Backpacking Checklist
Keep Your Trail Weight Low & Your Camp Comfort High
Every winter we like to use downtime between ski tours to plan our upcoming springtime backpacking trips. When those quads are a little too sore for another afternoon lap, maybe it’s time to go through a backpacking checklist. It’s a good idea to do it ahead of time so you can fill in any gear list gaps you may find.
You’ll see that within each section there are essential items and optional/contingent items. An example of an essential item is a rain jacket. A rain jacket will keep you dry in surprise cloudbursts and help prevent hypothermia, so we’ve deemed it a safety item, and thus, essential. An example of an optional item is a mug for coffee. It’s optional because some people like to eat oatmeal and drink coffee out of their cook pot to save weight. Insulated gloves are a good example of a contingent item. While they’re likely not needed in the summer months, they’re essential for hiking and camping in freezing temps. You will make your glove decision based on the weather you expect to encounter.
You may not fully agree with the distinctions between these categories and that’s OK! But we’ve built this list based on decades of backpacking experience, so we feel confident that it is a good starting point.
This backpacking checklist is broken into these sections. Click links to jump to the different sections.
Hiking Clothes + Worn Weight
Hiking clothes are the uniform you will pull on at the beginning of each day. We’ve also included other items here that will not be in your pack, such as trekking poles. These items are not in your pack and are therefore categorized as worn weight. Here are the worn-weight items we’ve deemed essential on every backpacking trip.
□ Long-sleeve shirt with UV protection
Wearing a long-sleeve shirt like the Backcountry Tahoe 2 Sun Hoodie will keep you cool while also protecting you from the sun and bushwhacking.
□ Sun hat
Any hat with a brim will keep the sun off your face and out of your eyes.
□ Hiking or trail running shoes
Find a lightweight and quick-drying shoe that fits you well. We prefer non-waterproof trailrunners for 3-season backpacking. If you’re getting after it in that precipitous and cold fourth season, waterproof footwear might make sense.
□ Socks
Socks with a wool & synthetic blend are ideal for managing moisture when hiking all day. Bring two pair so you can swap them at lunch after your feet have gotten wet from stream crossings.
Pants will protect your legs from sun and bushwhacking.
You’ll know best which underwear works best for you. Carry enough underwear to keep you comfortable—1 pair or 5, there’s no wrong number.
□ Debris gaiters
Debris gaiters will keep pebbles out of your shoes and grass seeds out of your socks so you don’t have to stop every 10 minutes to pick them out.
□ Sun gloves
Sure you could reapply sunscreen all day, but that’s a lot of pit stops and weight to carry. Protect your hands from the sun with these light, breathable, and cool sungloves.
Protect your eyes from UV rays as you hike all day long.
Optional/Contingent:
□ UV neck gaiter
If your hiking shirt has a hood you may not need a UV neck gaiter, but if you want to protect your face and especially lips from the sun without reapplying sunscreen a lot, a UV neck gaiter could be for you.
□ Trekking poles
Trekking poles can help you move faster while also providing balance for stream crossings. If your shelter requires trekking poles to pitch, then you can move these to the essential tab.
□ Shorts
If the weather is warm, throwing in a pair of shorts could make hot hiking days more comfortable.
□ Fanny pack
Want to keep a few essentials such as map, compass, sunblock, and snacks at the ready? A fanny pack could be for you.
Clothes For Weather, Camp, Sleeping
These essential layers will supplement your clothing when hiking, warm you up when in camp, and keep you toasty in your sleeping bag.
Essential:
□ Rain Jacket
Long-sleeve shirt with UV protection Wearing a long-sleeve shirt like the Backcountry Tahoe 2 Sun Hoodie will keep you cool while also protecting you from the sun and bushwhacking.
□ Rain Gloves
Hiking in the rain is an inevitability on many backpacking trips, and if you don’t want to (or can’t) keep your hands in your rain jacket pockets the whole time, a pair of rain gloves will drastically improve your comfort. Light dishwashing gloves also work.
□ Active midlayer such as fleece
A fleece or synthetic midlayer is essential for keeping you warm even when you’re working up a sweat. It’s also a great option under a rain jacket.
□ Insulation layer such as down puffy jacket
If your clothes get damp from sweat when hiking, you’ll want a warm layer to slip into in camp. We don’t like to go backpacking without a lightweight down jacket.
□ Sleep Socks
Keep your feet dry and warm at night so they’re ready for the next day’s miles.
□ Sleeping Baselayer Shirt & Bottoms
To stay warm at night and protect your sleeping bag from your grimy skin, change into a set of merino or synthetic baselayers when you get to camp.
Optional/Contingent:
□ Rain Pants
We don’t take rain pants on every trip because leg warmth is often less critical than hand, head, and torso warmth on 3-season trips. Bring rain pants if there is abundant rain and/or cold in the forecast.
