Dan Becker On The Live Ultralight Podcast
Tayson:
Hey. What's up, everybody. Welcome back to the Live Ultralight Podcast. Today, we have a not-so-special guest by the name of Daniel Bartolomew Becker on the podcast. No, Dan is a dear friend of mine. We actually got to backpack a few times. And we have him in our studio here in Utah. We convinced him to leave Wisconsin for a moment.
Dan:
Yeah, gladly. I mean, I love Wisconsin, but you guys don't know what you've got out here. It's so awesome.
Tayson:
Nothing special.
Dan:
Whatever. Okay. Yeah.
Tayson:
For those of you that don't know Dan, he runs a YouTube channel that is highly successful. Crossed 100,000 subs sometime this year.
Dan:
Yeah.
Tayson:
And he's killing it. He's killing it. He's got some awesome content. Personally, I mean, just what I appreciate from Dan is he's super authentic. He tells how it is and is super relatable. And you're comical. I mean, you're good on camera, I should say.
Dan:
Okay. Wow.
Tayson:
But yeah.
Dan:
Highly flattered here.
Tayson:
If you haven't seen Dan's channel, which I'd be highly surprised if you haven't, you could go check it out. But what did I miss? Who's Dan Becker?
Dan:
Oh, man. Supermodel, body builder...
Tayson:
The makeup team did just leave the building.
Dan:
Yeah. No, far from it.
Tayson:
Yeah. I'm curious in a lot of things, but I want to dig a little bit deeper. I'm sure people when they go to YouTube, they get a good idea of who Dan is. I mean, you don't hide anything. But we've had some conversations on trail and over food and whatnot that I enjoyed. And I feel like people have no idea.
Dan:
Oh, the deep dark secrets around the campfire, those conversations?
Tayson:
Yeah. You can tap out at any moment.
Dan:
Oh, man.
Tayson:
You just let me know. But tell me for a second about how you got started on YouTube, your first video.
Dan:
Oh man. Okay. So that was my first official attempt at an actual YouTube video. I had filmed a backpacking trip video, just fun video just to put it on for me, nothing special. But my actual video is it was November of 2018, I just learned something about backpacking and wanted to see if I could find something online more about it. Couldn't find anything and I thought, I wonder if anybody else would want to know how to do this. So I made a video, put it online, and came back a day later and saw that people actually watched it. It's like, wow.
Tayson:
You said people like five, six?
Dan:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, one, two, five, six, not many.
Tayson:
Okay.
Dan:
I just couldn't believe that anybody clicked on the video. My goal wasn't to start a YouTube channel. I'd never intended to start a YouTube channel, ever. It wasn't like, hey, I'm going to be a YouTuber. It's just I started posting videos. And I have highly addictive personality, in a good way. But yeah, then I just started posting more videos. I got addicted. I was just like, let's post another one and see what happens. And then that was it.
Tayson:
Video two is what?
Dan:
Golly, man, I don't remember. Now you're pulling out the archives here.
Tayson:
Got to get the cobwebs off of-
Dan:
Yeah, man. It was probably something like total click bait, I don't know, top five best backpacks of all time or something, and I probably only used two at that time.
Tayson:
Because your background is not grown up backpacking.
Dan:
No, no. I never even camped until I met my wife. I'm from Wisconsin, there's outdoors obviously in Wisconsin but not like here. So yeah, we just camped like car camped. And then probably back in 2014 or '15 or so, a couple guys and myself just decided we wanted to go backcountry camping. And we did that. And I knew nothing. I didn't know what I was doing. I literally took a school backpack, like a laptop bag, and packed as much stuff on it as I could, literally strapped a sleeping bag on the outside of it. We hiked in maybe a mile, set up camp, and then I was hooked, absolutely hooked.
Tayson:
Really?
Dan:
Yeah, then I was all over YouTube.
Tayson:
Did you have the worst night sleep ever or anything or?
Dan:
Oh yeah, it was horrible. I tried hammock camping.
Tayson:
Oh, okay.
Dan:
Yup. So I did a little research.
Tayson:
Do you have a coil or pad in the-
Dan:
I had a pad. I had one of those Therm-a-Rest like the Z Lite, but it was like the one from Walmart. It was like 20 bucks. It folds out inside the hammock.
Tayson:
So did you lay on it or did it lay on you?
Dan:
It didn't even help. Nothing helped. It was horrible. I had some cheap Chinese hammock and bought a tarp off Amazon for 20 bucks, barely covered. And it rained that night, which I stayed covered.
Tayson:
Okay.
Dan:
Yeah. Anyway, that was my first.
Tayson:
Yeah. But somehow you liked it?
Dan:
Yeah. Oh man, I loved it. I don't know. I just was absolutely addicted to the whole thing. Then I went on YouTube and just researching like crazy.
Tayson:
What was it? What made you want to go back?
Dan:
I don't know.
Tayson:
Bad sleep, bad gears, it sounds like.
Dan:
I think I realized like this is camp, this is the camping that I've always wanted to do, I just didn't know I wanted to do it. I've car camped but it's like 20 feet away there's somebody else camping right next to you. So there, there's nobody. And then you can experience things that you could get out into the outdoors and go places that nobody else will ever get to unless they do this, unless they hike to it.
