Why do you need dishes? 

You probably want to eat while you’re backpacking, right? That usually requires something to eat on and with. 

This section covers cups, plates, bowls, sporks and spoons. And whether you should bring them at all.

Remember that more dishes means more to clean. The more you can eat out of a bag, the less you have to clean. 

The absolute minimum you’ll need if you are boiling water for drinks and food is a small pot. Use the pot to boil water for your bag meal and then boil again for a hot drink. Eat out of the bag and drink out of the pot. 

To eat from a bag, bring a long spoon or spork. The bags are usually tall so a taller utensil works better. Most utensils are short and result in sauce all over your hands. 

For cups, it depends on what you drink. If I’m not having anything hot to drink, I won’t bring a mug and just drink from my water bottle the whole time. I love a hot coffee in camp to start the day though so I almost always bring a lightweight mug. I boil water for coffee and then boil again for oatmeal in the pot. 

For plates and bowls, it depends on what you’re eating. If you’re eating bag meals or something in your 1 pot, you won’t need them. If you are sharing food, you might need something to put it all in. 

Only bring what you need

Once you know what you’re eating, you can plan your dishes. Only bring the necessities. If you are sharing food with someone else, share the weight and let them carry some of the dishes. 

Just eat in the bag

If you are eating dehydrated meals in the bag, you won’t need much for dishes outside of a pot and a long spoon. This means less dishes and easy cleanup. Many of the meal bags have some sort of foil or liner inside and can’t be burned. Pack garbage out.

Different materials

Most backpacking dishes are made out of metal or plastic. Both are durable and last a long time. Try to get lightweight where you can. 

Long spoon for bag meals

The bags made for dehydrated bag meals are usually quite tall. Some companies are catching on and making short, wide bags. If you only have a short spoon, you end up with a lot of food on your hands reaching into the bags. A long spoon or spork solves this problem. 

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Why do you need a compass?

Some maps show trails, lake names and mountain names on them and may work for navigating without a compass but most don’t. The lakes and mountains also need to have signs for this to work. 

A compass will show you the direction you are heading and let you triangulate position off landmarks like mountains. 

Compasses also work well in bad weather or dense trees. If the weather gets very cloudy, foggy or snowy you may not be able to see any sort of landmark or figure out where north is.

Go for small, lightweight and reliable

Seeing as your maps and compass might stay in your bag a lot of the time, it’s nice to get something small and very lightweight.

Line up distant landmarks with a mirror

Some compass models come with a mirror on top that flips up. You can then hold the compass up in front of you, lining up the object you want to measure from and see the compass reflected in the mirror. This is helpful when you are finding your position on a map using landmarks around you.

Practice using the compass

It takes practice to know how to use a map and compass. Take a course and practice when you know where you are so you’ll be more comfortable in unknown terrain.

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Why do you need a coffee maker?

I don’t go far without my Aeropress coffee maker but it’s big to bring on the trail. I like the Starbucks instant coffee packets the best. Easy and fast to make without much hassle. A bit of coffee whitener or powdered milk that is shelf-safe for a week and the day can begin. If you don’t drink coffee, completely ignore this section!

Bring what you like

There are so many coffee makers on the market, it’s easy to find one you like. Practice at home and get used to using it. There can be some early mornings on the trail!

Some folks carry an Aeropress, drip cup and filters, basket filters or just instant. Whatever it is you like, there’s probably a lightweight version for the trail.

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Another optional piece of gear. I don’t go on many trips without a camera though. It’s an excellent tool for documenting trips. Phone cameras are amazing these days so that can be a quick camera if you don’t have anything else. 

I try to document camp life and my gear as well as the grand vistas and beautiful views. Photographing the details along the way helps flesh out the story. You might even use them to write a story about the trip online somewhere. 

Go small and light

What kind of camera you take is entirely up to you. Your phone you are taking anyways is probably the smallest and lightest camera you can find. Just don’t kill the batteries. 

An exception to this is bringing a larger camera for better photos. I prefer taking my mirrorless camera since the larger zoom lenses are so much better than any phone. 

GoPros are getting to be excellent all around cameras as well, minus the zoom. They also have an advantage of being super durable and mountable anywhere. 

Bring a power bank

If you plan on taking a lot of photos, make sure you have something to charge your camera with. Taking photos, listening to music and using a phone for maps will drain the battery quickly. 

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Why do you need trekking poles? 

Trekking poles are walking sticks with soft handles, like ski poles. Sometimes they have wide discs around the end at the ground to keep them from sinking into mud.

Poles help you keep your balance on slippery logs and river crossings and help take weight off your knees going down hills. You can also use them to set up a tent or a tarp. 

Trekking poles are optional. Some people love them, others don’t like the extra pieces to bring them. I personally love using them. They’ve kept me from falling head first into some large mud puddles.

