If someone asked you what is needed for a typical backpacking kit, what would you include?


This is my summer-ish list for North America, below tree line. I'm surprised how little it actually takes. Of course the devil is in the details, and there are a few items on this this that some would leave off: Mr. Clelland will certainly nix the TP; the duct tape and sewing kit I have in mind are mere grams-- an 18" pack of duct tape and a little hotel freebie sewing kit. I would personally add a mid-layer like a Power Stretch hoody, but I wanted this to be the most minimal/generic list that I would step off the pavement with.

So, I think I have the basics covered: pack and poles, shelter, sleeping gear, essentials, hydration, kitchen, clothing and hygiene. Did I miss anything?


Backpack
Pack liner
Trekking poles


Shelter
Ground cloth
Guy lines
Stakes


Sleeping bag
Sleeping pad


Knife
Headlamp
First aid kit
Whistle
Compass
Map(s)
Fire starter
Sunglasses
Insect repellent
Sunscreen
Duct tape
Sewing kit


Water container(s)
Water treatment


Cook pot
Stove
Windscreen
Fuel container
Spork
Cup


Food
Bear bag
Line


Shoes
Socks
Briefs
Base layer shirt
Pants/shorts
Insulation layer
Windshirt
Bandana
Insect head net
Hat
Beanie
Gloves
Rain jacket/poncho
Rain pants


Potty trowel
Toilet paper
Hand cleaner
Soap
Toothbrush
Floss
Toothpaste
Comb

Looks good, Dale! We often get questions from new hikers about what gear is required. This should be very helpful.

It would be nice to have a wiki at BPL to store the list.

LIST OF ITEMS THAT COULD BE NIXED:
=======================

Trekking poles -------- Easily NIX'd

Ground cloth -------- Easily NIX'd (though a bivy sack is a nice addition to the sleep system, and very versital)

Insect repellent -------- Easily NIX'd depending on the season

Duct tape & Sewing kit - I would re-label these as "simple repair kit"

-

Cook pot
Stove
Windscreen
Fuel container
--------------------------
The above items could be NIX'd if there was a no-cook set of foods.
I've done this a lot, and I enjoy it immensely. Simplifies everything.
That said, the short list is excellent.

-

Bear bag & Line --------- these could be nix'd in areas without bears. Like the desert SW.

Briefs ------ Briefs could be nix'd if the hiking shorts had a liner, like some running shorts have.

Rain pants ---------- Easily nix'd if the hiking pants are quick dry nylon and you aren't in the Olympics.

Potty trowel ---------- Easily nix'd - Digging a cat hole with a stick or a sharp rock (or tent stake) is a good skill.

Toilet paper ---------- Easily nix'd (Mr. Clelland is consistent here!)

Hand cleaner ------- do you mean alcohol based hand sanitizer?

Comb --------- I am bald, so easily nix'd - at least for me.

______________________________________

THINGS TO ADD:

+ lightweight stuff sack for food items

Edited by mikeclelland on 04/03/2011 19:45:30 MDT.

Pack Liner: nix if using a poncho.

I wonder if Mike uses TP at home...

It would be nice to have a wiki at BPL to store the list.

There is one.

Mike -- you don't hang or protect your food somehow? No racoons where you hike?

I was thinking about no cook during the summer. Bars, jerky, dried fruit and vegetable leather.

If your bringing floss do you need the thread in the sewing kit? I'd pass on the comb as well. Put a hat on and call it a day.

If you are hiking in the desert, they are great for flicking off jumping cacti....not sure I'd want to drag it through my hair after that but....

Sorry, I meant Dr. Clelland :)

I wanted a generic UL kit, not a UberSpartan torture set!



Trekking poles -------- my knees and my shelter like them and they have become a very standard UL hiking item. Suit yourself, of course.

Ground cloth -------- I hike in mud. Lots of mud. An ounce or two of Tyvek or polycro window film is a good "investment"

Insect repellent -------- and miserable or downright unhealthy if forgotten. I should have mentioned that all liquids are to be decanted to the smallest possible container-- UL SOP.

