Multi-day Hiking Gear

Backpacks
& Storage

Camping
Equipment

Apparel &
Weather Gear

Footwear &
Hiking Poles

Electronics
& Navigation

Hygiene
& Survival

Thru-hiking comes down to how much weight you can comfortably carry to safely hike the distance between resupply points. This includes the base-weight, typically including items like a backpack, tent, sleeping bag and clothes, and the variable-weight which is mostly food, water and perhaps some toiletries. The gear list will be influenced by the size of pack, the seasons and weather, resupply opportunities, surface conditions, altitude, fitness and strength, your bodyweight and age. Solo thru-hiking has the added challenge of not being able to share the load.

Gear List

I use this page as a guide and reminder when preparing for a hike, and the gear list is constantly evolving. Depending on the terrain and predicted weather, not everything listed is taken. After experimenting and adjusting through trial and error, I’ve compiled the packing list below, which meets most of my hiking needs.

Backpacks & Storage

Trekking Backpack
- Backpack (Gregory Focal 58) 1269g
Compression & Stuff Sacks
- Stoic 2L drybag stuff sack x2 (breakfast / dinner) 17g
- Stoic 5L drybag stuff sack (snacks) 28g
- Sea To Summit Ultra-Sil Event Dry compression sack (clothes) 67g
Water Bottles
- 2x any supermarket 1.5-2L plastic softdrink bottle
Bags & Wallets
- Waistpack (Gregory Nano 3.5) 215g
Backpack Accessories
- Backpack rain cover (Gregory) 99g
- Deuter Transport Cover (only for checked baggage) 470g
- Repair tape and patches 38g

Camping Equipment

Shelters
- Tent (Nemo 1P Dragonfly Bike) 1202g, or…
- Bivouac Sack (Outdoor Research Advanced Bivy) 1028g
- Poncho Tarp 2.2m x 1.5m (raincoat, tarp shelter, backpack cover) 352g
- Tarp clips 2-4 23g each
- Tarp bungee cords x4 12g each
- 6m 3mm 125kg nylon paracord rope 46g
- Hiking poles (to support the tent fly or tarp) 527g
- Tent pegs (3x MSR Cyclone) 35g each
- Tent pegs (4x Nemo) 17g each
- 3x shoe laces (guy-rope with carabiner) 18g each
- 1x shoe lace (with carabiner) 17g
- Ground sheet (nylon silver auto windscreen sun/snowshade) 173g
- Repair tape and patches 38g
Sleeping
- Nemo Equipment Coda 25/35 873g
- Air mattress (Thermarest NeoAir XLite) 366g
- Air pillow (SeaToSummit Aeros Ultralight) 80g
- Ear plugs
- Repair tape and patches 38g
Water
- Katadyn Befree 1L Tactical 78g
- 2x any supermarket 1.5-2L plastic softdrink bottle
- Katadyn Micropur Forte MF 1T water purification tablets (in First Aid)
Food
- Breakfast mix (150g per day, oats, nuts. powdered milk etc.)
- Muesli bars (in between) 1 per day, 32g each
- Mixed salted nuts and raisins (in between) 100g per day
- Dried fruit (in between, luxury)
- Mini salami / cured meat (in between) 1 per day, 22g
- Dinner mix (150g per day, instant (puffed) risotto rice, dried veges/fruit, flavouring)
- Assorted vitamins and minerals 10g per day
- Eucalyptus bonbons (or other, energy/treats)
Cooking
- Burner (MSR Pocket Rocket 2) 73g
- Burner case 30g
- Gas bottle small 3-5+ days (174g canister, 97g gas)
- Gas bottle medium 4-10+ days (385g canister, 200g gas)
- Flip fuel (to fill small bottle from larger, not taken)
- Small BIC lighter 11g
- Flint / firesteel 27g
- Watertight vitamin bottle for firestarters 20g
- Few sheets of newspaper
- Sea to Summit Alpha pot 1.2L with lid 181g
- Homemade food pouch insulation pouch 103g
- Reusable food pouch x2 13g each
- Small day-ration plastic container 29g
- Small bottle detergent 42g
- Scrub sponge 7g
Knives & Tools
- Pocketknife (Victorinox CH Soldier) 130g
- Long-handle spoon (SeaToSummit Alpha Light) 15g

