Backpacking essentials

[ppine]

Pathfinder1 has a nice modern list of backpacking equipment. Most of those things are not essential however, but nice to have. The origins of backpacking are worth revisiting for some perspective. As a philisophical point (which is part of backpacking for many people), minimalist equipment can be very liberating.

[ghostdog]

Essentials? That all depends I guess.

My first essentials were a homemade bedroll my mom blanket pinned together from two wool blankets and a sheet of canvass. My pack was a 39 cent Korean War surplus canvass rucksack with a good tin pot and rain jacket. Other than that I had a military canteen on my hip and a scout style folding knife in my pocket. I cooked my food over an open fire and purified my water as my mother taught me to, by boiling it for at least ten minutes. I followed those procedures for years and used that gear for years as well. This is what it looked like in the first young years of my backpacking experiences;



In those days I swear I could sleep on a pile of round rocks with no discomfort. Not anymore. When I was 16 I left home for good and slept under the stars for 100 nights that first summer cooking my food over 100 fires, traveling across Colorado, into the southwest, up the length of California through Oregon and Washington on into Canada. Later in the year I traveled on to Florida. I was the freest person in the world, no debts and no regrets.

These days I like a nice snug tent, thick pad and down bag. I also take a light weight camp chair. There are still times I forgo most of those luxuries when I am forced to travel ultralight while reaching out into a far place otherwise unattainable. Though my gear is modern and more expensive now, I have never forgotten the pure pleasure or the incredible feeling of freedom this kind of lifestyle brings. It is very rare I make a fire out there anymore, preferring a tiny stove and leaving no trace of my passage but every once in a while I make one in the cold night just for old times.



I do have to say that most of the time now I take more than is essential, make a great base camp and go out on some crazy looping adventures from there.

[ppine]

Ghostdog,

Thanks for a great post. I wish I had such a great early photo.

Do you miss those old early stoves like the Svea and Optimus? They were very noisy in a comforting way. Camping alone, it was always an odd moment when the stove was shut off. Kind of like being dropped off in Alaska and hearing the noise of the helicopter fade to quiet.

Your 100 night summer helped make you the man you are today.

[ghostdog]

Originally Posted by ppine

Ghostdog,

Thanks for a great post. I wish I had such a great early photo.

Do you miss those old early stoves like the Svea and Optimus? They were very noisy in a comforting way. Camping alone, it was always an odd moment when the stove was shut off. Kind of like being dropped off in Alaska and hearing the noise of the helicopter fade to quiet.

Your 100 night summer helped make you the man you are today.

I think the Svea might have been my first stove of any kind. I found it at a place that is no longer in business. They had a bunch of reconditioned Svea stoves for $11 each or something like that. I did think they were appealing with the brass and unique build but as you say very noisy. These days my Whitebox alcohol stove is totally silent in my camp, never disturbing the pin dropping silence of the canyon.

That 100 night summer was more adventure than I had ever had or imagined up to that point, so many things happened, but one thing I do remember is missing my mom real bad. Sort of like a puppy does the first weeks when they are taken away. There were a couple of nights after the adrenaline wore off that I just plain hurt but that went away by the time I got back to the desert early in the trip. It seems funny now.

[Grandpa]

Awesome post ghostdog, and very nostalgic for me as well. I had a couple of those WWII or maybe it was WWI wool bags with a zipper. I carried either one or two depending on how cold I thought it would be. I also carried half a mil pup tent using it as a lean-to, or if too lazy for a night fire, just rolling up in it. I was in heaven when at age 12 got a boy scout yucca pack for Christmas.

[ghostdog]

Originally Posted by Grandpa

Awesome post ghostdog, and very nostalgic for me as well. I had a couple of those WWII or maybe it was WWI wool bags with a zipper. I carried either one or two depending on how cold I thought it would be. I also carried half a mil pup tent using it as a lean-to, or if too lazy for a night fire, just rolling up in it. I was in heaven when at age 12 got a boy scout yucca pack for Christmas.

That is a great early setup. We, in our blissful ignorance never thought about fancy equipment back in those days did we. We were voyagers on the frontier of adventure. I'm 12 in the old picture up there and I know exactly how you felt about your boyscout Christmas pack when you were 12. That is a magic age and it is wise to keep a part of it inside us forever.

