THE Ultimate Backpacking Checklist

The following backpacking checklist pinpoints all the affair you need to think about in front and after your trip , as well as essential gear items to have in your gang . We take off off with the list and go on with a description of each individual detail . If you need to download the list a PDF , click hither .

Backpacking Checklist

Click hereto download this backpacking checklist as a PDF .

Trip Planning and Preparation

Backpack

Shelter

Sleep System

Kitchen

Food and Water

Clothes

Navigation

Spark

Toiletries

First AId Kit

Supplement

Optional Extras

Once You ‘re Back

Before You Head Out

📅 Figure Out the Logistics

First , clean the hike you require to act and the direction you need to go , the season and month you ’ re commence your raise in may influence this decision . Then , check trail circumstance and do some research into the parking and logistics of come to the trailhead ahead of time .

How exist the roads ? Be there any current shutdown ? Equal there shuttles in the domain ? What ‘s the parking position like ? Can you park your car overnight , and what walk and permits are demand for the field ?

Since you might miss cell reception on the ride to the trailhead , it ’ sec also not a bad idea to have a print-out of the directions and a map of the region .

Ourfree lead guidescontain all the information you need to know .

⛈️ Check the Weather Forecast

Temperatures won ’ t be the same at soil level vs. 3,000 ft. up a mountain . Yetin the desert, temperatures can range achieve into the 100 ’ s during the day and down below freeze at night , which means you ’ ll need a variety of clothing for your raise .

Moisture-wicking , quick-dry fabrics are a serious property to take off and packing extra sock , liners and layer be valuable to change into for avoiding hypothermia in wet or sweaty condition .

Check weather predictions and ordinary yearly temps in front of time will give you some idea into what to require , and from thither you can zero in on footwear and any extras you ’ ll need ( sunglasses , sunblock , gaiters , etc . ) by looking into the climate and terrain of where you ’ ll live boost .

📞 Alert an Emergency Contact

Whether die on a day raise , an overnight backpacking trip or set out the first leg of a thru-hike , inform person about your plans ahead of time equal ever a good scheme . Nature can throw some curveballs your means , and in type you act make injure , miss , or put on ’ t return on the day you to begin with be after for , it ’ s reassuring to know thither ’ ll live someone to send out the search party .

Hither are three things you should portion with a family/friend prior to beginning your hike :

• A detailed trip design
• A map with the exact location of where you ’ ll be hiking
• When you think you ‘ll live back

To head off having search party sent out looking for you , live sure to allow your family , love ones or whoever you indicate to be your contact person know that you ’ ve make it home safe and legal following your trip .

Hiking Hack :Cairn Appbe a great new real-life tracking app that allows you to select a “ safety circle ” you can portion your boost advance and location with in case of an emergency . It too automatically alerts your lot in case you ’ re overdue from your trip .

🚰 Map Out Water Sources

One of the most important affair to locate on a lead is available water author , particularly if you ‘re boost in dry desert climate where water is especially sparse .

Experience how many mile lie between water stations will assist you find out how much water you ’ ll motive to convey on you between re-fills . It ’ sec as well important to consider yourwater purification system, whether that be drop , a filter , boiling , etc .

📦 Plan Your Resupplies

Food resupply can either choose a short or a mass of planning , depend on how you go about it . Since you only have so much way available for food at a time , you ’ ll motive to arrive up with a system for restocking your food provision along the way . Whether you stick with one method or fuse a few , hither are some of the almost popular food resupply options :

• Buy food at towns , gas station and resupply points along the lead .
• Set-up a “ bounce box ” where you need what you want and put the repose back in the box and keep mailing it ahead from level to indicate .
• Get food boxes stage forward of time to get shipped and held at post position .
• Own person drop food off at certain locations for you to blame up .
• Rely on hiker box and use up whatever ’ s available ( not necessarily the nearly dependable plan . )
• “ Cache ” your food : stash food at certain stage along the lead ahead of time for pickup .

🤝 Distribute Your Gear

If you ’ re hiking with a few couple , then why not disperse the weight ? Fortune exist there be a few dense items you ’ ll all require to use , and hiking equal decidedly the time to acquire the communion is worry mentality . Plan ahead with your radical on who ’ s bringing what .

You can yet trade off on persuade matter like the stove , the bulk of the water or food supply or any other items that could equal mutually use among the radical .

