SUBSCRIBE | NEWSLETTERS | MAPS | VIDEOS | BLOGS | MARKETPLACE | CONTESTS
TRY BACKPACKER FREE!
SUBSCRIBE NOW and get
2 Free Issues and 3 Free Gifts!
Full Name:
Address 1:
Address 2:
City:
State:
Zip Code:
Email: (required)
If I like it and decide to continue, I'll pay just $12.00, and receive a full one-year subscription (9 issues in all), a 73% savings off the newsstand price! If for any reason I decide not to continue, I'll write "cancel" on the invoice and owe nothing.
Your subscription includes 3 FREE downloadable booklets.
Or click here to pay now and get 2 extra issues
Offer valid in US only.

Also on Backpacker.com


Enter Zip Code

Backpacker Magazine – Online Exclusive

2013 Be a Gear Tester Contest

Here's your chance to test gear for us in 2013!

by: Backpacker Editors

Gear tester Will Rochfort on a mid-summer afternoon in the Ansel Adams Wilderness.
Gear tester Will Rochfort on a mid-summer afternoon in the Ansel Adams Wilderness.

UPDATE: We've chosen our 2013 WINTER BACKPACKER Reader Reporter Team and new testers. Meet the testers!

BUT WE'RE LOOKING FOR OUR NEXT BATCH OF TESTERS....
We're looking for some exceptional people who share our fascination with new products, cool gear, and upcoming trends.

If you're selected, you'll win two prizes: First, you will get to test some hot new products in 2013. Second, you will become an elite member of the Backpacker Reader Reader (BRR) team and will be sent on assignment to Outdoor Retailer Summer Market, 2013, in Salt Lake City to write, blog, photograph, and maybe even star in a video or two at the world’s largest outdoor industry trade show...yes a veritable Mecca of all things gear and gadgets for the coming retail year. Your job will be to give our readers a man or woman in the aisles and behind the scenes perspective on upcoming new gear and new trends. We know...a dream job for sure. We want you to apply if you:

  •  Are able to commit to being in Salt Lake City from July 29-August 3, 2013, at our expense.   
  •  Love being in the outdoors and being active.    
  • Enjoy writing and telling friends, family and complete strangers about what you have experienced, seen, done.   
  •  Think a garage full of outdoor products and the car parked outside because there is no room in the garage is normal.    
  • Have an insatiable fascination with products and what makes them work and work well.    
  • Can meet deadlines and communicate in an articulate manner.   
  •  Are gregarious, outgoing, fun. And over 18 years of age.    
  • Think being a reporter where you get to roam the aisles and walk into booths to ask complete strangers about new products so you can write about them sounds exciting.

To apply, put your compelling pitch to us into video form (no longer than 3 minutes please - a YouTube link, or similar, is fine) and send it to Kristin Hostetter by June 3, 2013. Also, please send us a writing sample: Write a 100 word, first person, blog-type entry that describes one of your favorite pieces of gear and why you think it’ s so cool. Grammar, punctuation, and style count! Plus, please give us a sense of how tapped into social media you are...how many Facebook friends and Twitter followers? Do you currently have a blog? If so, what is the traffic like?



Subscribe to Backpacker magazine
Sign up for our free weekly e-newsletter
Name:
Address 1:
Address 2:
City:
State:
Zip:
Email (req):
Reader Rating: -

READERS COMMENTS

Star Star Star Star Star
The Ninja
May 21, 2013

Awesome contest! Too bad you have to be 18 to enter though.

Star Star Star Star Star
annabelle
Mar 30, 2013

what email address do we send this to?

Star Star Star Star Star
annabelle
Mar 29, 2013

what email address do we send this to?

Star Star Star Star Star
Sher
Mar 29, 2013

Would you consider an outdoor loving couple? We have hiked and backpacked for years and are now passing this love on to our two young children. This would be our dream job!

Star Star Star Star Star
Curious
Dec 16, 2012

Will the winner(s) be picked from the main submission or are there multiple stages? Around when can the contestants expect to hear something about their placement in the contest?

Star Star Star Star Star
Dave
Dec 10, 2012

When are the 2013 winners going to be announced?

kristin, BP gear editor
Oct 17, 2012

You must be 18 to enter.

Teenhiker
Oct 14, 2012

What is the age limit to enter.

little kid
Sep 24, 2012

hey, this sounds like a amazing opportunity but i`m afraid i`m to young to enter. what are the age limits?

Cheryl Hopkins
Jul 19, 2012

Since I have missed the deadline for this year, when can I apply next year? My partner and I are out every weekend backpacking and have gone through quite a bit of equipment..

Dadinpain
May 25, 2012

WOW.......I am the man for the job.....I had to come off the PCT due to a hair line fracture and am at home finally healed.....if anyone backs out.....please contact this retired Nat Geo/Ca Mountain trail explorer......who has nothing better to do than backpack around the globe and write product reviews and get reviews to you in time before print deadline. I am Dad....I am in Pain....and I want your vote.....if I don't win.....I am jumping back on the trail and heading north. DIP

Sergio Herrera
May 18, 2012

I cannot believe I just saw this! I am totally bummed, but it's on my calendar to watch for 2013!!! This is such an awesome opportunity and sounds like a huge amount of fun.

BP Web Producer
Mar 16, 2012

Kaylee-
Canadians are welcome to enter.

Jim-
Yes, feel free to enter per the instructions above.

Thanks!

Jim "PapaBear"
Mar 13, 2012

Would you be interested in a Scoutmasters point of view as to how Durable the gear is when used by boys 11 to 17, 12 months a year. We camp every month all winter in New England. Reply to
scout@maybeck.com

Kaylee
Mar 13, 2012

Do you have to be a US citizen?? I want to apply for this but I'm Canadian! We never get to participate in sweet Backpacker contests!

ADD A COMMENT

Your rating:
Your Name:

Comment:

My Profile Join Now

Most recent threads

Backcountry Cooking
Typical list of cooking gear/food for 3-4 days
Posted On: May 22, 2013
Submitted By: GaryP4321
Trailhead Register
More Bad Weather On the Way
Posted On: May 22, 2013
Submitted By: RumiDude

Go
View all Gear
Find a retailer

Special sections - Expert handbooks for key trails, techniques and gear

Editors' Choice 2013
412 trail-tested products

Boost Your Apps
Add powerful tools and exclusive maps to your BACKPACKER apps through our partnership with Trimble Outdoors.

Carry the Best Maps
With BACKPACKER PRO Maps, get life-list destinations and local trips on adventure-ready waterproof myTopo paper.

FREE Rocky Mountain Trip Planner
Sign up for a free Rocky Mountain National Park trip planning kit from our sister site MyRockyMountainPark.com.

Follow BackpackerMag on Twitter Follow Backpacker on Facebook
Get 2 FREE Trial Issues and 3 FREE GIFTS
Survival Skills 101 • Eat Better
The Best Trails in America
YES! Please send me my FREE trial issues of Backpacker
and my 3 FREE downloadable booklets.
Full Name:
City:
Address 1:
Zip Code:
State:
Address 2:
Email (required):
Free trial offer valid for US subscribers only. Canadian subscriptions | International subscriptions