I joined recently because I am interested in Lightweight backpacking. I like to support what I like. So I give to the national parks ($$ since I am too far to volunteer) and to sites like BPL that provide useful information.

I can't (yet) contribute to discussions but I can "put my money where my mouth is"!

i like the idea that life or members get advance notice on gear. just like american express, "membership has its privileges".

To everyone who replied with why I should join. It seems everyone says the articles are worth it by themselves.
Since I can't read the articles I really don't know what they have to offer. I will have to take everyones opinion on them.

You all have some valid points and I will think it over.

Number of articles:
Gear: 1 every week OK
Places: 5 within the last 3 months
Techniques: 1 within the last 3 months
Trends: 2 within the last 6 months
Technology: 0 within the last 6 months !!!
Seem like most valuable articles are missing.

The articles are few and far between. The "member discounts" are a joke since the discounted prices at BPL's store are far too often higher than the regular prices of other retailers.

My membership has lapsed. I post here frequently and I know I should contribute something -- and in all probability I will eventually cave and re-up my annual -- but the articles by themselves motivate me very little at this point!

I agree with Michael above - I like to support what I enjoy.

Just about everything I've bought in moving to UL over the last few years was based on the BPL articles and the reader reviews. That information has saved me a lot of money testing out gear myself. The BPL members are also great about answering questions and giving opinions on gear, philosophy, places to go, etc. I think it's well worth the membership cost to support the BPL community.

Eddy,

You might not be aware, but there are some reviews in the past that did not require a subscription.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/msr_hyperflow_modified_cartridge_review.html

See the article above.

If anything it will give you a little taste of how the articles are written.

-Tony

I joined 1 1/2 years ago and found the first year's subscription extremely helpful for the article archives. There are lots of good ones from prior years, particularly the ones on technique (such as the ones about techniques for cold, wet weather). I didn't really learn a lot of new things except that it added organization and some new concepts to what I was doing already. I trimmed about 3 lbs. off my base weight, but have since added half of them back because I need them for my personal comfort level. Still, that's 24 oz. that I no longer have to carry!

I've found very few of the current articles to be of interest. However, I did renew last fall because I was offered a half-price renewal. I may not renew again. And I have this prejudice that information offered on the internet should be free, although I do make small donations to the free sites that I use a lot. Despite that, I strongly recommend getting a one-time membership for access to the archived articles. Even the oldest are well worth while.

Edited by hikinggranny on 03/04/2010 17:39:24 MST.

I'm working on a personal "Best of BPL" for my blog right now, and on preliminary draft, the vast, vast majority of the articles are by Roger Caffin. His work alone is worth the membership cost.