Tayson:
Right. There's a gate. There's just an inherent gate anytime you put a backpack on and go somewhere and it separates.
Dan:
Oh, totally.
Tayson:
That's cool. No, that's pretty interesting. So then from there, you just started backpacking like crazy anytime you weren't selling insurance, right?
Dan:
Yeah. Yup. So I sold insurance. Yup, yeah. I would love to say I did it like crazy. I did it as much as my wife would let me, because I came back and she's like, "Wait, you want to do this again? Okay."
Tayson:
Yeah, like you want to leave me with our kids again alone?
Dan:
Yeah. I want to go in a couple weeks, honey. Is that okay? I don't know. Maybe every other weekend, how's that going to work? No, it didn't work too well. And then I couldn't find anybody to backpack. So backpacking by me, it wasn't really a thing. I mean, people did it but you had to find people to actually go with you.
Tayson:
Did you go solo ever?
Dan:
No, I'm not a solo guy. I don't ever want to go solo. I don't have a desire to do that. I'm very social person. So I'd much rather hang out with people. But yeah, no, I started buying gear because I would go on YouTube and try to figure out what it was. And then I'd tell people, "Hey, do you want to go do this with me?" And they all thought I was insane. They're like, "What? You want to do what?" And then they would tell me, "Well, I don't have anything to go with. I don't have any gear." So that was like a big wall.
Tayson:
Yeah.
Dan:
So then I thought, "Oh, I'll just buy more gear." So I doubled my gear.
Tayson:
Okay.
Dan:
And I then I'd ask people. I'm like, "You want to go?" "I don't have any gear." "I got you."
Tayson:
No excuses.
Dan:
Yeah. No more excuses. Hand them a backpack and they'd reluctantly come with me.
Tayson:
Kind of like our trip.
Dan:
Yes, exactly. Oh, exactly like our trip.
Tayson:
For those of you who don't know, you'll have to go subscribe to Dan's channel. And we did a video where he used my personal backpack and my personal gear on a trip. But anyways, yeah, you hand off your own backpack to your friends and say let's go.
Dan:
Yeah.
Tayson:
And you got a few takers?
Dan:
Oh yeah. Yeah. I always got takers. One buddy of mine will still backpack with me to this day. But that's about it.
Tayson:
Burnt through the others?
Dan:
Yeah, burnt through the others. And then I've converted some people over time, a couple years later, then a few more people would come along.
Tayson:
Yeah. I mean, I can relate to that. My wife was the guinea pig in the beginning of my backpacking. And there's a good stint where she just wouldn't backpack with me anymore after just too many bad tests, you could say.
Dan:
Oh, man. Yeah.
Tayson:
So, it's good. It's good that some stuck through, but I'm sure you have a long list of friends, Dan, that you can churn and burn.
Dan:
Yeah. Well, my wife will go.
Tayson:
Yeah.
Dan:
She will go. She's gone a couple times. We RV camped, too. She'd much rather sleep in a nice big comfy bed at night.
Tayson:
So you not only sleep in a tent and used to sleep in a hammock.
Dan:
Yup.
Tayson:
Not much hammock anymore.
Dan:
No, no.
Tayson:
But you also have an RV?
Dan:
I do. Yeah. I go backpacking at least once a month somewhere.
Tayson:
Do you hate for that? I mean, is that like negative to-
Dan:
No, not at all. No. I thought maybe that was going to happen but no. No, I think my crowd is that they're just the average guy. They're the weekend warrior and a lot of those people do that.
Tayson:
Yeah.
Dan:
Yeah.
Tayson:
Yeah, I think I was talking to Peak Refuel and they talked about how they've got this concept of everyone meets at the watering hole like hunters, fishers, backpackers, whatever it is, they all meet at the watering hole. And I feel that's a culture we... Not talk about a lot because everyone in the office has different hobbies within the outdoors that we all participate in besides just backpacking.
Dan:
Right.
Tayson:
So, no, I think that's cool. We have a camp trailer and we go out as well with my family, especially with the young kids. That was the deal breakers when it was like we need a camper to get my wife and kids out there because it's just so difficult with little kids sometimes.
Dan:
Yeah, yeah.
Tayson:
Yeah, no, that's awesome.
Dan:
I think the overall experience is what you're going after anyway. I mean, it doesn't matter if you're backpacking your RV. I mean, just get outside and do something.
Tayson:
Yeah. So we touched on this for a second, but before YouTube, what were you doing?
Dan:
So I sold insurance. I was an account manager for an insurance company for 10 years. And then in 2018 started my own agency, and then in 2019 went full-time YouTube-ish. Still kept my agency but YouTube was taken off to the point where I could just hold onto it, the agency. And then in 2020... Was it 2020? I don't know. It's been like a year and a half I've been nothing but YouTube. I sold the agency. Yeah.
Tayson:
What was that like to step off that ledge?
Dan:
You have that conversation with your wife. Yeah. Try it. Just try it, just try it. "Hey, honey. I'm selling my career and I'm going to be a YouTuber." Yeah. It was an interesting conversation. But she's got a lot of faith and she's a wonderful woman. I will say that, so.
