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

Planning Your First Sea Kayaking Adventure

Planning Your First Sea Kayaking Adventure

Therm-a-Rest Team

Earlier this Spring, five friends and I went on a sea kayaking adventure in the San Juan Islands of Washington. We were all excited, but only a few of us...

Planning Your First Sea Kayaking Adventure

Therm-a-Rest Team

Earlier this Spring, five friends and I went on a sea kayaking adventure in the San Juan Islands of Washington. We were all excited, but only a few of us...

A Weekend Warrior’s Guide to Big Sur

A Weekend Warrior’s Guide to Big Sur

Therm-a-Rest Team

Big Sur, which is located five hours north of Los Angeles on California’s Central Coast, is the perfect weekend getaway. Just getting there is a treat. The road trip involves...

A Weekend Warrior’s Guide to Big Sur

Therm-a-Rest Team

Big Sur, which is located five hours north of Los Angeles on California’s Central Coast, is the perfect weekend getaway. Just getting there is a treat. The road trip involves...

What’s in my Pack: Family Backpacking

What’s in my Pack: Family Backpacking

Jenny Abegg

“It will all be worth it when we get to camp,” my mom reassured me, handing me a fruit roll-up with one hand and swatting a mosquito with the other....

What’s in my Pack: Family Backpacking

Jenny Abegg

“It will all be worth it when we get to camp,” my mom reassured me, handing me a fruit roll-up with one hand and swatting a mosquito with the other....

Highpointing: A Peak For Everyone

Highpointing: A Peak For Everyone

Patrice La Vigne

Justin and I are serial “listers.” Our bucket list is way too long and perpetually updated, but as a goals-oriented couple, we rely on our lists to fuel our adventures....

Highpointing: A Peak For Everyone

Patrice La Vigne

Justin and I are serial “listers.” Our bucket list is way too long and perpetually updated, but as a goals-oriented couple, we rely on our lists to fuel our adventures....

What can you pack into a weekend?

What can you pack into a weekend?

Therm-a-Rest Team

// Weekend: (/ˈwēkˌend/) noun 1.) The period from Friday evening through Sunday evening, especially regarded as a time for leisure. // For those of us that don’t currently have the...

What can you pack into a weekend?

Therm-a-Rest Team

// Weekend: (/ˈwēkˌend/) noun 1.) The period from Friday evening through Sunday evening, especially regarded as a time for leisure. // For those of us that don’t currently have the...

5 Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Rafted The Grand Canyon

5 Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Rafted The G...

Therm-a-Rest Team

The water was far bluer, and far clearer than I’d imagined. Pushing our two rafts into the Colorado River at Lee’s Ferry, I couldn’t believe it didn’t look like the...

5 Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Rafted The G...

Therm-a-Rest Team

The water was far bluer, and far clearer than I’d imagined. Pushing our two rafts into the Colorado River at Lee’s Ferry, I couldn’t believe it didn’t look like the...