□ Insulated camp Pants
Insulated camp pants are only necessary when you’re backpacking in very cold conditions where you will be sitting around in camp for a long time after the sun has set. You can also use these as a part of your sleep system to boost warmth.
□ Warm gloves
Bring warm gloves to wear under your rain gloves or while packing up your frost-covered tent in the morning.
□ Insulating hat/beanie
If your sleeping bag doesn’t have a hood, you’ll probably want to bring a beanie of some kind of some kind for a little head warmth.
□ Sleeping Neck Gaiter
Neck gaiters are versatile for sleeping. We like to pull them over our ears for warmth and over our eyes when the moon is shining like a streetlight above the tent all night.
Backpack
Essential:
□ Backpack
You’ll want a comfortable backpack for carrying all your overnight gear. If your kit is super dialed you may be able to get away with a small 40-liter backpack. Many people will choose 55- to 65-liter packs for most 3-season backpacking. Packs larger than 65 liters are most often used for winter expeditions, packrafting, or other multiday multisport adventures. We recommend choosing a pack between 55 and 65 liters that weighs between 2 to 3.5lbs. This will offer the best balance of weight and capacity.
Optional/Contingent:
□ Pack cover
Some packs come with pack covers for protecting your gear in the rain. If you don’t expect weather, you could leave this behind to save some weight.
□ Pack Liner or Dry Bag
Very few backpacks are fully waterproof, so we recommend packing all your gear in a pack liner or series of ultralight drybags if you expect inclement weather on your trip. A soggy sleeping bag is a safety issue. Many people prefer pack liners or dry bags to pack covers because, being inside the pack, they can’t snag when bushwhacking like a floppy pack cover could.
Sleep System
Shelter, stakes, sleeping bag, and pad are the essential items that make up a sleep system.
□ Shelter
Backpacking shelters come in two main categories: Hub and pole and non-freestanding. Hub and pole tents have a dedicated poleset onto which the tent body clips. These tents are usually fully or partially freestanding and, in the 2-person category, weigh between 2 and 4lbs. The Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL2 is an example of a very popular hub and pole backpacking tent.
Non-freestanding shelters usually rely on trekking poles or other supports such as paddles to set up, and due to their simplified designs, are generally much lighter than hub and pole tents. They’re also usually modular so you can set up just the fly when the bugs aren’t bad or add an inner tent when the swarms come out. They also have the added benefit of pitching the fly first. The Hyperlite Mountain Gear Ultamid 4 is an example of a pyramid-shaped non-freestanding tarp shelter.
□ Stakes
Whether your tent is freestanding or trekking pole-supported, you’ll want to bring some stakes. Choose an assortment of lengths and shapes so you can get them into variable ground.
There are numerous different sleeping bag temperature ratings, weights, and insulation types to choose from. Pick one based on your body shape and size and the temperatures in which you’ll be sleeping.
Down fill bags are our recommendation for backpacking because of their excellent warmth-to-weight ratios. A quality down bag will be light, pack small, and last more than 20 years.
Synthetic fill bags are not our top recommendation for backpacking because they’re less packable and heavier for the warmth than down. That said, they could be a good choice for extended trips in extremely wet conditions.
Temperature ratings on sleeping bags often refer to survival, not comfort, so aim for a bag with a lower rating than the temperature in which you’ll be camping. Western Mountaineering sleeping bags are an exception to the rule. We’ve found them to be conservatively rated.
A 30-degree bag is great for general summer use. A 20- or 15-degree bag works well for three-season use.
Choose a sleeping bag with 650-fill down or higher. If you can afford it, choose fill ratings of 850 or higher. They offer the very best warmth to rate ratios.
Compare down fill amounts when choosing a sleeping bag. A 20-degree bag with 12oz of 850-fill down will not be as warm as a 20-degree bag with 15oz of 850-fill down, for example.
There are two main types of backpacking bags, quilts and mummy bags. Mummy bags are the traditional shape most people are used to. You can drape them over you when it’s a warm night and then zip and cinch them all the way up for cold nights. Quilts are built on the premise that compressed down beneath one’s body is down not worth carrying. They eliminate this down so you are laying directly on the pad with the quilt tucked around your body. Because they’re open on the bottom and lack zippers, quilts are generally lighter than mummy bags. While they can be warm, they take some time and effort to get used to.
Because all bodies are different, it can be challenging to find a bag that fits just right for you. If you’re small, for example, make sure your bag is small too. A too-big sleeping bag will not be thermally efficient if you are unable to heat up all the air space around your body.
Sleeping pads don’t just provide comfort on lumpy campsites, they’re also a critical piece of warmth, insulating you from the cold ground.
Check the R-value of sleeping pads: the higher the number the more insulating the pad will be.
