Gear Up! -- go light.
The essentials in our pack should have a combined weight of no more than ten to fifteen pounds, although on longer trips (more than five or six days) the essentials may add up to nearly twenty pounds. The "non-essentials" should ideally total no more than ten to fifteen pounds. On a five or six day trip, we therefore try to limit our packs to between thirty and thirty five pounds.
The essentials:
- Map and compass
- Matches and small butane lighter
- First aid kit (assorted bandages, gauze, tape, thread, needles, aspirin, antibiotic ointment, sunscreen, bug dope)
- Nalgene bottle, water filter (or UV light), tablets for backup treatment
- Freeze dried meals, energy bars, trail mix, assorted hard candies
- Alchohol stove, fuel, pot, lexan spoon, knife
- Sleeping bag and pad
- Tent (split between two packs)
- Headlight and small candle light
- "Essential" clothing -- extra pair of socks, light poly pants, poly shirt, nylon shell coat, hat, fleece jacket, kid gloves
Beyond the essentials are the following:
Food and Cooking Items:
- Energy drink powder packs
- Peanutbutter power food (a homemade trail food, made by mixing one small container of peanut butter with a quarter cup chocolate chips, quarter cup of powdered milk, and quarter cup of assorted nuts, which will just about double the volume of the peanut butter. The mixture is then loaded into two peanut butter containers (one for each hiker, if there are two). It's a heavy food, but packs a terrific power boost.)
- Oatmeal
- Raman noodles
- Coffee (carried loose and cooked "cowboy style" by simply boiling in water. When it cools slightly, the grounds settle to the bottom of the pot and the coffee is pourer off the top.)
- Tea
- Olive oil (adds nice flavor to noodles and freeze dried meals, and makes is possible to cook the next item)
- Popcorn (an unconventional trail food, but loads of fun)
- Lightweight thermous mug, with snap-on lid
Clothing:
- Rain pants
- Gators
- Bandana
- Bug netting (head cover)
- Sandals/light weight camp shoes
- Extra socks and sock liners (poly or silk)
- Additional down, wicking shirts, head band, etc., depending on season
Camping Gear:
- Tarp (large enough to provide shelter for meals, or add an extended vestibule to the tent. Sil-nylon is preferable because it is light and packs into a very small space.)
- Pack cover
- GPS enabled radio
- Trekking poles (useful for hiking, and as poles to rig the tarp into a shelter)
- Extra batteries
- Camera
- Paper and pencil
- Binoculars
- Trail/flora/fauna/geology guide, depending on interest and location
- A "terrific" novel printed on very cheap, light weight paper
- Duct tape -- the handyman's secret weapon (About four feet can be wrapped around a small dowel or on a trekking pole. Works wonders on a ripped tent, and as a bandage.)
- 75 feet of light, high strenth nylon cord (used to stretch our a tarp, hang food from a tree in bear country, tie a shoe, fix a pack, etc.)
- Collapsable fishing pole (or just a spool of fishing line), extra hooks, small spoon, a few synthetic baits
Personal Items:
- Toilet paper
- Toothbrush and paste (travel size, of course)
- Small poly towel
- Biodegradable camp soap (everything soap, for pots, hands, hair, socks)
- Extra shoe lace (one end tied to the lid on a Nalgene bottle, the other tied to a loop on a daisy chain, to prevent the loss of a water bottle, but available to replace a broken lace, if necessary)
Now, what did I forget, and how does our list compare with the gear hounds as REI? Check out their recommendations at this link: