Get Ready For Backpacking

Image Gallery CLOCKWISE FROM FAR LEFT: Jansport's roomy Mountain Dome tent ($225) sets up easily, provides excellent all-weather protection . . . While you're out shopping, don't for get to pick up a thermometer, compass, altimeter (optional), and map . . . Two skiers toting North Face packs ($80) prepare to glide through Rabbit Ear's Pass, Steamboat Springs, Colorado . . . Some nifty North Face down booties ($21) . . . Maine Tubb bearpaw snowshoes ($65

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"You can pay a lot of money for camping gear," says John F. Barber of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. "Or you can get good equipment for next to nothing. It all depends on whether you know what to look for and where to look for it."

Like other outdoor sports, backpacking can be either expensive or inexpensive. You can cook your meals over a five-pound, $34 Optimus stove . . . or you can heat your eats over an open campfire. Likewise, you can tromp through the snow wearing $65 Tubb snowshoes . . . just as easily as you can do your tromping in a set of no-cost "made 'em yourself" snowshoes. That's the beauty of backpacking: You don't have to be "well heeled" to do it . . . and do it right.

By the same token, there's no excuse for not choosing the right kind of equipment for the task at hand. Of course, if you've never shopped for backpacking gear before—or if it's been a long time (ten years, say) since you have—you may not know (or remember) what the "right kind" of equipment is . . . in which case the following gear gathering tips and hints are in order.

FOOTGEAR

A pair of sturdy, rock-resistant hiking boots should be considered essential. Look for mediumweight (three to five pounds), Vibram-soled boots with reinforced heels and toes and protective padding around the ankles. (Ideally, the boots should have padded tongues also.) Check the construction carefully. The fewer the seams, the less chance that water will leak through to your feet. Full-grain leather and Norwegian welts (ask the salesperson) are indicators of quality in any boot.

When you shop for footgear, wear the type of socks you expect to be wearing while hiking. (Generally, this means two socks—one light, one heavy—on each foot.) Also—if possible—try boots on late In the day, when your feet are hot and swollen (thus simulating hiking conditions).

As you put the boots on, slide your feet as far forward in them as possible . . . then see if you can fit one finger down behind your heel. If you can touch the bottom of the boot with one finger, you should have the right length. (Two fingers means the boot is too big.)

OK. Now lace the leathers up snugly (but not tightly) and go climb some stairs or do a few deep knee bends. There should be very little up-and-down play of the heel as you walk, and when you step down an incline your toes should not ram into the front of the boot. The ultimate test is to walk up to a wall and kick it. If you don't end up on the floor writhing in pain, you've probably got yourself a good fitting, solid pair of hiking boots.

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