What do you carry in your day pack?

Hendrik Morkel wrote an interesting post on his blog about the essential items in your pack. If you don't follow Hendrik's blog I recommend it highly. My approach to gear organization & packing has changed recently so I thought it might be fun and possibly interesting to write a follow-up post to Hendrik's original question.

If you asked me 2 years ago what was in my day pack I would have chuckled. I typically pulled my gear together just prior to the trip. The process wasn't a particularly efficient solution but it worked for me. Occasionally, I'd find myself with too much gear or worse than that I'd forget something. Ultimately, day hikes are just not that critical so it was never really a problem. Now that we have a 2 year old and a 2 month old around the house, I have significantly less free time. I've noticed that this keeps me from getting ready for my longer trips until the dead last minute which can be a little stressful. I'm an analytical guy so after noticing that getting ready for trips was beginning to be no fun I changed the process. The biggest improvement? Keeping my base gear in a pack and ready to go. Simple & effective. So now the big question... What's in there, Don?

I keep the day pack loaded with the essentials to get through an unintended overnight.That strategy is more of an outcome of having the core prepared for packing for bigger trips but its a nice benefit. In short, there's minimal shelter, limited food, water treatment, first aid, fire starting capabilities and a few personal conveniences.

This is what I carry - revel in the brilliance

1. Food - In this case, ramen with the spice pack replaced by miso, a block of dark chocolate, a pack of instant grits and some Starbucks instant coffee.
2. Wet Wipes - Becoming a dad has taught me the wonders of these.
3. Cook kit - My go-to kit is the Trapper mug paired with a Caldera Cone system (more detail on that below) & a few ounces of Heet fuel.
4. Utensils - Ti spoon & free chopsticks because its just not proper to eat ramen with a spoon. ;) They're resting on a neoprene sunglasses case I use to protect my phone when its in the pack.
5. Shelter - MLD tarp packs small and light. Perfect shelter from unexpected rain showers.
6. Essentials - Mini compass, mini whistle & eLite headlamp.
7. Stakes - To stake things.
8. Water treatment - Aquamira Frontier Pro & rolled up 1L Platypus.
9. Miscellaneous - MSR towel & 50ft of reflective line stored in my rock bag.
10. First Aid - more detail on that below.
11. Miscellaneous conveniences - more detail on that below

So first a little detail on the cook kit. I've spent a LOT of time over the past few years testing gear in the lab (read: kitchen) and out in the field. Jenny has discovered me on more than a few occasions to find me with alcohol stoves, fans, thermometers and spreadhseets taking over the kitchen. I used to default to my Snowpeak canister stove but I prefer my Trail Designs Caldera Cone system paired with the Trapper mug now. Its small, light, quiet & efficient. Who could ask for more? I keep a few ounces of Heet (yellow bottle) in an old contact solution bottle. (reduce, re-use, recycle, right?)

Trail Designs Caldera Cone & Trapper mug

My first aid kit is pretty simple and I assembled it myself. I keep it in a snack sized ziplock bag. Most commercially available systems are expensive and seem to have either too much or too little. Example: blister treatment. Most of the items in the photo are self explanatory. Let me know if you are interested in a little more detail.

I keep a few conveniences / essentials in a Granite Gear silnyl envelope. From left to right: firestarter packets, Rite In The Rain notebook, pencil (because pens always seem to dry up), mirror, suntan lotion & Dr. Bronners in mini-droppers, the greatest knife on earth & toothbrush / toothpaste.

Most important of all is to remember that there's no right or wrong answer. I had a lot of help putting the photos for this post together from Kate. When I asked her what her essential gear list looked like I got a radically different answer (see photo below). Ultimately, its all about priorities and experience.

So now the question is... What do you carry in your pack?

Kate and her essentials - Its a very princess themed pack but I'm still proud. She's chosing UL princesses at least!

