Backpacker Magazine 2005 Gear Guide

[weatherman]

I wonder

how much a 50-page magazine every month with minimal advertising but good writing, that talked about the type of stuff we do (walk on mountains with or without lots of gear) would cost per year, with a circulation that's likely to be smaller? I bet about $100/yr. Just a guess that it's a vicious cycle: magazines run expensive ads to cut down on price and pay for good articles, and therefore boost readership; people who read magazines with expensive ads tend to be the types who actually buy lots of that stuff; feedback from them tends to be the type of feedback that encourages articles about "extreme anything"; circulation goes up; magazine editors see that; and more of the same ensues. Any ideas about how to disrupt that cycle welcome.

How does Appalachia survive? Subsidies?
Weatherman

 

[Holdstrong]

I haven't seen the new format - but the old format was just about useless to me. Without any reviews or commentary - all it amounted to was a list of manufactured goods for that year. Like looking at a database of gear with pictures. Fun if I wanted to see which backpack weighed the most that year, or what colors were "in" - not fun if I wanted to know which one was designed well, or good for a specific activity, etc etc

I'll have to check out the new format.

 

[Jon Dorn]

Backpacker replies

Thanks to rhihn for posting my earlier reply a few entries ago. I really meant what I said: Backpacker does a huge amount of customer research in an effort to satisfy its readers needs, and I personally listen in on forums like this all over the country to get the feedback I need and make a better magazine. While I didn't hear from anyone here after my last note, I invite you again to write to me at [email protected]. (Of course, constructive suggestions are better than complaints!) And I invite all of you to join our reader panel; it's a group of 1400 readers who complete a monthly survey rating the magazine and new story ideas.

Regarding specific issues that came up in this thread...

1. Too many ads: As an editor, I couldn't agree more . Unfortunately, that's the business. Like television, radio, and the internet, magazines would cease to exist without advertising revenue. We've tested the concept of fewer ad pages and a more expensive subscription price, and readers say they don't want it.

2. The gear reviews are biased towards advertisers: I vehemently deny this one. My staff rarely knows what advertisers will or won't be in the issue until after it's printed, and they know I'd fire anyone who wrote a slanted review. If you take a close look, you'll see that we review advertisers and non-advertisers, and give awards to both, and always have. For anyone to suggest a bias betrays a lack of knowledge about how we do business and a careless disregard for the integrity of my staff.

3. The gear reviews are all positive: Well, sorta. We offer plenty of criticism, but we've decided not to waste space on gear that we can't recommend. There's just too much good stuff out there that our readers ought to know about. Our goal is to match the right product with the right hiker, which is why we do tough but generally positive reviews that spend a lot of time talking about fit, sizing, price, and weight.

4. The Gear Guide sucks: Well, that's constructive. Here's a few pertinent facts...Last year's Gear Guide, which has essentially the same format, was our best-selling issue in 4 years, so we're doing something right. And this year's Gear Guide has more pages, more product reviews, more complete product charts, and more photographs. Is it perfect, no? But rants won't help me make it better. Instead, tell me what you want from next year's.

5. The flow charts dumb down the Gear Guide: Funny, but the flow chart idea came from a reader last year who said we needed to make gear information more accessible for hikers who are new to the sport or don't have the extensive gear expertise of readers like the VFTT crew. I'm sure you all can remember a time when choosing the right gear seemed really intimidating. We're just trying to help that guy who really wants to get into the outdoors, but isn't a hardcore consumer of product specs yet.

That's all...hope it helps.
Jon

 

[Puck]

That's all...hope it helps.
Jon

Whom does it help?

I think you may need to do a market survey of this board. I posted earlier that many on VFTT have the knowledge and expereience in the ourdoors to launch a rival magazine. I will go out on a limb and guess that most here do not get Backpacker as it is not targeting thier experience level.

Don't get me wrong Backpacker is a good publication for entry and intermediate level hikers as well as people trying to keep up on the latest gear.

 

[spaddock]

I'm on board as soon as something better comes along.

The only outdoors magazine I read and subscribe to is "Explore". It's Canadian and so is a lot of the content. They review gear every year and they include MEC gear in the reviews.