Tayson:
And you guys met through church, right?
Dan:
Yeah.
Tayson:
You were a counselor?
Dan:
Yeah, yup. yup, I was a youth leader at the youth ministry. Yeah, we met there. Yeah.
Tayson:
Yeah. And I felt like that was a really interesting part I feel like for me to learn about you was just that before insurance, before YouTube and everything, you were just really active in church. I mean, that was your occupation, obviously, right?
Dan:
Yeah, yeah. I was a pastor at a church for nine years. Oh, by the way, that sounded like I dated some youth girl. No, I did not. Okay. She was an adult. Oh man, that came out weird. Okay, yeah. Yeah. Then I was a youth pastor for eight years, nine years, something like that.
Tayson:
I feel like you would excel at that, just being able to connect with kids and just have a good time.
Dan:
Yeah, it was a fun time for sure. Yeah. Yeah. If anybody out there is in ministry, you do experience burnout to a degree. So that's where that led to.
Tayson:
Yeah, for sure. I mean, varieties, the spice of life, right?
Dan:
Yeah. Yeah.
Tayson:
But no, I think that's just a really interesting part to get to know your backstory because, again, there's faces out there, who knows, maybe people see me out there and have no idea or don't feel they know who I am but you get to learn some of that background and it's just like, man, I feel now I know how hard of a worker Dan is. Selling insurance is no easy task. And you see some of the ethics and morals that have been built into you from just other stages of life. It's cool to see you're just your guy. You're guy that is a good guy and just out here doing your thing on YouTube and doing your thing outside.
Dan:
Yeah. I'm probably not normal. Yeah, whatever.
Tayson:
You're cut above the rest. You're cut above the rest.
Dan:
I've got problems.
Tayson:
But you are normal.
Dan:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I hear you. Yeah.
Tayson:
Which I think is super cool. All right. So let's fast forward back again to getting into backpacking. So where are you learning how to backpack if you are the one bringing guys in to the picture?
Dan:
Oh my gosh. That's such a great question.
Tayson:
You picking up books or are you just-
Dan:
No, oh my gosh.
Tayson:
... just quizzing people or you-
Dan:
Yeah, I quiz people. I do that. I do, do that. So experience getting out and actually doing it, learning things on my own was experience is the greatest teacher for sure. But then you're never going to get better at something unless you hang out with people that do it better than you. And there's no better way to backpack, but there's people that have done it longer and have more experience than you. So I try to get around people like that as much as I can and learn from them.
Tayson:
How do you describe that to someone, that experience factor like you can study, you can watch videos, read, talk to people, and you can feel like you're pretty dang knowledgeable, right?
Dan:
Yeah.
Tayson:
And then it seems like every time you're out on the trail, you find something or you learn in different way, how do you describe that?
Dan:
Totally. I mean, I literally had that moment happen to me just a few months ago. I was backpacking with a guy named Eric Hansen who has a backpacking channel on YouTube, great channel, backpacking TV. And we were out there and I'm just asking him questions and where he came from him and all that stuff. And I'm thinking like I'm going to teach this guy so much about backpacking and he's like, "Oh yeah, I used to be a guide." I was like, "Oh, okay, used to be a guide. Really, what'd you do?" "Well, I used to backpack... I did 200 nights a year on trail." I was like, "I quit. I'm done." I was an instant sponge at that point soaking up as much information as I possibly could.
Tayson:
Right, right.
Dan:
And what was funny, though, is after the trip, we talked about that and he was like, "Yeah, I felt the same way." I was like, "Really? Me?" I'm just like the average guy just learning as I'm doing this. And he's like, "No man, you know everything there is to know about gear." He's not a gear guy. So he was looking at all my gear and trying to figure out how he could do things differently and more efficiently and how I would set things up. And I'm just thinking, "Wow, I had no idea." So I think it's just like kind of comes full circle in a way with people and getting around people. But getting around people like that, that was so beneficial.
Tayson:
Yeah. Yeah. No, it is interesting. There's two sides to it. And we preach that a lot here that after vitals, at least, we can't just sell gear because that's only half the equation. The other half is the knowledge and stuff to accompany it. I know a lot of people that probably have thousands of dollars worth of our gear and still don't backpack. And I know a lot of people that have the worst gear in the world and are out their backpacking. So it's combining those two that I think the magic is in. So tell me about a worst case scenario experience and how you grew on trail from that.
Dan:
What did I experience that was really terrifying?
Tayson:
Yeah. I think what makes guys like Eric Hansen know so much is every time you get out of your comfort zone, push past something, something unexpected happens or whatever, that's when you grow in life, right?
Dan:
Oh yeah, totally.
Tayson:
When times get rough, all of a sudden you realize, holy cow, I came out of that stronger from it.
Dan:
Yeah.
Tayson:
So tell me about something that where you took all this gear knowledge that you have and you took it and you're on the trail and you're like, boom, that's where I leveled up?
Dan:
Oh yeah, totally. I mean, many times. I mean, I used to be claustrophobic even in tents, hammocks, tents, everything. Yeah. I remember vividly being in a three-person tent waking up at 2:00 with high anxiety like I have to get out of this coffin now.
