Protect From The Elements

When loading your backpack, you should always keep in mind that in most environments, weather patterns can change quickly, especially if you are planning an extended stay. There are several ways to avoid nature raining on your parade.

Wet Weather

Wet weather is fairly simple to prepare for and can even help in organizing your backpack load into more manageable sections. Wet weather bags, or water proof bags, can be found in almost any outdoors section of department store. When cared for and tied properly, everything inside stays dry.

For further individualization of items, you can use gallon sized zipper sealed sandwich bags. You can also use vacuum seal bags, however you may not be able to pull the air all the way back out in the field. Read more about these methods in compression.

Cold

With the cold, it's important to remember that you will have more comfort items in your load, such as a jackets and long johns. This will be a great aid in keeping extra water from freezing if the outside temperature is below freezing.

If you have an external frame backpack with a metal frame, it would be a good idea to make a cloth wrap use a thick duct tape to cover the bare metal. Frozen metal can cause serious injuries when it comes into direct contact with bare skin; such as frostbite.