How to Pack for Your Backpacking Trip

Inside look at what I pack when the mountains start calling.

Hauling and overwhelming pack that weighs 40 pounds is almost a right of passage in the backpacking community. We have all done it; bright eyed and bushy tailed, without the slightest clue of the impending torture that our feet and back are about to endure because we decided that packing a full roll of paper towels and canned food was a good idea. It is a painful lesson and one that I wish somebody had warned me off before I turned my hike into a death march.

So before you embark on your first expedition, allow me to baptize you into the art form that is packing your backpacking bag. Hopefully, you can learn from my mistakes and have a much more enjoyable first trip.

Understanding Pack Weight and What Not to Carry

You need to think survival essentials as you pack your bag, everything else can be added if you still have a gap in your weight limit. Yes, wight limit, not space. Rookie mistake number one is packing every available inch of your bag. This will cause you to overpack and therefore carry extra items you just don't need. Your goal is to keep the pack under 30 pounds if it's a long trip, 20 if it's a short trip.

Understand that pack weight limits are a bit relative. Obviously, if you are an army ranger with ropes of muscle around his shoulders, a 30-pound bag will feel like nothing. On the other hand, if you are a lean trail runner, 30 pounds might feel like torture. So use my limits as a guideline and play with the weight to ensure what your comfortable limit is. I had a buddy that months before his first hike, he would put on his bag with weights and mow his yard. He looked crazy doing it, but this helped him find what his ideal packing weight was, not to mention build some mean endurance. 

Once you have found your packing weight limit, look at your survival essentials and how you will address them. It is not a bad Idea to organize your packing list in that order as well in order to ensure you have the gear necessary to be happy. 

Survival needs go as follows; Shelter, Water, Food, and Security. That is it, believe it or not, you can live pretty happily in the woods with just these main needs addressed. So the bulk of your pack weight should be tied up in answering those main needs. 

Pack This

Packing your bag by survival essentials will surprise you by how low you can keep the weight and how much unnecessary gear you will avoid.

Below is my backpacking list organized to ensure the essentials are packed first:

SHELTER

• Sleeping bag
• 
  
• Tent/ Eno hammock
• 
  
• Sleeping Pad
• 
  
• Socks
• 
  
• Base Layer
• 
  
• Mid Layer
• 
  
• Waterproof layer
• 
  
• Underwear
• 
  
• Hiking boots
• 
  
• Camp shoes
• 
  
• Bandana
• 
  
• Sunblock
• 
  
• Bio toilet paper
• 
  
• Lip balm
• 
  
• Bug spray

WATER

• 
  
• Platypus water filtration system
• 
  
• Nalgene
• 
  
• Camelback/ large water container

FOOD

• Biowipes
• 
  
• Cooking wear
• 
  
•  Stove
• 
  
• Wite gas canister
• 
  
•  Enamel mug
• 
  
• Bio dish soap
• 
  
• Camp towel
• 
  
• Spork
• 
  
• Frisbie/plate
• 
  
• Food/3 per day, snack, extra day
• 
  
• Hand sanitizer

SECURITY

• Cell Phone
• 
  
• Compass
• 
  
• Maps
• 
  
• Survival kit
• 
  
• Survival knife
• 
  
• Multi-tool
• 
  
• First aid kit
• 
  
• Headlight
• 
  
• Spare batteries
• 
  
• Lantern

Once the essentials have been covered, then I can move to cover luxuries, as long as my pack weight limit allows me too.

UNNECESSARY NECESSITIES

• Go Pro
• 
  
• Battery Bank
• 
  
• Nvgs
• 
  
• Camp pillow
• 
  
• Coffee and Mocka Pot
• 
  
• Sunglasses
• 
  
• Swimsuit
• 
  
• Goggles
• 
  
• Water Shoes
• 
  
• Toiletries
• 
  
• Hatchet/Camp Saw
• 
  
• String LED lights

Believe it or not, I can carry all of my essentials and most of my non-essentials and still hit my pack weight. Negotiating the things you absolutely need and the ones you would simply like to have, is the key to a successfully packed bag.

How to Pack It

Instead of giving you a wall of text, I figure that giving you a visual roadmap would be more effective, feel free to share this image with friends and your social media circles.

The jist is pack from heavy to light, keep trail needs accessible, such as your water, maps, and first aid kit, and pack the heaviest items closer to your back.

Final Advice

Now that your bag has the right items and is properly packed; take it out on the trail. Go on a couple of hikes so that you can get used to the weight on your shoulders and navigating the terrain. After you have done that, camp out in your backyard during a weekend, and use only the things you packed. This will give you a good idea of what is like to depend on your gear, while also letting you see what you will truly need, hopefully, you will be able to shave off a couple of ounces after this experience.

I hope you guys found this guide useful, and are now more confident to hit the trails on an expedition. Let me know if there is any essential gear that I might have missed and, what are some of the luxury items that to you are absolutely vital. 

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