Hiking Backpacks – 4 Great Tips To Choose The Best

Even for the casual hiker, the hiking backpack is absolutely essential. Whether you are hiking a trail alone, going cross-country with a group, or following a guide, your backpack carries the things needed to make your hiking trip a fun, safe, and enjoyable experience. The first thing to realize is that not all hiking backpacks are created equally. there are many, many choices out there in hiking backpacks. Choosing the one that is right for you will take a little time, research, and smart shopping.

Considerations When Choosing a Hiking Backpack

1. Hiking backpacks come in a variety of sizes and styles. The main thing to consider is the type of hiking you are planning on doing with this backpack. Someone going for extended trips into the wilderness will need a totally different hiking backpack than someone going for a six hour hike along the trails behind their house. If you will not be hiking far or staying out overnight, a small backpack that can carry a first aid kit, water, and some food for the trip is all that is necessary. If you are going to be out overnight, you will need room for more food and water, and a sleeping bag and possibly a tent. Cross-country trips will require a large backpack with room for everything mentioned above, with a tent for sure, changes of clothing, compass, maps, cooking gear, and other survival equipment.

2. Whatever the backpack type, make sure that it fits securely and comfortably. You don’t want one that is too heavy for you when loaded, or one that does not fit snugly. If your backpack shifts too much, it can easily run your shoulders raw where the straps are rubbing.

3. The price for a hiking backpack can range from over $400 to as little as $20, depending on the backpack. For the casual hiker, or someone who intends to get serious but is just starting, seriously consider getting the least expensive one that is adequate for your needs. You will probably want to try different backpacks after you have been hiking for a while, and you don’t want to have too much invested in your old backpack. But make sure that it is sturdy and comfortable. Don’t trade off too much quality in the name of price.

4. A consideration you may not think about, is that different backpacks are made for different genders. A man’s center of balance is slightly different than a woman’s, and their torsos are shaped differently along the shoulder blades. This must be taken into account when designing the hiking backpack, so that the backpack does not throw the hiker off-balance.

If you take your time, put some thought into it, and make an informed choice, you will wind up with a hiking backpack that will serve you well in your hiking endeavors.

Hiking Survival Tips & Techniques : How to Make a Hiking Survival Kit

Learn how to pack a hiking survival kit in this free wilderness survival video. Expert: Karl Jensen Bio: Karl Jensen has been hiking for seven years in the New England area. Karl is currently interning in the adventure program at Smith College to gain more knowledge about hiking. Filmmaker: Christian Munoz-Donoso

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Backpacking & Camping Tips : Buying Hiking Boots

The type of hiking boots a backpacker should buy depends on what their needs are. Buy hiking boots for light hiking, rugged terrain or general purpose with tips from a backpacking guide in this free video on camping and hiking. Expert: Richard Fields Bio: Richard Fields has been an avid backpacker and backcountry guide for over 25 years. Filmmaker: Patrick Eaves

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Backpacking & Camping Tips : Buying Hiking Boots

The type of hiking boots a backpacker should buy depends on what their needs are. Buy hiking boots for light hiking, rugged terrain or general purpose with tips from a backpacking guide in thisfree video on camping and hiking. Expert: Richard Fields Bio: Richard Fields has been an avid backpacker and backcountry guide for over 25 years. Filmmaker: Patrick Eaves

Read more

Backpacking & Camping Tips : Buying Hiking Boots

The type of hiking boots a backpacker should buy depends on what their needs are. Buy hiking boots for light hiking, rugged terrain or general purpose with tips from a backpacking guide in thisfree video on camping and hiking. Expert: Richard Fields Bio: Richard Fields has been an avid backpacker and backcountry guide for over 25 years. Filmmaker: Patrick Eaves

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Security Experts Top 10 Tips To Prevent Being Attacked While Hitch Hiking by Mark Yates The British American Security Expert

Security experts the world over agonise over threat assessments which they are asked to compile by anxious parents whose child or children are set to take a gap year out to tour the world. One of the first pieces of security advice I always incorporate in my threat assessments is security expert advice about the dangers of hitch hiking. Given my skills in this area, the owners of www.asecurityonestopshop.com asked me to write the following article titled Security Experts Top 10 Tips To Prevent Being Attacked While Hitch Hiking by Mark Yates, The British American Security Expert at www.asecurityonestopshop.com

This is one of the areas of security where you can follow the first security tip in this list of Top 10 Tips To Prevent Being Attacked While Hitch Hiking and you won’t need to learn the other nine security experts tips. But before I grant you access to this valuable snippet of obvious security information, I’d like to ask you three simple questions to gauge your security awareness in order to prevent being attacked while hitch hiking.

