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.

    Read the Guide 

  • 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.

    Read the Guide 

  • 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.

    Read the Guide 

  • 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.

    Read the Guide 
1 4

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

    See Posts 

  • 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.

    See Posts 

  • 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.

    See Posts 
1 3

All Expert Tips from Therm-a-Rest

Filtered by: backpacking-tips x
9 Tips for Camping & Backpacking in the Desert

9 Tips for Camping & Backpacking in the Desert

Katie Griffith

I barely slept my first night of backpacking in the desert. Howling winds unrelentingly assaulted my tent poles, bending them close to their breaking point. I knelt for hours with...

9 Tips for Camping & Backpacking in the Desert

Katie Griffith

I barely slept my first night of backpacking in the desert. Howling winds unrelentingly assaulted my tent poles, bending them close to their breaking point. I knelt for hours with...

How to Take Someone On Their First Backpacking Trip

How to Take Someone On Their First Backpacking ...

Therm-a-Rest Team

So you are taking your friend on their first backpacking trip. This is exciting! There’s nothing like introducing a friend to a new hobby and seeing their satisfaction when they...

How to Take Someone On Their First Backpacking ...

Therm-a-Rest Team

So you are taking your friend on their first backpacking trip. This is exciting! There’s nothing like introducing a friend to a new hobby and seeing their satisfaction when they...

How to Stay Fresh and Clean in the Backcountry

How to Stay Fresh and Clean in the Backcountry

Jenny Abegg

Though only 5 p.m., the forest was dark and snow fell heavily. The eight of us (three wilderness therapy guides, plus five participants) huddled around a fire beneath a tarp...

How to Stay Fresh and Clean in the Backcountry

Jenny Abegg

Though only 5 p.m., the forest was dark and snow fell heavily. The eight of us (three wilderness therapy guides, plus five participants) huddled around a fire beneath a tarp...

Blaze the Trail with These Delicious Backpacking Recipes

Blaze the Trail with These Delicious Backpackin...

Fresh Off The Grid

A sample menu with recipes to help you get started on making your own tasty, healthy backpacking recipes.

Blaze the Trail with These Delicious Backpackin...

Fresh Off The Grid

A sample menu with recipes to help you get started on making your own tasty, healthy backpacking recipes.

Backpacking for Beginners - 6 Tips for Better Trips

Backpacking for Beginners - 6 Tips for Better T...

Therm-a-Rest Team

Backpacking is not so much about the miles--or even where you go--as it is about taking responsibility for the journey. These tips will help a beginner backpacker, or those leading...

Backpacking for Beginners - 6 Tips for Better T...

Therm-a-Rest Team

Backpacking is not so much about the miles--or even where you go--as it is about taking responsibility for the journey. These tips will help a beginner backpacker, or those leading...

Intro to Backpacking

Intro to Backpacking

Therm-a-Rest Team

Nervous or have any fears about making the leap into the wild world of backpacking? Get a backcountry 101 course as Dream Teamer Morgan Martinez gives us her tip on...

Intro to Backpacking

Therm-a-Rest Team

Nervous or have any fears about making the leap into the wild world of backpacking? Get a backcountry 101 course as Dream Teamer Morgan Martinez gives us her tip on...