Last-Minute Halloween Costume Idea: How to Dress like a First-Time Backpacker

You don’t have to dress like Cheryl Strayed to get your heavyweight packer look going. Photo: Mr. Gorbachev

Put all that heavyweight gear you have sitting around your garage to use—by dressing like a traditional backpacker for Halloween. Here’s an ultralight costume to wear on your favorite dress-up day.

 1)      Get a heavyweight backpack. Plus points for external frame packs. Fill it up as much as you can. (Unfortunately, all I have left in the “traditional backpack category” is an Osprey daypack—so that’ll have to do)

2)      Attach a big sleeping pad to the bottom. The blue foamys are the best here. If you aren’t sure how to strap it on, it doesn’t matter since neither do most of the people starting on the AT. Be sure to use the heavy duty-est climbing rope or webbing you can find.

Stuff your backpack and stuffsacks with bubble wrap to keep the weight of your costume down

3)      Strap your sleeping bag to the top. Ideally, you’ve got an old Coleman and you’re not using a stuff sack. I took a huge compression sack and stuffed it with bubble wrap (after all, you want to look like your pack weighs a lot but not actually have to trick-or-treat all night with that weight).

4)      Dangle a bunch of stuff off every loop on the pack. Favorites include MSR Fuel bottles (make sure these are empty), bear bells, a giant First Aid Kit., and a GPS with no batteries. Though it would be humorous, I advise against hanging crampons off the back.

5) Stuff extra pockets with canned food, 16 oz bottles of sunscreen and bug spray, and of course, the Nalgene bottle. Extra points if the bug spray is still in its original packaging. If you have tent poles, stuff these in the side pockets.

Side view of the finished pack

The dress: It’s very important people know that you’re a backpacker and not a hobo. This is how you differentiate yourself.

1)      Wear the most expensive looking jacket you can. Best if it is still has the original tags with the prices attached. Or a ski lift ticket. Anything Gore-Tex or NorthFace is a plus for this costume.

2)      Sunglasses. The more bro-ly looking, the better.

3)      Big boots. As with the jacket, the more you paid for it, the better it will be for this costume. Plus points if you’ve got the plastic mountaineering type.

4)      Flannel. Every woodsman wears it. In the absence of flannel, a plaid shirt (cotton, of course) will work fine.

I’m torn about whether this costume should include LOTS of maps and a very visible compass, or nothing at all. On the one hand, a first-time backpacker probably should have those things. On the other hand, they rarely do. I’ll let you make the judgment call here.

Finish it off with a wooden walking stick.

Backview of the final costume