Given that the majority of people reading this article are probably concerned parents, I’m assuming that they have more life skills in relation to general security and therefore I expect the parents to score better than their children in this simple test.

Before answering these three questions, I want you to assume that you are hitch hiking because you have to. Assume there is an emergency and you have no money and not other means of getting from your current location to where you need to be. You are out on the highway thumbing a lift and the following three people stop to offer you a ride. Which one would you trust the most?

Driver 1: The car stops and a well dressed 46 year old male in a suit and tie opens his window and asks you where you want to go. You see inside his car that he has a Doctor on Call sticker on his sun visor and a Doctor’s emergency siren and flashing light mounted on his dashboard. It’s clear he’s a genuine Doctor.

Driver 2: The car stops and a female driver aged late thirties asks you where you want to go. She has a wonderful smile and is quite endearing. She voices concern that you shouldn’t be hitch hiking alone.

Driver 3: The car stops and a 22 year old man and his young wife lean out of the window and ask where you want to go. You see he is a manual worker and their 8 month old daughter is properly strapped into a car seat in the rear of the car. The man fusses over his daughter like a loving parent. They have bags of food shopping in the car.

If you trust Driver 1 the most, you’re crazy. In April 2009 a UK Doctor GP was sentenced to three years in jail after pleading guilty to 32 charges relating to maintaining indecent and pornographic images of pre-teens. He was convicted, sent to jail, ordered to sign on the sex offenders register, suspended by the general medical council and disqualified from ever working with children.

If you trust Driver 2 the most, you’re crazier than crazy. You just hopped in a vehicle with a prolific female serial killer. Aileen Carol Wuornos who later admitted murdering 7 men and was convicted of killing 6 because the body of the seventh was never found. Wuornos used vehicles and hitch hiking as a method of offering sex to men before killing them. She was executed by lethal injection in October 2002.

If you trust Driver 3 the most, you need a security expert to help you plan out a security strategy for your family. On Wednesday April 15 2009 Channel 5 UK TV ran a true story documentary about a young American teenage hitch hiker Colleen Stan. Colleen was abducted by a sexual sadist Cameron Hooker and his wife, who also had their 8 month old baby in the car. The sadistic couple kept the girl in a coffin-sized box for seven years, relentlessly abusing, raping, buggering and torturing her into complete submission as their slave. Colleen had already refused lifts from 2 other drivers because she felt uncomfortable about them. After 7 years Colleen escaped and Hooker’s wife cut a deal with the prosecutors to give evidence against her husband who was charged with kidnap and multiple rape charges.

Dr. Mark D. Yates the British American Security Expert suggests you follow this link to read more about the Girl in the Box hitch hiking abduction.

So, back to the Security Experts Top 10 Tips To Prevent Being Attacked While Hitch Hiking.

1: Don’t hitch hike. It may seem obvious, but unfortunately obvious doesn’t enter into the security dictionary. If you don’t hitch hike there’s no reason to learn the security experts Top 10 Tips To Prevent Being Attacked While Hitch Hiking. If there’s one single security strategy you should instil in your children, it should be never to go hitch hiking. Sadly as long as parents try to educate their children they will frequently think they know more than their parents, so children will always hitch hike. That said, and on the basis of seeking to minimise the risks, I’ll continue with the Security Experts Top 10 Tips To Prevent Being Attacked While Hitch Hiking.

2: Trust no one. Colleen Stan mentioned above turned down 2 other drivers. She also had the chance to escape shortly after being picked up by Hooker and his wife after they stopped at a gas station and she visited the rest room. She admitted to not feeling comfortable about the couple and considered not getting back in the car with them. Sadly she dismissed this as juvenile anxiety and got back in the car. Some minutes later Hooker pulled a knife on Colleen and abducted her.

3: Never, ever hitch hike alone: Safety in numbers may be quoted by security experts to the extent whereby it appears to be a cliché, but in terms of hitch hiking security there is added safety in being with someone you know and trust.

4: Never advertise to strangers that you intend to go hitch hiking. It’s very easy to let your guard down especially when you are chilling out during your gap year in an exotic location. However professional security experts will advise you that organised criminal gangs in some countries pay people for this type of information.

5: Travel with a modern cell phone which has a camera and internet access. A high resolution camera and wi-fi access is the key to minimising the risk to you and to prevent being attacked while hitch hiking. If a driver stops to offer you a lift when hitch hiking Ask them if it’s okay to take photos of the drivers car, its registration plates and the driver. Explain that you are e-mailing the photos with a brief text outlining where you were picked up, where you are going and your estimated time of arrival to your parents. If the person offering you a lift is genuine then they will understand your security concerns. If they raise any single objection no matter how plausible thank them for stopping and get away from them as soon as it’s safe to do so.

