A few months ago, Dave Collins started an Indiegogo crowd funding campaign to raise support for a video series on ultralight backpacking. After talking with Dave via email, and of course watching his video, I liked what I saw, so I opted to help fund his dream by making a small monetary donation. However, it wasn’t just me that liked what Dave presented, there were enough other people that felt the same way since not only did he reach his proposed goal, but actually exceeded it!

Then, just a few short days ago, he delivered! I received an email from Dave with the link to his new website (aptly named: CleverHiker.com), as well as a link to download his first “Lightweight & Ultralight Backpacking Foundations” video series, an e-book and even a gear check list. After downloading these items, then watching all 10 videos in one sitting, and reading through his e-book, I felt that I had made a worthy donation.

Dave is passionate about light weight and ultralight weight backpacking, and that passion shines through in the videos. His high-quality videos (I know, I watched them on my big screen HDTV) are jam packed with lots of good, useful information. What I enjoyed out of the entire video series is how he included lots of gear that is available today, and not only from the big names, but also from the cottage shops such as ZPacks, MLD and Gossamer Gear. But gear is not all he covers in these videos, he also covers applications of both individual pieces of gear, as well as entire systems.

Dave does point out some of his personal favorite pieces, but I never felt that he was pushing anything on me. Instead, he has done a excellent job at making the viewer aware of a number of different options available, and then brings up both the pro’s & con’s of each one. This way the viewer can make a more informed decision, but based on their own specific set of needs.

Here is one of his teaser videos for the series:

At the moment, the Indiegogo contributors now have access to these videos and the e-book, however, he plans to make them available to everyone else starting June 3rd. The videos and the e-book can be purchased either together or separately, however, for those that preorder them before June 3rd will receive 10% off the total cost! For more info on purchasing these items, you can either go to Cleverhiker.com, then click on the “Store” button near the top of the page, or for an easier option, just click HERE.

After personally watching each one of his videos and looking through his book, I feel like Dave has a lot to offer to the backpacking community, and especially so to those that are looking to go a little lighter than they currently are. As well, I feel like new backpackers will really benefit from his series by helping them to make the right decisions the first time (unlike me, and so many other backpackers out there…)

So, head over to CleverHiker.com, and check out his videos and his e-book for yourself. I think that you will enjoy them, and very likely to take something away from them. However, if you feel that it wasn’t worth your money, Dave will refund you 110% of your money back! That’s right, I didn’t mistype it and you didn’t read it wrong… it is his 110% money back guarantee. So check it out, what have you got to lose?

~Stick~

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Dave Collins or CleverHiker.com in any way. I chose to help fund his project on Indiegogo with my own money. I have now received the videos as was promised when making the donation, and the comments above are based on my own opinions formed after personally viewing the content. I am not obligated to write about CleverHiker.com, however, I feel like it will be a very helpful resource to many other backpackers out there, and have decided to share this information.