How to choose your hiking equipment

Shoes, Clothes, Backpack, Sleeping Bag, Tents ... Our Advice for Choosing Your Hiking Equipment.

Who has not known the hell of bulbs so quick to catch and so long to disappear? Who was not saucer during a ride for lack of equipment to stay dry? To go hiking in good conditions, it is necessary to have suitable equipment. Here's how to choose 5 key equipment.

Shoe

This is the first link, essential for the holding of the foot and grip in hilly terrain. It is better to choose a model of an upper size, for example, 46 if you wear a 45, so you can wear 2 pairs of socks. A high-stemmed model that supported the ankle and lower tibia were preferred. Better to take a notched outsole in a semi-hard rubber that guarantees both good grip and durability, as the soft tires wear out quickly. A model lined with a breathable and waterproof backpack, Gore-Tex style, will keep your feet dry. Like a car, a pair of new shoes must be lapped on short trips. During the first kilometers, the heels will be protected with a suitable dressing.

Backpack

There are several types of hiking bags. Their capacity ranges from 15 to 80 liters. A volume between 15 and 30 liters is suitable for walks of a few hours or 2 days maximum. Attention: bags for men and women different. The straps of women's models are flared to release the chest, the waist belt is wider and the back shorter than a male bag. 

Hiking Backpack 

Man or woman, you should pay attention to the load-return straps located at the shoulders and choose a model whose ventral belt can store small items: sunglasses, etc. 

Another key point: reinforcements in the back and shoulders should be generous so as to limit friction and therefore the risk of overheating.

Hiking clothing

They must be loose and allow them to wear 2 layers of clothing under the first to meet the logic of the onion. Principle: the first layer, the one in contact with the skin, wicks away perspiration and must allow staying dry. We will avoid cotton that sweaty. The 2nd layer must retain heat. Hard to find better than a polar provided that it allows evacuating the perspiration to the outside. The 3rd layer is like armor protecting the hiker against rain, snow, wind, etc. Jackets called "hardshell" or "softshell" (less coarse) and equipped with a hood are suitable for most uses. 

Avoid the showy colors that attract insects, not forgetting that it is the dark clothes that best filter the UV. We also think to bring a poncho or rain cape large enough to cover the hiker and his bag.

Sleeping bag

Essential for bivouacking in good conditions, the choice of the sleeping bag is determined by the sensitivity of the hiker to the cold, the place of bivouac and the local climate. Generally speaking, the rectangular cover bag, whose large interior volume provides a feeling of comfort. And the bag "sarcophagus" more cramped, with a hood, more insulating thanks to its anatomical shape. It can withstand extreme cold. 

The characteristics of the bags (temperature, comfort, transition, risk) are defined by the standard EN 13537. A label fixed in the bag summarizes their performance.

Warning: you must remove about 5 cm long on a cover bag and up to 30 cm on a sarcophagus to know its functional use size. Thus, a cover bag of 180 will suit a person up to 1.75 cm, etc. 

In general, it is better to choose a bag whose compression ratio (optimal with the down) saves space during transport and a thick floor mat complement. Some models are self-inflating. 

Attempted

A tent has a main room called "room". It must be large enough for the hiker to be comfortable and his feet not touching the ends. 

There are several types of tents. In most cases, a "dome" model is preferred because these models are easy to install and self-supporting. "Geodesic" models add additional hoops to increase stability and wind resistance.

Should you choose your backpack first and put your gear on, or list your gear and then buy your backpack accordingly? In reality, this question is of the same kind as the paradox of the egg and the hen. The choice of the volume of your backpack goes hand in hand with the establishment of the list of your equipment, in order to find the right balance between necessity and comfort, to take the minimum, to carry the minimum while missing nothing.

Total volume

The volume of a backpack is measured in a liter (L) and is often indicated in the name of the model, for example, Air Contact 50 + 10. This means that this model, brand Deuter, a volume of 50 liters + a raiser that increases its capacity of 10 liters when needed. You should know that the displayed volume corresponds to the total volume, that is to say to the main storage and all pockets. This is why two backpacks of the same volume can sometimes have the main storage space very different from one another, between a backpack with a single volume (typically mountaineering bags) and a backpack with many pockets for example. Note also that the litter is often rounded, and that sometimes brands tend to inflate a little. So compare visually the backpacks with each other.

The choice of the litter does not depend on the duration of your hike but of:

• Accommodation: With nights in a hut, you will need only a few amenities, (usually a small sleeping bag or meat bag), while if you plan to sleep in tents, you need all the bivouac equipment (tent, sleeping bag, mattress ... and what to cook). In this case, you will need a larger volume backpack.
• Food autonomy: A 10-day hike, but with refreshment points every other day, is a lot different than a hike where you have to carry and store 10 days of food in your backpack. For the same duration of hiking, one finds oneself with a volume of the backpack different according to the spacing between two refuelings.
• Climate: A warm-weather hike only requires light clothing, and a little fleece for the evening, while for a cold-weather hike, you'll need larger clothes to keep you warm and more gear adapted (sleeping bag cold) that take up much more space.

For a day trip, usually, a backpack of 20 to 30 L is enough to put a picnic, a bottle of water, some clothes (a fleece, a jacket) and the little things left.

Weight or ratio weight / volume / comfort / accessories

The weight of a backpack is important because it adds to the rest of your equipment. If the weight is volume-dependent, other factors come into play. For example, in the 50 L range, there are backpacks ranging from 1.5 to 2.5 kg. The load transfer systems on the hips also weigh their weight. Large volume backpacks with larger / more comfortable load transfer systems will often have a higher weight/volume ratio than smaller ones (heavier attention does not necessarily mean more comfort, because the price and the technicality also come into play).

Hiking Equipment

The accessorization of the backpack also makes climbing the weight, a pocket moreover there, an additional opening here, door sticks, ice ax and more ... All this will have a blow during your hike, it will be necessary to wear them. It's up to you to choose what you really need or not as an accessory.

Storage organization and ease of access

If some will be satisfied with a single large volume with only one opening on the top, to save the maximum weight, others will prefer a backpack a little heavier, but equipped with many pockets, to compartmentalize their case, and with different access points (access from below, on the side ...). For this point, everyone is free to choose, while having in mind that the more pockets and access, the more the backpack will be convenient to use, but the heavier it will be for you to find a happy medium according to your needs.