How to Recognize a Good Backpacker

How can you tell if someone is good at backpacking? When I was learning to SCUBA dive I asked my instructor Tom the same question. His answer was very telling. He said that above all the sign of a good diver is how comfortable they are in the water. This made sense, but it really didn’t sink in until Justin and I took off for our SCUBA diving road trip through Baja California. After a few weeks of regular diving things really started to click. At first I was fumbling with my gear and stressing about whether or not I had attached everything correctly. By the time we were finishing up everything was second nature and I could get things ready with my eyes closed.

Unlike competitive sports where, very often, how good someone is can be measured by the score or other statistics, backpacking does not have an easy measure, but the idea of comfort is a major part. When someone is starting out they tend to fumble with their gear and are constantly adjusting things. The newbie is rarely very comfortable and is often in a bit of pain, whether it is blisters or a headache from a hat that is too tight (right, Phil!).

Experienced backpackers are very comfortable with not only their equipment but also the rigors of the trail. When you see someone getting ready and they have all sorts of stuff lying around and they have no idea where to put it, you can reasonably guess that they don’t have a lot of experience. Experienced backpackers have a system, and they usually don’t think of it as such. It is just a natural pattern for how they do things and it has become second nature.

Here is a picture of Phil’s stuff when we were out backpacking recently.

Notice that everything is laid out. If you were to watch Phil, who is an experienced backpacker, pack things up in the morning you would see that he has a clear and efficient system. He gets everything down on his pad and then places things in a very specific order based on his many hours of using his gear. Things he wants easy access to are placed where he can get to them. Also, the weight is evenly distributed so that the pack will comfortably fit his back.

It is not a question of speed, but comfort. Phil may not pack incredibly fast, but he is efficient and he doesn’t have to think much since he already knows what fits where.

One thing that I really want to point out is that you don’t have to be an ultralight enthusiast to be a good backpacker. In fact, some of the best are not. Styles and equipment differ but comfort level is the clearest outward sign of experience.