Oh Man! I forgot my _______ again!

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[John West]

Not sure this belongs in gear lists,

but anyways, I seem to ALWAYS forget my sunglasses as well. I just don't think about it when I am leaving in the early morning from the trailhead.
I have also forgot sunscreen on more than one occasion.

[Jeffs Eleven]

Tarp (not my sleeping shelter, at least)
water purification (I could boil)
Sleeping bags (car camping so had extra blankets)
Sleeping pad (do-able)
Food (uhhhh…. yeah, no food sux)

And one time I went snow skiing w/out my jacket (luckily it was warm spring day)

[David Thomas]

I'm more careful on the trail and this year I've gotten religious about using a checklist. But previously, it was something in repair/sanitation kit (iodine, extra shoelace, mini sunscreen, etc). So I now keep them all in one zippered pounch.

On vacation travel I'm always going somewhere sunny without a hat. So I have an ever-increasing collection of stupid local hats from sunny beaches and toxic-waste sites.

[Mary D]

That's why every single item I take is listed separately on my gear list spreadsheet, and why I print out the list before each trip to use as a checklist.

It really helps me avoid those inevitable "senior moments"!

There was a time a few years ago when I went off without my hiking clothes. They were sitting on the bed beside my pack, but I grabbed the pack and left without noticing the shirt and pants! Since then, they go inside the pack if I am not going directly to the trailhead that day!

[Hiking Malto]

As I sit in the airport on my way to Ca for work and the BPL event next weekend I'm now wondering what I did forget. I literally threw the gear bag in my truck, unpacked from my last trip. What did I forget? Thanks :(

[John Vance]

My worst has been forgetting my shoes and getting out at the trailhead wearing flipflops. Two hours later, after heading into the nearest town, were on our way.

We have a saying: If you forgot it you don't need it. This has proven true for every circumstance but that one.

[Bob Bankhead]

"What is the one item you often forget to bring, and later on wish you did?"

Answer: any item that I looked at in my gear closet and thought "I've never needed that on any other hike so why carry it on this one?" Guarenteed – the Trail Gods are watching and busily planning their next not-so-nice surprise for me several days from the trailhead. Try carrying your pack after having stepped on and broken one half of your hip belt buckle. A spare buckle is 1.5 to 2 ounces. (my hip belt doesn't have enough extra length to tie in a knot).

It is far easier to forget something you DID bring along, but then did not repack before you left your last campsite. It's usually the little things that get you – eyeglasses, socks or bandanas left drying on a bush, the spoon you set down on the log at dinner time, etc. I have found a variety of items left in campsites; very expensive water filters, hiking poles, hats, assorted clothing. Wise are they who, having packed up and are now ready and anxious to go, turn around and carefully scan the campsite for anything that may have decided to remain behind. I spent an hour crawling around one site before I finally found my reading glasses in the dust.

It's your money, spend it however you like.

[Mary D]

I have broken the hip belt buckle, but I got along just fine tying the ends of the belt together. There was just barely enough length for a square knot.

[Keith Bassett]

TP. Only happened once, and it was on my workbench right where I had left it before jetting out for the hike.

I did a Mike Clelland with leaves and bummed some off my buddy.

Yep, smooth stones are a no fly for me. :)

[Chris S]

"I spent an hour crawling around one site before I finally found my reading glasses in the dust."

I once spent about 30 minutes looking for my camera before leaving camp. Turns out it was in my pack all along, it just somehow ended up on the wrong side of my pack liner.

[Gerry Volpe]

Spoon hands down, someone alwas forgets a spoon. Luckily I usually have just enough knife to make one

[Jerry Adams]

I have a pretty complete list yet I usually forget something.

"Old age is a b i t c h" (need spaces to circumvent profanity filter)

Last trip I forgot my water bottle but I had another one, but it had no markings where one cup and one pint are, but I managed.

[Nigel Healy]

You bring your new lighter knife, with more of a long blade and a serrated edge for cutting, with none of the tools you don't need like screwdriver.

Then try open the tin for your dinner…..ahh…

[j lan]

Most common are TP and spoon.
The one time i forgot my quilt, thank goodness I had a hammock with that i wrapped up in on my sleep pad. Actually kept me quite warm.

The absolute worst worst?
Forgetting lighter/firesteel. No fun at all.

[Nick Gatel]

Forgot to take off my glasses and leave them in the SUV.

Forgot the camera. Forgot to charge the camera battery.

Other than that I never forget anything. I have been using a checklist for decades.

[K C]

My buddy forgot his tent poles for a dome tent, he thought they were in the bag. Boy did he have a big bivy! +1 on pole less shelters.

I forgot my truck key on a solo 50mi JMT trip. I thought I lost it on the trail- mind games the whole time. I was in a hurry at Florence lake to catch the boat taxi, I left the key in the door, won't happen again!