Tayson:
Wow. Wow.
Dan:
And just repetition, constantly doing it over and over forcing myself to sleep through the night, I eventually became like... Was it last night? No, two nights ago, me and you were on trail and I was in a one-person trekking pole tent.
Tayson:
On a slope.
Dan:
Yeah, on a slope. Yeah. And I thought about that at night, actually it fits in there. I was in the Smoky Mountains recently and made a rookie mistake, trusted my backpack too much. I thought it was going to be keeping my gear dry. I need a pack and ended up soak wet out because we were in probably 15 hours straight of 30-degree rain and it was miserable. And I had all my gear just completely... I had to pack out. I had to pack out. I hiked out five miles in the dark.
Tayson:
Well, when you say wet, when you pulled out say you're-
Dan:
Soaking wet. It was says if you took a bucket of water and dumped it in my backpack. That's how wet it got.
Tayson:
Okay. You're in a sleeping bag, I assume. When you pulled that out, was it-
Dan:
Soaked.
Tayson:
Was the inside the insulation soaked as well?
Dan:
Oh yeah, totally. I could ring it out. I could literally ring it out. Yup, everything.
Tayson:
No loft really at all?
Dan:
There was probably a little loft in some areas. But what happened was is it had rained so much and the temp was at this time I was sitting in my tent, it was probably maybe 33 degrees Fahrenheit.
Tayson:
Just almost-
Dan:
And it was supposed to dip another 10 degrees. And I was not going to take a chance. I was five miles from the truck. And it's dark. It's middle of December so it was like probably 7:00 at night, pitch black.
Tayson:
Yeah.
Dan:
And I can either just sit here and prove everybody how manly I am and make through the night and risk hypothermia. So I'm like, I'm not doing this. There's no way. I packed up and just hiked out and got to a hotel. It was a horrible hike out. It was miserable, because it was raining the entire time.
Tayson:
Right. And you're in the dark headlamp on.
Dan:
Yeah, headlamp. Fog, through the clouds, because we're up probably about 6,000 feet. It was really foggy. I can only see maybe 20 feet in front of me. Pouring rain. The trail turned into a river because that's where the water goes. Least resistance.
Tayson:
Yeah, yeah.
Dan:
So that was awesome. But anyway, rookie mistake, I hadn't used a pack liner.
Tayson:
Yeah.
Dan:
Big mistake.
Tayson:
Well, right, but your fabric was waterproof but the seams weren't or something.
Dan:
Right. Yeah. Yeah, everything had been taped except for by the-
Tayson:
Oh, it was taped inside?
Dan:
Yeah. It's all taped.
Tayson:
Wow.
Dan:
Yup, all except for where the straps, the shoulder straps meet up at the top. And so when I called the company to ask them what could have possibly happened to have that happen, that's when we figured out that it must have gotten in there. But it was raining. It was hard raining.
Tayson:
Yeah. One seam could let that much water in.
Dan:
Yeah.
Tayson:
Wow. That's impressive. Well, I've had frostbite twice and it's not an experience you need to have.
Dan:
Yeah, I'm good.
Tayson:
Hiking out was probably a wise choice in that scenario for sure. So what do you take away from something like that? What do you take away and then why do you go back out again?
Dan:
Man, exactly, why do you go back out? Why would you ever do that?
Tayson:
Because you went out the next day, if I remember.
Dan:
I did. Yeah. I woke up that next morning and just hike right back out.
Tayson:
Yeah.
Dan:
And most of my gear was still wet.
Tayson:
Yeah, right.
Dan:
I tried to dry it out as much as I could in the hotel room, which it did a lot, it did. Actually, it actually dried out. I was really surprised. But anyway, yeah, no, I don't know. Because that's the worst case scenario, that rarely had happens, that kind of stuff when you're out there, I find. And if the weather's bad, it sucks. But once you've done it enough, I don't know how to explain it, I just don't think about it anymore. I don't think about being miserable. I don't think about being cold. I'm just excited to be out there. So if it's pouring rain and it's icy, I was just in the Beartooth Mountains in Montana and hiking through there and it was probably in the high 30s but it rained quite a bit. And one of the guys I was with, it was only his second or third time backpacking, he was like, "We got to tap out." I'm like, "Dude, we're 10 miles in. We're not tapping out."
Tayson:
Yeah.
Dan:
It was late at night. There's no way. And yeah, no, I don't know. I don't know how to explain it. You just do it. And then next day is going to be great, usually is. You're glad you stuck through it and now you've got an experience that you can learn from.
Tayson:
Yeah. So have you ever heard type one, type two, type three fun?
Dan:
Oh, totally.
Tayson:
Yeah.
Dan:
Yeah, that's definitely type two, type three fun for sure. Yeah, it's definitely not fun but, I don't know. Nobody goes backpacking to suffer. But you suffer through backpacking to experience the amazing things that are out there.
Tayson:
Right. Yeah. And usually, you suffer one scenario once, hopefully, if you're smart. Usually for me, it's four or five times.
Dan:
Yeah.