Look for adjustable poles

Good poles will be adjustable in 1 or 2 places. They’ll pack down smaller and are easier to set at the right height. It’s nice to adjust them shorter for going uphill and longer for going downhill. 

Carbon is lighter but breaks easier

Carbon and aluminum are the most common materials for trekking poles. Carbon is lighter but will break easier. Aluminum is stronger and will bend if it gets stuck in a rock before it snaps. 

Go lighter

Try to get the lightest trekking poles you can. You’ll be carrying them in your hands or on your pack the entire hike so lighter will be easier on your arms.

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Why do you need a water filter? 

No matter where you are, there’s a chance the water source can have protozoa like Cryptosporidium or Giardia. Both cause stomach problems like diarrhea. Not something you want on your hiking trip. 

To make it safe to drink we can either boil the water, or use a water filter, UV pen or purification chemicals. All methods make the water safe to drink. 

Boiling the water is time-consuming and requires a lot of fuel for your stove. In an emergency it still works. It will be safe to drink after you bring the water to a rolling boil for 1 minute.

Another method is a pump filter. With the handle, you pump water through a very fine filter which catches protozoa like Cryptosporidium or Giardia. Pumps require a bit of work but is quick to get multiple liters of water. You can use gravity to do the work for you as well, letting the water drip from one water bladder through a filter down to another bladder.

A third method is to use chemical drops or tablets in the water. Over 15 or 20 minutes, the chemicals do their work killing things in the water. Sometimes the water has a taste after.

The last method is to use a UV light like a Steripen which sterilizes any bugs in the water, rendering them harmless to you and your stomach. 

Having a way to get drinkable water is one of the 10 Essentials. Even for day hikes, bring a way to get more water.

Measure how much you need per day

We need to estimate how much water you need per day. These are estimates that I roughly use. They center around using about .5 liters per hour hiking and adding meals before and after. If the weather is warmer, then I’ll need more. 

• Breakfast and getting ready: 1.5 liters
• Morning hiking and lunch: 1.5 liters
• Afternoon hiking: 1.5 liters
• Dinner and evening: 2 liters

These numbers will be different for you. It depends on age, temperature, duration and intensity of hiking and what kind of drinks you’re having.

Now that you know what water you’ll need and when you can think about when you want to get the water. 

• Breakfast and getting ready: filtered the night before
• Morning hiking and lunch: filtered before starting to hike
• Afternoon hiking: filtered around lunch
• Dinner and evening: filtered in camp before dinner

Exactly when you filter or clean water depends on your water sources. These are when I like to get the water ready. 

Gravity filters are the easiest but large

For filtering large amounts of water, gravity filters are very convenient. They use 2 water bladders and a filter in between which can be large for a solo lightweight setup. For large groups, they work very well. Fill the dirty bag with water and hang in a tree. Once it’s done, there’s 3-4 liters of clean water.

Test different methods. This might not work well for you.

Lifestraw are great for emergencies but…

Lifestraws have become popular in the last few years for their simplicity. Just drink from any water source and you’re done. The problem comes in when you need to store some water to take with you. There’s no way to just fill a water bottle with clean water to have for hiking and cooking. Not all trails have water at regular intervals.

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Why do you need rope?

Rope can be a very useful thing to have on the trail. It has many uses from day to day to emergency. 

For regular uses you can tie up tarps or pitch out tents. In emergencies you can tie up broken gear, or makeshift splints, slings and rescue sleds. 

Depending on where you are hiking you might need to lock up food overnight in a bear cache or canister, but if it’s allowed you can hang it high in a tree. That requires rope. 

Paracord is strong and light

Paracord is a strong and light rope originally used in parachute lines. These days it’s a good multipurpose rope for anything outdoors like hanging bear bags or pitching tarps. 550 paracord (Type III) is popular since it’s not too large but still can hold 550 pounds.

How long?

How long of a rope you need depends on what you want to do with it. I usually bring one 15 meter piece if I’m hanging food in trees. If I’m hanging a tarp, I’ll have two 5 meter pieces and 2 10 meter pieces. You might be able to bring less if the campsites are heavily treed. 

Throw a bag

To be able to get a rope high up into a tree it’s helpful to have a small bag with something to tie to. Tie the rope to the bag, put a small rock in the bag and throw it up over a high branch. Make sure to hang on to the other end of the rope. Tie your tarp or food onto one end and then pull it up into the tree. Tie the ground end to the tree or another branch so it’s easy to retrieve. 

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Why do you need a headlamp? 

Around camp and possibly on the trail, you’ll need light to see. A headlamp or flashlight lets you see where you’re going. With a headlamp your hands can be free to make dinner or put up your tent. 

Headlamps are part of the 10 Essentials safety equipment. If you find yourself lost, even on a day hike, you could be out after dark trying to find your way. Headlamps are good signalling devices for trying to get rescued as well. 