[JP]

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[John Nausieda]

Last trip out to China at 3 in the morning I leave my camera bag behind. Luckily we arrive at the airport early enough for me to trip home and find it there on the living room floor. Then we use the ATM at the Shanghai airport. 3 days later we discover my wife's ATM card has gone missing. We call find out no transactions went down, cancel the card and rely on mine for the duration. That same trip my prescription glasses drop a lens -nice design screws go in upside down . We did the impossible -new glasses in Mandarin / English. Better? Worse? The Same? I must have offended the Travel God.

[Richard Gless]

For some reason I can't remember we traditionally ask "Did you bring the toilet paper? Did you bring the matches?" before we start the car on every trip. I don't remember why, but both must have been forgotten on some trip in my early backpacking history. No matches can be a real bummer! I now carry some in the cooking gear and in both my first aid kit and my partners.

Other forgetfulness includes:

Forgot my boots once on a trip when I was carrying a traditional non UL pack. I wore my running shoes which helped convince me I could make the transition to trail runners when I took up UL a few years later. Took my wife's cross country boots instead of my own on one trip. Two sizes too small does not make for a pleasant ski camping trip.

A buddy forgot the his zipoff pant legs when he started in shorts. No big deal since he had rain/wind pants to wear in camp.

After bragging about how light their pack was, another buddy discovered he'd left his tent in the trunk of his car. He thought his buddy had it in their pack. No harm done since it was a clear, bugless night.

Someone left the freeze dried chicken out of the packed food on a weeklong trip.

My wife likes to forget her hiking socks. Luckily she has tough feet and with trail runners it's no big deal. Back when we were in heavy boots, it was less comfortable.

Check lists, closed packs, and a last minute run through of the list at the car help.

[Bob Bankhead]

Classic!

Took wife and both kids car camping. Youngest was not yet one.

Diaper-changing time arrives, as expected. Wife wades into the job and asks me for the diaper bag. I politely ask where she packed it. SILENCE. "I thought you packed it" was her reply.

"No, diaper bags are your job; camping gear mine." Went over like lead balloon.

Bottom line – pun intended – our daughter got potty-trained in the state park.

[David Thomas]

Bob: Wasn't our fault (it was Alaska Airlines') but we ended up in a bear-infested camprgound (Brooks Camp, Katmai National Park) with 5 month-old, two diapers in the carry-on, no sleeping bags, and no tent. The Park Service and other campers are very helpful in such a situation. The next jet arrived before we resorted to using shorgum moss.

Early on, my wife and I would each assume the other (a very competent traveler and BPer) would have some little thing – flashlight, wallet, etc. – and not sweat it. Too often we'd each skip the same thing.

[Jace Mullen]

Forgot my tent this weekend. Luckily I realized it before I got my permit and hit the trail, but too late to turn around.

I still got a quasi-backpacking trip out of it! Even though I only had a day permit!

[Dirk Rabdau]

Went up to Mt. Rainier to ostensibly get a new National Parks pass and just go for a short hike. Well, it was a great day for early March (cold but clear) so I grab my pack from the backseat and start hiking up from Paradise toward Camp Muir. The day gets later and later and by the time I turn around, it's getting dark. No problem. I reach into the pack for my headlamp and…wrong pack.I have a busted laptop in this bag and a t-shirt. Jacket is back in other pack in the car, along with gloves…got lost coming down for trying to take a shortcut (STUPID) and end up getting really turned around. Had it not been for a cell phone, a ranger turning on her floodlight, I would have walked the wrong way. Was I turned around. Moral of the story: if you have two identical day packs, make sure you identify the one for hiking and the one for work.

Remember kids, it ain't the first mistake you make, it's all the subsequent mistakes that really add up.

Dirk

[Jeff J]

First time: I was young, and my dad and I were going on one of our early trips, five days on Isle Royale National Park. We lived in southeastern Michigan and drove the whole way to Houghton. When we were unpacking the truck to get into the motel late at night after the drive, I realized my boots were sitting next to the door at home, placed there so I wouldn't forget them. Dad was kind enough to buy me new boots, but of course I got mad blisters and it seriously cut into our itinerary.

Another time: I bought a synthetic belt (instead of leather) with the intent on using it both around town and backpacking. I fell into the habit that one pair of pants got one belt, another got a different for a couple days. I wore the jeans with the leather belt to Glacier NP, thinking I had packed my "backpacking" belt to change into when the time came along with hiking pants. Nope; had to wear the leather belt the whole trip, and I sweated enough that the leather stretched and I ruined the belt. Not a big deal, and if hiking pants were made in my size would have never happened.

Now I just wear whatever I'm going to hike in when I leave the house, whether it's a dayhike or a week-long trip.

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