Tayson:
And then you learn how to make it better for the next.
Dan:
Exactly. Totally.
Tayson:
Yeah. I can relate to that. What does it take for you to come back from a trail and be like, that was a successful trip? I accomplished or I got out of it what I hoped all along.
Dan:
So for me, I mean, I love being in a place where I can say even to myself, I would never experience this unless I took the brutal hike out here to set up camp and be here, whatever this place is. But I also love the camaraderie with my friends and just being out there and sharing that experience. And if I can have that memory of the place I'm at, the experience with my friends and just the escape from just life in general and just all the things and just share that, that to me is a successful trip, I feel like.
Tayson:
Yeah. Is it that disconnect from technology or communication or-
Dan:
Yeah, I think so. Because I think just as people, we get so caught up in just the routine of life. And out there, it's so far from the routine of life. If you do it enough, it's a routine, but every place you go is always different.
Tayson:
Yeah. When we were just doing you in a high line, it's funny, you get into that groove of there's... It's just so simple. You get up, you hike, you eat, you hike, you eat, you hike, you sleep, and you just go through this routine and you're like, man, life gets way more simple when all you have to do is walk and eat.
Dan:
Right.
Tayson:
And there's not everything else that usually hits you. And it's not quite that simple but it is at some points. And there's something really beautiful, I would say, about being that simple for a minute.
Dan:
Yeah, totally.
Tayson:
Having just your essentials, just your gear on your back and that's it.
Dan:
And I know that there's people out there that, for instance, I did a poll on my channel recently and I just wanted to know who my audience was. And I found out that 17% of my audience had never even backpacked before. I'm like, you're watching a backpacking channel and you've never backpacked. This is a gear channel. I feel people, they see this place, and I think that that's that pinnacle, that place of serenity or whatever people painted as when you get to camp or the hike or just being out in the mountains or the meadows or wherever you're at. And I feel like people just long for that escape from whatever they're doing. And so I don't know. That was really deep. That was a little too deep.
Tayson:
No, that's the beauty of it. It's so hard to put words to it. It's so hard to put to it but I believe in this, I don't know if it's a quote or a mantra or something but as long as you understand the why, you can endure any what. So if you want something bad enough, you'll do whatever it takes to get it, would be another way to say it, or so on, so forth. And so to me, I have such a strong belief and desire and pull to go and do these things that there really wouldn't be any what that could stop me from getting out there.
Dan:
Right, right.
Tayson:
And then you've got this percentage, I'm sure, that are maybe even listening to this podcast or following us on YouTube as well that aren't getting there. And to me, you got to help them paint that picture. So they do the hard things.
Dan:
Yeah.
Tayson:
Whether it's acquiring gear, finding someone to go with, planning a trail, there's absolute obstacles to getting out of doing this.
Dan:
Totally.
Tayson:
But if they want it bad enough, just like you wanted it bad enough, you'll buy two sets of gear and bring your friends, right?
Dan:
Oh, man. Yeah. It's so hard to explain to somebody who doesn't even car camp. You just say to somebody, I've got people back home through just life and you just say, "Hey, we're going to go camping this weekend." They're like "Really. Do you enjoy living homeless for the weekend?" And you're like, "Oh man, you got to come with me and just see."
Tayson:
Right.
Dan:
Yeah.
Tayson:
Yup, I did. I'm sorry. See you later.
Dan:
Yeah. You go ahead and stay here and have fun.
Tayson:
Yeah. So if I was to ask you what's been your favorite trip, what comes to mind? I mean, might be recent or whatever, just what comes to mind first thing.
Dan:
Man, favorite trip. That is such a great question. I've had so many good trips. Oh, man.
Tayson:
First thing. You're not going to name your best ever but just-
Dan:
Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho. And it was epic from the location. If anybody's never been to the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho, you got to go there. Beautiful place. I went with just great guys and we just had such a good time. I could have been in the middle of a parking lot camping and we would've had a great time now. Yeah. That was a good one. Beartooth Mountains, that was probably the most epic place I've been to in the US so far. I have not backpacked outside of the US. I cannot wait for that to happen.
Tayson:
Yeah.
Dan:
Super stoked to do that. Oh, Maui I did some hiking. I didn't do any overnight camping, but Maui, oh, that was great.
Tayson:
I've talked my wife out of Hawaii for a long time and I'm always like, we can just go to Mexico and get same experience for half price or something. And then recently I was watching a channel that I like. And I was actually in the past, something came up and he was doing some running, some fast packing and stuff in Hawaii and I'm like, whoa, whoa, I didn't know that.
Dan:
It's crazy.
Tayson:
I didn't know.
Dan:
It's another world, man. You got bamboo forests and remote waterfalls that you can just dive in and it's beautiful.
Tayson:
Yup. Yeah. It's on my list. It's on everyone's list right now. So therefore it's probably not on my list for the near future, just because there's such a wave of Hawaii goers right now. But I've since decided it's worth my time to go to Hawaii.
Dan:
Totally worth it. Yeah.
Tayson:
I'll have to make that happen for some R and D or something.
Dan:
Yeah.
Tayson:
So man, there's a lot of options I feel like to go, because there's still so much that's inside Dan's head.
