ankles; hiking sticks can help alleviate the strain. Hiking sticks can also do wonders for your confidence. With a hiking stick in hand, you can walk more naturally, and again, put less strain on your body. Using two sticks provides even more support. There are many different choices of sticks available in the market. They come in different shapes, different materials, and different sizes. Some even have high-tech, shock-absorbing, telescoping features, while others could be as plain as a simple wooden stick. Just as types vary, prices of hiking sticks vary as well. They range from free (if you cut a branch off a tree at home) to $120 for a pair of the high-tech telescoping poles. But how important exactly is a hiking pole or walking stick? Is it indispensable to every hiker? Or are you better off without it? As it turns out, we are spared playing any guessing games when it comes to a discussion about the importance of hiking sticks. Roithner and others in Austria have compiled a recent study entitled Comparison of Knee Joint Forces During Downhill Walking With or Without Hiking Pole where they were able to show that the use of trekking or ski poles caused reductions of external and internal loads on the knee joint up to 20%. That’s good, but does this mean for the itinerant hiker like us? Well, it basically means that if you have weak knees and wish to protect them over the long term, having moderate support on the descents can save the knees. Not only that but it can also help prevent severe muscle soreness in the quadriceps (that’s your thigh muscles by the way). Authors of another study published in Muskuloskeletal Dynamics, Locomotion and Clinical Applications, by Andriacchi and Mikosz (1991), observed four times higher knee joint movements during descending stairs compared to walking on flat ground. That means that those people who have trouble walking down stairs in the city will almost undoubtedly have more difficulty on uneven terrain in the mountains. When out there in the backcountry, your steps can be even steeper, and occur over longer time periods. That is why it is best to strengthen well in advance all the muscles in the lower leg that will be needed for climbing and descending. In the meantime while optimum strength is not yet reached, trekking poles or hiking sticks are a viable tool especially in early season as you get your legs ready for longer or harder climbs. Bottom line? Hiking or trekking sticks do help reduce the forces through the knee joint and can be appropriate for those who already suffer knee pain. They are also recommended for those beginning a long season of hikes and backpacking trips. However, whenever possible, try to develop the balance and leg strength to be stick-free when the need arises.

Adventure awaits you at the hiking trail. But what is hiking without good hiking gear? Here is a list of gears a typical hiker ought to have and not to have in his pack as well as some tips to lighten up the load: Beware all the Gimmicks and the Gizmos! Backcountry espresso machine, portable Dutch oven, collapsible chairs, portable saws, nesting pots, travel-design towels, etc. These days, outfitting stores offer literally loads of these things, purportedly to ease up the inconvenience of traveling in some godforsaken place. Well, all that is good and true, but the fact remains that these things are little more than opportunities for you to stuff your pack up with things you don’t really need. Yes, sure these hiking gear items all seem to be specially designed for travel. But wait ’til you start loading your pack and try to heft it! The idea is to travel light. There you are laboring under a heavy pack filled with all sorts of trinkets including a first-aid kit that could have started a third world hospital, while a skinny drifter breezes past you with a slim pack that weighs less than one-half of the pack you’re carrying. It’s not fair, you whine. So, rather than learning your lesson the hard way, pay attention to the first rule in lightweight hiking: get your hiking gear ready and beware all the gimmicks and gizmos trying to worm their way into your pack. All these seductive promises about bringing at-home comforts to the trail are no more than empty promises. The real deal is life on the trail is about simplicity. Hiking gear that’s bent on luxury should be left at home and made to stay there. Anyway, you’ll get back soon enough. Re-Evaluate Lightweight hiking is all about carrying as little hiking gear as possible. So even if you’ve been traveling light for most of your hiking trips now, continue to re-evaluate your hiking gear each time before you leave for the trail. Is there something you always, always take but never, ever use? Something you do use, but could really do without? What about all those extras you don’t need? For instance, nesting pot sets are vital only if you are a backcountry gourmet. So maybe you like to bring with you a nifty spice set, a spatula for making pancakes, and several pots and pans for countless other purposes. But the weight they add to your whole hiking gear can drag you down. Try to see if you can get by one-pot concoctions. If you can, then ditch the rest and go by only one. Share with your Partner If you travel with a partner, you have a better chance at traveling lighter than usual. Why? Well, just ask yourself this: do BOTH of you really need a Swiss army knife with a portable chainsaw and 14 screwdrivers on it? You can probably get by with something simpler and lighter. And if you share the hiking gear you’re both already carrying, then so much the better. Other items you can share with your partner are a water filter, tent, first-aid kit, guidebook, matches, stove, and pots.

