Hi, my name is Mark and I'm a hiker. It's the long walks that draw me in, the multi-day ones where you carry what you need and keep going. That's where I'm most at home.
Gear and camping are what make that possible. A good pack, a shelter that goes up in the dark, a sleep system that earns its weight: they matter because they let you stay out longer and think about where you are instead of what you're carrying. Gear helps you get there. It isn't the point.
What This Site Is About
Hiking in the mountains is one of the most rewarding things I do. It's also hard. Sustained climbs, heavy packs, altitude, weather that turns: if your body isn't ready, none of the rest matters much.
So alongside the hiking, I've been working on what makes it better: fitness, nutrition, recovery, and training for what multi-day mountain terrain actually asks of you. I'm not a doctor and I'm not a qualified outdoor leader. I read a lot, and I test it on the trail.
This site is where I put that research: gear I've tested, training I've used, nutrition that has worked for me in the field. It's what I've learned so far and what I'm still working out, not a set of instructions. Take what's useful and leave the rest.
The App
Over the years I've tried most of the apps, spreadsheets and gear lists the hiking community has built. Some were close. None quite fit the way I actually think about gear: locker first, then build your pack for the trip. So I built Back in Pack.
Back in Pack is a gear management and trip planning tool built around three ideas:
Locker is your complete gear inventory. Add every piece of kit you own once, with weights, categories and notes. Everything else in the app builds on it.
Packs are your packing lists. Pull gear from your Locker into a Pack for a particular kind of trip. Summer day hike, winter overnighter, fastpacking setup: each one is its own Pack, drawing on the same Locker. You never re-enter an item.
Trips are the walk itself. Attach a Pack to a Trip, plan your route, and track your progress on the trail with live GPS.
The core gear management (Locker and Packs) is free, on the web and on mobile. That's the part I wanted to put in front of other hikers first.
Why Free
Gear tracking shouldn't sit behind a paywall. Working out what to carry, cutting the weight you don't need, and not buying a second one of something you already own: that should be open to anyone who hikes.
The free tier, Day Hiker, gives you the full Locker, unlimited gear items, and packs you can build and share. Paid tiers add route planning, GPS trip tracking and exports. The fundamentals stay free.
The Content Side
Alongside the app there are articles and YouTube videos on gear, nutrition, training and trail skills. Same approach as the app: nothing I haven't tested, and no advice I wouldn't take on the trail myself.
I'm early in that part of the journey. If you've found your way here, you're early too.
Get Started
The app is free on the web and on iOS and Android. Create an account, add your gear, build your first pack.
If something doesn't work the way you'd expect, get in touch.
A note on health and safety: nothing on this site is medical advice. What works for me may not work for you, and you should talk to a qualified professional before making significant changes to your health, training or nutrition. The backcountry carries real risk. Weather changes fast, terrain is unforgiving, and conditions can deteriorate without warning. Assessing that risk is your responsibility: prepare for the conditions you're likely to meet, and make decisions that keep you safe. Don't rely on any single source, including this one, when you're planning a serious trip into the mountains.
Train hard. Fuel right. Pack smart. Go further.