In recent years, outdoor travel has become increasingly popular, but many hikers often make small mistakes during their trips—especially newbies. Today, we’ll go over the ten most common mistakes in outdoor travel and correct some improper ways of using gear. We hope this will be helpful for your next adventure!
- Guy lines aren’t just for wind protection—they also play a crucial role in separating the inner and outer tent layers to create a taut pitch. With an effective separation between the two, condensation on the outer tent won’t drip onto your sleeping bag and clothes inside.
- Far too many people skip the guy lines when setting up a tent. Many assume they’re optional and unnecessary on windless days. This is one of the most frequently made mistakes.
- It’s common to see people driving tent stakes straight down at a 90-degree angle. While that’s not necessarily wrong, a better approach is to drive them in at a 45–60 degree angle from the outside. This provides better support under tension.
- Some hikers tie their guylines tightly without allowing any slack, which is a very incorrect practice. Even if you manage to pull the stakes into the best position and tighten the guylines, the tent often sways during use, causing the guylines to loosen gradually and lose their effectiveness.
- In fact, guylines come with a three-hole sliding buckle—some plastic, some metal—that allows you to tighten the line. Another tip: when staking the inner tent, make sure to smooth it out first.
- Too many people hold trekking poles like sticks, gripping them tightly with their hands.
- In reality, one of the key design features of trekking poles is the wrist strap. You should slip the strap around your wrist, adjust it to a snug fit, and then use the natural momentum of your arm, elbow, and wrist to press down the strap for support—rather than relying solely on grip strength, which can lead to quick fatigue.
- Another common mistake when using trekking poles is adjusting their length improperly. Many people don’t lock the bottom section into the standard click-stop before tightening. The bottom section is typically conical—if you lock it before reaching the correct stop, there will be a gap between the pole and the locking mechanism, which can cause breakage or damage under pressure. Therefore, the bottom section should always be set to the designated length mark on the pole, with the overall length adjusted using the upper sections.
- When it comes to large backpacks, many think all you need to do is sling it on your back, tighten the waist belt and shoulder straps—and anyone can do that. But even so, many still feel uncomfortable. Aside from choosing the wrong pack, let’s talk about how proper adjustment and usage can make your hike more comfortable.
- Waist Belt: The biggest mistake is cinching the waist belt around the softest part of your waist. Although it's called a waist belt, it should actually sit on your hip bones. Your hips’ bony structure is what should bear most of the weight—not your waist. Wearing it too high not only causes discomfort but also fails to serve its true purpose.
- Shoulder Straps: This issue is a bit more nuanced. Ideally, you should adjust the backpack’s suspension system so the shoulder straps rest snugly on your shoulders. Many users fail to achieve this, leaving gaps—sometimes quite large—at the back of the shoulders, which reduces the effectiveness of the suspension system.
- Load Adjuster Strap: This strap is located at the top of the shoulder straps, where they connect with the top of the backpack’s back panel. It’s sometimes marked in white or another color. Its function is to adjust the backpack’s center of gravity. Tightening it shifts more weight closer to your body.
- Usually, this strap offers two height positions for adjustment. You can choose based on your already adjusted torso length. Once you’ve put on the backpack, tightened the waist belt, and adjusted the shoulder straps, pull this strap tight. The ideal angle between it and your shoulder straps is about 20–30 degrees. Not using the load adjuster strap is another common mistake beginners make.
- After using items such as sleeping bags, tents, especially self-inflating mats, during outdoor trips, the best way to store them is to clean and dry them first before putting them away.
- It's best to lay the sleeping bag flat, like a quilt, and avoid placing anything on top of it. Alternatively, if you have a dedicated sleeping bag storage sack, use that. Do not compress it in a stuff sack for long periods, as prolonged compression can affect the loft and insulation of the sleeping bag.
- For tents, fold the inner and outer tent fabrics separately. Do not compress them in a stuff sack, as long-term compression can create creases in the outer tent and base, which may shorten the tent’s lifespan.
- Self-inflating mats must have their air valves opened to allow them to remain in their naturally inflated state during storage. If you’re used to blowing air into them manually while out in the field, it’s best to leave the valve open afterward to let any trapped moisture escape gradually. The foam inside a self-inflating mat is what enables it to self-inflate—this material can become fatigued. Storing it compressed for extended periods will cause it to lose its resilience over time.
- Proper maintenance of your gear can significantly extend its service life. To borrow a phrase from financial planning: “If you don’t manage your money, your money won’t manage you.” Here, just replace ‘money’ with ‘gear.’
- Different types of clothing are made from different materials, which may vary in composition. Questions like whether an item can be machine washed, whether fabric softeners can be used, or whether it can be dry cleaned—all of these can actually be easily answered by simply checking the care label.
- For items like sleeping bags, tents, backpacks, and waterproof jackets or pants, it’s best to air dry them, especially the outer tents—avoid direct, harsh sunlight. These products are typically made of polyester or nylon, and prolonged exposure to strong sunlight can degrade their durability.
- There are friends who lend out their tents and then casually stash them away without proper drying once returned. When they later want to use the tent again, they find it smells awful. The reason? It wasn't dried before being stored. We still often see people making this mistake, and in severe cases, it can even affect the glued seams on the tent base and outer layer, leading to reduced waterproofing performance.
- Simply asking which brand is the best, or which brand is better compared to another, is the wrong approach—it makes it very difficult for others to give you a 'correct' answer.
- Every brand has its own strengths in certain product categories, and individuals also have varying perceptions of brands based on their own experiences. Whether you’re a seasoned user or a beginner, everyone has their preferred brands. Therefore, simply asking whether a brand is good or not rarely yields ideal answers.
- Friends, if you’re planning a trip, shouldn’t you at least do some basic research? Do you need a down jacket for Tibet? Should you bring a tent for the Motuo trek? What kind of backpack should you carry in Yangshuo... If you haven’t even done this most basic homework, then what’s the point of going on the trip in the first place?
- Suggestion: Those who want to ask such questions should do some preparation themselves. At the very least, you should know the climate of the destination, how many days you plan to go for, how much gear you’ll need, the altitude, the budget... Then, for anything you're still unsure about, you can ask more targeted questions.
- Is this backpack good? How is the performance of this piece of clothing? I want to buy a hiking pack, can you help recommend one? At first glance, such questions seem normal, but you should know that they’re not the right way to ask.
- Each piece of outdoor gear is designed for specific usage environments—for example, backpacks come in heavy-duty, lightweight, technical, and other types, each suited for different conditions. Likewise, every person has a unique body shape—height, build, frame—all of which affect what gear suits them.
- Suggestion: There aren’t many types of gear where recommendations are truly feasible. Products like sleeping bags, mats, stoves, and utensils—which depend only on technical specifications and not on individual body shape—can be recommended. As long as the intended environment, season, and other external factors are clear, it’s possible to suggest suitable options. However, gear like backpacks, clothing, and shoes, which need to fit your body, cannot be recommended this way. Whether something fits well or not, only your back or your toes can tell you.
- When shopping, everyone naturally wants to get good gear at a low price — most people think this way, except for the few who are wealthy enough to pay more just for prestige. This mindset isn’t wrong in itself.
- But why is this actually a misunderstanding? Because when many people ask this question, what they’re really looking for are cheap brands to recommend, not brands that offer good value. What does “good value” mean? It means comparing performance versus price. Please note: performance comes first. In other words, among products with the same performance, we look for the ones with lower prices. But many people don’t actually care about performance — they just want the same-named product to be as cheap as possible. In that case, just ask for the cheapest option, and stop asking about value for money.
