Lightweight Backpacking Gear for Kids

I started packing with my kids when they were about 2. Some started at 3 and my last is starting this tear at 5. All trips with the youngest ones have been less than 4 miles. I have even "stealth camped" when they didn't want to make it the 4 miles. These trips seem to have taken all of the different personalities of my 4 kids to different roads and choices.

My 8 year old (known as Mountain Goat) will hike fast. He and I just did a 11K with 1900 feet elevation gain day hike/run event and he loved it. He beat me to the 1/2 way mark by 20 minutes. On the actual backpacking trips he is always at the lead and will give me and my 12 year olds the nastiest looks when we fall behind. He thinks the idea of hiking the PCT is cool. But now with me. I would hold him up.

Where my 12 year old with do 20-30 milers by bike and camp but hates any more than 6-8 mile trips by foot. Multi days are not his thing. The 11 year old daughter prefers showers and established camp sights but has day hiked 8-10 miles with the same umph of the 8 year old.

I will cover the gear for the 8 year old.

He uses a GoLite Breeze in size medium. We run the hip belt over the shoulder straps (rap them as many times as needed to shorten it) as I learned on this web site. We use a 3/4 length Ridgerest as the frame. He stuffs his sleeping bag into the bottom of this. We have been using an REI youth mummy bag that we bought from the rental department for $10 (I have 4 of these). This is pretty heavy and takes a lot of space. But it is good for the colder weather. For Christmas I gave the boys Lafuma 600 sleeping bags for this California weather. 20 ouces (45F) and packs small. We fold the bottom of the bag under his feet and then I stuff my smallest in my GoLite jam or Pinnacle pack. This usually gets a whole lot of chuckles from him. We also carry wool balaclavas for sleep along with full polypro and/or fleece. Call me paranoid. But it seems during the drought we were hitting every rain storm we had last year :) He also carries his own poncho and rain pants.

I carry all food. We carry each "meal period" in a seperate Zip-Lock bag. It makes the kids feel better to see the food broken down like this and they know where the trash goes. Here is the example:

Breakfast (for two):
—Single serving of cold or hot cereal in bag (x2). Just add hot or cold water (Cocoa Pebbles gets powdered milk).
—Two Power 'type' bars or granola bars for their pockets.
—2 singles packets of Kool-Aid or Gatorade for their Nalgene bottle (every one carries one of these). One for breakfast and one to keep them drinking so we make it to lunch.

Lunch:
— Warm = Easy Mac, Bear Creek Soup or for the Cold food we have Peanut Butter and Jelly singles packets with crackers (Rye or MRE Crackers or Bread – This will fill any person up).
—Again 2 each of Bars, Trail Mix for the pockets or Fruit Snacks or Real Fruit Roll ups (prefered).
—2 singles packets of Kool-Aid or Gatorade. Keep them hydrated.

Dinner:
—Short mileage, especially hiking in at night, we may go for the MRE the first night. they love these things. I open them first because there is two much packaging.
—They love the Mountain House Spaghetti (we add summer sausage sometimes – usually day 2 or 3 for the fat), Lasagna, Turkey Tetrazzini, and beef stew. Soups are a real big hit and we tend to use the Bear Creek from the grocery store because it thickens up so nicely and I can add other things to is like dehydrated meet, carrots, and tomatoes.
—Hot Cocoa, Spiced Apple Cider and marshmallows are all hits. We have also tried the dehydrated ice cream and ice cream sandwiches and other desserts.

For games to fill the time on short hikes we take miniture dice and cards. We play Yatzee a lot. If we have a lot of time they will find pebbles and or rocks and dig a Mancala game out of the ground. We have taken sticks, reeds or Ivy and made hoops. We pound some sticks into the ground and played a version or ring toss or horse shoes with these rings (sometimes we add the bear bell to verify a 'swish' or fix them to the sticks in the ground for a 'hit'). We have even hung hoops from the trees and played modified versions of horse and basketball. A rock in a stuff sack works great for long toss games like target practice (tossed under hand) at a tree or in a circle scratched in the ground with a stick in the middle a good distance away. Find the right stick and you can play baseball or golf if you bring a wiffle golf ball or baseball.

