Product Review: REI Traverse 70 Pack

REI Traverse 70 Pack

Today, I will be reviewing the REI Traverse 70 Pack. This backpack is one of my favorite from REI and I have had plenty of experiences with the product. I felt like a good review would do this product justice for how well it has served me, my family, and friends who enjoy backpacking.

The Osprey Aether 60 Pack can be found here: https://www.rei.com/product/893980/rei-traverse-70-pack

When my father and I were preparing to backpack the Grand Canyon, we were prepared. We had our our food, supplies, and tools all packed to successfully hike in the Grand Canyon National Park. The sun had set and we were preparing to go to sleep for night. My dad decided he needed to try his ten year old backpack on just one last time before calling it a night. 

That is when disaster struck. Both the straps ripped in half and the backpack came crashing to the ground. We were speechless. We flew all the way to Phoenix, rented a car, and drove up to the Grand Canyon National Park for this? That's when we remembered the camp store in the park was still open, but about to close. We ran over there, hoping they even sold backpacking backpacks. Thankfully, they did! That is when we purchased the REI Traverse 70 Pack.

At first, my dad was frustrated with the backpack. He had no idea how to use the design, and neither did I. After some tinkering though, we figured out how to fit all the equipment inside. That is when we realized the true brilliance of the REI Traverse 70 Pack. The backpack was designed to carry weight evenly and it made carrying heavy equipment much easier. It was also extremely comfortable!

Yellowstone National Park

Example Trip - Part 2

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Day 3

The third day, your team will hike to the geological site where they are studying the volcano. This side of Yellowstone National Park is pretty remote. While the southern part of the park is bustling with activity such as tourism, restaurants, and family friendly activities; the northern part of the park is barren and has maybe a parking lot if anything. Once your team reaches the north rim, we will do a series of team exercises testing leadership skills. Here, you will find out what kind of leader you are and how you can lead others successfully. Before the end of the day, we will hike back down the north rim and return to base camp to sleep for the night.

Day 4

This will be the day your team hikes out of Yellowstone National Park. We will take the golden railway route out. This path is beautiful because you can see the extensive nature of the park the entire way uout. You can appreciate the how massive Yellowstone National Park really is. The experience will put your life into perspective. The golden railway path is a straight shot that runs all the way out of the park. It is a brutal route, but one worth conquering. Hiking out will take about four hours. Your team will return to the original camp we arrived at and stay another night before leaving.

If you would like to sign your group up for this tour, feel free to contact me on the contact page!

Yellowstone National Park

Example Trip

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Since this might be new to a lot of people, I wanted to give everyone an example of what a team building trip would look like. Again, if you have any questions contact me with the form provided on the contact page. I will respond very quickly and will be happy to help!

Day 1

On the first day we will arrive at Yellowstone National Park. Here, we'll set up camp and get all of our equipment organized for the trip. Your group will familiarized with the staff and the proper paperwork will get signed. After all the legal information is taken care of, we'll go through a bunch of basic survival tactics just in case someone gets hurt or lost. We'll spend the night in the car camping space and prepare to leave tomorrow.

Day 2

We'll leave early in the morning. Prepare to up at 5am! You'll thank us when your team won't have to hike through the mid day sun. It is very dangerous to be walking around in the between between 12pm and 2pm during the summer. This is when it is the hottest outside during the day. Temperatures can get up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. When your team gets to the first sleeping area, we will split up and commence on day hikes in separate groups. From this point, we will set up a challenge between the different groups.

To find out what the rest of the trip will look like, check into the blog tomorrow!

If you want to check out more about the Grand Canyon, check out the link below.

http://www.nps.gov/grca/index.htm

Product Recommendation: Backpacking Tents

Product Recommendation: Backpacking Tents

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Trango 3 Tent



Since it was first produced in the year 1995, Trango tents have been considered the standard issue backpacking tent for mountaineering expeditions, backpacking, and camping trips all year round. The teardrop shaped front and rear doors fold with relative ease. The loops, that are welded together, secure the fly. The bathtub-style floor is wonderful for protection from the weather. This tent can stand any weather mother nature tries to throw at it.

The Trango 3 tent gives its owner wonderful storage capacity. The Trango 3 also is relatively easy to set up. This allows you to erect this tent in any weather condition, hot or cold. It also has enough room three people fit comfortably. If you are really daring, you can fit more people inside of this tent. However, the Trango 3 is considered to be heavy by those who own it.

Big Agnes Blacktail 3\

The Blacktail series backpacking tents offer a very roomy sleeping area for up to two people. Accessing the tent through side entry doors and vestibules allows users to quickly enter and exit the tent without disturbing their tent mate. I would recommend this tent to any entry-level backpacker, day hiker, and car-camper. For the price, this tent offers plenty of value for the customer.

This particular model isn’t considered the lightest tent for taking on long backpacking trips. Those who use it say it is heavy for the long haul. The Blacktail 3 is not as spacious as your regular tents one may take car camping or day hiking. If you want a reliable tent and high-quality backpacking tent that is capable of housing the more than two campers, and is not too large and burdensome to shoulder for an entire hike, the Blacktail 3 is the best product on the market. The Blacktail 3 tent uses very durable materials It offers more space than most tents and for a lower price than anything else on the market.

