What is the one item you often forget to bring, and later on wish you did?

I'll get the missing gear list started.

Since I pack the night before, and generally head out at 3AM or 4AM when it's still pitch dark, I often forget my sunglasses in the car, until I turn a specific corner on my fav trail, usually coincides with sunrise at the angle it hits my eyes under the hat brim.

I get the "Deja-vu aha!" moment. Oh Man! I forgot my sunglasses again!

Not a trip killer, but I end up wearing my wide brim hat very low in the front, Clint Eastwood style.


How about you?

Edited by RogerDodger on 02/13/2012 15:59:21 MST.

Not sure this belongs in gear lists,

but anyways, I seem to ALWAYS forget my sunglasses as well. I just don't think about it when I am leaving in the early morning from the trailhead.
I have also forgot sunscreen on more than one occasion.

Tarp (not my sleeping shelter, at least)
water purification (I could boil)
Sleeping bags (car camping so had extra blankets)
Sleeping pad (do-able)
Food (uhhhh.... yeah, no food sux)


And one time I went snow skiing w/out my jacket (luckily it was warm spring day)

I'm more careful on the trail and this year I've gotten religious about using a checklist. But previously, it was something in repair/sanitation kit (iodine, extra shoelace, mini sunscreen, etc). So I now keep them all in one zippered pounch.

On vacation travel I'm always going somewhere sunny without a hat. So I have an ever-increasing collection of stupid local hats from sunny beaches and toxic-waste sites.

That's why every single item I take is listed separately on my gear list spreadsheet, and why I print out the list before each trip to use as a checklist.

It really helps me avoid those inevitable "senior moments"!

There was a time a few years ago when I went off without my hiking clothes. They were sitting on the bed beside my pack, but I grabbed the pack and left without noticing the shirt and pants! Since then, they go inside the pack if I am not going directly to the trailhead that day!

As I sit in the airport on my way to Ca for work and the BPL event next weekend I'm now wondering what I did forget. I literally threw the gear bag in my truck, unpacked from my last trip. What did I forget? Thanks :(

My worst has been forgetting my shoes and getting out at the trailhead wearing flipflops. Two hours later, after heading into the nearest town, were on our way.

We have a saying: If you forgot it you don't need it. This has proven true for every circumstance but that one.

"What is the one item you often forget to bring, and later on wish you did?"


Answer: any item that I looked at in my gear closet and thought "I've never needed that on any other hike so why carry it on this one?" Guarenteed - the Trail Gods are watching and busily planning their next not-so-nice surprise for me several days from the trailhead. Try carrying your pack after having stepped on and broken one half of your hip belt buckle. A spare buckle is 1.5 to 2 ounces. (my hip belt doesn't have enough extra length to tie in a knot).



It is far easier to forget something you DID bring along, but then did not repack before you left your last campsite. It's usually the little things that get you - eyeglasses, socks or bandanas left drying on a bush, the spoon you set down on the log at dinner time, etc. I have found a variety of items left in campsites; very expensive water filters, hiking poles, hats, assorted clothing. Wise are they who, having packed up and are now ready and anxious to go, turn around and carefully scan the campsite for anything that may have decided to remain behind. I spent an hour crawling around one site before I finally found my reading glasses in the dust.

It's your money, spend it however you like.

Edited by wandering_bob on 02/13/2012 17:03:26 MST.

I have broken the hip belt buckle, but I got along just fine tying the ends of the belt together. There was just barely enough length for a square knot.

TP. Only happened once, and it was on my workbench right where I had left it before jetting out for the hike.

I did a Mike Clelland with leaves and bummed some off my buddy.

Yep, smooth stones are a no fly for me. :)

"I spent an hour crawling around one site before I finally found my reading glasses in the dust."

I once spent about 30 minutes looking for my camera before leaving camp. Turns out it was in my pack all along, it just somehow ended up on the wrong side of my pack liner.

Spoon hands down, someone alwas forgets a spoon. Luckily I usually have just enough knife to make one

I have a pretty complete list yet I usually forget something.

"Old age is a b i t c h" (need spaces to circumvent profanity filter)

Last trip I forgot my water bottle but I had another one, but it had no markings where one cup and one pint are, but I managed.

You bring your new lighter knife, with more of a long blade and a serrated edge for cutting, with none of the tools you don't need like screwdriver.

Then try open the tin for your dinner.....ahh...

Most common are TP and spoon.
The one time i forgot my quilt, thank goodness I had a hammock with that i wrapped up in on my sleep pad. Actually kept me quite warm.

The absolute worst worst?
Forgetting lighter/firesteel. No fun at all.

Forgot to take off my glasses and leave them in the SUV.

Forgot the camera. Forgot to charge the camera battery.

Other than that I never forget anything. I have been using a checklist for decades.

My buddy forgot his tent poles for a dome tent, he thought they were in the bag. Boy did he have a big bivy! +1 on pole less shelters.

I forgot my truck key on a solo 50mi JMT trip. I thought I lost it on the trail- mind games the whole time. I was in a hurry at Florence lake to catch the boat taxi, I left the key in the door, won't happen again!

Forgot my camera on one trip. The next trip I forgot to charge the battery. The following trip I forgot my memory chip. Good thing I had my iphone 3GS with. Cant wait for the iphone 5 to come out, then I wont have to worry about a camera anymore.
Dog leash a few times, but I was able to use some guy line to get the job done.
Left wallet on the shuttle with about a hundred in it. Got it back a few hours later down the trail on the shuttles return route. Costed me a few miles out of my way of hiking to the trail head to meet up. But I did learn that most backpackers can be trusted as all my money was still there. Even had total strangers offer me some big bucks, but I declined. Thank you Superior Shuttle (SHT).
Been lucky so far. Knocking on wood.

Last trip out to China at 3 in the morning I leave my camera bag behind. Luckily we arrive at the airport early enough for me to trip home and find it there on the living room floor. Then we use the ATM at the Shanghai airport. 3 days later we discover my wife's ATM card has gone missing. We call find out no transactions went down, cancel the card and rely on mine for the duration. That same trip my prescription glasses drop a lens -nice design screws go in upside down . We did the impossible -new glasses in Mandarin / English. Better? Worse? The Same? I must have offended the Travel God.

For some reason I can't remember we traditionally ask "Did you bring the toilet paper? Did you bring the matches?" before we start the car on every trip. I don't remember why, but both must have been forgotten on some trip in my early backpacking history. No matches can be a real bummer! I now carry some in the cooking gear and in both my first aid kit and my partners.

Other forgetfulness includes:

Forgot my boots once on a trip when I was carrying a traditional non UL pack. I wore my running shoes which helped convince me I could make the transition to trail runners when I took up UL a few years later. Took my wife's cross country boots instead of my own on one trip. Two sizes too small does not make for a pleasant ski camping trip.

A buddy forgot the his zipoff pant legs when he started in shorts. No big deal since he had rain/wind pants to wear in camp.

After bragging about how light their pack was, another buddy discovered he'd left his tent in the trunk of his car. He thought his buddy had it in their pack. No harm done since it was a clear, bugless night.

Someone left the freeze dried chicken out of the packed food on a weeklong trip.

My wife likes to forget her hiking socks. Luckily she has tough feet and with trail runners it's no big deal. Back when we were in heavy boots, it was less comfortable.

Check lists, closed packs, and a last minute run through of the list at the car help.