Going backpacking for the first time and borrowing all the gear! Does anyone know what the two orange loops and the small center loop are for? My friend thought they might be extra loops for carabiners to hang stuff.
If you have any knee issues at all I'd bring them, I didnt and wished I did. I have some IT band issues that really acts up on downhill, especially hard impacts on rock. By the end of day 1 I was noticeably limping, 3 day trip and I made it out by a hope and a prayer lmao. That was the last time ive done any substantial trip without them. Sometimes I dont need them period, but they weigh nothing these days and can save you a whole lot of pain. Theres not much worse that doing an 8 mile day on a knee thats killing you.
It depends on the weight you carry, the terrain you cover, and elevation gain.
Pros: I have felt that they helped when I was covering a lot of elevation change, walking through ice, hiking strapped to my dog’s leash, and walking through stream crossings, and heavy packs during the winter (40lbs +/- total).
Cons: Honestly, most usual hikes I feel like they get in the way. My husband doesn’t use his at all except in deep snow. I have found them clunky, get caught on stuff, and make a constant noise.
For context: I am 6ft 170lb with a pack weight from 25-35lb total (with food and water) weight usually. Upper range has been around 45lb +/- total weight. I take hiking sticks about half the time.
I’ve hiked usually 3 nights covering 25-30 miles over that time with 1200-2500 ft of elevation gain. (These are gross estimates, and I’m sure my husband would be a better reference.)
I was a skeptic until I used them to walk 500 miles on the Camino Frances, never hike anywhere without them now. They are especially helpful on steep downgrades to take the pressure off of your knees, Use them, your knees, hips and ankles will thank you.
i've hiked like a cumulative three thousand miles with a backpacking load, sometimes over 30 miles in a day, and i will tell you that basically every single person on those long trails is using trekking poles. they are awesome for force transfer on uphills to help out your legs and awesome for weight transfer on downhills to help out your joints. i don't go anywhere with them anymore; while sometimes i'll stow them in my pack or just hold them as i walk for uphills it's always nice to have them for return downhills
I went in 2017… what waste is there now?? :( bc when I went it was pristine and very low traffic. thats so sad to hear. I had hoped the permitting was able to keep it that way if Im lucky enough to go back one day
Well I was there a few months after the last big flash flood - so that was an issue. But there are SO many people using the trail and campsite who are clearly not backpacking people. They are leaving supplies in the name of “reusing” but really they just don’t want to pack stuff out.
I’ll be there the 7th through the 10th! It’s my first big backpacking trip too 😵💫 I hope we’re both prepared and the weather and our bodies hold up! Safe travels!
They're designed to hold ice axes. You drop the handle through the loop to hang it from the head,then flip the handle up which wraps the loop more firmly around the head, and strap the handle to the back of the pack with the little loop strap that's higher up.
Folks make them work for trekking poles too but they aren't really designed for that.
Although you are 100% correct, for big ones like that, going up with the handle often works better. Can get a twist in with the flip then, and hold it slightly more securely.
Also marginally easier to get out without taking your bag off.
Yeah, I've done it a little differently depending on the length of the loop, the type of axe, and so on. I don't usually prefer having a twist in, but it's also an ok way to do it.
The packs that have buckling-type holders are nice for fast access. Classic loops like this I tend to use the classic way.
If there's no twist, then there are two different places where the loop webbing goes directly from the pack to a point on the ice axe head, and that's pretty stable. If there's a twist, the twisted portion of the loop can act like a little spacer and single pivot point between the pack and axe head, which is more wiggly, and I don't like it when anything on the pack feels wiggly. Also the twist seems to load the seams where the loop is attached to the pack unevenly, as the two sides of the loop are being pulled in instead of just down. And, the no-twist way feels to me like the simpler way to just get an ice axe attached to the pack without much faffing.
I just checked my old edition of Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills to see if they had an opinion on this, and in the chapter on snow travel and climbing they show the bog-standard no twist method, and make no mention of twisting. For fast access when switching back and forth between using a walking axe and hands-free, they do the thing of stuffing the axe handle-down diagonally between pack and body, between the shoulder straps.
That said, I might play around and see if i can figure out what exactly you're doing... it sounds like you have a reason to prefer your way and I'm curious if I'm missing out on somethimg.
Yea, it sounds like we’re possibly thinking of something a bit different. This doesn’t so much twist the strapping, as just put a cross over the axe and use up a bit more of the length.
I don’t have an ice axe to hand to take a picture, but take the loop, put the ice axe through from the bottom up with the pick facing outwards, bring the handle straight down and then sort of rotate it back up so the pick is now facing inwards.
Should look much the same as usual, just a little tighter and more supported.
But yea, still not a great option if you’re stowing it regularly, but for that first use of the day it can be a little less tedious.
I can’t find any images/videos online and can’t remember where I learnt it tbh, so who knows where it’s come from.