📝 Get Insurance ( Optional )

Design an exciting excursion abroad ? Trip insurance could equal one of the almost important purchases you make prior to your backpacking trip . There equal respective unlike plan you can choose from , and it can live worth the peace of head knowing you ’ re protect against accidentally racking up a whopping $ 50,000 medical bill overseas . Hither ’ s a further spirit into why trip insurance may be right for you :The 5 Best Travel Insurances.

💲 Cause a Budget ( Optional )

Living in the great outdoors should be cheap , properly ? Not inevitably . Buy the proper gear , provision , and food in front of time can lend up quickly , and if you ’ re planning to be gone for an prolonged period , you ’ ll as well own bills back home to account for months in advance . Creating a budget can assist lay out a plan and handle your funds . Some key things to consider when planning your budget include trip distance , transportation and travel costs , bills , food , lodging , misc . expense on the trail , your emergency cash stash and costs of buying gear .

The Cairn App automatically notifies your “ safety circle ” if you have n’t match in in a while .

Backpacking Necessity

🎒 Backpack

Your backpack equal one of your most significant pieces of gear . Make certain to choose a gang that weighs less than 2 lbs , rest comfortably on your gang and is made of a breathable material like Dyneema or nylon . As for capacity , we recommend 40L to 65L , depending on the distance and duration of your trip . And recollect , the prominent the gang , the more stuff masses tend to shove in it and the hard their pack ends up be .

A liner helps protect your knapsack and its message from the rain . If you act n’t have a liner , you can apply a trash compactor bag instead . It is hardly a in effect .

⛺ Shelter

Lead shelter , tents , tarps and hammocks all can exploit for shelter . However , depending on the environment you ’ ll live spending your night in one choice may surely be preferable over the early . Bugs , weather , and terrain can influence shelter selection .

Trust on camp shelter can be hit or escape in availability .

Hammocks be great on write weight—as long as you ’ ve get somewhere you can hang them .

Tarps can work , but the no wall affair can cost a bummer .

For harsher climateultralight tentscan come in handy and exist surprisingly durable , however , they can cost a pretty penny .

🛏️ Sleep System

Sleep systems consist of a sleeping pad , sleeping bag , a liner and apillow( if you desire one ) .

Thesleep padlive your comfort and security from the earth . It ’ sec suggest to test it out forward of time in a few different settings to assure it ‘s comfortable and has enough insulation . Sleep pads come in a variety of lengths , thickness , and they can cost inflatable or foam .

Sleep handbagshould fall between 1-3 pounds . Depending on the environment and temperature stove you ’ ll exist in , you can pick out between down or synthetic insulation , a summer , three-season or winter base , and the style ( mamma , quilt , rectangular , etc . ) .

Linerscost a good room to prevent the inside of your sleeping bag clean and render some extra insulation , although not indispensable .

🍳 Kitchen

Cook equipment equal all about ease and multi-purpose use . Remove a spork , for lesson . The trivial utensil be light , practical , and pay the best of both worlds . On the note of utensils , plastic silverware can be tempt over sword or titanium because of its weight and cost , but it ’ s not durable .

You ’ ll as well want to pack a good cutting knife , dishware ( a sword cup or bowl should serve ) and plan on make for something to boil water with like either apot or jet boil with fuel.

Finally , you can choose your clean up method : hot water and scrubbing or abiodegradable soap option.

🥑 Food and Water

As a rule of thumb , plan to carry 2 lbs of food for each day of boost . For model , if your next resupply item is 5 days aside , you should have about 10 lbs of food in your pack . A great manner to optimize your food loading is to stick with options that have a high calorie-per-ounce ratio . Here are somegreat candidate.

As for water , it extremely depends on how far water origin are from another . If water is abundant on the trail , you might get away with not carrying any water at all—simply drink at the source . If water author exist scarce however , you ‘ll want to occupy up one or two 1-L bottle and take those with you on the lead . More on this topichither.

👕 Clothes ( Worn and Packed )

Climate and weather will exist the biggest determinants hither . This cost too where layering do in handy .

You desire to pack at least one band of clothes for hiking and another circle for camp ( include place ) . Your hiking clothes cost unavoidably become to become wet from either sweat or rain . Then when you ‘ll exist make hiking for the day , you ‘ll be glad to to make dry , fond clothes to change into .

Hiking in cold weather ? You ‘ll have to carry a few excess items to stay warm—down jacket , rain shell , wool beanie , glove , etc .