6: If it doesn’t feel right don’t get in the car. Intuition is one of our bodies natural defence mechanisms, most people refer to having a bad gut feeling when something doesn’t feel right. Your intuition is rarely wrong. It doesn’t matter how insignificant or trivial the reason if your gut feeling is bad never get in the vehicle. Security experts tasked with providing close protection services for fee paying clients are often classified as professionally paranoid. I know I’ve spent 20 years trying to fine tune my professional paranoia, it’s saved my life and the lives of my team members and clients under my protection on several occasions. It’s one of my greatest security assets, so never be afraid of being professionally paranoid.

7: Don’t provide information about yourself or where you are staying. It might seem like you are having a pleasant two way conversation with someone kind enough to offer you a ride. However if the driver is not who he/she appears then you are providing valuable intelligence which can be used to target you after you have left the vehicle.

8: Purchase a security threat awareness training programme. If you visit www.asecurityonestopshop.com you can purchase various security reports and home study programmes specifically designed to minimise the security threats against you and increase your security awareness. These training programmes are inexpensive and packed with valuable security information.

9: Never hitch hike when overseas. Kidnappers target hitch hikers in many overseas destinations. These kidnappers range from small time crooks right through to organised crime gangs who make a substantial living off the kidnap for ransom industry. Terrorist organisations also target hitch hikers for kidnap for ransom as not only is it a lucrative earner but it offers global media publicity which is the bloodline of any terrorist organisation.

10: Don’t hitch hike. Hopefully you’ll understand how obvious this statement is, which is why it’s number 1 and number 10 in the British American security expert top 10 tips to prevent being attacked while hitch hiking. Hitch hiking flies in the face of every single security countermeasure designed to increase your personal safety.

Mark Yates the British American security expert from www.asecurityonestopshop.com suggests his top 10 tips to prevent being attacked while hitch hiking is far from an exhaustive list and should be included in an overall security plan designed by a security expert of security experts.

Finally: when considering The Security Experts top 10 tips to prevent being attacked while hitch hiking, Mark Yates the British American Security Expert advises careful pre-planning when you or your children take a gap year overseas. Plan your security strategy to include tactics to minimise the risk to you and your friends accompanying you. Do not be seduced by being in an exotic destination and ensure you are never seduced by strangers in a foreign land. Trusting your gut reaction is a great start to increasing your security awareness.

Listen to your intuition, because that is the greatest defensive weapon in your security armoury.

Mark Yates is recognised globally as the British American security expert after providing his security expertise to government security, intelligence, law enforcement and security agencies in 41 countries. 5 major TV documentaries have been broadcast and hundreds of press articles published about his extremely high risk security operations. Contact him at drmarkdyates@aol.com

Choosing Hiking Trails – Tips To Choose The Most Suitable One

Taking a trip and have an interest in hiking? Whether you choose to hike for one or five days, you will be looking out for the best hiking park for the area you travel to, and the trails for hiking. There are many hiking trails that you can go on, but taking the time to choose the best is probably what you want to get the most enjoyment out of. By taking time out to examine many hiking trials in the area you are travelling to, you can then pick and choose that are more favourable to you, so that you can be assured that you will enjoy your hike.

So how do you go about finding the ideal hiking trail, you may be asking yourself. By taking the time to look at all the trails, you will know more of what to expect when you are out hiking, and more likely to find the “perfect hiking trail”. Here are few guidelines below to give you some idea of what to look out for.

Firstly, it is always good to ask for any recommendations; this is the easiest way to start out. You can then research those recommendations so this will cut down on the time spent on looking, and knowing what is popular is as easy a place to start as any. It is also good to ask people you know if they enjoy hiking – friends, family, work colleagues and neighbours, to see if they can recommend some hiking trails that they have taken. The best hiking trails are those that are popular and well maintained, those that are safe and are cheap to hike.

Contact your local hiking parks or the hiking trails to get some ideas for finding a great place to hike. By looking in your phone book, you should be able to find local contacts to find out more information. Your local parks are an excellent place especially if you are new to hiking to get a feel of what it is like. Over the phone you can ask questions to gather more information, make requests for brochures and maps that are available which can be sent out to your home address. You can even stop by the hiking park or trail if it is close enough to get information for yourself and a friend, perhaps.

