Tips to Get Started

  • 6 Tips for Backpacking Beginners

    From planning to debriefing, these tips will help you to put together a successful backpacking trip for beginners.

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  • Tips for Backpacking with Your Dog

    If you’re thinking of taking a backpacking trip with your own dog, we jotted down a few of our tips to help teach how to get started backpacking with your dog.

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  • Tips for Your First Thru-Hike

    to help you prepare for your thru-hike or long-distance trek, we’ve made a list of seven things we wish we’d known before our first day on the trail.

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  • Tips & Tools to Keep Family Camping Fun

    Here are some hard-won pointers on family camping essentials to pack for vehicle-based family adventures great and small.

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Sustainable Camping Tips

10 Tips for Choosing a Sustainable Campsite

Sleeping in the dirt means you have a lot of choices. And you just might be surprised that there are so many different best practices to minimize your footprint and help conserve outdoor spaces for the next generation. So, we’ve put together our tips for choosing a sustainable campsite.

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How to Poop in the Woods

If you are going on adventures in the backcountry, at some point you have to poo. There are right ways to do it and wrong ways. If you’re wondering how to poop in the woods, we’re here for you.

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Tips by Activity

  • Backpacking & Thru-Hiking

    Get tips on everything you need for long hikes as avid thru hikers share their secrets on gear, self-care and keeping your sanity on the trail.

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  • Car Camping & Overlanding

    Car camping is not just for beginners Check out these 14 car camping tips for an epic weekend of the four wheeled variety.

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  • Winter & Snow Camping

    From Antarctica to the Arctic Circle, and Norway to South Africa, these are winter camping tips learned from experiencing a truly global winter.

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All Expert Tips from Therm-a-Rest

Filtered by: backpacking x
An Adventurer’s Guide to Patagonia

An Adventurer’s Guide to Patagonia

Therm-a-Rest Team

You’ve been dreaming about this trip for months. After an expensive plane ticket and hours of travel, you shoulder your pack and head out. Pulling into the lot, your heart...

An Adventurer’s Guide to Patagonia

Therm-a-Rest Team

You’ve been dreaming about this trip for months. After an expensive plane ticket and hours of travel, you shoulder your pack and head out. Pulling into the lot, your heart...

Dirtbag Discounts For A Lighter Pack

Dirtbag Discounts For A Lighter Pack

Aer Parris

You've been strolling around the gear shop for hours, wandering aisles filled with packs, sleeping bags, stoves and sleeping pads. The shop’s employees and have given up on you. It’s...

Dirtbag Discounts For A Lighter Pack

Aer Parris

You've been strolling around the gear shop for hours, wandering aisles filled with packs, sleeping bags, stoves and sleeping pads. The shop’s employees and have given up on you. It’s...

Gender Studies on the Trail

Gender Studies on the Trail

Bethany Hughes

The outdoors define many of us. It dictates the way we spend our time, money and daydreams. It can change our politics, philosophies and perspectives. However, sometimes our social norms...

Gender Studies on the Trail

Bethany Hughes

The outdoors define many of us. It dictates the way we spend our time, money and daydreams. It can change our politics, philosophies and perspectives. However, sometimes our social norms...

Step By Step

Step By Step

Patrice La Vigne

“Are you guys thru hiking?” a day hiker asks while passing. I stop and turn, leaning on my trekking poles, noticing the smell of shampoo and soap. “We’re trying!” I...

Step By Step

Patrice La Vigne

“Are you guys thru hiking?” a day hiker asks while passing. I stop and turn, leaning on my trekking poles, noticing the smell of shampoo and soap. “We’re trying!” I...

Backpacking TV: What to Pack

Backpacking TV: What to Pack

Therm-a-Rest Team

You might be quietly sobbing over the end of summer, but fear not. As nearly any backpacker will tell you, fall is really where it’s at. The colors are spectacular,...

Backpacking TV: What to Pack

Therm-a-Rest Team

You might be quietly sobbing over the end of summer, but fear not. As nearly any backpacker will tell you, fall is really where it’s at. The colors are spectacular,...

Backpacking TV: Campfires for Backpackers

Backpacking TV: Campfires for Backpackers

Therm-a-Rest Team

The art of a responsible backcountry campfire is right up there with the art of the backcountry poo. Both are incredibly enjoyable, in their own unique ways, and both are...

Backpacking TV: Campfires for Backpackers

Therm-a-Rest Team

The art of a responsible backcountry campfire is right up there with the art of the backcountry poo. Both are incredibly enjoyable, in their own unique ways, and both are...