Practice English Speaking&Listening with: HOW TO PACK A BACKPACK OR HOW I PACK MY BACKPACK | EXPERT ADVICE

- Hi everybody, this is Gijs again

and I hope you are doing well!

This time,

it is an expert advice,

how-to tutorial video.

And this one is about

how to pack a backpack

or better,

how I pack my backpack.

Enjoy this video.

(upbeat music)

Welcome to the expert advice,

how-to tutorial,

on how I pack my backpack.

And before I start cracking on

about the backpacks itself,

I would like to welcome those people

who are following me already for some time.

Welcome back to my channel,

it's great to have you here again,

and also many, many, many

many thanks for all your likes

and all your comments.

Now,

for those of you who are new to my channel,

you might not know that normally,

I am a 100% independent reviewer.

Manufacturers are not paying me for my reviews,

they're not paying me for my tutorial videos,

so I am 100% independent.

So if you like what I do

at the end of this video,

then please subscribe to my YouTube channel

and don't forget

to hit the alarm bell,

so you know when I upload a new video

and before I start with the tutorial itself,

I would like to make one thing very clear

and that the way that how I do,

it's not the only way

because people have got their own systems.

And what I am telling you is what I do

with basically all my backpacks.

And it doesn't matter if I take,

a day pack,

a hut-to-hut backpack,

or the bigger one

that I use for longer trekking specially.

And this one,

this is the Osprey Atmos 50 AG.

I did a review on this one as well,

so if you want to see that,

follow the link up here

at the end of this video,

and also in the description below of course.

I'm going to use this one because,

the bigger the backpack,

the more sense my explanation basically makes.

I've unpacked the Osprey,

and this is what I normally bring on a trip

in let's say autumn or

very early spring,

when the temperatures are still a little bit colder,

and

I will take you through everything

that is going into my backpack.

But first,

let me tell you a little bit

on what a basic principle is,

on how to pack a backpack,

because you should know that

the weight of the backpack,

should not be in the bottom of the backpack itself.

A lot of people they just fill the backpack

from up there

and they go all the way to push the weight,

all the way down.

What is absolutely a top tip

that is,

if you've got a sleeping bag,

this is a Rab Mythic 600,

I tested this one as well

on my YouTube channel,

so if you're curious about this sleeping bag,

watch that video later.

And most backpacks,

they've got this sleeping bag compartments.

It's underneath here,

and there is sometimes divided with a strap

or sometimes with a zipper.

And if you don't have a separate compartment,

then the sleeping bag,

is the thing that you should put

really below into your backpack.

Because a sleeping bag yes,

it's got some weight,

but it's mainly volume.

And what happens now,

is that because you put the

sleeping bag,

on the bottom of your backpack,

basically everything you put on top on it,

is always higher.

Now, what you put next to this...

And just let me demonstrate this to you.

I need to get some air out of it.

Now, what you will also see,

is that I like to keep my sleeping bag

in a waterproof bag,

wrapped as this one with the sleeping bag itself.

And this is always a little bit of

a fiddly process,

but if your sleeping bag gets wet

during your hike,

that's not a good idea.

Now, what this Atmos does not have,

but what is a good advise as well,

If you bring a mattress,

like those thin foamy ones

that you roll into one big roll,

then always put them underneath here.

Most backpacks, they've got these straps

underneath the backpack,

so they are basically for that purpose.

Because this is also a lightweight,

which fits really nice here.

What you also can do,

if you roll it really tightly,

it's just put it onto

the side straps of the backpack,

that's a good place as well.

Now let me continue with,

the rest.

Now that the sleeping bag is in place,

I've almost got this part loaded,

which is basically

unto the medium heights of my back.

Now, why is this a good thing?

Because I don't want to have the weight

onto the bottom

in the lower part of the backpack,

because this only makes a backpack very heavy.

Now, what is next?

It's the bladder.

And I didn't take this one up

because getting it in,

is quite a fiddly process.

