Where to start?

[specialagentsteve]

So forgive me if there is a thread for this somewhere else but me and the fiance are wanting to get into some hiking trips that are a few days long and involve so camping out. Were not really sure where to start here in terms of Gear as well as locations. 

Location wise we live in Midwest Illinois which I know is pretty flat but were willing to travel to our surrounding states. So any suggestions of places would be fantastic.

Gear is another story completely. The thing with getting into a new hobby is brands, you never know whats good and whats not, whats needed and whats not. For simplicity sake lets say I have nothing (most of my camping stuff is to heavy and big for this type of thing). Which Hammock brands are good? what do you guys do for food? what are some must haves for hiking?

[Outdoorsmom76]

When I was first starting out, I found outdoor clubs to be super helpful.  Here in Indiana,  the Central Indiana Wilderness club offers a free backpacking class paired with an overnight trip. The best part of doing your first trip with a club is, you don't need to buy a lot of gear. Perhaps you can check around your local area or try meetup.com for clubs or group outings.  You'll be able to see what others use and get hands on experience with different types of gear. Also, rei is the hands-down best place to buy gear. The website is awesome and if there's a store near you, the sales people are the best. (Do not go to the big box stores for gear). 

As far as location goes, I've found this to be a well guarded secret in the community.  In Indiana,  there are 2 long distance trails: the Tecumseh and the Knobstone.  This month's backpacker mag highlighted another hoosier favorite,  the Deam Wilderness for backcountry camping.  

[KYhiker40]

Shawnee National Forest in Illinois is an awesome backpacking area!  No reason at all to leave the State of Illinois until you've spent a lot of time in that area.  I'm in Kentucky and we have some awesome areas here as well, but I've still made 3 trips to Shawnee.  Well worth it.

On 6/3/2016 at 0:00 AM, Outdoorsmom76 said:

 This month's backpacker mag highlighted another hoosier favorite,  the Deam Wilderness for backcountry camping.  

I just did the Peninsula Trail at Deam 2 weekends ago.  An excellent hike, especially if you enjoy fishing.  We hiked in 5 miles, camped overnight, then had some amazing fishing off the shore the next morning.  It was a great time. 

Edited June 17, 2016 by KYhiker40

[Outdoorsmom76]

I was at the Deam about a month ago. The peninsula trail is a good one. I enjoyed camping on the lake and watching the sunset. My photos are almost exactly the same as @KYhiker40 lol!

[Aaron Zagrodnick]

Went on an early spring trip to the Deam Wilderness years ago also, made for a nice weekend backpacking trip without a lot of driving if you're close to the area. 

[wspscott]

Are you thinking of backpacking or car camping when you say "camping out"?

There are a ton of hammock campers at hammockforums.net that can help you get started. Many there are fans of so-called "cottage vendors" or people making stuff in small operations vs. the large companies like Eno that sell through places like REI. You can usually find a better deal on better hammock stuff if you avoid the "big" names and stick with the cottage vendors. I have stuff from http://www.arrowhead-equipment.com and from http://www.dutchwaregear.com

Before you buy a backpack, buy your other stuff (hammock and tarp, sleeping bag,...) then you can buy a bag that will hold everything. Don't buy too much "neat stuff" in the beginning and especially stay away from gear that Backpacker magazine recommends.