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When packing a backpack, the backpacker is recommended to perform a quick cost/benefit analysis with respect to every item added to the pack. Some items, like a basic first aid kit, may never be used but are important to pack. Other items, like a favorite pillow, are luxury items that should probably be left at home. After backpacking over three thousand miles, I’ve settled on a basic list for weekend backpacking trips.
Backpack and rain cover
Clothing (fall/spring):
nylon pants (2), polypropylene top and bottom underwear, fleece top, wool shirt, two pair hiking socks, rain jacket with hood. Always keep one set of clothing dry, light camp shoes
Clothing (summer):
shorts (2), poly-cotton blend t-shirts (2), underwear (2), rain jacket with hood, light camp shoes or sandals.
Cooking Equipment:
lightweight white gas stove, one pot with lid, pot holder, spoon, cup, 8 ounces fuel for cooking, two water bottles, plastic bag with spigot to carry water, water filter or iodine
Tent or Tarp
Black plastic sheet for ground cover.
Ridge Rest (backpacker’s closed cell pad)
Sleeping Bag
Food (placed in two stuff sacks):
Breakfasts: Flavored Oatmeal and hot chocolate/instant coffee
* Lunch: Trail mix (peanuts, raisins, and M&M’s), hard salami, high-energy bars, sugar free flavored beverage mix.
* Supper: Mac and Cheese, Lipton Noodles, mash potatoes mix, instant rice with dried vegetables, vegetarian chili mix. (choose two).
* Parachute cord (hang food by counterbalancing the two bags of food over a high tree branch not accessible to bears or other animals)
Miscellaneous Equipment:
Place in ziplock:
Small flashlight/penlight
First aid (bandages, moleskin, tweezers, ibuprofen, anything else you may personally need)
waterproof matches or lighter
needle and thread, spare
parts for stove and backpack,
extra battery
Personal Hygiene:
toilet paper
plastic shovel for burying waste
toothbrush
campsoap (small, liquid and biodegradable)
Luxury:
Tiny portable radio with earphone
The key to enjoyable and safe backpacking is to analyze your basic needs and what will make you safe and happy. If the trip involves little hiking, a backpacker can bring much more. But if the backpacker is planning on ten to twenty miles per day, the backpacker should try to stay below forty pounds in total backpack weight for a weekend trip.
Experienced backpackers using high tech equipment and making wise choices can backpack with less than thirty pounds of weight. Lighter packs, tents, and sleeping bags carve away pounds. Your knees and feet will thank you for leaving any items behind which you are unlikely to ever use.
While hiking the entire Appalachian Trail, a friend joined me for a short segment. He claimed to have brought only the "bare essentials." My friend’s pack weighed just over sixty pounds! With sore knees and severe blisters, he left the trail, cursing all of the unused items in his pack.
Before you add that snakebite kit to your backpack, think about whether you really want to perform surgery on yourself. Most experienced backpackers wisely opt to seek professional medical attention as soon as possible.
At the same time, don’t take weight reduction too seriously. Backpacking is supposed to be fun. While a portable radio is unnecessary, everyone should allow themselves some small luxury which will make your trip more enjoyable.
If it bugs you not to know what time it is, bring a wrist watch. If wearing a favorite baseball hat makes you happy, by all means include it in your list.
I put hiking sticks in the luxury category. To me, there’s no reason to carry a piece of lumber through the woods. But if you do carry a hiking stick, wrap some duct tape around the middle. You never know when you might need duct tape, and it easily unwraps for application.
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