This one, it's a two liter bladder,

and I fill it most of the time

to about one and a half liter,

so that there is still some space for the water to go

when it's being compressed,

when I put more stuff into my backpack.

It's connected of course,

to a little loop here with a clip,

and it's got a separate pouch

into the backpack itself.

And this one,

it's really close to the back,

it's here.

This is one and a half liter of water,

which means it's one and a half kilo.

And because it is so very close to my back,

that means that the balance

of the whole backpack,

is going to be very comfortable for me

becau when I move around,

I don't want to have this weight

at the back end of the backpack,

because this will only pull me backwards.

And when I move around,

for example, on a ridge,

this moving around is...

It can be quite dangerous because

you can't maintain your balance very easily.

This has made sense?

I do think so.

Now, the bladder, of course, it's got a hose.

(birds chirping)

You hear the birds and the water?

There's a lake over there.

It goes through a little hole.

And then it goes to the other side, of course.

On the outside,

that's where the hose goes

and it goes over my right shoulder in this case,

because I like to use it

on the right shoulder.

Different backpacks have got different methods.

Sometimes the opening's on the left,

sometimes it's on the right,

sometimes it's in the middle.

Now, what I do next,

because I still have some space underneath here,

what I do next is

I take my bag off clothing.

Basically, this is the clothing that I bring.

There's some thermal clothing

in there from merino wool,

some extra socks

and underwear that I can use also,

if I want to go for a swim in the lake.

And not,

pretty much,

there's not much else in there

because I normally don't bring too much of clothing

because I don't need it.

If you go on a height to height hike,

of course,

there's where you keep your clean sets,

if you go in there to have a dinner,

because nobody likes smelly people.

And again,

this one is also a waterproof bag.

I like the ones from Osprey

and the ones from Sea to Summit.

They are pretty lightweight

and they do a perfect job.

So this one goes in there as well,

as a nice little flat package.

I don't mind about wrinkles in my clothing.

Now, what I put on top of this next,

is my Jet Boil

or any cooking system,

or if you have a gas canister with

just a small burner on top,

this is where it goes.

It goes again, close to my back.

Why do we put it in the center of the backpack?

Well, because what I can do now,

is I can take my MSR tent.

And I took all the parts apart.

This is only the fly and the inner tent.

I can put this nice around

my cooking set,

and that means that even if I'm into the mountains

in a Rocky area,

I bump into rocks,

my cook set is going to be protected.

And this is important because something warm

at the end of a long day is really key.

Now then I've got the poles.

Poles, you can stick them on two places,

basically on the outside left or right,

doesn't matter.

That's a good place,

but never or ever,

never forget to tie this one to one of the straps

with a karabiner,

because I lost my poles once, because it...

and since I lost them,

I basically always put them inside my backpack.

And I have them always on the same side,

they go all the way down,

they go next to

almost the sleeping bag,

so that's where they are.

This also provides the backpack,

a little bit more rigidity on this point.

Now, since I'm working

with the tent at the moment,

I'll show you that I'll lift the pegs.

And you know,

these MSR pegs,

they are really tiny ones.

The pegs, but they are really pointy.

So you don't want to have this in your backpack

because when you put stuff in your backpack

and you compress it,

you don't know where it's going to go.

So what I do,

I take these and I always put them

on to the top lid.

And then in the top compartments of the Osprey,

in this case.

There is also a weather rain...

The rain cover off the back is...

Because if I put those up here,

it's going to do no harm to my gear.

It's not going to do any harm to me whenever.

Maybe when I stumble on a rock or a tree root,

it's safe in there.

Now, let me turn it back again

and continue with packing the backpack.

Then what is next?

I've got the tent around the stove.

The other thing is then...

Because the poles are on this point,

I like to keep my mattrass on this side

because it's like a same sort of tubular size.

Next to the mattress,

I put my toilet bag,

and that's just the toothbrush, some toothpaste,

a little bit of sun cream in there.