There are two primary types of sleeping pads: foam and inflatable. Foam is durable, light, and inexpensive. Choose inflatable pads for more comfort. They can be more expensive than foam, however. A pad in the 12–20oz range is ideal for backpacking because it will give you the best balance of weight, durability, and warmth.
Optional/Contingent:
If a stuffsack full of your daytime clothing is too lumpy and hard for your head, an inflatable pillow could be a great addition to your backpacking kit.
Cooking
Essential cooking items include a stove, a pot, a utensil, and some method of lighting a stove such as matches or lighter.
If you want to eat nothing but candy bars for 5 days straight, we’re not going to stop you. But if you’d like a warm meal here and there plus some coffee in the morning, an ultralight stove could make your backpacking trip more enjoyable.
There are two main types of stoves: ones that only boil and ones that have the ability to simmer. An example of a versatile and ultralight backpacking stove that can simmer is the MSR PocketRocket 2 Stove.
□ Pot
Some pots are integrated with the stove and some stand alone. If you want to be able to use your pot on a fire, get a non-integrated stove (one without a flux ring).
□ Utensil
Many backpackers won’t require more than a spork or spoon for digging rehydrated freeze-dried meals out of bags.
□ Sparker
A lighter, matches, or magnesium sparker is under the essential category because piezo lighters (the built-in igniters on stoves) can’t always be fully trusted. Encounters with water and sand can render them useless.
You may want to bring some of these optional/contingent items depending on various factors.
□ Bear Bag Or Canister
Bear canisters are required in some places. In some places a bear-resistant food bag may suffice. Check the regulations before you leave.
□ Odor-Proof Bags
Odor-proof bags can help hide the scent of food from critters. This is a good idea in popular sites where animals have become accustomed to humans. It’s also a good prevention method to keep more animals from getting used to human food.
You can get away with eating and drinking everything from your cook pot, but if you want to have coffee and oatmeal at the same time, a mug could be a good idea. It may also shorten the time you spend in camp in the morning so you can get an earlier start.
Water Storage & Treatment
Essential:
Bring as much capacity as you’ll need to hike from water source to water source. It’s also often a good idea to have a large water bladder in camp so you don’t have to walk down to the creek every 30 minutes.
Filter all water when backpacking to stave off giardia and other water-borne illnesses.
Optional/Contingent:
□ Water Purification Drops Or Tablets
Bring these along if you expect particularly silty, filter-clogging water or just want backup for peace of mind.
Repair, First Aid, Emergency
Essential:
If you’re backpacking, you’re most likely in the middle of nowhere, far from roads and civilization. Carry a first aid kit including band aids, gauze, antiseptic wipes, antibacterial ointment, painkillers, tweezers, insect sting treatment, medical tape, emergency blanket, and more.
A knife has so many uses, we believe it would be folly to leave it at home.
□ Cash & Credit Cards
If you’re thru hiking, money is essential for town stops. And for all other trips, you never know if you’ll exit the mountains at a resort of some kind, carrying with you a strong desire for beer and hot tubs. Just saying.
□ Sticky patches, extra zipper sliders, needle & thread
Even the best gear can face mishaps. Prepare to fix it yourself with a little repair kit.
Optional/Contingent:
While these are great for emergencies, we don’t recommend relying on them completely. Make sure your backpacking skills and knowledge are your first line of defense against the uncertainty of the wilderness.
□ Fire Starter
A fire starter can make it easier to start a potentially life-saving fire in wet conditions.
Essential:
□ Physical Maps
Physical maps don’t use batteries and therefore can’t die on you.
□ Calibrated Compass
Learn how to calibrate a compass and use it in conjunction with your physical map.
Optional/Contingent:
□ GPS Device
A dedicated GPS device is becoming less common due to the fact that phones can be used in the same fashion.
□ GPS Apps Loaded To Phone
CalTopo, Gaia, OnX, and other GPS apps are great for both trip planning and navigation. Make sure you have enough battery to power your phone throughout the duration of your trip and bring a physical map in case you drop your phone in a river.
Personal Care
Essential:
□ Sunscreen
When backpacking, you’ll likely be in the sun for 8–12 hours a day. And remember, high elevation sun can be stronger.
□ Toothbrush
Should you chop the handle off? We’ll leave that up to you.
□ Biodegradable Toothpaste
□ Toilet Paper & Ziplocs
Leave No Trace recommends packing out all garbage. This includes toilet paper and wet wipes. Double bag these hazardous waste items and stow them in an external pocket.
□ Lip Balm
Protect your lips from sun, wind, and cold with a moisturizing SPF lip balm.
Optional/Contingent:
□ Trowel
Poop should be buried at least 6” deep. If you don’t think you can dig a 6” hole with a stick or rock, bring a trowel.
□ Bidet
Bring along a small plastic bottle with a squeeze top to use as a backpacking bidet. It could be life changing.
