Oh Man! I forgot my _______ again!

I always lose my photon light before a trip; then I always find it clipped to a hanger in the tent after I've pitched…

toothbrush.
once.
NEVER again.

Cheese. Every time. Spend a half-hour the day before picking out the perfect wedge at the yuppie food mart, bring it home, throw it in the fridge, and…

I am always forgetting my spoon. Cut my lip once using my knife to eat noodles.

I ALMOST completely forgot my pack before a 2 day trip. I would have had to swipe some food from my friends and bear grylled it at night

I also forget my headlamp sometimes. Campfire light gives me enough room to do things, but some stuff goes missing until morning. The worst was having my headlamp in my sweatshirt pocket and having it fall out when I was walking outside of camp. No headlamp to find my missing headlamp!

>"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."

+1

Prepack the post-trip clothes days in advance and have them already in the car.

I forgot my dog's food one time on a 3 day trip. All his gear was on the list except for food. We hustled and did the trip in 2 days instead of 3 and he shared my food. Could have been worse. Could have been the other way around!

"Cheese. Every time. Spend a half-hour the day before picking out the perfect wedge at the yuppie food mart, bring it home, throw it in the fridge, and…"

I couldn't have described it better myself. Peter hit the nail on the head.

Not backpacking related but a funny story nonetheless. Years ago I was a reserve firefighter. I woke up late one night to the alarm, pulled on my turnouts and zombie-walked my way to the fire engine. We were rolling to the call and I woke up enough to realise I was in my socks. My boots were back at the station next to my bed. Thank goodness someone had left their wildland boots in the back seat of the engine. I have never been so happy in all my life to find shoes 2 sizes to big. :)

I once forgot my tent poles with my freestanding tent. Then, a few months later I forgot my tent stakes with my non-freestanding tent.
Both times the items were forgotten when transferring from one backpack to another. So, check your gear lists during pack transfers too!

Accidentally left some piece(s) of gear at home? Honestly, never.

Of course, now that I said it, the next trip… :)

I always pack the same way putting the stuff in the same order so I usually have all the necessary bits with me.
The only item I forgot in the last few trips was my mini Bic but I had a magnesium bar anyway.
I had however a strange moment on my last trip when having almost finished setting up my tent I was looking for the extra strut for the back of the shelter.
I had seen it when I unfolded the shelter but after going around the tent and looking under it , I still could not find it.
Turns out that I was carrying it and a peg on my left hand.
Franco

It's been years since I have forgotten anything major that lives in my pack. After each trip I clean everything, replaced used items, and put everything that don't need to stay lofted back in the pack. Lofted items after they are dry go into a huge cotton bag. So when I go I grab pack, grab the cotton bag, load a food container, and I am off without forgetting anything… except….

one trip I forget my hiking clothing.. which is a big problem since my hiking clothing is typically all my clothing except a vest, rain jacket, and extra pair of socks. Normally I wear "street clothing" to trailhead, change into hiking clothing, and then when I returned to the car change back into my street clothing. I left the bay area wearing trail runners (thank god), no socks, cotton shorts, cotton tee (it was quite warm). South Lake was going to be my trailhead. It was early summer (cool + bugs). Stopped in Bishop for lunch when I realized no hiking clothing. Thankful I had my debit card and Eastern Mountain Sport was a block away so was able to purchase a pair of socks, hiking pants, a supplex shirt, which were very much needed getting the bugs and sun on that trip.

Since then hiking clothing live in a stuff sack which is at the top of the pack until I hit trailhead so I don't forget them again.

–Mark

>"The only item I forgot in the last few trips was my mini Bic but I had a magnesium bar anyway"

I should put a label on my pack that says, "TSA won't allow lighters, fuel, bug juice" as a reminder to take it out for trips on commercial flights and to replace them at the other end.

There were several things I always had in my around-town day pack (Bic, Swarmy knife, nail file) that now live in my car because I use that same pack as airline carry-on.

headlamp!

i keep mine inside so that the cold doesn't drain the batteries. i end up forgetting it more than i'd like to admit. makes for interesting evenings :D

>but I had a magnesium bar anyway.

I prefer a king size Snickers bar. Tastes better.

Usually if we forget something it's some fresh food that was wrapped up and in the refrigerator (usually something that took time and effort to prepare). We generally take enough food that we don't miss it much, though.

Backpacking as a couple, at least there's some redundancy at times in the personal items (i.e., he forgets his headlamp, so he borrows mine), though stuff like dental floss where we share the dispenser, we designate who's packing and it gets packed then.

A watch. Every time. No pun intended!

but I had a magnesium bar anyway.

I prefer a king size Snickers bar. Tastes better.

Magnesium is an essential part of a healthy diet and of course multi use. That is : scape some on your morning porridge and light the fire with the rest.
Franco
Food in the fridge…
I did leave a bag some time ago. Now I put all of my food inside a large bag in the fridge the night before and leave the backpack open so that I can see the food is missing .
I only have my rain gear ,warm layer and my Nalgene Cantene (empty) on top of where I put the food. So quick to pack in the morning.
A couple of trips ago I forgot my main headlamp. I was charging the batteries and left it out.
But I had the E thingo, in my emergency bag..

I don't ever use a gear list, I just sift through the gear closet for whatever gear I think I need for a given trip.

Hence, with somewhat regularity I find that I forget something important.

Off the top of my head, it seems that a head lamp and my spoon are the two most common items for me to forget. I've also been on trips where tent poles were forgotten, stakes, fresh food, fire starting items (matches, lighter, etc.), stove fuel, maps, sunglasses, gloves, warm hat…

The worst offense yet was New Years Eve 2010. I had decided to do a last minute quick overnighter with my dog once I found out my girlfriend's flight back into town had been cancelled. We got all packed up, made the drive to the trailhead and started down the trail just after sunset. We were only going about 3 miles in, so it wasn't going to be a big deal to be hiking in the dark. We got about 1.5 miles in and I realized I didn't have my camera. I wasn't sure, but I had a suspicion that I left the camera out on my back bumper of my truck. Grudingly, I decided to turn around and head back up the trail to get my camera. Upon returning to my truck, I discovered that not only had I left my camera on my back bumper but sitting next to it was my little stuff sack with my car keys, license, cash, ipod and cell phone inside. My sunglasses were sitting there too. Doh!

Luckily, once I'm on the trail, I've had pretty good luck about not leaving anything behind at camp. The only thing I can think of that I lost in this manner was my homemade tripod. I still can't figure out where I left it though…

I used a check list, check my pack several times during the week grabbed put it in the car set my fuel bottle next to it in the back seat. Got to the trail head grabbed the pack and off I went without the fuel. Luckily I was meeting my brother in-law on the trail and he had esbit to boil water for my freezer bag meal

I have forgotten a few things here and there, like several people my sunglasses are the most common or sunscreen and for the same reason, no sun up that early so why would you even have glasses with you? haha.

Thankfully I really dont forget the important stuff. Probably worst thing Ive forgotten was gloves on a winter camp. Thankfully I had all the rest of my gear and borrowed an extra pair of fleece gloves someone happened to have with them and I was fine. There was little wind and wasnt all that cold so I stayed nice and warm :)

Never broken a hip belt buckle yet :)