Believe it or not, hiking socks are critical to how you do on the trail. In fact, great hiking socks could very well mean the difference between a fun time on the trail and a miserable time walking with blisters on your feet. That’s why you need to bring the best fitting pair of socks you can find when hiking. Hiking socks must be comfortable, wick moisture, protect against shear, and support natural posture. Hiking socks should also keep your feet at a good temperature, distribute pressure, promote circulation, and absorb shock. All these are what make hiking socks as important as your boots and shoes when it comes to comfort. So when you buy hiking shocks, consider these factors: Blood Flow Blood flow refers to the blood circulation through your foot. Unyielding fabrics in hiking socks could result in decreased or cut-off blood flow in your foot. This would in turn lead to weakening of your feet or increase the rate at which your feet get tired while walking. To help prevent blood flow cut off, use hiking socks made from acrylics in combination with other fibers. Terry weave and shear hiking socks can also help with this. Moisture When you exert force on feet, they can produce 1-2 pints of sweat made from either vapor or fluid per day. Feet that are damp provide the perfect breeding ground for bacteria and fungus. You can avoid this by using hiking socks featuring wicking technology. Position Hiking socks should be able to help you maintain correct anatomical alignment. That way, premature fatigue can be reduced because your hiking socks will keep your feet in line, thus minimizing any effort on your part to do that yourself. In addition to reducing fatigue in your feet, your hiking socks will help correctly position your foot in your boot or shoe. Correct posture due to hiking socks will make it easier for you to feel like your boot is an extension of your body, instead of just a mere apparel. Pressure Areas Well, let’s face it. No matter how comfortable your hiking boot must have felt when you first bought it, after walking several miles in them, you’re going to feel all the pain in the foot that hikers are supposed to feel. This is due to pressure areas in your feet that cause discomfort and ultimately lead to damage if not addressed properly. One way of preventing damage caused by these pressure areas is wearing comfortable hiking socks. Hiking socks provide the necessary padding around bony areas in your feet, such as the heel and ball of your feet. Shearing Force Shearing force happens when your tissue is moving in opposite directions, or more specifically, when you’re jumping over a stream, or descending a steep slope – activities that you are certainly going to actively engage in when hiking. As you exert effort on your feet in preparation for a leap, part of your skin is moving one way and the tissue under it another. This causes a tearing action just under the surface of the skin and causes blisters. By wearing a good pair of hiking socks, you can minimize this.

These days, more and more people are giving up hiking with their heavy boots on. The reason is simple: they want to save some weight on their feet. Less weight they carry on their weight means that a long day on the trail is made that much easier. And provided that you’re not carrying too heavy a load on your back, the best place to start with reducing from-the-skin-out weight is your footwear. However, that’s the catch, isn’t it? Because if you are walking with a heavy pack, then that means your weight requires some ankle support. What’s more, trail runners like the new Nike hiking boots can be a miserable experience when it’s raining. Then again, because of the material that Nike hiking boots are made of, they dry rather quickly. So, of course, your feet may occasionally get wet, but not for a very long time anyway. Still, if you’re thinking of reducing weight on your feet, Nike hiking boots are becoming a good choice. Nike hiking boots are especially great for fair-weather, on-trail day hiking. There’s just no reason not to. Well, granted that the Nike’s Air Zoom Tallac doesn’t look like a hiking boot, the worst that could happen is people telling you that you ought to wear boots designed for hiking, in which case you can tell them that these Nike hiking boots are indeed hiking boots. It’s hard to believe, and Nike hiking boots are probably not for those who want hiking boots as a fashion item. The Air Zoom Tallac Nike hiking boots do have a passing, cosmetic similarity to basketball shoes. But that probably comes from the fact that the synthetic upper is very similar to that found on many athletic shoes, which by the way are the secret to the light weight of these Nike hiking boots. But more than that, these synthetic uppers are also the reason why there’s absolutely zero break-in. The Air Zoom Tallac Nike hiking boots feel great right out of the box, and expect not a single blister after getting in these hoes. The Nike hiking boots use the Nike-invented air-cushion mid-sole technology. However, to make your Air Zoom Tallamac experience even greater, Nike has made much use of outsource materials, so that you have Nike hiking boots with waterproof by Gore-Tex membrane that does its job splendidly. With this excellent waterproofing system, you can wear these Nike hiking boots in rain, in snow, and for shallow stream crossing without a single leak anywhere. When it comes to outsole, the Nike hiking boots is also very durable. You can put as many miles on these Nike hiking boots as you like and the tread would continue to hold up nicely. It can shed mud pretty well and provides good traction on wet sandstone. Weak ankles? That’s the greatest concern people have when it comes to wearing synthetic boots. However, as yet another great feature of this boot, Nike has added a semi-rigid plastic do-hicky (that’s the technical term for it) for ankle support. This bit of technology runs from the instep to the ankle, giving those with weak ankles the support they need when backpacking on the trail.

One of the most important pieces of equipment to consider when going on a hike is a good pair of hiking shoes. Some important things to look for in a hiking shoe are a good grip, good support that will allow your foot to bend and flex naturally as you walk, and a waterproof exterior. There are several good brands on the market today such as Merrell, Columbia, Asolo, and Teva.

More and more people today enjoy the simple, wholesome fun of hiking. Hiking is an affordable, yet healthy and emotionally rewarding way to spend a vacation or a long weekend – and you don’t need to visit a travel agent.

Experienced hikers will always tell you that every detail matters when you pack hiking gear, especially tents and camping stoves. The right hiking gear and clothing, a properly and ergonomically packed backpack, positive mood and good fitness – all these elements play an equally important role in the success of any hiking trip.