□ Wag Bags
Many backpacking locations require wag bags for packing out human waste. Check regulations before you go.
□ Hand Sanitizer
Most bug protection will come from wearing long sleeves and long pants, but bring along some extra protection if it’s time for the hatch.
□ Nail Clippers
If it’s going to be a long trip, your nails will likely start to get uncomfortable in your shoes at some point.
□ Menstrual Products
A menstrual cup or disc is a great choice if you don't want to pack out maxi pads or tampons. Just be sure to bring biodegradable soap and hand sanitizer. If you're new to reusable menstrual products, we recommend a trial run or two before testing them on the trail.
□ Hairbrush
□ Medications
Bring whatever medications you usually take at home. Depending on your prescriptions, you may move this to the essential tab.
Electronics
Essential:
□ Headlamp
Unless backpacking through northern Alaska in June when the sun never fully sets, you’ll want a headlamp.
Optional/Contingent:
□ Phone
Backpacking without a smartphone is not only possible but super enjoyable. Fully unplug for the weekend or a week and observe what the respite does to your brain!
Bring one large enough to charge your phone and electronics for the duration of your trip
□ Cables
If you’re going to be charging electronics, don’t forget to bring the correct cables.
Sustenance
Essential:
□ Breakfasts, lunches, dinners & snacks
Most people consume between 1.5 and 2lbs of food per day. Make sure you have enough calories to fuel you for the duration of your trip. Freeze dried meals have gotten so tasty in recent years, we don’t think twice about bringing them on every trip. Don’t forget to bring along electrolytes and energy bars, too!
Miscellaneous
All of these items are optional but could boost your backpacking enjoyment.
□ Camera
□ Notebook + Pen Or Pencil
□ Deck Of Cards
□ Book
□ Binoculars
Gear For Dogs
Essential:
□ Food
□ Collar, ID Tags, Leash
Optional/Contingent:
□ Insulated and/or waterproof jacket
□ Backpack
□ Ultralight food/water bowl
□ Foam pad for sleeping on inside tent
Anything Else
Is there anything we didn’t mention in this list that you just have to have? Bring it along!
Getting Ready to Go Backpacking
This backpacking checklist isn’t exhaustive, and there may be some items that you won’t need based on your backpacking style, the terrain, or the weather. Safety and first aid kits are a priority, along with water, food, layers, and most everything else mentioned above.
Do you know the 7 Leave No Trace Principles? If you’re new to backpacking, brush up on these easy principles to minimize your impact, preserve our outdoor spaces for generations to come, and stay safe while you’re at it.
Finally, research the best backpacking areas near you in your area. Then, round up all your gear, pack your pack, and head off to your next backpacking adventure! This Backpacking 101 article could help you get prepared.
Where To Go Backpacking
Public Lands
Most backpacking trips will take place on public land. This includes both state and federal lands. The agencies managing public land include National Park Service (NPS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and Forest Services (USFS). You can find information on backpacking directly through the agencies’ websites.
Helpful Links
FAQs
Q: What are the backpacking essentials?
- Tent, sleeping bag, and sleeping pad
- Stove, Pot (and food!)
- Water containers
- First aid kit and safety/emergency gear
- Personal hygiene items
- & more (see above)
Q: What are the pros of backpacking?
- It’s a great way to spend time in remote terrain.
- It provides solitude nearly impossible to find car camping.
- It’s an empowering way to build trip-planning and wilderness skills.
- It’s enjoyable.
- It’s an excellent way to detox from the internet.
Q: What are the cons of backpacking?
- You have to carry everything you need on your back, so you need to plan ahead. Not to mention the weight!
- It can be expensive. All the gear above can add up.
- Being in remote places is inherently dangerous. The only way to get help in case of an emergency could be a satellite communicator.
Q: Is backpacking safe?
A: Backpacking is safe as long as you are physically fit and step into the woods fully prepared with backpacking and wilderness navigation skills. Your safety is also predicated on choosing the right gear for the trip and enough calories to get you back to the car safely. Safe backpacking requires careful decision making when you’re out there. It’s also important to research your destination thoroughly ahead of time and always let someone know where you’re going and when you plan to return home.
Q: Is backpacking legal?
A: Backpacking is legal on most public lands but few private lands. Research your destination ahead of time to make sure you aren’t breaking any rules. Make a quick phone call to the agency managing your destination if you have any questions about legality.
Q: Is backpacking allowed in national parks?
A: Backpacking is allowed in national parks but not everywhere within them. Call ahead to find out where you can backpack within the national park you want to visit. Permits and reservations may be required for backpacking in some places.
Q: Is backpacking fun?
A: Absolutely. Why else would we have written 3,896 words about it! To ensure it’s fun for you too, get the right gear, plan ahead, and make safe decisions and you’ll start dreaming about backpacking all winter long, just like us.