Required items for UL backpacking

Off the top of my head these would be the "systems" I think of:

Packing
Sleeping
Shelter
Clothing
Cooking & Hydration
First Aid
Field Repairs

Cover the Ten Essential Groups for safety. In a life-threatening emergency it is important to have enough gear to remain healthy/stable (Medical), dry (Shelter), warm (Fire) and hydrated (Hydration) until rescued (Communication), if needed.

1. Medical- ID/medical tag, first aid kit, medications, insect repellant
2. Shelter- raingear, garbage bags, emergency blanket, bivy sack, tarp, tent, rope
3. Fire- matches, lighter, sparker/tinder, fresnel lens, stove/fuel
4. Hydration- water container, purification method
5. Communication- safety plan, whistle, pen/pencil and paper, signal mirror, cellular phone, satellite phone, HAM radio, personal locator beacon
6. Navigation- map, compass, light, altimeter, GPS
7. Nutrition- extra food, fishing kit
8. Insulation- jacket, hat, gloves, footwear, foam pad
9. Sun Protection- sunscreen, sunglasses, wide-brimmed hat
10. Tools- knife, repair kit, wristwatch, bandana

http://texas.sierraclub.org/dallas/page.asp?10essentialgroups
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/take-ten-to-greater-outdoors/id412088534?mt=8

Hello

This is the updated Ten Essential Systems list is included in Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills, 8th Edition. http://www.mountaineersbooks.org/Assets/ClientPages/zz_TenEssentials.aspx

Ten Essentials: The Classic List
• Map
• Compass
• Sunglasses and sunscreen
• Extra clothing
• Headlamp/flashlight
• First-aid supplies
• Firestarter
• Matches
• Knife
• Extra food

Ten Essential Systems
• Navigation (map & compass)
• Sun protection (sunglasses & sunscreen)
• Insulation (extra clothing)
• Illumination (headlamp/flashlight)
• First-aid supplies
• Fire (waterproof matches/lighter/candle)
• Repair kit and tools
• Nutrition (extra food)
• Hydration (extra water)
• Emergency shelter (tent/plastic tube tent/garbage bag)

A 12-mile day hike around a regional park in Central California where I grew up might be as minimal as:

– Sun hat (having put on sunscreen before starting),
– major water intake at the trailhead, and
– carry a cell phone.

For a 30-mile day hike in wilderness Alaska where I live now:

– half a layer more than I expect to need (light, tough, long pants and shirt (in part in case I get into the willows), and a puffy top).
– sun hat + a fleece balaclava
– Mini Bic, SAK Classic, 3 feet of 100-pound test (emergency shoe lace), button compass
– Bandana (the extent of my first aid kit – the rest of it is the knowledge in my head)
– 5,000-6,000 calories of food
– water bottle and iodine tablets
– Zebralight
– trash bag (emergency shelter / poncho). Also can be used to haul trash.

Possibly, depends on signal coverage and other trail users:

– cell phone
– PLB

And,

– A map if I don't know the area well.

I wrote this up for a beginners trip I used to lead. May be of use:

http://www.pmags.com/backpacking-a-beginners-primer

Written from a more conservative viewpoint as I think beginners need straightforward, solid info before they go too down the rabbit hole of gear wonkery IMO.

From the "I wish I had brought…" list: Toilet paper and 1 or 2 small ziplocs or dog poop bags to haul it out.

To be clear, my "wish I had brought" experience was due to a severe nosebleed. I was caught unprepared and had to use 1/4 of my water to wash the blood off my hands. But in the more general case, sometimes "it" happens.

"…the rabbit hole of gear wonkery."

I hereby nominate that as the quote of the day, Mags!

Yes I was going to add, an "essential item" a leave no trace ethic and a ziplock bag dedicated to taking TP out. I just spent two days picking up poopie paper (with surgical gloves!!) from our local hiking canyon after an influx of Thanksgiving hikers….:-(

I second the nomination.:-)

I've seen Canterbury's list. No where on there is a signaling device. IMO, Canterbury has some survival skills but is in no way a survival instructor. This omission is a glaring oversight and one of the FIRST things any survival instructor worth their salt would tell you to take. In fact a knife doesn't even make my top five and that's coming from a guy with the "Nessmuk Trinity" tattooed on his arm. He even has "cotton" as one of his top 10. Um…huh? A bandana is convenient, yes…important survival item, no. Careful who you take your advice from.

That updated list is pretty good. Haven't seen that one before. All I'll add is people greatly underestimate the importance of proper clothing. It will take you the farthest IMO.

It always seems a little odd to me that *extra* food is on lists like these. Sure, there are certain circumstances when it could be important, but they're not common. I don't see starvation as one of the major risks when I walk off into the woods or the mountains. Am I under-estimating it?

Cheers,

Bill S.