Apparel & Weather Gear

Head & Eyewear
- Heimhat 63g
- Wide-rimmed hat 145g
- Mosquito head net
- Beanie 92g
- Glasses / sunglasses 22g
- Handkerchief/bandana 15g
Upper Body / Arms
- Jackets
  - Fleece jacket 687g
  - Down jacket (Puffer, Mountain Hardware StretchDown Light Shacket) 453g
- Shirts
  - T-shirt BN205 Beyond Nordic 2XL 215g
  - T-shirt BN205 Beyond Nordic S/M
  - T-shirt Icebreaker M 139g
  - Long-sleeve T-shirt (Icebreaker Merino) 287g
  - Button-up shirt (Fjallraven Abisco Hike Shirt) 165g
- Gloves
  - Pearl Izumi cycling gloves 86g
Lower Body
- Trousers
  - Zip-off trousers (Beyond Nordic BN005) 525g
  - Belt 120g
- Shorts / Swimwear
  - Adidas shorts
Base Layers
- Underpants x2 (maybe x3) 76g each
- Revolution Race Fuse Merino base layer hooded long-sleeves 255g
- Revolution Race Fuse Merino base layer longjohns 204g
- Icebreaker Merino base layer T-shirt short-sleeves 120g
Wind & Rain Gear
- Poncho tarp 352g
- Wind/rain shell jacket Arc’teryx Beta AR 480g
- Cycling rain pants 241g

Footwear & Poles

Hiking Boots/Walking Boots
- Hanwag Alaska GTX 2016g pair
Multisport Shoes
- Merrell Moab 3 944g pair
Sandals/Water Shoes
- Zero Shoes Z-Trail EV sandals
Socks & Gaiters
- 2 pairs thick hiking socks 78g pair
- 3 pairs any thin inner sock 37g pair
Hiking Poles
- Leki Corklite DSS Antishock 527g pair
Footcare
- Anti-fungal cream (feet/toes)
- Anti-fungal powder (boots)

Electronics & Navigation

GPS
- Smartphone iPhone (iOS) 217g
- Phone protective case
- Maps 3D Pro App (iOS)
- GPX viewer 2 App (iOS)
- Downloaded GPX and map tiles for offline use
Power & Cables
- Xtorm 20W 10,000mAh solar bank with LED light 284g
- BigBlue 14W USB foldable solar power charger 279g
- USB-C to Lightning cable (adapter, phone charge) 20g
- USB-C to USB-C cable (adapter, battery charge) 18g
- USB to Lightning cable (solar/train, phone charge) 18g
- USB to USB-C cable (solar/train, battery charge) 31g
- Phone fast charger adapter 54g
Lighting
- Petzl Tactikka +RGB (3xAAA) head torch 86g
- Xtorm 20W 10,000mAh solar bank with LED light
- Smartphone
Camera
- Smartphone iPhone
- Small Joby Gorilla tripod with phone clamp 71g
Compass & Maps
- Magnetic compass with magnifying glass
- Printed maps as required
Notes & Documents
- Passport/ID 40g
- Travel documents
- Debit card 24g (all cards)
- Health insurance card
- DJH Hostelling International card
- Some cash/coins 70g
- Small notebook
- Pen 8g
- Pencil 10g

Hygiene & Survival

Toilet
- Toilet paper 115g
- Small spade 56g
First Aid
- First Aid Kit 392g
  - First aid handbook
  - 3 bandages
  - Assorted plasters
  - Blister plasters
  - Cotton buds
  - Betadine
  - Latex gloves
  - Surgical needle & thread
  - Tape
  - Scissors
  - Tweezers
  - Tick removal tweezers
  - Tiny Swiss Army knife
  - ORS electrolyte sachets
  - Mask
  - Covid test
  - Emergency blanket
  - Sumatriptan
  - Paracetamol
  - Ibuprofen
  - Aspirin
  - Voltaren K
  - Anti-histamines
Hygiene
- Plastic Bag with Toiletries 225g
  - Hygiene wipes
  - Body wash / shampoo
  - Toothpaste
  - Toothbrush
  - Toothpicks
  - Razor
  - Antiperspirant
  - Small Mirror
- Sunscreen (backpack waist, 77g all)
- Refillable eau de toilette (backpack waist)
- Microfiber travel towel/cloth 87g dry, up to 200 wet & squeezed!
Insects
- Small refillable Deet spray (backpack waist)
- Mosquito head net
Functional
- Whistle (integrated in backpack)
- Carabiners (assorted, integrated in backpack weight)
- Travel cable lock 68g
- 4x shoe laces (shoes, washing, tent, tarp – see camping)
- 6m 3mm 125kg nylon paracord Rope 46g
- 4x clothes pegs 7g each
- Zip-ties (assorted)
- Hair ties (5x assorted) 2g each
- Keyrings (4x assorted) 1g each
- Plastic bags (assorted) 69g
Repair
- Assorted tapes and patches (with zip ties) 38g