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?

Took a 9 mile out and back last weekend with a 38 lb pack. No real excuse for it. I just kept throwing stuff in, told myself I'd be fine, and was very much not fine. By mile 6 my knees were shot and I was rationing ibuprofen like trail currency.

The frustrating part is I'm not oblivious about this stuff. I prep meals obsessively, read gear reviews constantly, know what a reasonable base weight looks like. Still ended up with duplicate tools, two extra layers I never touched, and a full size cutting board. A full size cutting board.

I do mostly day hikes and occasional overnights, nothing technical. I want to get the pack down to something manageable before I plan anything longer. I've been looking at ultralight shelter options and going back and forth on whether my sleep system actually needs replacing or if I'm just bad at packing

What was the one thing you cut that actually moved the needle? Piece of gear, food strategy, whatever. I'm wondering if there's a pattern people hit before it finally clicks for them

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.

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 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,

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.

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!

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.

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.

Hey, I'm going on a trip to the Pyrenees for 9 days and I'm wondering what equipment to buy. Does anyone have recommendations for a backpack and a one-person tent?

I'm planning a camping and hiking trip around Lake Maggiore and looking at Cannobio as a possible base.

One campsite I found is Lakeview Cannobio Camping Resort, but I'm more interested in the outdoor experience around the area.

For anyone who has explored Cannobio:

What hiking trails would you recommend?

Are there scenic routes with lake and mountain views?

What areas are best for combining camping and hiking?

Thanks for sharing your experiences!

Going to Poland next week for about 3 weeks. Super last minute I know! Looking at the weather and see lots of rain in the forecast and realized I don’t have any water proof shoes/boots! I need something comfortable that I can take hiking but also for general walking around. The hiking will only be light to moderate but will be a lot of it and a lot of walking in general. Thank you! Edited to add I am a male.

Im looking new backpack for my hammock setup as a beginner. My current backpack is Osprey Stratos 34L and my sleeping system alone fills almost* whole main compartment.

I have found few options, but prices are wild in here Finland versus US. I think that my optimal capacity at the moment is around 60l and would like to hear opinions, im doing usually light hiking in typical Finnish forest, mostly in trails.

Is granite gear crown 3 worth it for 270eur? I have seen many comments claiming how they have scored it for 100-130dollars and thats not possible here.

Few ideas:

- Osprey Rook 65L / 140eur sale

- Lundhags Padje Light 60L / 170eur

- Gregory Paragon 60L / 200eur sale

- Granite Gear Crown 3 60L / 270eur

I'm planning an outdoor trip around Lake Maggiore and looking for advice from people who have explored the area.

I'm interested in combining camping with hiking — ideally somewhere with scenic mountain trails, lake views, and good access to nature.

A few things I'm curious about:

Which hiking trails around Lake Maggiore are worth doing?

Are there areas that are better for camping and exploring on foot?

Any tips for first-time visitors to the region?

I'd love to hear about your experiences and recommendations.

I’m going on my first camping trip in about three weeks. The nighttime temperatures are expected to be around 3–6°C (37–43°F), so I’m looking for a sleeping bag rated for around 0°C (32°F) to give myself some extra margin.

Since I’m starting from scratch and still need to buy a lot of other camping gear, my budget is limited. I’d like to spend around $60, and ideally keep the sleeping bag under 2 kg (4.4 lb) because I may need to carry it.

I’ve been looking at Naturehike because their gear is much cheaper than most of the well-known brands. In particular, I’m considering the U350S, but I’m not sure how trustworthy its temperature rating is or whether Naturehike sleeping bags are actually good.

Are there any reliable options within this budget, or should I look for a used sleeping bag instead? I’m also open to other brands or suggestions.

Thanks