When I feel like bringing a luxury item, it’s my Helinox Chair Zero. Every pound counts, but at my age being able to sit for a few hours without my back hurting too much helps a lot.

Small lightweight collapsible chair with good lower back support… Even if you bring a hammock, after a couple of days you’ll appreciate sitting up straight… Lightweight waterfilter like the sawyer squeeze… Eliminating carrying liquids is gold

How about posting your pack list when you get done and folks can make suggestions? In the meantime, I have a bunch of little trinkets I take with me, but as far as “heavy” or bulking nonessentials I consider worth their weight:

• backpacking chair for sure
• pocket chainsaw
• Jetboil zip: compact, affordable, great for quick boiling to make coffee, tea, oatmeal, noodles, or freeze-dried food (especially so you can stay in the tent longer on cold mornings)
• shemagh- lots of uses as a scarf, towel, bag, etc
• Sawyer filter
• frogg toggs rain suit - cause getting drenched stinks

Here’s some small stuff you might not think of that’s great to have

• Paracord
• sawdust compressed fire starter
• gorilla tape and zip ties
• head lamp
• Moleskin for blisters and hot spots
• a small towel (if no shemagh-)
• plastic bags

Happy Trails!!!

I love to take a small carabiner or two, clipped onto the outside of my pack. They’ve been surprisingly helpful. I also often bring some ziplock bags in different sizes. They’re mostly useful on longer hikes.

An elastic band and a racquetball for stretching and myofascial release. 10-20 minutes effort in the evening helps me sleep better and get moving faster in the morning.

A real pillow, like the thermarest compressible foam pillow. Not an air filled pillow. I need a proper pillow for a good sleep.

I always pack a small notepad (the kind that are usually found in hotel room) and pencils.

It is not essential but I have never not used it.

I backpack in the wilderness primarily, and usually at altitude where it gets cold at night. I have the kit down pretty damn tight at this point. I’m not ultralight but I do try to be lightweight.

Kit (split between myself and husband, I list what I use / what we both use):

Nemo Tensor insulated pad with pump sack - amazingly quick to inflate

Hikenture air pillow with fabric cover - quite comfortable and lightweight

Sea to Summit Flame III sleeping bag

Silk sleeping bag liner

Knit cap

Sleep socks

Petzl headlamp

Garmin inReach mini

10,000 mAh power bank

Pixel 6 phone with Garmin Explore app and Kindle reader

Garmin Instinct watch

Jetboil mini stove

Katadyn pump filter

Sawyer squeeze with Cnoc bag (we do redundancy for water filtering)

Titanium spork

MSR stand for non-Jetboil gas canister

2L camelbak water bladder

aluminum mug

750 mL Eddy camelbak bottle

SOL Emergency mylar blanket

Small med kit including leucotape and afterbite

Small Swiss Army knife

Two collapsible silicone bowls (clean water and soapy water)

Glasses

Contact cleaner

Dry soap flakes

Small microfiber cloth for washing body/face

Small microfiber cloth for washing the bits (wash every day)

Microfiber body towel

Picaridin bug spray

Spray sunscreen spf 30

toothbrush

toothpaste

flossers

Bandana

Hair elastic

Bear canister or Ursack

Helinox chair

Camp shoes

Spare carabiners

Ziplock bags for handling waste and trash

Roll of dog waste bags (for containing dirty toilet paper into the ziplock)

toilet paper

Aluminum spade (Deuce…something??)

Tent - depends

Food - depends

Clothes - depends

Rain jacket - depends

Emergency rain poncho - depends

Of the top of my head, a mesh bag. While hiking I use it to keep wet/dirty clothes in, can even hang it outside my pack to get stuff to dry. Also keeps stinky clothes separated from clean ones. Once in camp I hang a dry line and hang everything up to dry/air out then if I have beverages I wish to chill I put them in the mesh sack and put it in a stream.

It’s gotta be my Helinox Chair Zero. Sure, I’ve got to turn in my Ultralight credentials by bringing it, but damn, it sure feels great to sit comfortably, enjoy a nice cup of coffee in the morning relaxing and reclining in comfort, or chatting by a fire over dinner while sitting in pure comfort.

I don’t always bring it backpacking, but when I do, I never regret it.

Cheers.

Paracord always comes in handy.
I don’t think I’ve ever made a camping trip where I wasn’t glad I brought a bunch of Paracord along.
It’s pretty much “essential” to me at this point.

Other stuff that I find essential, but not everyone might have on their list.

• Headlamp is probably something everyone has, but just in case.
• Dry bag and compression sack. Fit more into your pack and keep your stuff dry. A spare dry bag for the dirty laundry stuff.
• Stormproof matches, they have more in common with road flares than traditional matches. Lighters fail, wind blows them, etc. The huge storm matches never let me down. Overkill? Sure. I like to overkill my firestarting.
• If I’m going car camping where space and weight isn’t as limited: a bag of charcoal and a chimney starter. I’ve started roaring fires in heavy rain. Many a friend were made on camping sites this way.
• As we rely more on technology, my next buy is probably a portable solar charger.

A tiny air pump by FLEXTAILGEAR. So nice for the mattress and pillow, and doubles as a hanging tent light.

laptop, first and foremost

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