Crafts and nature art has been the big thing lately. You may have seen one of our miniture rafts or sailing boats traveling down the river? Or one of our reed dolls on the side of the trail? Crowns and necklaces are a favorite on the trail. Many people have asked why we aren't in Togas. Bead making is the new thing but we aren't very good at this yet.

These all make the shorter length trips or the 'base camp'(hike in and find your base) backpacking trips a lot of fun. Base Camp trips allow for some bushwacking too. All who bushwack where bells for the bears and such. Or have them fixed to their hiking sticks. We got use to the noise.

The kids do the cooking (monitored), filtering or treatment, and map reading (especially the 8 year old boy). Established sites that allow fires are the charge of the children (yes I watch too). Horse play gets the fire an early drowning with water. You should see the respect they usually have for the fire.

Use the leashes. We have seen many beautiful overlooks I wouldn't have ever brought my kids by (1000+ foot drops) if I didn't feel comfortable with them tied to me. Plus for crossing granite crevices it allows the kid to make it on their own (more than less) and gives them a lot of confidence.

We do soemtimes cook in shifts and allow more time for eating. Though our new use of alcohol stoves has made it less needed with their low weight.

I want to Thank BPL for making 2007 a year to really remember with my kids. Lightweight made it right!!!

Thanks for the good info. I started out with insane weights, but am slowing chipping away… I did the north to south rim of the Grand Canyon with something like 70lbs (not kidding – unfortunately! — so don't feel bad about 50!). My last trip I was under 30, which considering I had a tent, it was in the teens, and I did not buy any new gear, was not bad for me… enough rambling (though partially related).

I will review that link(s) and see what kinds of gear you used… I think we are in decent shape, but will probably go with a Tarp Tent and a alcohol stove… and load the dog with a bit more gear! I will keep you posted.

I like the leash – given our boy is super high energy, I have often said I need to have him on belay – I will look for the write up…

One idea my wife suggested today, which I think is great is that we pack as if we are going backpacking, but go car camping, with our packs and what we have… That will allow us to test our gear and him. He has camped, the first time was at 9 weeks for a few days at 10K feet. But he loves tents and the outdoors, we have a tent set up for him in the house, so he is comfortable with them.

Love the idea of carrying them a short distance. We also have a few slings, that would work for even a few miles in a front carry, with a light backpack of gear- that may work as a backup…

Also interested in if you use a filter + aquamira and what kind of filter? Seems like a ceramic filter +AM was recommended in the BPL Book. This makes sense, but any specifics about what any of you use would be great.

Favorite tent for 2adults + kid + 80lb lab? I am thinking the Rainshadow 2 TarpTent, but not sure… I need to do some measuring and check a few things. A bit concerned about the boy and the dog diving through the mesh (you would have to know them!)

– Jake

First of all, thank you for sharing about your experiences Sarah. As a teacher, I have had several students that have been on the spectrum (either Autistic or Aspergers) and I have loved the time that I spent with each of them. It's wonderful that your son has had so many great experiences in the outdoors. And more power to you for finding something that he loves in the great outdoors (besides just the great outdoors!) I'm grinning so wide right now, just imagining the backpacking conversations with some of my Aspergers kids- good for you!

Jake- Ryan (author of the BPL Bible) promotes Aqua Mira in his book and later articles and today is a fan of Klearwater. I'm also a fan but I use MicroPur when family backpacking because it is so darn simple.

For a tent, we use a Rainshadow- I've comfortably slept 3 large adults in this tent- certainly a family of 3 will be great. However, I wouldn't choose to put a dog's claws on the silnylon floor. I'd keep a dog in the vestibule or in the tent on a more durable surface.

A great alternative is something like a Golite Hex. It's floorless or uses a floor (or floor and netting) that are durable and replacable. This gives you a very versatile tent that will stand up to lots of heavy usage and when the floor is finally wrecked, get a new floor only!

Great article and post by others.
Most useful was the recommended pack weights. Keeping my 8 and 11 yr old packs at 7 and 10 lbs made all the difference in our last 30 mile trip. My 16 yr old and I had all of the gear except their cloths and sleeping gear.
I found the patagonia pack too narrow for our not so compact/lighweight gear. I took it back the next day. I found an old school backpack was a bit wider and almost as light. I saw a kids pack on Mountain Laurel Designs web site that looks promising. Anyone used it?
We almost always backpack near water (river/creeks or lakes) So I always pack a 2nd pair of shoes and extra socks.