And of course,

if I needed some medicine,

I've got asthma,

so most of the times is in there.

I really like these Nite Ize bags,

because you can see through them,

which is pretty good

when you're going through customs

in the airport,

which doesn't happen anymore at the moment,

because this is also a corona video.

But,you know,

if you want to get something out of it,

it's really convenient.

It's got a waterproof zipper.

And if you close it totally,

it is really a bombproof

shelter for everything you put in it.

I never close it because when I want to put

into my backpack,

I want to wrap it, get the air out.

And I'll put it next to the mattress on the side.

Because if you have a system

and you pack your backpack,

if it's a small one or a big one,

if you do this,

mainly the things that you use in the same way,

you will always find it and finding stuff fast,

is most often very convenient.

The next thing that I...

And I'll show you this.

I've got two extra waterproof bags,

one bigger one for

just in case If something else

goes totally wrong with maybe the cover

of my backpack itself

or with the cover of my sleeping bag.

And a smaller one that I mostly use

as a waste bag.

Don't leave anything out there.

Bring everything home,

leave no trace.

I like the principle.

So this one goes,

in here, next to the bladder

so that I know where to find it.

I'll leave this one to put in the top compartment.

Now, the next thing that I put in, is my coffee.

That goes in, top of here.

It;s coffee granulates,

I'd take it on the go all the time.

And my Kupilka mug,

because I've lost the connection

with the karabiner.

So this one needs to go into my backpack now,

which is a little bit of a pity.

Put it in the top there.

And then I've got my food bag.

Also again, a Nite Ize see through thingy

with the zipper almost openly closed,

so I could still push the air out.

There's some nice goodies in there.

So this is what I need on the go.

And I put this on top of the backpack.

The last thing that goes in there,

is basically my down jacket.

I'm most of the time bringing a down jacket

in the colder periods of the year,

because whenever you stop,

you go for a lunch or just have a small coffee,

I take my down jacket and put it on.

And to be totally honest,

I wish I had it on right now,

because it is getting quite chilly.

Then normally,

and I didn't do it this time,

this is a mistake I made,

I didn't put it yet into a waterproof bag.

So maybe I should do this right now,

because if your down jacket gets wet,

no insulation whatsoever.

Almost, and that one goes on top of that.

Now, this is,

mainly how I pack the main compartment

of my backpack.

Now, let's tie the ropes, the straps down.

(mumbles)if you've got a tent

that is in one package,

you could always put it on top, of course,

underneath the top lid and on top of the main compartment

underneath this strap, same for our bigger Metro cysts.

They will fit there as well

Or if you like it,

you put your rain jacket over there.

Now let me close there.

This backpack doesn't have a

pockets on the top plate on the inside.

Now,

let me close it.

Now. Let me close it like this as well.

Now, then I've got my rain jacket, my hard shell.

And I always got this one on the outside

because like now,

when it starts to rain a little bit,

I want to get access to my jacket pretty quick.

So that's why it's there.

Also, when you've got wet stuff,

this mesh,

it's a really nice place

because the water can still drip

out if it needs to,

or it can ventilate.

So that's always better when you

put some of that stuff in

here and you have a nice day,

then it will dry

in the mesh compartment as well.

Now,

put this one,

secure it also with the strap,

always secure stuff.

It's very, very important.

Now on the left and the right side of the Osprey,

I have got a place

where I can put a water bottle

And I always bring a thermos.

When you leave the huts in a hut-to-hut hike

always bring a warm bottle of water with you.

I can place it on top of like this,

or I can do it like this.

This is more like a pistol grip thing.

So you can get access to it quite easily.

When you're hiking with a backpack on your back.

This thermos is simply too big for the

other position,

so I put it in this here like this.

And sometimes it's a good idea to

put a loop on here as well

and the karabiner.

So you can secure,

the thermos to one of the straps.

On the other side,

I always carry a knife,

a rather big one.

