View Full Version : What NOT to take
With every trip, I try to tweak my gearlist to get my pack lighter and improve the experience on the trail, so I have read a lot of gear lists in the forums. But I wanted to ask for general advice for what NOT to take. Are there items you see a lot of people carrying that you find unnecessary, or better yet, do you have suggestions for items that can serve multiple functions to help make things more efficient? Also, do you find that outfitters are pushing items that are unnecessary to beginners that don't yet have the experience to know any better? Thanks!
ccartertn
06-10-2015, 11:25
I usually take too many extra pieces of clothing. My trips are usually 2 nighters and I hardly ever use the extra clothes. Been lucky not to get rained on too much though.
Every trip I debate on whether to take my chair! I usually camp more than hike so it usually comes with me.
ccartertn
I always take too much food on my 2-3 day hikes.
BirdBrain
06-10-2015, 11:55
In general, if you cannot wear it all at once, you are carrying too much clothing. Exceptions are socks and underwear. Example: Do not carry a wind breaker and a rain jacket. Carry just the rain jacket. Do not carry multiple clothing items that serve the same purpose. Actually, do what you want. It is your hike. :)
Walkintom
06-10-2015, 12:50
Don't take multiple objects that serve the same purpose unless they are actually needed.
Examples: Trekking pole and cathole shovel. Leave the shovel. Pole digs great. As mentioned, rain coat and wind breaker.
CELTIC BUCK
06-10-2015, 13:43
I Always take matches and lighter plus extra matches and 1 pr of extra socks & boxers.wear hiking shorts pack swim trunks.that way worse case summer I have something dry at night.
WingedMonkey
06-10-2015, 14:26
I usually list things I take and didn't need.
I usually list things I forgot and wish I brought.
After 20 years of lists I never get it right.
:sun
TREKMAN001
06-10-2015, 14:44
+ one on the clothing. Carry what you need for an EMERGENCY, or known condition. (like a rain front you know to be coming) I have this stupid habit of bringing warm clothes for camp, when I am always in my bag before the temps drop enough to wear them. DOH!
As far as multiple function stuff, don't really have much of that as my kit is pretty much the bare necessities.
One thing I always pack too much of is water... can't help myself on that one, I just like the stuff!
4eyedbuzzard
06-10-2015, 14:46
For me it is:
Too much food - usually an extra meal on a weekend hike. Old habits (having that extra emergency meal) die hard.
Too much clothing - usually I'm over prepared for cold and/or wet weather, but this is a safety thing as well, so it's hard to get rid of.
Too much water (carrying) - I often carry that extra liter around that never gets used. But again, a better safe than sorry holdover.
It always depends on the trip, and is determined by experience and your personal needs. Go out and hike and take special notice of what was never used, then don't take that on the next trip (of course emergency supplies should be taken whether used or not).
You might need more or less gear depending on the hike duration, weather, bugs, shelter needs, and 100 other factors.
Harrison Bergeron
06-10-2015, 18:55
Don't take multiple objects that serve the same purpose unless they are actually needed.
Examples: Trekking pole and cathole shovel. Leave the shovel. Pole digs great. As mentioned, rain coat and wind breaker.
So you're that guy. I think I must have been following you last month. I saw all your little bits of TP sticking out of the ground around every camp site that didn't have privy, from your little 2 inch deep "cat-holes". Well, at least you saved that two ounces!
Sarcasm the elf
06-10-2015, 19:36
So you're that guy. I think I must have been following you last month. I saw all your little bits of TP sticking out of the ground around every camp site that didn't have privy, from your little 2 inch deep "cat-holes". Well, at least you saved that two ounces!
I've been digging proper holes with my trekking poles for years and they work just fine. The person you were following was just lazy.
fiddlehead
06-10-2015, 19:41
Headlamp: Don't need it, if you hike all day, you'll be tired and go to sleep at night. Take one of those Photon lights for pee breaks and finding things in your pack instead.
First aid kit: Keep it minimal, you'll see a road every few miles on the AT, so, you just need duct tape and pain killers.
Knife: buy the smallest one you can, you only need it to cut rope.
Sunscreen, bug repellent, sunglasses, whistle, mirror: Don't need any of that stuff. IF hiking in New England in spring, take a headnet instead.
My trekking pole is worthless to dig a cat hole...seems like the soil I pick is so laced with little roots that the stick is worthless
CarlZ993
06-10-2015, 21:08
You are liable to have contradictory suggestions in such a post as this. Don't take a trowel, dig w/ your hiking poles. Take a trowel, poles don't work to dig a hole. Etc.