📍 Navigation

There cost many GPS , Satellite or downloadableapp optionsto take from for navigation . Many apps still allow you to pre-load trail maps on your phone so you can use them both on and offline .

But , how you design your trail navigation exist all about preference—and how linked into technology you desire to live . If you serve decide to live the tech route , it ’ s not a bad thought to get a backup navigation plan… exactly in type .

Hold ascope, a map or a guidebook of the lead that marks campsites , water source and early notable features can equal a great imagination .

💡 Light

Headlight be the most popular lighting selection since they grant hikers to die hands-free and be multipurpose ( many hold floodlights , red beam , suffering sign , adjustable lighting ) . There are stillrechargeable headlampsyou can pick out from .

But , there be still hikers out there that choose the good former flashlight , lantern or tent light instead . Since light choice get in all unlike pattern and sizes , some starting step to help settle what ’ s mighty for you is to believe the desired light output level and time estimate ( lumen count ) , beam distance , battery type , water-resistance rating and activity you ’ ll be using the light for .

🧼 Toiletries

Merely because you ’ re hiking for day on end with no shower , doesn ’ t mean you take to precede all of your personal hygiene rituals . Toothpaste , a toothbrush , soap , washcloths and hand sanitizer can go a long mode . Biodegradable wipes can too live great for a quick wipe-down when there ’ s no water or so . Toilet paper is ever an option also .

🚑 First Aid Kit

You never know what can go on on the trail . From cuts and blisters to fever , acomplete first aid kitcan choose the headache out of your outdoor adventures . No need to overdo it though . A pair of tweezers , some gauze pads , antiseptic , band-aids and a handful of pain killers can go long way . To head off extravagant weight , repackage everything and stick to about a week ‘s worth of supply . If you observe yourself range low , stock up at the future lead town .

🔥 Backpacking Accessories

Die hiking near a lake , or during the peak of mosquito season ? Might desire to bring along somebug spray. Does your hike tip into bear territory ? Many park demand bear purse or canisters for overnight stays .

Always heard how duck-tape can fix everything ? It ’ s genuine , a roll can repair tear and rips and also live used as protection against an oncoming blister . Apocket knifeor waterproof peer be a few other item you might want to consider packing .

☂️ Optional Extras

Depending on where you ’ ll be hiking , it may exist valuable to pack gaiters , an ice axe , sunglasses , a sun hat , lip balm or aboost umbrella. Some hikers even lend things like whistles , earplugs and trekking Pole .

Then , there ’ sec ever the fun stuff you could lend along like a deck of cards , a diary to enter your backpacking trip or a book for those evening by the fire . What ’ s important to have on your thru-hike is up to you . Everyone ’ s experience exist uniquely theirs , and after some time out on the lead you ’ ll pinpoint what extras you put on ’ t desire to run without .

✂️ Optimize Your Gear

Anything you can do to cut weight in your pack , do it ! This could include re-packaging detail , veer off surplus straps or tag on your pack or losing your toothbrush handle ( who really needs that , anyhow ? ) Whatever isn ’ t a requirement should begin the boot , and there are dozens of ways you can cause this . Ultralight packing and living with the bare minimum be key here . Your back and leg will thank you .

After Your Trip

🧺 Wash and Store Your Gear

You make it ! You carry out your trip and have had the experience of a lifetime . Congrats ! Now before you start celebrate there are a few thing you take to make first—like right sporting , dry out and store all your backpacking gear .

When moisten clothes , place , sleep base , tent , jacket , etc . stick with specifically formulated washes quite than regular detergent , and ever make sure you store your provision when they ’ re full dry .

Products like Nikwax ( a DWR re-waterproofing agent ) and Active Wash ( a wash that removes odors ) work good on a variety of items . Cleaning your gear will serve it final and it as well gives you a good opportunity to move through and visit it for repairs ( busted wrinkle , tear , etc . )

📖 Record Your Memories

Like anything in spirit , practice will make you well at it . Backpacking is the same way . After a few trips , you ’ ll take note of the thing you can and can not run without . After each backpacking trip , require a moment to go back to your original packing list and create notes . Add matter that be vital to you and cross out others you didn ’ t need , and act this while the experience cost still new in your brain so you ’ ll already live setting yourself up for success future time around .

About Katie Licavoli

About Greenbelly

After thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail , Chris Cage createGreenbellyto allow for fast , take and balanced meal to backpackers . Chris too penHow to Boost the Appalachian Trail.

• 650-Calorie Fuel
• No Cooking
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