The Right Way to Pack a Backpack

How you pack your backpack has a lot to do with where you are going to hike. But as a general rule of thumb you will want to have your heavier items at the top of your bag and lighter ones at the bottom. The exception to this rule is if you are going to be climbing over rocks or scrambling through boulder fields. If you will be crossing a lot of this terrain you may want to adjust your load by moving some of the heavy gear to the middle of your pack. This way you won't feel like your about do a flip with every step you take over a rock.

SLEEPING BAG

Most internal frame packs have a sleeping bag compartment at the bottom of the pack. Hmmm, could this have anything to do with keeping your lighter gear at the bottom of your pack? If you have a small sleeping bag you may have room to keep other items such as a pack pillow or a therma rest in here as well.

It's a good idea to keep your bag in this compartment because of the wall it has that separates it from the rest of your pack. This way you don't have the weight of your whole pack resting on your sleeping bag. To much compression can damage certain sleeping bags.

SLEEPING PAD

Most hikers have these strapped to the outside of there pack. Depending on the type of pad, this is ok. I don't like this because when it rains your pad is soaking wet. Some you can wipe right off but others stay damp for a while. If you are going to keep this on the outside make sure you have a waterproof bag. I recommend the
therma rest backpacker pad. It rolls up to be about one foot wide and 6 inches thick and can easily fit in the sleeping bag compartment.

CLOTHES

Clothes are the first thing you want to put in your pack. They are the lightest thing you are carrying so they need to be in the bottom. It is a good idea to have your clothes stored in strong freezer lip lock bags. This helps keep them, dry, compressed, and separated. Some clothes like your hat, rain gear, and light jacket you may want to keep in a pocket or near the top of your pack so that you can get to them quickly should the weather change in a flash.

TENTS

Tents are tricky to pack because they come in all shapes in sizes. Some people like to strap the whole tent to the outside of there pack in a waterproof bag. I'm not a big fan of gear strapped to the outside of pack but if this works for you, go for it. What I like to do is keep my tent in its own waterproof bag in my sleeping bag compartment. This way if I have to setup the tent in a hurry or during bad weather I don't have to unload my whole pack to get to my tent.

Keeping the tent in the sleeping bag pocket is also nice if your tent is
soaking wet from last nights storm. This way you can keep it in the bottom of the pack and wont leak all over everything you have. Just make sure your sleeping bag is in its waterproof bag.

Tent poles are light enough and small enough that you can either put them standing up in the side of your pack or you can strap them to the outside. Its better if you can strap them down in an upright position. This way they don't get caught on things in tight places. But just make sure they are strapped on tight. You don't want to get to your camp site with no tent poles.

FOOD AND KITCHEN GEAR

Next comes the food. Pack what you can inside the pot and cup in your kitchen gear just to save a little room. You will want to keep the fuel away from your food in case it comes open and spill through your pack. This is also another good reason to keep your clothes in a zip lock bag. If you have an outside pocket on your pack see if you can't keep your fuel here.

OUTSIDE POCKETS

If you have a pack with tons of pockets on the outside for staying organized you are going to want to use these to keep all the stuff that will need through out the day. These pockets are great for things like your snack food, sunscreen, maps, rain gear, etc.