Things that I often take too much of: food (especially in the beginning when you appetite is suppressed; on longer hikes, you can't take enough), first aid stuff, and water (usually 1L more than I need most of the time). I also take items that I don't really absolutely 'need' but usually take anyway: GPS, SPOT, camera, phone, etc. So, it can be a lot of personal preference on what & how much to take. The best thing you can do is create a spreadsheet on all your gear & create a new file each time you go out. Print it out & write notes on what you used and didn't use.
MuddyWaters
06-10-2015, 21:13
My trekking pole is worthless to dig a cat hole...seems like the soil I pick is so laced with little roots that the stick is worthless
I get up around the base of tree or bush with thick duff. Thats where peat-like soil will be deep and soft. Sometimes theres network of roots, but if they are thicker than you can pop with hand, a trowel wont help either. A properly shaped rock makes a good tool for digging and cutting roots too. You wont find it at the last second though.
You got it! Sharp rock ftw.
Sarcasm the elf
06-10-2015, 21:23
I also find that it's easy to dig around the larger roots and leave them intact in the soil. When I'm done with my business, I just find a stick lying on the ground and use it to push everything to the bottom of the hole. Then I cover it back up with dirt and often throw a rock flat on top, just to be sure that nobody's foot sinks into the hole by accident. (I'm a but overcautious)
I take too much food. Also my first aid kit is too big. Used to carry a multi-tool knife but way to heavy. Now carry a small fixed blade Helle knife with a wood handle. Very light, very sharp, no hinge to get food caught in.
JumpMaster Blaster
06-10-2015, 23:44
You are liable to have contradictory suggestions in such a post as this. Don't take a trowel, dig w/ your hiking poles. Take a trowel, poles don't work to dig a hole. Etc.
Things that I often take too much of: food (especially in the beginning when you appetite is suppressed; on longer hikes, you can't take enough), first aid stuff, and water (usually 1L more than I need most of the time). I also take items that I don't really absolutely 'need' but usually take anyway: GPS, SPOT, camera, phone, etc. So, it can be a lot of personal preference on what & how much to take. The best thing you can do is create a spreadsheet on all your gear & create a new file each time you go out. Print it out & write notes on what you used and didn't use.
Exactly. Take a little notebook (or youe a guidebook page) and jot down what you used, what you didn't use, what you wanted & didn't have & what really worked well for you. I'm constantly tweaking, improving, etc. I recently realized I like to bring two extra little plastic grocery shoping bags to put my shoes and wet tent fly in. For anything less than a 4 day hike, I only bring clothes to sleep in, and MAYBE a LS shirt if it's going to be chilly in the a.m. I bring exactly enough food I'll need for the time I'll be out, plus two snacks (protein bar/candy bar/jerky combo) in case something goes haywire and I'm out for an extra day.
I don't carry a rain jacket.
I have a rain resistant windshirt hoodie, that is my shirt. I wear a tank top: I prefer merino if cold weather.
I use a tarp I can wear as a rainwrap, using a tie only at the waist.
If wind-driven cold rain is the rule, I think a LightHeart Gear Rain Hoodie and Exped or Equinox rain chaps are indicated.
I do have a Bug Baffler head net and a TiGoat Bug Bivy because I like my Gear tucked-in with me along with my Hammock Gear Burrow 20 top quilt and XTherm air mattress. I like that air matress only inflated enough so I don't hit the ground.
I used a Therma-a-Rest mat before, but the XTherm packs small inside my backpack. If I am only at higher altitudes, I do not carry the bug bivy.
I always have a garbage disposal bag backpack liner and polycryo groundsheet.
I always have an odor-proof Opsak food bag.
In any event, all these items if altogether pack light and take little space in the backpack.
I no longer bother with a headlamp, or, a flashlight. I have a LED baseball cap for lighting up the trail, if necessary, and only the keyring LED for a night-time call of nature.
I no longer bother with a MSR stove. I have an efficient spill-proof Zelph (forum member) alcohol stove back-up. Instead, I have a twiggy-fire for hot water, where allowed.
I do not carry plates or bowls. I use Vargo 750 Sierra cookware and eat from the cookwear. I no longer carry a separate drinking cup, as well. I manage nicely with a Snow Peak titanium spork. I do have a GSI scraper to get at every bit of food in the pan. I am considering I do not need the spork. However, it is more refined to have the spork. However, if tortillas were available, I would not need either one.
