Backpacking gear you use at home

[S Long]

I am wondering what backpacking gear people find themselves using at home every day or week. I use my headlamp at least once a week around the house or car. Clothing is a no brainer. Practically the only clothes I own and wear are backpacking appropriate clothes. What stuff do you use frequently that also goes along on backpacking trips with you?

[M B]

I wear nanopuff daily in cool weather
I wear my wool UL socks that I hike in to the gym and for running
I wear my SS synthetic hiking shirts to they gym and for running
I use my headlamp, etc
Im always grabbing a min-ibic when the barbecue lighter is out
I take a summer UL quilt and prolite pad out of town with me when I crash at someone elses house
Ive been known to use a backpack as luggage now and then
UL baselayers will get worn under clothing if I need to work outside in cold conditions

I eat freeze dried meals when my wife hasnt grocery shopped and is working late

[Franco Darioli]

That I can think of right now I have my Fenix torch handy and recently having acquired a Weber I started to use one of my canister stoves (remote) to light the coal for it.
My Mora knife also gets some use too.

[Daryl and Daryl]

I use my backpack on a daily basis. I use it to carry my stuff to the gym. On the way back I load it with groceries from the store.

Using a pack daily gives me plenty of time to work out the bugs before taking it backpacking.

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[chris smead]

My jetboil ti is perfect for heating up my sons bottles.

[Jake D]

headlamp for when the power goes out or losing something under the bed.

opinel knife for any cutting

many clothes i wear normally.. shirts, nanopuff, rain jacket, hats. only thing i don't use on purpose is my hiking socks to keep those in good shape.

i've pulled out my down bag out when i just couldn't get warm in bed.. down is toasty.

[Dale Wambaugh]

Some of the clothing crosses over, like some pants and shirts. The higher end insulation and rain gear is saved for trail use.

My whole hiking kit is the perfect disaster preparedness kit.

The clothing technology certainly crosses over and I use the same layering techniques.

The general ultralight philosophy carries over and I wrote a blog article on that at http://www.packlessbemore.com/article/ultralight-living-home

[Max Dilthey]

I look classy as hell when I go backpacking because I only buy wool clothing that looks pretty neat and professional. Plain black crews, light-colored sweaters, etc.

So, I kind of embraced minimalism last fall and now I only own about 3 outfits. 2 of them are backpacking-ready, and I use them for hiking/camping/traveling frequently. The last is dress clothes for dates and stuff, but the oxford shirt is still wool.

Right now, I'm wearing:

Skora sneakers
Darn Tough socks
Ibex Wool Baselayer, midweight bottom
Prana Climbing Pants, synthetic
Ibex Indie Crew
Ibex Zephyr Sweater (I have non-Ibex stuff, coincidence)

Very comfortable in this coffeeshop, making my living as a writer.

A better question in my case is what *doesn't* cross over… but I like it that way!

[Travis B.]

I'm with you there Max. My 'outdoor' gear is indistinguishable from my day to day clothes. Here's what I put on this morning before heading to work:

*Note – I'm a big fan of wool for cold, dry conditions. It's a disease.*

-wool socks
-old leather hiking boots (great for winter)
-MEC T-3 long underwear
-Hiking pants
-MEC T-3 long-sleeve shirt
-$3 wool sweater from Value Village (great for work and the bush)
-Down jacket
-Wool toque
-buff
-Military issue wool liners
-(If it is colder than -30 I'll add a cheap pair of leather work gloves over top the wool gloves)

I carry my lunch in my daypack which always has my first aid/repair/survival kit in it. It's come in handy several times already, most often for starting fires.

We don't have street lights at our place, so a headlamp is used morning and night throughout the winter.

We alternate between using snowshoes and xc skis to take the dog for a walk nightly. Though this year I've been skijoring, so the snowshoes haven't got as much use as normal.

That is pretty much it for the day-to-day stuff. We had to use our littlbug stove a couple times in the summer to make morning coffee during power outages. The sleeping bags and pads are used if we go to friends places or head into town for a night.

[Brett Peugh]

I use all my clothing and most of my gear except for my sleeping pad and tent.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

I wear my REI Kimtah eVent parka skiing when I'm not patrolling in my NSP parka.

To "preserve" it for backpacking I'm getting the heavier duty REI eVent parka for skiing. I also have the Kimtah eVent pants but will use them only for backcountry skiing. My GTX ski pants are for alpine on piste skiing.

I use my hiking shoes and boots around town as well as my Eddie Bauer First Ascent down jacket and other backpackiong clothes.
They make me look "RUGGEDLY HANDSOME", as my youngest daughter once told me. ;o)
To me backpacking and most of my hunting clothes are interchangeable – "dual use".