Other than that I surf the web for info.


-Shayne

 

[teloshykr]

backpacker ragazine

I read about half of the posts on this topic and agreed with every one. I lost interest with them back when they started looking like OUTSIDE ragazine. suv ads, liquor ads...kinda like Playboy without neked wimmen . Im just waiting for my subscription to run out. As far as what happened to it: I beleive Primedia corp. took over. That is a typical example of whats happening to our socieoty today. Corporate greed has insinuated itself into every facet of our lives and Im sure our all aware of this, if your not, look around, listen, see. i mean its even controlling your choice in soda! Ever try to find something different to drink at your local convenience store? Look at the available choices, theyre identical to all your other choices everywhere you go. Listen to the radio region to region, all the rock is the same ,as is the alternative, and I dont know first hand but I bet it goes for country and hip-hop and whatever else there is. Listen to N.P.R-the last untainted media outlet, even they are beginning to bow under the pressure as is pbs. Ive always said Goerge Washington is still running this country, he controlls everything we do wether we aknowledge it or not.

 

[afka_bob]

untainted? LOL/ROTFL/LMAO/etc.

...Corporate greed has insinuated itself into every facet of our lives and Im sure our all aware of this, if your not, look around, listen, see ... Listen to N.P.R-the last untainted media outlet....

Wow. Scales have just fallen from my eyes! I'd always attributed it all to the Illuminati. All these years, I've been such a tool.

Well, I gotta go pack a few necessities (iPod, cell phone, some Power Bars, Red Bull, some pre-1985 Backpacker issues), I'm quitting my job, leaving the wife and kid, and going to live in the Perch. And those money-grubbing RMC guys better just BACK OFF on those overnight fees.

PS:
At least Jenkins jumped ship (went to Outside a few years ago) -- that's got to be a plus for Backpacker.

I let my subscription lapse because I didn't find each issue all that useful. I tend to buy the annual gear guide and every year or so there is an issue with a lot of Alaska stuff -- of course, I leaf through it to make sure that there is more than a page and a half on the cover story. More than once I've noticed that Backpacker has had a great full-cover photo of a place I'm interested in, then been disappointed by the single page of text inside.

As far as advertising and "corporate greed," well, those are facts of life -- unlike the "untaintedness" of NPR, which is just an urban legend.

 

[Gris]

strange post from ya there Bob...

 

[afka_bob]

Still reeling...

... from the realization that corporations control everything and don't care. Sorry.

I see your (yar?) and raise you

Actually, I think that Backpacker doesn't play the corporate game very well. There is still something very (almost endearingly) amateurish about it. The real slick corporate publication in this field (IMNSHO) is Outside. I find their constant hyping of giant SUVs, "eco" tourism (you know, where sensitive caring types tramp all over fragile environments), and the whole hyper-consumer outlook to be a huge corporate sellout for a publication that pretends to care about the environment.

 

[Gris]

difficult (for me) to get the real drift of someone with a sarcastic wit - like yours - w/o being able to read body language. of course, you quoted teleskier out of context. he said NPR was ... starting to sell out too (true), that's a no-no. i agree w/ you BP mag is straddling the fence and that endears them, somewhat (hey, their jobs are on the line...). i think you might be surprised how many folks DON'T realize how 1984-ish things have become (after all W was re-elected). starting to wonder about your sig line - i thought you were sincere there, now i don't know...

 

[afka_bob]

"starting to"

Yes, I can understand how that might be a problem for you.

From my perspective, I didn't quote Telo out of context. I was just amused that someone could think that NPR had been "untainted" anytime in recent memory.

Forgive me for continuing this drift off topic, but I didn't bring it up:
"Starting to"?

Are we talking in Gregorian-calendar time or geologic time?

And, oh, I am sincere! I sincerely thought that was an hilarious moment in the debates.

Can we all still be friends? I promise not to ask (or care, really) who you voted for (sort of a "don't ask, don't tell"). In the interest of harmony, I'll even ignore the seemingly-gratuitous W-jab.

Really.

