BACKPACKING with the HIGHEST RATED GEAR on Amazon

Tent: geni.us/k8RB Sleeping Bag: geni.us/Ls3qNVR Sleeping Pad: geni.us/u6dpU Water Filter: geni.us/tN1d Cook Set: geni.us/EzBwP Stove: geni.us/ToKa Fleece: geni.us/Oh5z Puffy: geni.us/FAsuVP Pack: geni.us/DysDKB What I would Get Instead: Sleeping Bag: geni.us/8XwK Down Sleeping Bag: geni.us/B7Iqz Water Filter: geni.us/pyCRw Mini Water Filter: geni.us/fAQkt Stove: geni.us/OwBBB Cook pot: geni.us/SjPDkko

Your mixup on the pack is hilarious. You are absolutely correct. The scout model is kid sizing. I have tons of people with our program using either the Teton explorer 4000 or scout 3400. Both work just fine for the money! We actually have some in our loan program as well! Great video.

I am soooo going to share this video repeatedly with my Cub Scouts pack. Thank you for all you do, and all the personal risks that you incur to inform and educate the rest of us. Also, thanks for being objective (20 degree) vs. subjective (cold).

Bro! 😂 I am dying over the pack mix up! Totally could see myself doing the same thing. Love your candour. Keep up the great work!

Teton and Kelty are great as long as you don't mind weight! Teton even has some passable sleeping pads and things for pretty cheap, though those R values aren't any better. Especially for a few miles, setting up camp for a night or two, etc, it's not a bad way to trial things. But you made a great point about upgrading a bit to Kelty. For a very moderate cost, a lot of their stuff is surprisingly good. But when you can get a reasonably good 2 person tent from Kelty for $125 that weighs just over 4 lbs, it's not a bad way to trial backpacking. And I appreciate your content on budget and simple gear setups. When I finally do an overnight backpacking trip with my kid, I have good info on where to sacrifice weight for cost and the like thanks to you and some other info out there on these things.

Thanks for this video. Glad you caught the Scout sizing on the pack. I'm part of a boy scout troop and this is the first pack we recommend for new scouts, along with the Cosmic Down 20. Great for a first pack and short trips. Perfect for summer camps. When they're big enough for backpacking, we move them up to better packs like the Crown 60. Keep up the good work!

In France there is an amazing sports brand called Decathlon, known for making innovative, quality and affordable stuff. They have these 30-40$ tents that are so easy to pitch and super comfy. Just quite heavy. Would love to see you try them out someday !

Also, looking at the Scout line from Teton at Teton's site, it isn't advertised specifically as a kid's/teen pack. It's absolutely sold for adults and shows pics with adults, but is for people with shorter torso lengths. So absolutely clear as mud!

I got the Teton hiker and it's very comfortable and I'm 6-2. If you have a decent pack you can carry a few extra pounds fairly easy. I have a 4.5 lb, 2 person tent. I got a down sleeping bag from China on sale for 40 dollars. Warm enough for 3 seasons. The vast majority of us are weekend warriors and this stuff is all you need. I like alcohol stoves because it's so zen.

Don't assume the reviews are genuine... Could be generated by bot/review farm.

I ❤ the idea of budget gear, but I’ve found that I don’t like the performance in general. It usually wears out faster and needs replacing and it’s often not sturdy and breaks when it’s most inconvenient. My parents taught me to save for quality equipment and then take care of it. That said, I do purchase quality used equipment to save money.

Steven, you are WAY braver than most backpackers to test out cheap gear without knowing if you're going to survive or not! Thanks for the great info and the laughs! Always informative AND entertaining! Regarding the Teton Sports sleeping bag, my husband and I use the Zero degree upgraded bag from Teton Sports. It's too bulky and heavy to backpack with but makes a great car camping bag. We both love the soft, warm interior lining which keeps you from feeling too cold when you get into the bag. Anyone serious about backpacking should probably try inexpensive gear to start with or rent better equipment before shelling out thousands of dollars on quality equipment, IMO. Again, thanks for sharing your take on Amazon best rated backpacking gear load out! 😁😉🤣

I have a couple of friends that use the Teton Explorer, and they serve them well.

I have and use the Scout pack. The torso length is adjustable. I think the longest setting is 19. Bad for a tall guy but perfect for my 5 ft 8. For 79$ US I have no complaints and it's actually 1 gram lighter than the equivalent Osprey pack.

While it's no excuse for the pot... you can always use a trusted measuring cup and fill the vessel, measure the depth and transcribe that on a waterproof material with waterproof marking (transparent cutting board materials), and have a reliable measuring source for your pots/resevoirs. A "dip stick" essentially that you can customize with multiple colored markerings related to different liquid vessels you are carrying (blue lines for the 32oz nalgene, compared to orange lines for the 3L platypus).

I have the waterdrop filter and mine flows just right even only using gravity I tested it before going out and it worked perfect on the hike too.

I have one of those night cat tents and i went on a week long camp/hike through the porcupine mountains with it during which experience hurricane force winds and a CRAZY ass storm right on the coast of Lake Superior and the tent held up AMAZING. I was genuinely surprised and very thankful. I still use the tent to this day.

I started with a Teton sports explorer & it's a good pack for the money. My biggest complaint is that it weighs over 5 lbs and some of the elastic straps lose elasticity before long. I still have it, I just prefer my REI flash 55. As for the rest I think Steven is dead on.

I think the tent is perfect the weekend campers. I am sure we can all find some faulty season from $40 - $300+ tents or anything else.

I used a Teton Altos 20 degree sleeping bag on a trip in the Rockies. It was cold enough that it snowed, the bag was fine, and I hate being cold. It seems to be well made.