Phones have lights on them as well but if you run the light down on your phone, you can’t call for help if you need to. 

Lightweight and comfortable is important

Most headlamps have a wide comfortable band so you can wear them on your head for hours at a time. Make sure yours is comfortable and doesn’t dig in anywhere. Try them on in the store if you can. Lighter weight headlamps usually are more comfortable. They don’t have as much weight hanging off your head. 

Some headlamps are extremely lightweight though and only have wire for a band which isn’t as comfortable. 

Bright is good 

Very small or inexpensive headlamps aren’t very bright. While it might be ok around camp for work right in front of your face, you won’t be able to see down the trail very far if you have to hike. A good headlamp will be 300 lumens or more. 

Headlamps over 300 lumens can be heavier and use more batteries so make sure you need that size before getting anything bigger. 

Look for good battery life

Running out of batteries on your headlamp can be dangerous so make sure you get something with a good long battery life on it. You won’t have to worry about running out. 

Bring extra batteries or battery pack

Since headlamps and having light is so important for safety and just comfort, make sure to bring extra batteries. Some headlamps can recharge with USB so a small, fully charged battery pack can charge your headlamp and other things on the trail. 

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Why do you need food? 

Well, we need food to survive so I guess we’re taking it. The trick for backpacking is packing light. 

We have to carry all our food so aim to bring food that’s lightweight but has a lot of calories. Hiking all day burns a lot of calories. To keep your strength up, you’ll need more calories than just sitting around the house. If you burn 2000 calories at home, expect to burn 2500 or 3000 out hiking. This means packing enough food.

We’ve got a few options for food.

Regular food

Regular food from home is just fine to bring backpacking. Be careful bringing anything that has a lot of packaging. We have to pack that out too. 

Popular items that might just be in your kitchen now are great for hiking: trail mix, nuts, dried fruits, oatmeal, shelf-safe meats and cheeses, coffee, tea, dried soup and ramen noodles. Try to have some protein and fat at each meal and not just carbohydrates.

Dehydrated/Freeze-dried bag meals

Most outdoor stores have dehydrated meals in a sealed bag that are good sizes for 1 or 2 servings. The bag is waterproof so you just boil water, add it to the bag and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. They won’t be a gourmet restaurant meal but at the end of a long day on the trail, they taste amazing. 

Dehydrate your own

If you have a dehydrator at home, you can make your own dehydrated meals. Experiment with this before you get on the trails. Soups are a great place to start. 

Cold-soaked

To completely leave the stove at home you can just pack cold-soaked jars or bags of food. They soak while you hike and you get a quick, easy meal at camp. I prefer hot meals when I can but it does take more work. 

Check serving sizes on the bag meals

Some serving sizes are for 1 and some for 2. If you find you are really hungry at the end of the day, most 2-serving bag meals are really a 1.5 serving. Adding a bread or bagel to a meal can bump up those calories if you need more. 

Check water requirements

Not all bag meals require the same amount of water. Make sure you know how much they use and you have a water bottle or pot that can measure that amount. Sucks to get on the trail with a 500 ml pot and see that you need 700 ml in one of your meals. Not the end of the world, but inconvenient. 

I like matching the amount of water I need with the amount of coffee or tea I’m having with it. Boil part for the coffee, part for the meal and you’re ready to go. 

Add spice and oil 

Some dehydrated meals aren’t the most flavourful. To spice things up a little you can bring your own spice kit. A dash of this and a pinch of that probably won’t weigh you and down and will bring a lot more joy to your meals. 

I love adding a bit of olive oil to my meals as well. It adds a nice flavour to some recipes and packs a bunch of extra fatty calories that your body will love on a long hike. 

Replace your sodium

You’ll likely lose a lot of salt when hiking and sweating. Make sure your meals or hydration tablets add this back in by the end of the day. Don’t go overboard though. Many bag meals are heavy on the sodium and you won’t need to add any. 

I like to take hydration tablets like Nuun hiking. If I’m dehydrated I feel like garbage but a Nuun every day will replace the electrolytes and hydrate faster. Stay away from garbage like stuff which is mostly sugar. 

Pick your favourites and test at home

The middle of a 7 day trip is not a great place to have stomach issues. If you can test some of your meals at home before you go and see what they do to your stomach. I find some are so full of sodium and preservatives that they wreck my stomach. A lot more bag meals have come on the market recently that are much cleaner and can be gluten free or vegetarian.

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Why do you need a music player? 

You don’t. If you like music and it’s going to be a long trip then you can bring some on an iPod or phone with you. I usually have my phone with me so I download a bit for use offline. 

Battery life 

You probably already have a music player you like so there won’t be much for tips here. I do want to bring up battery life of whatever you are using. If you need your phone for satellite communication or navigation, don’t blow all your battery listening to music. 

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