I do have two hats: one having a "rainwear brim" up front, and one, a warm balaclava for colder weather and for sleepwear.
My "silkweights" long underwear are my sleepwear unless needed in daytime as well. I have a Cold Avenger face mask for cold air, that serves well to help me keep warm, if the weather turns much colder.
One extra pair underwear in black color, so I wash it out and put it in the mesh net on the back of my backpack to dry out. I carry one pair extra socks, for the same arrangement. No one need notice these things drying in that mesh pocket.
I also have glove liners and shortie stretch gaiters to protect my ankles and keep out debris while hiking.
I also have one pair thick stretch-nylon fabric bicycling pants, windproof and having close fit at the ankles. I do not carry a change of pants. I do not carry shorts. The bicycling pants breathe well, are wind-resistant, and, are odor resistant.
I do not consider any of this "excess".
For me, excess would be a big knife or a saw: a twiggy fire, for example, has no twigs larger diameter than your fingers. Most twigs are just that - twigs. I only carry a "milk bag" opener sold on eBay, to open commercially bagged "hiking food".
I prefer to repackage and pack my own food.
In addition, I no longer bother with a water bladder. I prefer the small water bottles available at gas stations and grocery stores.
I like my Sierra Squeeze water filter as a gravity-fed system, rather than chemical or other means.
I no longer carry a big first aid kit, either. One or two small butterfly bandages, a repackaged small squeeze container 2% Hydrogen Peroxide, sting relief packet, and finger-size Xeroform burn bandages, a knuckle bandage I never have had to use. If a bicycle is involved for a hike-and-bike a bigger Xeroform bandage for "roadrash" I also never had to use. Is that excess?
I have tp in a ziplock (cardboard roll removed) and unscented baby wipes rewrapped tightly in foil for hygiene. I have soap leaves for handwashing. I have fingernail clippers, if going out more than a week or two.
For me, my iPod Touch is not excess, as it does so much and it has an accessory GPS. I wear a watch. I have a Suunto wrist compass and a key fob compass on a backpack shoulder strap.
Is that excess? Not for me.
If I carried all the items I said I no longer carry, I would have a much bigger and heavier backpack.
Traveler
06-11-2015, 05:34
I tend to carry too much food, and perhaps not enough patience for people who are oblivious to their surroundings and impact on the trail.
You just have to learn to let go. I started with 55 pounds not including water on my thru attempt. By the time I was done I was under 30 pounds with a full week's worth of food. Starting at Neel's gap I emptied out my pack every week and went through it and got rid of stuff. By the end I had pretty much reached the place where if I had something that I hadn't used in the last week I got rid of it. So I was down to just the basics by the end. There isn't much you really need. You shouldn't have much more than a sleeping bag, sleeping pad, tent, water purification, cook pot and stove. Don't carry a lot of extra clothing...go camping in the snow and figure out how much clothing you need for that and then don't carry more than what you wore on that trip. I've camped down to 5 degrees with wool socks, nylon jogging pants, synthetic tshirt, long sleeve fleece, fleece vest, rain jacket, hat and gloves.
The Kisco Kid
06-11-2015, 11:18
For digging a cat hole, I use a tent stake. One of my 8 tent stakes is a V-stake that I carry in my pack's outside pocket next to my TP.
Thinspace
06-11-2015, 12:52
Headlamp: Don't need it, if you hike all day, you'll be tired and go to sleep at night. Take one of those Photon lights for pee breaks and finding things in your pack instead.
First aid kit: Keep it minimal, you'll see a road every few miles on the AT, so, you just need duct tape and pain killers.
Knife: buy the smallest one you can, you only need it to cut rope.
Sunscreen, bug repellent, sunglasses, whistle, mirror: Don't need any of that stuff. IF hiking in New England in spring, take a headnet instead.
As a person who has had two skin cancers removed I'll always carry sunscreen. Nothing short of a sombrero will keep the sun off your neck nose and ears above treeline except maybe a buff like the florida fishing guides wear. Sunglasses a must for sensitive eyes (mine anyway) and my preference is bug repellent over headnet. I can't stand them. All just personal preference
VAJeepGuy
06-11-2015, 17:53
I too am guilty of bringing unnecessary amounts of clothing. More often than not I come home from a 3-4 day hike with an unused set of clothes and a day or so's worth of food and water. I am a bigger guy so I don't really mind carrying "excess." I just look at it as a better workout! :)
I've done a lot of trips now where I actually miscalculated my food and brought way too little. My last trip in the Sierras I had to get really Zen about the whole thing. I had no treats, no snacks of any kind and I had to go through each of my dinner and lunch meals and take a handful out to make an extra day's worth of food. Turned out except for the depressing lack of snacks, I really didn't go hungry as much as I thought and it really wasn't that bad.