You may be interested in travelling further away from home for a holiday, and need to research hiking parks and trails. The internet is useful for finding the information you need and for other resources like places to stay whilst you are away. Once you have arrived at your destination, the local tourist office will have plenty of information available and usually have the most up-to-date information. Sometimes hiking trails or parks have to close for one reason or another, so you can get recommendations for other places to hike. You can always the best trails that way. Local residents at your destination will have a good knowledge of the area, so you may want to think about asking them some questions about the local trails and the ones that are highly recommended.

The internet provides good search engines for looking up any local or hiking trails in other places, and a general look at hiking parks. Just typing a key phrase like “hiking trails” or “hiking parks” will provide you with lots of hits that you can browse through. You can cut the search down to a certain place or destination so that the results are tailored to your needs. These will most likely come up with hiking websites which are full of valuable information that you may not have thought of before. You should be able to find just what you need, and you can email for more information if you are unable to find it.

A standard internet search will also come up with the official online websites of hiking parks or the hiking trails that you are looking for information on. You can then examine them thoroughly and bookmark them as your favourites so that you can refer back to them later. The internet is very useful to find the best hiking parks and hiking trails around, the ones that suit you and your needs.

Tips when Shopping for Wholesale Backpacks

Backpacks are essential equipment for students, hikers, travelers, and athletes of all ages.  Everyone knows how useful and practical a backpack can be and just about everyone owns at least one backpack. When purchasing backpacks for personal use or retail, consider buying wholesale backpacks. Wholesale and discount backpacks come in various sizes and styles and there is a backpack for every need.  Selecting the right backpack for your does not have to be overwhelming. Check out these types of backpacks and learn how to choose the best backpack for you.

Types of Backpacks

Picking a backpack is more than just a fashion choice, it is a decision that can affect your health. Depending on the size of your load, you’ll need to choose a pack with sufficient support. The main categories of backpacks are backpacks with internal frames, backpacks with external frames, and frameless backpacks. Frameless packs are meant for lighter loads. This kind of backpack is simply a bag with straps that fit over the shoulders. More sophisticated frameless backpacks may have padded shoulder straps and backs for extra comfort and additional pockets to help organize your supplies.

Comfortable Hiking Backpacks

When carrying more weight or traveling longer distances, you will need a backpack with a frame. Hiking backpacks usually have an external frame, made of a lightweight metal such as scandium or titanium alloys. The body of the backpack is cloth attached to the frame.  This frame supports the weight of the pack and then distributes the weight across your hips for a more ergonomically correct fit. Backpacks with internal frames are a recent innovation.  The concept is simple: a metal or plastic frame is sewn into the backpack for built-in support.  Plastic strips follow the shape of your back for a better fit.  Additional metal components may reinforce the frame. And when you go exploring in an urban setting, backpacks make perfect lightweight and convenient luggage.  Backpacking across Europe us a popular pastime for older teens and young adults. When weight is distributed properly, you can carry your backpack long distances without back pain or muscle strain.

Cool School Bags

Because of their versatility, backpacks, sometimes called knapsacks, are popular with students.  Kids’ backpacks give them more space when carrying books, binders, notebooks, lunch, gym clothes, and other essential school things.  Plus, many backpacks offer extra pockets that are perfect for pens, cellphones, and other gear.  Trendy backpacks are available in different designs and colors, often featuring the latest celebrities or television characters, giving kids a chance to express their individuality through a hip backpack. Young children enjoy carrying backpacks as a sign of their maturity and growing independence.  Even preschoolers and kindergarteners like to carry backpacks to have a special place to put their things.  Just remember, pediatricians advise that filled backpacks should weigh no more than 10-15% of a child’s body weight. Most school backpacks also have adjustable straps for a more comfortable fit.

Save Money by Buying Wholesale Backpacks

Back to school shopping or preparing for a hiking trip can be costly.  Save money by buying discount backpacks. With wholesale backpacks, you’ll find high quality, affordable backpacks at deep discounts. Check out online deals on backpacks to find the greatest variety of hiking packs and school bags. Whether you are camping out, hiking on the trails, or just hitting the books, it is easy to find wholesale backpacks that fit your lifestyle and complement your personality.  When buying wholesale backpacks for personal use or for resale at a retail outlet, scout the market for the best bargains and get the most value from your budget.   

Purchasing Discount Backpacks

The Internet is a resource for discount backpacks.  Reputable manufacturers, dealers, and brands sites allow you to conveniently purchase wholesale backpacks online.  Back to school sales, early spring and fall hiking season, and after season closeouts, are the best time to find deals on backpacks at lower prices.