[Ryan “Rudy” Oury]

Definitely have a fair bit of crossover and would probably have much more if the wife didn't think a lot of it was tacky :)
-patagonia puffy or rei revelcloud synth vest around the apartment (no insulation in the circa 1900 building)
-before the sleeves finally developed massive holes and my wife put her foot down, wore a windpro rei fleece about anytime I was awake
-smartwool socks (lite to heavy weight) ~90% of the time
-my trail hiking shoes are my go-to pair and when I had boots, they were as well
-20oz Gatorade water bottle goes everywhere for water
-much to my wife's shagrin, I wear my buff very often
-Got an EE synthetic quilt over the summer that we use on the bed and around the apartment daily… LOVE it
-headlamp is the only working "flashlight" and have used for everything from power outages to car repair
-don't need them too often in CA, but definitely only own 2 rain jackets and both get used for camping or daily life
-wear my various poly shirts for running and zip-off pants all the time (though due to stink, the shirts rarely make it into daily realm)

[Barry P]

1. The sandals I backpack in I also use at home and work. I go through a lot of sandals. But if it’s too cold outside, I’ll don my NF Nuptse boots.
2. I wear the same coat backpacking and at work. Usually the Montbell Action Thermawrap. If it’s colder, I don the WM Flash.
3. At work I carry a Leatherman. But I still whip out my backpacking small Swiss 54091 knife the most.
4. Backpacking I use Terramer long underwear for pajamas. I wear it every day in the winter (base layer).
5. I use the same socks all year. Poly in the summer. I add a 2nd wool layer in the winter.
6. Same gloves backpacking and at home.
7. When wife and I visit family or friends, we’ll bring our own camping mat and down bag.
8. Always use my GG Murmur traveling; only do carry-on since I fly standby a lot for traveling around the country.
9. Backpacking stoves, freeze dried meals, water purification items — all great for emergency preparedness.

-Barry

[Justin Baker]

I'm constantly using my headlamp to look behind furniture for lost items.

[Lindsey Sommer]

I use my sea to summit stuff sacks on a daily basis to move stuff around between bags. I also just like the feeling of bringing some of my backpacking gear into my daily life, so that it doesn't sit around not being used, and it's just fun to bring that element into daily life! Great question :)

Oh, and I also wear my backpacking clothing at some point everyday. In the evening I regularly wear my under layers.

[Stephen Parks]

I've been tempted to leave the Jetboil with french press accessory on the kitchen counter. It heats water faster than the microwave and is easier to clean than my single serve Bodum press.

[David Thomas]

My biggest cross-over use of gear is on air flights. I fly about 90,000 miles per year, sometimes redeying out one night and back the next, taking 6 flights in 30 hours. So I like to travel light. Whatever business clothes I need are what they are, but otherwise:

Nano puff,
Hoodini,
Zebralight
"barefoot" shoes (for walking around town and exercise room if I'm otherwise wearing loafers).

are the most common items to come along.

I rarely check any bags for 1- or 2-night trips. Nor have a carry-on other than a book bag with clean undies, iPad, and any paper notes / plans / maps with me.

I bring my 2.4 ounce sea-to-summit daypack in case I bring back more stuff than I went out with. I wouldn't check it, but I"ll check my usual carry-on daypack having transferred that stuff to the UL sil-nylon version.

Around town on day hikes, I'm more likely to bring a puffy, shell, light, etc, because I've now get very light and compact ones.

I use my HX pots in the kitchen when I'm in a hurry to boil water or if I have many pots to bring to a boil. It is marked how much quicker a lightweight, HX pot boils a liter compared to a heavy, flat-bottomed kitchen pot, especially when they are used side-by-side.

I've tossed a canister stove and small pot in my fishing ice chest and been a popular guy when I brew hot coffee mid-morning on the ocean during a halibut-fishing trip.

It's not UL BP gear, but the single most useful item for my work and family travel are 15-foot-long, 1" wide, NRS rafting straps. Rated for 1,000 pounds. I use them to strap a regular duffle onto a roller duffle or luggage cart and wheel the larger load through the airport; to secure luggage unto the roof of a compact rental car until we get to our hotel; to compress stuff sacks within luggage; to secure closed ice chests or waxed-cardboard boxes of fish or caribou; and they can keep a damaged suitcase closed for transit. They'd also be more versatile than ny ties if you wanted to immobilize someone (if you're into that kind of thing).

[chris smead]

-When it's cold out, I frequently wear a Smartwool or capilene baselayer under a button up shirt in the office.

-My tiny spyderco ladybug is in my pocket everyday and never feels clunky or in the way.

-While on vacation, I'll stuff my cap4 hoody, Houdini, and jetboil in my little marmot Kompressor pack. The pack is small enough to wear backwards when on a roller coaster at Disneyland, contains layers for when it cools off while out and about, and like I mentioned earlier, the jetboil is great for heating up my sons baby bottles.

-When my wife is out of town, I also tend to eat idahoan mashed potatoes or Near East couscous out of a freezerbag with a long handled ti spoon.

[robert mckay]

-backpack
-chacos
-nalgene
-titanium mug
-knife
-headlamp
-wool socks
-wool hat
-stuff sacks
-iphone
-solar charger
-base layers / underwear
-merino buff
-fleece mittens
-rain jacket
-belt

[Mitchell Ebbott]

> When my wife is out of town, I also tend to eat idahoan mashed potatoes or Near East couscous out of a freezerbag with a long handled ti spoon.

The first step is to recognize that you have a problem.

[chris smead]

My wife thinks it's a little odd too.
I once made her instant pudding and served it to her in a freezerbag….she was not impressed…

[Larry De La Briandais]

And now I can't find it! And I'm planning a trip in a few days! Arg…

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