I've done a lot of trips forgetting some rain gear, too, or having it fail. I've learned how to make do with my polycryo ground sheet or my z-rest. I don't recommend this though.
I've also come to realize sometimes I only need the sleeves or the legs, not the whole shirt or the whole pants. In fact, the sleeves from a fleece sweatshirt paired with my rain jacket is warm enough 99% of the time, and if it's not and I'm just sitting around, I can drape my sleeping bag around my shoulders.
So basically a lot of accidentally forgotten items has led to a lot of "what if" thinking (what if I don't have this, what if I lose that) which has led me to find weird solutions that let me leave things home or not fret too bad when I make mistakes.
garlic08
06-12-2015, 15:22
Some of the most common questions here are about what kind of water filter, pocketknife, stove, camera and/or phone to bring. I don't carry any of those. I don't carry any spare batteries or any way to charge anything.
...So basically a lot of accidentally forgotten items has led to a lot of...weird solutions that let me leave things home....
Same here. Once I cursed myself for leaving my eating utensils at home. Then I realized the forest is littered with chopsticks and I didn't miss the utensils one bit. Another time I lost a pocketknife, realized I had a single-edged razor blade in my first aid kit, and now I don't carry a pocket knife any more, just an extra razor blade. That makes air travel easier, too. A lost headlamp got me away from carrying a headlamp on most hikes.
Things I feel are most important and don't skimp on are shelter, water, and knowing where I am. The relative importance depends on where I am and the season.
Technically if you're following that regulation to the letter it is illegal to carry food in your backpack while hiking. It says it must be hung 10 feet in the air when it is not being consumed.
shrapnel
06-13-2015, 09:15
Having a great hike, to me anyway, is all about morale. You bring whatever makes you feel the most comfortable or helps you in anyway shape or form. If your willing to hump it, bring it. Example: I carry a small bar of soap for clean up at the end of a day's hike. Helps me sleep better and keeps me relaxed. The better I sleep and more relaxed I feel, the better I hike. I do not really care at all about other's opinions on what to bring and what not to bring. Bring whatever it takes to complete the job.
Odd Man Out
06-13-2015, 11:29
The folks at Mountain Crossings are sort of professionals at what not to take. Here is an article about their top 5 things sent home from their gear shakedowns posted on appalachiantrials.com
http://appalachiantrials.com/top-5-items-sent-home-in-a-shakedown/
1. Bear/Pepper Spray
2. SPOT Beacon/Battery Packs/Solar Chargers
3. Half of the First Aid Dit
4. Extra Clothes
5. Extra Toiletries
Rising3agle
06-14-2015, 13:18
like many others - mine has almost always been too much food (carrying 6+ days of food on a 3 day stint is pretty excessive, and most resupplies can be 3-4 days on the trail) and too much water on me at once (I almost always start with 2x 1L bottles, and wind up at the next water spot with 1L of water left).
as for multi-use items, my iPhone + battery pack (total of about 14 oz) for *me* is perfect - it's my emergency contact system (cell signal most of the trail I've been to so far, haven't gone more than 4 hours without signal), my hey-i'm-alive device, my map device (GutHook's app is the best thing ever for newer hikers looking for guidance), my GPS, my book reader (including a PDF AWOL guide), my journal, my camera, my emergency light... probably about another half-dozen devices I'm not remembering. With the battery pack I can recharge my phone about 4-5 times, and each charge will last me at least 2 days - giving me 8-10 days before having to recharge.
I'd bet if you piled up a number of those devices and items (AWOL guide, etc) it would be somewhere around 14oz. not that everyone takes all that - but it's definitely nice to haves.
as others said - use lists. that helped me get from over 50lb down to under 20 in about 4 months of short out-and-backs
Buttercup01
06-23-2015, 01:17
I met a couple of guys who should be able to answer the question by now. Each of them had a large backpack, a day pack strapped to the front, with an overstuffed satchel slung over there shoulder. The proudly announced that they were carrying 90 pounds each. When they turned to leave, I saw a large cast iron pot hanging from a pack. Given a few more miles, I'm sure they will be able to tell you what not to bring.