You are correct—nobody is going to starve to death on a day hike, or even a day hike that goes bad and lasts three days.

But I've found that people with low blood sugar are cranky and stupid, and that includes me. So I always take along a few extra things to eat. Are they critical? Nope.

But this isn't a competition, it's recreation. HYOH

In theory I support a little emergency food reserve.

But I think beginners are usually inclined to take waaaaay, waaay too much food. At least that was the case for me. So when they see "extra food" on this list of things they gotta have, I fear all the more doubling down on unnecessary food weight.

Not a matter of survival… I always bring a little extra food just because I might be extra hungry. :)

Essentials lists can misdirect our focus. Don't focus on the gear, focus on the survival skills and knowledge you need. That determines what gear you need.

What skills and knowledge you need is a matter of priorities. One simple list goes something like this:

A person can live:
3 seconds without blood
3 minutes without air
3 hours without adequate warmth (or protection from extreme heat)
3 days without water
3 weeks without food
3 months without technology (a more recent development in human evolution it seems ;)

So, the first skill/knowledge priority is knowing how to stop blood loss.

Food is not in the top five yes. In a short term emergency of a few days, it may add psychological benefit for thinking straight and may save your life in a survival situation that is longer. You may live upwards of 30+ days without food.

"I don't see starvation as one of the major risks when I walk off into the woods or the mountains. Am I under-estimating it?"

I don't think possible starvation is the primary reason for carrying extra food, Bill, at least for me. Psychological support in a stressful situation, e.g. being lost or seriously off route, an accident situation while waiting for rescue, would top my list, particularly for novices. Also, if a long forced march out becomes necessary or desirable, extra food, particularly carbs, can make a lot of difference in one's energy level and alertness, both of which translate to increased safety in rough terrain and/or darkness. My 2 cents.

I vote for chocolate, it satisfies all of the above criteria of emergency food.

Hello

I agree about clothing. There is a quote from a person on zombiehunters.or: "There's no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing"
"Do not mess with the forces of Nature, for thou art small and biodegradable!"

Walter

"Psychological support in a stressful situation, e.g. being lost or seriously off route, an accident situation while waiting for rescue, would top my list, particularly for novices. Also, if a long forced march out becomes necessary or desirable, extra food, particularly carbs, can make a lot of difference in one's energy level and alertness, both of which translate to increased safety in rough terrain and/or darkness."

I take your points, Tom, and your post reminds me that a difficult wilderness situation would not be a good time to find out that one's physical or psychological state was vulnerable to lack of food. It's almost certainly a good idea for people to test their own personal response under safer circumstances.

To get your viewpoint into some perspective, where would you rank extra food relative to the other things listed on the various "essentials" lists above in the thread, and how much do you think of as enough?

Cheers,

Bill

"To get your viewpoint into some perspective, where would you rank extra food relative to the other things listed on the various "essentials" lists above in the thread" "and how much do you think of as enough?"

They are all listed as essential, which to me means they all need to be in your pack. That said, I would put clothing/shelter at the top of the list if I were forced to make a choice. Things like sun protection, tools/repair, signal mirror/sat phone/ etc., would rank below, and the others about co-equal.

"and how much do you think of as enough?"

About 1200 calories of carbs to support an ~20-22 mile day, with the rest coming from body fat.

Tom,

"About 1200 calories of carbs to support an ~20-22 mile day, with the rest coming from body fat."

Your total intake is 1200 calories per day?

"Your total intake is 1200 calories per day?"

No. This is just for extra food in case of an emergency. The rest would come from body fat. My regular carried food intake is around 2200 calories, about 1200 of which is carbs, 270 protein, and the rest from fat. Body fat supplies another ~1600-1800 calories as near as I can tell. I've been doing it this way for several years now and haven't experienced any trouble so far.

I always take TP after having to borrow Kleenex on a day hike.

And I ALWAYS carry a stout, aluminum foil lined coffee bag as a wag bag to carry out the used TP.

I'd add a 12" X 12" SIT PAD of closed cell foam. Comes in very handy. Could even be used to insulate your kidney area in unexpected cold weather.

EDIT: It is hereby voted and passed. "…the rabbit hole of gear wonkery" is now officially a BPL term for the syndrome of "uncontrollable gear acquisition".

Top Ten Gear Wonkery Symptoms are:
1.> online gear grazing
2.> New Item Worship
3.> owning 200 lbs. of UL gear
4.> sneaking new gear into the house past your spouse
5.> lusting after one's neighbor's/friend's new gear
6.> searching constantly for lighter, techier and cooler gear (see #1)
7.> building a new shed, rack or closet for gear storage
8.> belonging to a 12 step gearaholics program
9.> failing the 12 step program – dozens of times
10.>reading BPL's GEAR section daily (don't ask… )