This topic is a place for experienced backpackers to share all kinds of advice with those who have no experience yet, and for first-timers to ask questions from those who have those answers 
.
Please feel free to share advice or ask. There’ll surely be people who find your post useful.
WOW! This subject could take pages to offer advice, and there are backpackers even more experienced than I am. I would be happy to try and answer any questions you might have.
I will offer this; do a lot of research before buying your equipment, and if possible, rent whatever equipment you can and check it out to see if it meets your needs. There’s a lot of stuff out on the market, so don’t buy the first thing you see, there might just be something “lighter” and more efficient for your needs. I’m always looking for lighter gear.
Exactly, borrow or rent until you find out what works. If you don’t, plan on buying three of everything until you find the perfect system that matches your hiking style and trips. Be sure to lend the two previous versions of everything to friends so they can experience the beauty of hiking.
Wow, I didn’t think there’d be replies so soon. Okay then, my first question:
How much water do you actually need on average for a day if you plan to drink enough, cook one warm meal (dinner) and have a bit of excess to clean yourself / your gear from the day-long hike’s dirt?
Vica - I think the water requirements vary greatly with the weather. Personally, I make note of highly reliable water sources and share information with people headed in the opposite direction. I rarely carry more than two liters, often only one - depending on conditions. I also drink a liter or more whenever I stop to refill. I don’t clean with water I carry - I clean when I am near a water supply. If I am camping far from a water supply, I tend to add an extra liter. For efficiency, I can drink the water I use to cook, and I can rinse a pot out with drinkable water and drink that as well.
One piece of general advice for those planning a longer backpacking trip: it’s a good thing to check out your gear and your system on a nice weekend. To really be prepared for a longer trip, it helps to go our for a couple days on a crappy weekend. Your system for organizing and using gear, and keeping things dry, is tested when you are setting up and breaking down camp in the rain and using your gear in the rain.
Assuming you are using a water filter or some other means of purifying your water, and that you pass by water sources every-so-often, you could get by carrying a liter of water, but of course, drink all you want and drink often.
I seldom wash up after a day-long hike, and when I do I don’t use my filtered water, I save it for drinking and cooking.
Washing up can be done by the way of swimming, and then if you go into town for resupply, a shower at the local motel or hostel would be in order.
Thank you! I was worrying that I should carry a lot more, but there are a lot of small creeks along the trail so I should be fine.
Here’s another question. Several longer sections of the trail I plan to backpack (and someday thru-hike) goes through quite densely populated areas, with the trail going through smaller villages every few miles. I don’t want to sleep in town too often, but I’m a bit worried about getting nighttime visitors. How far should I camp from the towns/villages to be fairly safe? And should I rather camp close to the trail, or go further away from it?
If a trail gets a lot of use then there tend to be a fair number of established campsites, which you should use to minimize your impact. However, in more populated areas it is usually wise to camp a mile or so away from roads, utility rights of way, and the like - or you may awaken at night to the sound of ATVs or drunken high school kids. This is especially true on weekends.
If there are no established campsites, then you usually go about 60 meters off of the trail and set up camp, following Leave No trace practices. This can be difficult on routes like the New England Trail, which traverses a lot of privately held land. It takes a fair bit of planning to find out who the landowners are, and then get permission to camp.
If you are talking about a trail like the East Coast Greenway, which traverses urban areas, you might find that Airbnb is your best option.
Some excellent advice from those that have already responded…especially in carefully researching the gear or purchasing too quickly! What I offer may seem intuitive; if so, I apologize for being pedantic. That said…
I am 63 and training for an AT thru-hike (hopefully this year). Now retired, I have the luxury of “walking everywhere”, doing over-nighters and day-hiking. But I found that my training regimen was lacking in that I have purposefully chosen to not walk during bad weather conditions! If I have seen it once in the various forums, I’ve seen it a dozen times: to succeed in a long distance hike, you have to Embrace the Suck! That is: get out and practice walk and hike (and in my case, train) not only in good weather, but hike, backpack, walk in bad! If it rains? Take a walk. Windy? Take a walk. If it snows? Take a walk. You will learn quickly what works for wet conditions, layering, footwear and wind shells to keep you comfortable, healthy and well. (It also makes that IPA or Single Barrell taste all the much better at the end of the day!) See ya’ll out on the trails! OFIFOTO!
That is ideal spirit.
Over the years you may find that foul weather conditions have advantages. For instance, this month I am hiking in places that would ordinarily be muddy, as said mud is frozen.
I hiked a 70mile sec of the AT in may2017.avg water consumed. Pr/day 3 to 4 L drinking…2L for cooking and clean up.Hope it helps.PS it pays to be redundant where possible. Specially hydration bladder take 2.things hpn.Have a grate hike.
Borrow or rent gear first… gee, wish i’d done that! Because now i have 2 tents, 2 bags, one quilt, 3 sleep pads and 2 packs. Finally got it figured out though
Hi again! Me and my hiking partner are in the middle of considering what gear to buy for our thru-hike. When hesitating about tents, my partner’s main argument against a 2P tent was that even if it has a vestibule, unless the weather is completely dry, our pack and things would get dirty and wet if we kept it there. I want to ask for advice about this. Is this always true? Do you have any tricks or hacks you use to prevent it, for example during a bigger rain?
You could always look for a tent that has a fair size vestibule and once you decide on which one you want, cut a ground clothe just a little bit smaller than the vestibule, so that it doesn’t hang outside in order to keep your gear off the ground. You could also put your pack cover on it assuming you’ll be using one before putting it out in the vestibule and position it as close to the tent as you can.
it actually depends on your hiking type. if you are long hiker then you have to take a lot of gears in your backpack and also tent. but of course for day hiking, you can make small weight in your backpack. but remember, you have to do some things before going. https://hikingwarriors.com/things-to-do-before-hiking/ here you can find some ideas on it.