 

[Gris]

BOB - i'm not angry at all, just confused. it IS really hard (for me) to truly hear what people are saying over the Internet. Politics are a no-no on this board so i will not go there, but discussing politics - and religion - do not make me angry either.

 

[afka_bob]

You already went there...

... (politics) with the 1984ish/W re-elected thing.

But I'm glad you aren't angry. Neither am I.

[embarrassed silence]

So, how 'bout them Patriots?*


* This is not meant as a slam to any Eagles fans -- I happen to be one myself.

 

[pedxing]

For a hysterical, if at times juvenile, review of the Backpacker Gear Test Issue (part of a series from someone with a "gift" subscription) check out:

Slightly cleaned up version:
http://forums.backpacker.com/thread.jspa?forumID=6&threadID=56263&messageID=847573#847573

Uncensored and more offensive version, (in a few days you'll have to go back to the first 1/25/05 post):

http://www.thebackpacker.com/trailtalk/thread/26250,21.php

 

[Jasonst]

Can all we still be friends?

Really.

Wow, I think this is the first bit of "contrition" that I have witnessed from the great AFKA_BOB!! Good job Bob!! You've taken the first step towards recovery!!

Oh yeah, note the avatar pic!

 

[afka_bob]

Please! That wasn't contrition, it was an attempt at tolerance and acceptance! (at the risk of a reciprocal misconception, perhaps I can conceive of your confusion at it)

Oh, yeah, noted. It was a fun parade yesterday!

 

[spaddock]

Uncensored and more offensive version, see (in a few days you'll have to go back to the first 1/25/05 post):
http://www.thebackpacker.com/trailtalk/thread/26250,21.php

That rant was hilarious, especially the recipe part.

-Shayne

 

[Jasonst]

That rant was hilarious, especially the recipe part.

-Shayne

I have to admit that I was brought to tears laughing at the recipe part. And the part about Alaska - I was hunting for something to read in the bathroom the other day and came across a BP mag from 03 - yep, sure enough - ALASKA!! What a riot

 

[dave.m]

It's funny how this same basic complaint about Gear Guides comes up year in, year out in different forums with different types of gear. A couple of loose thoughts...

1) In terms of bias, the most biased person you will ever talk to is one who just paid full retail for the newest pack/boots/ski/bike/whatever. It is a part of unavoidable self-justification. Corporate advertising affecting reviews is a charge that gets leveled at every magazine that does reviews. I won't try to argue the point with conspiracy theorists (although I hike with 1 or 2). But whaddya going to do? Why are strangers you meet on the trail or buds who have used relatively few different brands more trustworthy in terms of bias?

2) The one kind of bias I've detected in Backpacker's reviews are the natural biases you get from a) localized bias due to things like climate differences and b) plain old familiarity. For example, I recall a stove review years ago where the reviewers gave poor results to a new Optimus but raved about the MSRs. But close reading of the review revealed that they were very, very familiar with the quirks of MSR and didn't read the manual for the new Optimus. But, overall I think they do as good of a job as I would expect.

3) I hope it is not lost on people how cool it is to have an industry insider like Dorn on the board. IMNSHO, having access to and input from industy insiders is almost always a major plus on internet forums.

4) I think people should set their expectations of these kinds of magazines downward. Way, way, way downwards. I think they hold the most value to new comers to a sport. They are educational and inspirational and other than (slow evolving) changes in gear and technique, there's only so much you can write before you start repeating yourself. You might think of the magazine as something like Colin Fletcher's Complete Walker series but instead of being updated once every 6 years, it gets updated in installments every month.

5) As for NPR being untainted.... that's crazy. Everybody knows the only US based news source that is untaited by the man is Pacifica radio. Right?
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Or Left?

 

[Puck]

3)
I hope it is not lost on people how cool it is to have an industry insider like Dorn on the board. IMNSHO, having access to and input from industy insiders is almost always a major plus on internet forums.

To Dorn's credit he is wise to come here to check out input and opinions. However, he was arguing his position and view point and not trying to clarify or understand the comments that were made in this thread.

Frankly speaking if I were to meet him on the trail and I didn't know who he is I would probably enjoy a chat with him. But I can say that about anyone on this board.