Dan:
You don't want to peek in there.
Tayson:
Yeah. Well...
Dan:
It's a pretty scary place.
Tayson:
I'll let you filter it and whatnot. Holy cow, I feel like we can talk about the gear side of all the stuff you've learned about gear. Why don't you take us through a little bit of your journey with the word ultralight?
Dan:
Oh boy, here we go.
Tayson:
Yeah.
Dan:
Here we go.
Tayson:
That came out of nowhere.
Dan:
Yeah. So, okay, just super fast. When I started backpacking, somehow on YouTube I got fed by YouTube ultralight backpacking stuff, videos.
Tayson:
You mean like the extreme?
Dan:
Yeah, super extreme stuff. Just anything to, yeah, just you got to have your base weight below 10 pounds or you don't know what you're doing. And so, yeah, my goal in life was to do that. And, I mean, I could get my base weight closer to seven pounds if I wanted to with all the stuff that I have now. And yeah, I just remember getting out there and thinking, why am I doing this? Because I wasn't through-hiking, I had no desire to through-hike. My goal wasn't to get as many miles in, in a day. I could care less about miles. I was there to have the experience. So whether I hiked 5 miles or 20 miles in a day or more, whatever, it didn't matter to me. I could care less about that. I just don't like being bored during the day. So that's where the hike comes in. And I like slow, I like fast, whatever, it doesn't matter.
Tayson:
Because you're only hiking to not be bored.
Dan:
Yeah.
Tayson:
Pretty much from people.
Dan:
I have my brain and my mind literally has a thousand topics on it at any given moment. Yeah.
Tayson:
I think most people that go out there and create something have an element of ADD. I'm sure I've got-
Dan:
Oh, man.
Tayson:
I claim it. My wife-
Dan:
Sorry. What'd you say? What'd you say? I missed that.
Tayson:
I tell my wife and she's like until you get a test back that says it, I'm like, it's fine. That's fine.
Dan:
So, anyway, yeah. So I'm not that person. So then I just was like I started to be very uncomfortable at night. Don't get me wrong, I have somebody's screaming at-
Tayson:
What's the one piece of gear you look back and you're just like, I can't even believe I tried that, or I used to use that and think it was okay?
Dan:
Oh man, that's such a great... I used a pillow that was as light as a Ziploc bag. I filled it up with a straw.
Tayson:
Yes.
Dan:
So I can't believe I used that. That in a way maybe a quarter of an ounce, I mean, it was ridiculous. Yeah, anyway-
Tayson:
Did you ever sleep on like a phone pad like the Z-Lite?
Dan:
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, the Z-lite.
Tayson:
You did?
Dan:
I slept on a Z-Lite.
Tayson:
You slept on a Z-Lite.
Dan:
Yes, slept on a Z-Lite. Yeah. You have to because if you don't, you don't know what you're doing.
Tayson:
Right.
Dan:
Yeah. And I know there's somebody screaming at their podcast, screaming at me right now like, "What? Yeah, you can be comfortable in the ultralight." Yes, I get it. I know that. I don't care about being ultralight anymore. So I don't even weigh my gear anymore. I know how much my gear weighs individually. So I know how much my sleeping bags are, my backpack is, all the stuff, I know how much it weighs when I buy it. But then when I go to a trip, I don't even think about it. I just slam everything in the backpack that I know.
Dan:
I don't even keep a list anymore. I already know. I don't have to keep a list. I just know I need my backpack, I need my sleep system, I need my water filter, I need my ditty bag, all the stuff that's in there, I pick it up and I go, yup, that's about right. That's about what it normally weighs or whatever. Then I get out the door. And people get frustrated that watch my channel. They're like, how much did your backpack weigh? I probably should have weighed it. I have no idea.
Tayson:
Right.
Dan:
Sorry.
Tayson:
But if you were just to guess here for a second, minus your camera equipment, what do you think your base weight is like? Between 12 and 15 pounds maybe?
Dan:
Yeah, probably 12 to 15 pounds. That's just because I have the luxury of having a lighter weight gear based on my YouTube channel occupation. Yeah. So it's not that was my goal. It's just that I have it.
Tayson:
Right. But let's even say it was 15 pounds and you think about all the stuff that you bring that ultralight I might call a luxury item. You're going to bring a chair. You're going to bring two pillows.
Dan:
Yup. I bring two pillows. I bring a chair for sure.
Tayson:
Yup.
Dan:
And they're not air pillows. They are full like puffy pillows.
Tayson:
Yeah. You've along the way decided that you still prefer sleeping bag.
Dan:
Yup, I do.
Tayson:
So you've got these touch points where you are purposely choosing slightly heavier options for comfort.
Dan:
Absolutely.
Tayson:
And to me, though, that's a great way and I would still totally classify you as someone who is on the spectrum for ultralight, because the pieces of gear you're buying are still ultralight for that category.
Dan:
Absolutely. Yes. Yes.
Tayson:
And you care about the weight.
Dan:
Yup.