[Michael]

Things have mostly been covered, including the requisite instructions to search. However, I feel like giving a sideways answer. So I'm going to do it anyhow.

Don't ask what you should bring. Ask instead what it is you need to accomplish, then figure out how best to do that for you. And a backpack to carry it in.

Emergency stuff: This includes any medication you might need, bandages, and whatever else. A first aide kit of some sort is a good idea.

Shelter: You need to keep your body in a range of conditions conducive to life. Comfortable is nice as well.

This means clothing appropriate to the weather, including removable layers and likely some sort of jacket. And extra socks, because extra socks are a blessing. Bring whatever clothing you need, and remember a hat and gloves if it's remotely cold.

It also means a shelter to sleep in/under. This can be a tarp, tent, hammock, or whatever. It also includes anything like a sleeping pad and bag. Whatever it is, it should be able to keep you out of the weather and assist you in keeping your body temperature in a comfortable range while you're sleeping.

It might be counter-intuitive, but I'm including the stuff you need to build and maintain a fire as shelter. It keeps you warm when it's cold, and that's enough for me. So you need a way get wood from out in nature and into your fire in the right size for your needs. You need to light a fire once you have it ready. You might want to dig a fire pit. (This is of course assuming that lighting a fire is legal in your area. It might not be, in which case you should bring a stove of some sort.)

For convenience, I'm also including necessary sanitation items. It won't kill you in a few hours to not clean your hands the way not having shelter from a blizzard can, but you really ought to protect yourself from nasties. You may also need to build some sort of latrine, which is something to consider when considering whether you want to bring a shovel.

Water: You need a way to get enough water. It's the next most important thing after shelter. This means at least one container, and it likely means some way to purify water you find. Boiling, filtering, chemicals. Bottles or bags. Just be positive that you have enough water to get by comfortably and that the water is healthy to drink.

Food: You don't strictly need to eat inside the time frame of most camping trips, but it sucks to not eat for a couple of days at a stretch. So you need food, some way to prepare it, some way to eat it, and some way to store it.

Everything else: By this point, you're protected from the environment, you have emergency supplies in case you're injured or sick, you have food and water, and you've got a back pack to carry it all in. That's all you actually need. But you might want to bring more stuff than that. It's not unreasonable to bring a flashlight and a pocket knife for utility or a book of puzzles to entertain yourself on a rainy day.

Or whatever. Just don't load yourself down with tons of stuff you don't need, won't use, and will regret bringing with you. But there's no need to limit yourself to just the things you need for emergencies, shelter, water, and food. They're just your priorities.

[IndianaHiker]

Originally Posted by ghostdog

. We were voyagers on the frontier of adventure. I'm 12 in the old picture up there and I know exactly how you felt about your boyscout Christmas pack when you were 12. That is a magic age and it is wise to keep a part of it inside us forever.

Understand that very well. To be honest you know I still get the feeling every time I head out. Even though I know hundreds have been to a location before if it is new to me it still feels like "Voyagers on the frontier of adventure" Think that feeling is part of what keeps me going out. It always great to feel 12 years old again.

[ppine]

Trapper Nelson with wood frame, Army surplus mummy double bag with chopped chicken feathers, cast iron frying pan, Dinty Moore beef stew in a can, and an Army pancho. Those were great days. In 1960 backpacking was not popular, and we hardly saw anyone even near cities and towns.

[Gunny Webb]

Oh yeah, the first "real" pack, an ALICE. Never want to go back to that thing with 45 lbs of stuff to backpack and 80 lbs of sundry items for Uncle Sam.
Now, with the advent of modern tech and can do (if you don't mind paying a king's ransom) you can have the following.......

Granite Gear pack
Go Lite tent
Western Mountaineering sleeping bag
First Need water filter
Jetboil Sol
1.5 liter Nalgene
2 qt Platypus

All the above is 8 lbs.

Of course through in the frills......

Insulated 2 inch self inflating mat
Saw
Ground cloth to lay around on
Patagonia camp pants
Extra fleece layer
First aid kit, meds, and personal stuff
Ipod
Camera
Fire kit
Extra stove fuel
Booties

By the time you get going with 2-3lbs of food and water you hit the 20 lb mark. Still a FAR cry from 10-20 years ago.
Of course for just an overnight to a shelter, you can do that for 6-8 lbs.