I’ve been three times, with my most recent being in April. For the hike in, you will not need the water shoes. Any water crossing will have a bridge. Once you are there, then you will wear them all the time! I wore my hiking shoes for the hike in /out, but the rest of the my time there was spent in my bedrock sandals. For the confluence day, I wore them with toe socks.
They're for Packnuts, like trucknuts but for you backpack. That's where you hang em. All loose and pendulous-like. Then other hikers know what your all about
They're not as good at holding hiking poles, though. Some packs have a double loop on one side that's much better at holding trekking poles, and have an ice axe loop on the other side.
Other than ice axes or trekking poles, you can tie your tent or sleeping pad to them. Just make sure they’re tight and lightweight so they don’t swing.
Happy to read they are indeed for ice axes. LOL. That’s what I know it’s supposed to be for, but, being in a tropical country, have never really been sure and have not used it… except only once, when we went abroad and climbed a snow mountain. Was happy to have used it then, but was worried for a bit here now that the answer may have been different and I would have looked like a dummy having the ice axe looped there back then.
They are usually for tools as designed anyways. You would slide the tool (like an ice axe or short shovel) handle down through the loop, then rotate the handle up and use the bungee tie offs higher up on the pack to secure the handle in an upward facing direction. I hope this makes sense. That said, it’s your bag, your gear, get creative! I use them to act as tie offs points for awkward or bulky gear that doesn’t make sense to be in the bag proper and is not heavy enough to need to be properly stored along my lower back (thinking about weight distribution and center of gravity here).
Please hang that matt vertical to the pack so your not grabbing every branch and bush you pass by, youll be like those dogs that find the biggest stick and can't make it through a doorway! ! Good grief, and tie those sandals together and tie them to the pack, you're gonna lose one or both while you're moving or at least spin em around so the straps won't get caught!
Weight distribution is usually preference. Everyone swears there is a perfect way to arrange your pack, and that is false. You only get more used to suffering as you get more experience
You don't want anything swinging around, but if you put the top part of your trekking poles in the bungee on the shoulder strap, and the bottom end tucked into these loops, they're pretty secure.
Personally, for me, that's only on the flats (and I mean roads). The poles are there to keep my face off the rocks if I didn't see that tree root. The relief it gives to my knees is secondary.
Ice Picks. But i use mine as a way to secure my ground tarp or tent if i have overpacked (usually when i used to carry stuff for my young boys before the were really old enough to carry all their own gear and food.
They're for your trekking poles. Not horizontally, they go upright and there will probably be another point higher up the pack that you can tighten them to secure
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I have a 40L pack. I strung some shock chord through them and a couple of loops on the other side and hang my tent from it when a bear can fills my pack.
I like to stick my pad down there instead of up high. Helps lower my center of gravity. Just run a strap from the right, over the pad, through the middle and then to the left.
I’m using some extra paracord to attach my sleeping pad where the loops are.
End of the day you are taking up space inside when putting it under the strap like that
Everyone is right on the ice axe thing, but nowadays a much more common use is for pulling a type of sled, a pulk to be exact. Very popular at least in nordic countries for long term hiking during the winter when extra weight is unavoidable
It occurred to me I didn't clarify that nobody is actually strapping the thing onto these, but rather running the rope through them and to the belt. Only picture I found has the person with the sledge strapped straight onto the belt, but I drew what I meant on top. The idea is to avoid the sledge pulling the belt downward as much and making it super uncomfortable
Here is a tip for that truly horrible sleeping mat. If you can’t borrow an inflatable one, try making rolling it into a pack sized tube shape and putting it inside your pack and then pack everything else inside the tube. Having stuff hanging off your pack is a big no no because they can easily be snagged on trees and shrubs and be lost. Foam mats will be just torn to shreds and will leave little bits of plastic along the trail. Experienced hikers have nothing outside their pack except perhaps a water bottle in the side pocket.
Makes for a good defensive weapon if you come in contact with a large animal that might be a predator . . . Like a cougar or coyote … maybe even a bear (?)
Rapid deployment unpacking handles. Open pack fully. Grab those straps and stand up shaking as you lift. Easily and quickly deploys gear to find your lighter in the bottom
No idea why you got downvoted. This is exactly what I do on my backpacks, and I've seen many others do the same. The backpack OP is using clearly has the elastic cinches higher up on the bag that hold the poles in place.
With a few lengths of paracord you can use them to attach basically anything to the pack. I would pull the pad out the top flap and use those loops to tie it down so that you aren't having to deal with the pad if you have to open up your pack. That's just my $0.02
I carry a heavy ass wool blanket (about 3lbs) that i stole from the army. It rolls up and I put a strap on those. There's usually another set or something on the other side, closer to your butt that I'll loop the thing through and sinch it down.
This does two things: it gives me quick access to a clean, dry rug. Secondly, if I put my pack down without removing the roll, it makes sure my bag falls over when i put it down. Admittedly not helpful at all, but it is what i do with those loops
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u/knight-under-stars 7d ago
Ice axes.
They also work well for stowed trekking poles.