Tayson:
But you add in what you need and what you want. And to me, what I typically end up doing a lot of times is I'll try to get to the 10-pound base weight with all my important stuff. And then it's like, all right, I'm there. Now, what do I want to bring on this trip? Do I want a chair this trip or do I want a pair of binoculars, binos as we call them out here?
Dan:
Yeah.
Tayson:
And I usually end up adding in a couple pounds back to my pack for things that would make that trip more enjoyable.
Dan:
Yeah.
Tayson:
And I quite like that system. And it's similar to I think what you do.
Dan:
Yeah. Okay. So yeah, I'll carry 12, 15 pounds easily as a base weight. And then my camera gear is probably another 8 to 12 pounds, depending on what I'm bringing, plus food and water.
Tayson:
You wouldn't take my ultralight tripod?
Dan:
No, not for my camera. I'm not risking my camera there. So I'll carry upwards of 30 pounds easily on a backpacking trip.
Tayson:
So you're in a frameless pack or?
Dan:
No, I have a framed pack. No, I don't know. I never even got into a frameless pack. But I equate it to the person who's looking at backpacking and is scared of it and goes on a first trip. Unless you experience the torment sometimes, like for me, I don't think about the torment anymore like I was saying before, so I just go, I just enjoy it. Now I don't even think about the weight anymore. I'm so used to it that I know I'm capable of getting there with everybody else. And I don't even think, boy, if I didn't bring this chair, I probably could have been more comfortable. I don't really care about that. I'd much rather be comfortable when I get to camp and sit in a freaking chair. Because every time I set up my chair, somebody else wants to sit in it.
Tayson:
I literally packed a chair for you.
Dan:
Yes.
Tayson:
You used it a little bit. And one of the times I put it together and went to hand it to you and I'm like, "I'm going to sit in this chair now." It looks very comfortable. He's not even paying attention. He's looking over there. Yeah, I'm just going to sit it down.
Dan:
Yeah. Yeah.
Tayson:
Yeah, totally. Yeah, I mean, I think there's so much that we get taken away from that because everyone to me... And that's why our motto of live ultralight, it's more of the process. It's an actively living ultralight means for every different scenario and every decision you make, you choose the lighter option. But you're still living. There's choices every day. So I think the only time that I cringe is when I see people that have the 75 packs.
Dan:
Totally.
Tayson:
We can really help you guys but if you're 15-pound base weight, you're doing a great job. And here's something else. How tall are you again?
Dan:
Six two.
Tayson:
Six two. I'm six two.
Dan:
Yup.
Tayson:
Do we fit on normal pads very well?
Dan:
No.
Tayson:
Do we have regular length sleeping bags? Do we have extra small jackets? And so a lot of these guys that are posting videos of seven-pound base weights or whatever, they might be like Derek in our office, his size, where he might be 120-pound soaking wet.
Dan:
Yeah.
Tayson:
And so there's just factors that all weigh in. And so, I agree, don't get so hung up on the weight. Peel back the weight as much as you can. Look at it. Add the items that you want to add because you want and need them. And you're going to be happy with it.
Dan:
I look at it like when I go to a backpack trip, if I didn't use something, that wasn't something like a med kit. You're always going to take a med kit, right?
Tayson:
Right.
Dan:
But if I didn't use something, then I don't bring it the next time. I'm not packing stuff that just because I'm afraid, oh, I might have to use this, what if my lighter doesn't work and I need 12 fire steals or whatever?
Tayson:
Totally. Yeah. You're using every piece.
Dan:
No, no, no. Yeah. I'm using every piece. So to me, it's what I enjoy. If you don't like it, I don't really care.
Tayson:
You never had anyone comment on your chair?
Dan:
Oh, no, never.
Tayson:
Say anything like that.
Dan:
No, that never happens. I don't get trolls. What?
Tayson:
Yeah, no kidding. They don't exist, I don't think, on the internet. But no, I think that's a big part. I think this summer, too, I feel I can go out on a trail. And even if I had a heavier pack, I feel 10 times better from some of the training I've done or preparations.
Dan:
Yup.
Tayson:
So that's just a big factor too. That was the tip I should have hit. Free-
Dan:
Yeah.
Tayson:
So Dan had this video, we put together free ways to...
Dan:
Yeah. Save weight on trail.
Tayson:
Save weight on trail. We said we didn't want to talk about losing weight. But even if you didn't lose weight, if you just trained a little bit, that backpack will feel lighter.
Dan:
Oh, totally. Yup, because this year I lost some weight and absolutely noticed it when I was hiking, for sure.
Tayson:
Yeah. I've got a friend named Carl that will put on a backpack and he'll load it up. He'll put it heavy. Let's say puts 30 or 45 pounds or something in it. He'll go grocery shopping. Yeah. Yeah. He's a totally normal guy.
Dan:
Yeah. Nothing strange about that.
Tayson:
But yeah, he'll go grocery shopping and just wear the pack.
Dan:
Yeah.
Tayson:
And occasionally, security will stop him. But other than that, what it is, is his body will get used to having a load on. And then when he goes and hits the trail, he just feels better and the pack is going to feel lighter. Anyway, if you train at 45 pounds and your pack is 25 pounds, you'll still feel better on the trail.
Dan:
Right. Yeah, totally.