Duct tape & Sewing kit - you got the ideaa

-

Cook pot ------- again, this is a generic UL backpacking list and most would cook something. You would regret not feeding me coffee in the morning. R-E-G-R-E-T, understand?


Bear bag & Line --------- the bear bag is the food bag, nothing fancy. In my case, a GoLite Landlubber stuff sack. The line is 60' of Zing it-- weighs little. In Western Washington lowland forests, ravens, rodents and $%^&* RACCOONS are more trouble than bears. Marmots are a major pain farther up the hill. I do use local rocks for tossing and local twigs for my PCT bear hang.

Briefs ------ pretty standard clothing item. Some short liners are like 80 grit sandpaper. And you can wear your pants while washing out your briefs because you didn't bring any $%^&* toilet paper!

Rain pants ---------- I AM IN THE OLYMPICS :) The Western Cascades get 100" a year too, and dewy morning brush will soak you more than the rain will. As with all these items, the lightest, highest performance option should be sought out. Note than I did not mention wind pants: if it is cold enough to need leg cover, I'm in camp or it is raining anyway, most likely both.

Potty trowel ---------- Might get be without, but my Mont Bell Ti trowel works in thin basalt soils and my concession to UL dilettantism.

Toilet paper ---------- just little and you're not cooking for me.

Hand cleaner ------- [MC:"do you mean alcohol based hand sanitizer?"] Duh! And the smallest container, as above. Good for starting fires too. I need more Everclear!

Comb --------- [MC: "I am bald...."] I turned 58 yesterday and I have a full head of thick dark hair. I hear it is because I use the right toilet paper [BIG GRIN]

Edited by dwambaugh on 04/03/2011 21:03:44 MDT.

Good list I would say nix the trowel and maybe rain pants depending on weather and region

Clelland keeps a bucket of leaves in the bathroom I heard.

Nope, a small fridge with snowballs.

"I'd pass on the comb as well. Put a hat on and call it a day."

It comes back to the question where you hike. If the area has "moose flies" (have no idea about the correct word in english) like Northern Europe does, you'll want a comb.

These ones:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipoptena_cervi

It's not supposed to bite humans, but sometimes it does and the result can be nasty eczema. Being bald does not help either as they can go under your clothes while seaching for that body hair :-/

So I think totally generic list is not possible but I think this list was a good one.

I like the list. I think stuff can be sudtracted based on season and region. But this is a good foundation list. One thing that I have never needed on the trail is a comb though. I find this to be an odd item for a generic list.

Also I'd replace the word Spork with "eating utensil".

Briefs ------ pretty standard clothing item. Some short liners are like 80 grit sandpaper. And you can wear your pants while washing out your briefs because you didn't bring any $%^&* toilet paper!

----------------------

Brilliant!!


(and hilarious)

If this is a generic list, a comb is needed for most of the female contingent!

Does anyone else wear womens' pantyhose AND NOTHING ELSE for lower body warmth? C'mon, gang, are we SUL at any price or are we not SUL at any price? I admit I wear a pair when it is too cool for just womens' panties. (I borrowed this idea from Roger Caffin.)

I thought a comb was representative of a generic hair care item. My family has thick hair and we wake up with some wild hairdos that we call "happy hair." Anyone with long hair needs to get the bugs, twigs and snarls out.

Many of my younger cohorts wear much shorter hair and the comb or brush may have gone the way of the wristwatch.


She asks me why
I'm just a hairy guy
I'm hairy noon and night
Hair that's a fright
I'm hairy high and low
Don't ask me why
Don't know
It's not for lack of bread
Like the Grateful Dead
Darling

Gimme head with hair
Long beautiful hair
Shining, gleaming,
Streaming, flaxen, waxen

Give me down to there hair
Shoulder length or longer
Here baby, there mama
Everywhere daddy daddy

Hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair
Flow it, show it
Long as God can grow it
My hair.....

from the musical "Hair"