I don't put it onto the belt of my drive

because the belt and the knife,

they are most of the time interfering

with the hip belt of the backpack itself.

So the knife,

I always put it on the side in the other pocket

together sometimes with some other stuff.

And I'll put the karabiner around the strap,

So I don't lose my knife on the go.

Then, the top lid.

The main compartment,

when in winter time,

of course that's where my winter gloves go.

Because you need easy access to it.

t's also

where my hat goes, my beanie.

I always carry a woolen beanie with me

because when the weather gets a little bit nasty

or colder,

I like to have a beanie even underneath my hat shell,

because it gives a lot of insulation value.

You know,

you lose most of the warmth

through your head basically.

So always bring a hat,

quick to reach.

It's also the place where I put my

headlamp

because it's always there where you need it.

This one is Petzl Iko Core,

I reviewed that one a couple of weeks ago.

No last week, I think,

so check that one as well.

And I've got my wallet.

I put the map in there

if I'm not carrying it,

because most of the time I have to map

or in a big pocket or

my jacket,

or just between the shoulder strip and the jacket.

And I have the

emergency first aid kit and I hardly ever

need to use them.

Most of the time I use them

because there is a pack of Compeed,

blister things in there.

That's the most used thing in my first aid kit,

nothing really goes wrong.

And then of course, you know,

whatever I do with my knife,

I always wear my gloves.

Or if you're going through routes

and you try to get branches

just to make a campfire,

use the gloves.

These are the Hestra Ergo Grip gloves

that I reviewed as well.

And I've put the link below again.

I've done so many reviews by now.

I really like it.

Now, this is how I pack my backpack.

But one thing,

if you have the

tendency to use trekking poles,

of course,

you need them in your hands when you're hiking

with a backpack,

but as most backpacks,

they've got a storage system on this one as well.

It's a very simple system that goes over here

and tie it down.

And one on the other side.

Now,this is how I pack my backpack.

And in this way, with the,

basically the stove in the middle,

the bladder against my back,

I have a very nice well-balanced backpack

that I can well

use for everything that I want to do.

And it give me a lot of comfort

because of this way of packing.

And remember again,

pack your backpacks always

in the same way so that you,

when you need something from your backpack,

it's always there

it's always on the place where you

expect it to be.

It's very important,

especially in a emergency situation.

Emergency,

I've got an emergency blanket, of course,

in the first aid kit.

That was one that I didn't mention ,yes.

This is what I wanted to share with you

on how I pack my backpack.

And if you like this video,

please give the like,

and leave a comment below.

And I know this is not the

only way how to pack a backpack.

So if you think differently

or have got some nice suggestions,

please use the comment section below.

And also if you've got any questions

on maybe special gear

that needs pecking in the backpack

and you want my advice

also use the comment section

and I'm more than happy to answer

everything that you've got to throw at me.

Now,

if this is the first time

that you watched one of my videos

and you liked it,

then subscribe to my channel

and don't forget to hit the

alarm bell.

So, you know, when I uploaded a new video,

because with more subscribers,

I can make more videos.

If you're not totally convinced,

then please continue watching

and I'll put a playlist up there of

my favorite videos,

I'll put some links below in the description on the gear

that I reviewed in the past.

And what is also important,

if you have seen this tutorial,

then also watch the tutorial

that I did together with my wife

on how to fit a backpack

and how to adjust the backpack so that it sits

comfortably on your back.

That's really a good video to watch.

If you want to know more about backpacks in general.

Now, if you continue watching,

enjoy my videos,

and if you're done for today,

then Enjoy the Outdoors and Stay Safe!

Ciao, ciao!

Now it's still not really raining.

So I still got some really great time to be outdoors.

And how do you like my backdrop by the way,

I'm curious.

Please leave me a comment on this,

because this is something that it's on the ground

and I've got permission on to shoot my videos nowadays.

It's a private property

and I really love it here.

Guys, many thanks.