Tayson:
Anyways, that might be getting onto a tangent. But Carl here, you're a stud. I need to be more like you sometimes. Dude, I feel like we've covered a lot here. What the heck are we missing that people don't know about Daniel Bartolomeo?
Dan:
Oh, man. Well, Bartolomeo is not my middle name. No. Man, I don't know. I don't know. Yeah. I'm just a regular guy and do regular things and just happen to love backpacking. So, if you like that stuff too then, yeah.
Tayson:
What can people expect if they were to go follow you or what can people expect in the next year of Dan Becker? What's next?
Dan:
Oh, next year, oh my gosh. I have no idea. I don't even know what I do next week in life. But yeah, no, my focus on people and my channel and my audience is I want the average person to be able to get out there and do this. I don't want them to feel like they have to look at some oats and honey-looking dude.
Tayson:
Oats and honey.
Dan:
The guy that lives in his van his whole life. And if you live in your van, I'm not making fun of you. But that's typically what people think of when they're thinking of backpackers, the vagabonds and all that stuff. And I just want everybody to realize that this is totally a normal thing to do.
Tayson:
Normal thing.
Dan:
Yeah, I want the average guy be able to get out. I'm an average guy. I'm a weekend guy. I like just going out and having fun and getting on the back country.
Tayson:
If you hang up YouTube in 20 years from now, what do you hope you accomplished?
Dan:
I hope that I got people out to experience things that they never thought they could experience before.
Tayson:
Yeah.
Dan:
That's what I hope for sure.
Tayson:
Yeah. No, I resonate with that a lot. Okay. Been going about an hour here and I feel hopefully I've pulled some things out that maybe people didn't know about you before.
Dan:
Deep dark stuff.
Tayson:
Yeah. Couple fast questions, I guess. If you've got a person who's got terrible gear, first thing you tell him to change?
Dan:
First thing I tell him to change probably would have to be, oh my gosh, why'd you do that, shelter.
Tayson:
Change of shelter.
Dan:
Yeah. Yup. Change of shelter, that'd be first.
Tayson:
You were out here doing a little bit of testing of gear, favorite piece of gear?
Dan:
Favorite piece, the jacket. The jacket that I just tried out was...
Tayson:
Oh, really?
Dan:
Oh my gosh, it was so good. Oh, other than the Ventus hoodie.
Tayson:
Okay. Ventus or-
Dan:
That's been a favorite for a long time.
Tayson:
He was testing a jacket, the NovaPro. We've got a couple jackets that'll come be coming out and you got some-
Dan:
That was super good.
Tayson:
Yeah. Okay. And the Ventus. Okay. Which also, you were here when the Ventus arrived at the warehouse.
Dan:
Yeah, that was a lot of boxes.
Tayson:
Yeah. They're receiving it right now.
Dan:
I'm really tired of hauling them in the warehouse that you made me do.
Tayson:
Yeah, you had to unload the container.
Dan:
Yeah.
Tayson:
First tip that you would give to someone who's never backpacked before.
Dan:
Don't pack your fears.
Tayson:
Okay.
Dan:
Yup. Don't put things in your backpack just because you're afraid and you think you're going to use it. Only put stuff in there that you know you're going to use.
Tayson:
Okay. Bucket list hike, just one that's on a pedestal for you.
Dan:
Maybe in Canada, Patagonia.
Tayson:
Okay.
Dan:
Okay. Sorry, I go on forever. But yes, those two probably.
Tayson:
And your third most-
Dan:
Oh, Enchantments in Washington. If anybody lives in the Enchantments, please take me there.
Tayson:
Okay. That might be it. I mean, how many people ask you for YouTube advice?
Dan:
Oh, it used to be a lot, but yeah.
Tayson:
Filtered it?
Dan:
Yeah. I got a good filter in place, but it was almost every other day.
Tayson:
Yeah.
Dan:
Somebody was asking me something. Okay. I actually put a pay wall up at one point, through Patreon.
Tayson:
Yeah, it's a good way. At the end of the day, you've got over 100,000 subscribers. You can't quite have conversation to every single one of them.
Dan:
I wish I could though.
Tayson:
Yeah. I believe you. You would if you could.
Dan:
I would.
Tayson:
Yeah. Okay. So where do people go? Just go visit Dan Becker or are there other places? You have a book you're writing or things like that?
Dan:
Oh, you shouldn't read it if I do write it, it would be terrible. But yeah, no, just type Dan Becker. I wish I was a Tan Becker.
Tayson:
Ban Becker.
Dan:
Oh, maybe after yesterday I got sunburn. Yeah, no, Dan Becker on YouTube, just type it in, I'll pop up. There you go. Find me there. Yeah. I got an Instagram but I don't really do much there.
Tayson:
Yeah.
Dan:
Sometimes.
Tayson:
Sometimes.
Dan:
Yeah.
Tayson:
Okay. All right. Dan, really appreciate it. We'll go ahead and close out the podcast. If you found some value in this, make sure you share it with some friends. Make sure you subscribed. And if you haven't yet, make sure to review the podcast. And with that, we'll see you on the next podcast.
Dan:
Peace.
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