Water Filtering

Filtering Water Methods

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1) Filtering
Filters essentially fall under two categories. These two categories include ceramic or carbon filters that remove harmful, and potentially dangerous bacteria. The latter of the two includes filters that treat the drinking water with chemicals such as iodine. Iodine kills bacteria and viruses. It is considered safe to drink by the scientific community. Filters can break easily, are expensive, and can fail you when you need them most. be careful when bringing a filter with you.

2) Purification tablets
These tablets can be purchased at stores such as REI, Dick's, or Sports Authority, and other adventure/sporting stores. Remember that this is not the best tasting method of purifying drinking water. However, protection from deadly bacteria is better than an expensive visit to the hospital, or your life. Iodine and chlorine tablets are the most common in the industry. Iodine and chlorine will kill anything that may be swimming around in your drinking water.

3) Chlorination
This method is definitely considered the safest out of all of the methods, but is a pain in to perform. A machine pumping device injects a solution of diluted chlorine directly into your source of water. This purified and chlorinated water goes into a tank for storage. This is where the chlorine will kill any undesired organisms in your drinking water. This method can be used in the wild, but is mostly used during building projects.

Conclusion
The methods mentioned in this article are intended to remove biological organisms only. This includes bacteria and viruses. In general, they do not take care of any chemical or radioactive contamination that may be infecting the water. If you think that your drinking water contains such substances, do not drink the water. Always remember to be careful when purifying water. If you were to drink contaminated water, you would become very ill and could possibly die.

Cool Backpacking Locations

Cool Backpacking Locations

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1) Yellowstone National Park
One doesn't have to go far a far distance to explore the best views of Yellowstone National Park. It's easy, simply, prepare yourself to for a couple of hours on this this 4-mile loop that leads to a really cool overlook above Yellowstone National Parks biggest body of water. The Elephant Back Trailhead allows a hiker to follow the trail and ascends steadily through the pine forest. When you start to climb the mountain, be observant and scout for shards of obsidian, also known as volcanic glass beside the trail. This will show you signs of past volcanic activity in Yellowstone National Park. The trail peeks over a plateau after awhile , and then begins to go south to the lake overlook. Take a squat on the bench and soak up the breathe taking views of Yellowstone Lake and the Absaroka Mountain Range behind it.

2) Glacier National Park
Cracker Lake traffic one of several showy cirques that can be extent of easy hikes from the Glacier region. One downside of this pursue is that train horseplay failure have pureed the first mile of so into a impure channel, but it's not so bad with boots and the spring unpopularity of the drag signify the tank is much less assiduous than other destinations in the extent. Set beneath towering cliffs, the lactary turquoise blue color of Cracker Lake has to be versed to be expect. It's a strong locality for a leisurely feed. The 11 mile orbed obstruct has 1100 fact of hill gain and while the pursue itself is only pretty theatrical - it's mostly in the wildwood though there are some accurate survey across the wheedle at the poll of Sherburne Lake - the purpose is fine.

3) Acadia National Park
Next to water and commanding look outs, the need explore the many trails in Acadia National Park is the draggle planisphere of Mount Desert Island. It clearly conduct the 110 miles of march imposition, as well as 57 miles of carriage roads, signpost numbers inclosed. Believe me, though Acadia’s trellis are well hence, you can take twisted march and death up well out of your interval, outworn. Last weekend I was shut bis by folks with less particular maps who were quite rambling. Variable in coil up to 16 miles, the sit out twine along the Virgin River, ask a salute-deep-in-moire tour through a stomach with wale surpassing out at 1,000 feet. The Narrows Zion National Park The Narrows in Zion National Park captivate hikers through the narrowest section of Zion Canyon.

Sneeze Page: Reviews/Recommendations

Sneeze Page: Reviews/Recommendations

This post can be considered a list that will be continuously updated over time. It will consist of a list of products and backpacking trails that I have either reviewed or recommended during my time blogging for Tour De Backpack. Remember, this will be updated regularly, so make sure to stay tuned for updates.


Product Recommendation: Katadyn Hiker PRO Water Filter
http://tourdebackpack.blogspot.com/2016/02/product-recommendation-katadyn-hiker.html

Sneak Peak: Water is essential to surviving in the wilderness and should be taken very seriously when looking for proper equipment. I've used both water purification tablets and filters. Between the two, I would recommend backpackers use filters over the tablets. This is for two reasons. One, being that you can run out of tablets quickly. And two, filtered water from a flowing river is the best tasting water you will ever gulp down.

Product Review: Osprey Aether 60 Pack
http://tourdebackpack.blogspot.com/2016/02/product-review-osprey-aether-60-pack.html

Sneak Peak: When my father and I were preparing to backpack the Grand Canyon, we were prepared. We had our our food, supplies, and tools all packed to successfully hike in the Grand Canyon National Park. The sun had set and we were preparing to go to sleep for night. My dad decided he needed to try his ten year old backpack on just one last time before calling it a night.

Top 3 Backpacking Spots
http://tourdebackpack.blogspot.com/2016/02/top-3-backpacking-spots-hello-everyone.html
Sneak Peak: Hello everyone! Today, I will be providing a list of the most popular places to backpack within the United States of America. In the future, I will be providing recommendations for places outside of the United States (Europe, Asia, and South America). These backpacking locations are all within the borders of a national park and are easily accessible by road.