The 10 essentials of hiking, or anytime you don a pack &
venture into the wilderness. Tried & true or outdated? Having led
expeditions for over 15 years I would humbly offer that its time we tweaked
this list a bit. Light is Right in the mountains & ‘stuff’ we pack adds up
in weight. This can be dangerous because it slows you down if a storm rolls in,
let alone avalanche conditions change. So as mountaineers we make compromises:
Here’s the original list is: Map/compass/GPS, whistle, extra water & food,
rain gear/extra clothing, fire starter/matches, first aid kit, knife/multi-purpose
tool, flashlight w/ extra batteries, sunscreen & sunglasses. Not bad, but here’s
my modifications with some of my favorite suppliers of gear for everything from
expedition proven to just fun in the outdoors!
First
a word about technology… Technology is great but consider the technology
the backup & don’t overly rely on it. Also plan to keep your tech dry
& warm in small neoprene & fleece cases & bags, & have
extra batteries or a system like Goal Zero Solar panels so you can charge
your tech outside!
Map, yes
if you don’t have a clear trail & know the area like the back of your
hand, I hike all the time in my home mountains without one but yes, a map.
Compass, ok but only if you are really good at orienteering, you have to
train with it or it’s just a piece of dead weight. I use an altimeter
watch sometimes with & also without a map, depending upon my familiarity
with the territory. GPS is awesome right? But can stop working if it gets
cold. I really like The DeLorme Explorer InReach Satellite Communicator,
they also make great GPS Units.
Whistle;
not all are created equal. On expedition we use Midland Hand Held Radios: https://midlandusa.com/ but I also have
an emergency whistle from Adventure Medical Kits attached right on my backpack.
The ones made for kayaking & SCUBA diving are lighter & louder
than most.
My
backpack is usually an Osprey or CamelBak Pack with a built in Hydration
Bladder & rain fly. The built in Hydration & Rain Fly are the
items that I would consider essentials for any serious trek or adventure,
also my Leki Trekking Poles but that’s just a personal choice, they make
hiking easier & I can keep a better pave with them!
http://www.ospreypacks.com/ http://www.camelbak.com/
http://usa.leki.com/
Extra
water: Yes but how much is the real question. Food & water can add
pounds not ounces. Along with my built in hydration bladder where I put my
fresh water, I also carry a wide mouthed Nalgene bottle to use with a high
energy electrolyte Carbohydrate drinks such as my personal favorite, BRL
Sports TriFuel. If it’s cold out place the bottle upside down so the mix
freezes from the bottom up!
http://brlsports.com/
A
water filter: Try a superlight water filter like Life Straw, or an Eco
Vessel water bottle with a built in water filter, then check the map where
a stream may be & fill up your bladder & your water bottle with
high energy nutritional powders. I put my snacks where they are accessible
like in a side pocket on my pack or a Ribz Front Pack, http://www.ribzwear.com/ also a great
place for your small digital camera which is not a necessity but an
important luxury, I use a water proof Nikon Coolpix AW110 & keep it
warm in my front pack wrapped in my fleece gloves.
http://www.ecovessel.com/
Extra
Food: We used to get our condensed nutrition from loafs of bread, cheese
& logs of salty meat, but today we can do much better, now we have
super nutrition like high protein Ostrim Jerky, protein bars & food supplements
to keep us moving. Just remember, Chocolate is health food in the
mountains.
Wear
Layers: During the 3 seasons all you need is a super light rain system
like a 1 ply Gortex jacket, maybe late fall early spring the same light
system only bring the bottoms. Full on winter 1 piece altitude suits rule
but many like a 3 ply Gortex jacket bib or pant system. I have a nice set
from Red Ledge that is really light weight, too much extra clothing will
weight you down, in the old days we brought changes of socks because boots
back then were not all that waterproof, but now a days boots are very
reliable, Five Ten is my favorite but we all have a brand that fits us
best. I add a Spenco insole especially designed to add additional warmth
& a Forty Below overboot in arctic conditions. Most of the time a nice
gaiter boot combo like the tailor made gaiters Hillsound makes you so
waterproof you don’t need the extra socks unless fording rivers is in your
itinerary. Multi-day trips do require extra socks & I use Thorlo
exclusively, they cater to mountain sport athletes by designing socks for
every particular type of mountaineering, altitude, trail running, skiing,
snowboarding, you name it they have a sock for it! Clothing is all about
layering & that’s what we do, I use Terramar underwear because it
looks cool as outer wear too as so often happens when backpacking for days
on end. Terramar has high warmth to weight ratio & several of their
tops have hoods so with a baseball hat you are all set in pouring rain.
http://fiveten.com/
https://www.spenco.com/index.aspx
http://www.40below.com/
https://www.thorlo.com/
http://www.terramarsports.com/
http://hillsound.com/
- Winter
extras include a BekoGear nose guard & Cold Avenger face mask, a Smith
Goggle with a turbo fan & extra batteries for it but mostly I use my
Oakley prescription Sunglasses year round, the Split Jackets make great
glacier glasses. I carry a Terramar light weight Balaclava, no heavy hats.
For gloves I use Hot Fingers since 1995 from Swany Gloves & always
carry an extra fleece glove with me from Marmot.
http://shop.coldavenger.com/
http://www.swanyamerica.com/
http://www.smithoptics.com/
http://www.oakley.com/
http://marmot.com/
Fire
starter? I have never carried matches; I do what many climbers do, use
electrical tape to secure a lighter around my neck attached to a thin
perlon necklace made with a double fisherman’s knot. You can also carry
your Dermatone lipstuff here as well. Sunscreen from Dermatone also
protects against wind burn & frostbite. They come in nice lightweight
small bottles. Matches have never worked for me, even windproof ones seem
to fail when you need them most, like in alpine zone hurricane force winds.
Keep your lighters warm & have 2 backups if you are going to be out
long. Fire Starters can also be helpful.
First
aid kit, you actually need very few items in a small Adventure Medical
Kit. Most useful, moleskin enough for others too, a few Band-Aids & a
multi trauma dressing, tape & maybe an adhesive wrap. That’s it, all
the rest of the room in the kit is for medication, your personal meds that
you may need if you get caught out for the night & a few life saving
ones like pain killers, altitude medicine & a stimulant like a few caffeine
pills, these can make the difference between life & death, especially
at altitude or climbing alone. Add any prescription meds & medical
conditions you may have on a small laminated piece of paper here & in
a pocket. Or, easier still use Road ID, like runners do, around your ankle
or wrist.
http://www.roadid.com/
I rarely
carry a knife unless rock climbing, then it’s a Spyderco. A small light
weight multi-purpose tool only if camping, select one carefully, they
range in weight from heavy to sort of light. If all your systems of food,
water & clothing are tweaked then you simply will not need a big old
survival knife. Even if you had one you need to know wilderness survival
skills to actually know how to use it in such a way that it’s useful.
No
Flashlights ever, take a tip from Cave Dive rs
& keep your hands free, headlamps rule. I have a Mammut or Petzl headlamp
with either a new battery or a backup one. Be sure to keep that extra
battery warm! Check out Princeton Tec for all manners of great lighting
solutions, for bike touring, hiking SCUBA diving & more. Mammut makes
great clothing as well as climbing gear & Petzl has every manner of
technical rock & ice climbing gear you’ll ever need! Any secondary
light source is either something like a candle lantern for camping or a
really small bright LED thing like the type you play with cats with, Princeton
Tec makes these really powerful ones that weight next to nothing.
http://www.petzl.com/en/Sport?l=US#.VPDnv1h0zq4
http://www.mammut.ch/
So that’s the list but I would add
a Parachord Bracelet like an Airborne Ron’s High Speed Parachords & a Gortex
bivy sack. It’s basically a body bag & weighs almost nothing but when you
need shelter it could save your life. It doubles as a waterproof sleeping bag
cover & if you meet someone injured on the trail you put them in it while
they wait for help to arrive. This single item I feel is the most important
thing a wilderness explorer should have with them. They range from OR Double
Bivy’s which have hoops that take the material off your face & are
basically a 4 season mini tent for 2 people, single person hooped sacks &
really basic ones that are lightest. I like Black Diamonds Bivy Sacks. If you
are on vertical terrain, be sure to carry a Carabineer & anchor for it. CAMP USA
makes the lightest Biners in the world & webbing is half the weight it used
to be.
https://www.facebook.com/AirborneRonsHighSpeedParacords
http://blackdiamondequipment.com/
http://www.camp-usa.com/
In winter on long climbs it makes
sense to add a lightweight stove like a 1 person Jetboil stove with a small
canister of gas. & 1 bag of mountain house food, even if you don’t plan on
camping it could turn an unplanned bivouac epic into fairly comfortable
unplanned night out under the stars!
http://www.jetboil.com/
http://www.mountainhouse.com/
Titanium & air craft aluminum
crampons & ice axes scale weight down drastically CAMP USA
has some of the lightest technical climbing gear also Hillsound makes a nice super
light trekking crampon that’s easy to don with gloves on. Sterling Ropes makes
Dry Core Alpine Touring ropes at 9.2 mm which is an amazing savings on weight
& they don’t get heavier when wet! Misty Mountain Has the best lightweight
alpine harnesses’ without the frills of their big wall or sport climbing
harnesses so if glacier traveling is your thing you can have all the same
protection without the bulk. Last but not least, when you need a snow shoe Northern Lites makes snowshoes that are the lightest you
will find, they make all others seem like boat anchors by comparison but still
grip the mountain just as well!
http://mistymountain.com/
http://www.northernlites.com/
http://www.sterlingrope.com/
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