Grayson Highlands Trip

Dad & I took a trip to the Grayson Highlands for a three day, two night walk. We started at the state park just over the Virginia line and planned a 25 mile loop. Our past several trips have been mileage intense so this walk was designed to take it easy. We were celebrating my dad's 70th & Father's Day so there was no need to pop off big miles.

The Highlands are famous for the ponies but the views are spectacular as well and are a great change of pace from the dense growth typical of the lower elevations of the Appalachians.

Great views constantly along the AT connector, AT & Crest Trail

Wildflowers everywhere

A rocky outlook at the AT - Crest Trail connection

More wildflowers

We walked out to the AT then to the Crest trail after an eventual (& unintended) detour on Spring Trail. We planned short miles and the walking was relatively easy so the extra miles weren't a big deal. Dad almost managed to become close friends with this guy. He was non-poisonous but it still gets your attention at that second you almost step on a snake.

The trails in the area aren't marked that well so we eventually found our way to the Crest Trail and our first night's camp after 10 miles or so. I learned that I'm not a big fan of walking trails that are dual purpose horse trails. The flies, pies and lack of sleep had me ready to sit down and relax. 

It wasn't long before we were greeted by the famous ponies. They were fun to watch and VERY curious thanks to all those before us that gave them snacks. We had to politely invite them to find another camp several times.

Prancing along... this is my meadow!

The ponies were certain that dad had pony snacks in his bag

Home Sweet Home

What we didn't expect to see came over the rise next - free range long horn cattle. There were a dozen or so of them. They were as curious as the ponies - just much larger and with lots more horn! They were determined that they were going to bed down right on top of us so we had to herd them back down the hill several times. Cows are stubborn but calm.

We woke up early the next day, took care of breakfast and hit the trail in hopes of missing possible storms. The walk from our camp to Wise Shelter on the AT was very short (~5-7 miles). After getting there it was exactly as expected - a little dirty, lots of flies and almost as many people. We decided to find a more comfortable camp site. After a short search we found a great spot in hardy grass under a tree. There were still a lot of flies but the pesky hikers were nowhere to be found.

 

My MLD Grace Solo & Caldera / Trapper combo

Dad prefers the Shires Tarptent Contrail

It didn't take long at all before a localized thunderstorm rolled in. It was a monster with HEAVY rain and reported 60mph gusts. One of the nice things about having a tarp is that you can invite a buddy to hang out in a pop up storm like this one so dad and I just hung out. One of the bad things about a tarp is that you're directly on the ground when heavy storms dump water so fast it runs across the top. It wasn't long before there was a 1cm deep flow running under the tarp. It wasn't a big deal but it was good for a chuckle with two 6ft 180lb guys huddled under a Grace Solo. As soon as there was a break in the storm we took all of our gear (except shelters) to the Wise Shelter to find 7 other people and a dog there. Eventually, it filtered down to us and four other people. With strong winds still in the area and having never actually used an AT shelter we decided to call it a night there. Honestly, I can't recommend it. Noisy people + stone hard floor + someone deciding that solar powered outdoor lights attached to their pack should burn all night (yes that actually happened) = a bad night's sleep. The best part? The lady who carried the lights was truly puzzled on how to lighten her load and make it to 10 miles per day for the next 21 days. This is absolutely no insult to her - just proof that UL walking needs more exposure! As a side note I was able to make it through this whole trip with no perceived need for three entire solar powered yard light systems. Maybe I don't know what I'm missing. ;)

The next day we walked out from Wise Shelter back to the park via the AT. Again, it was a pretty short day. We were out early since hard floors make for early mornings. 

Smiling because we ALMOST missed this connector with rain threatening

We did run into some NORMAL wildlife on this trip

There isn't a trail in the area that isn't littered with stones

We were back to the trail head by 8am (I told you it was an early start) and the 4 hour drive home went quickly. All things said, it was a great trip. I did a lot of new gear testing on this trip so keep a watch for those reports later this week.

37 Miles With Just Me & Molly (my Black Sheep)

Nothing special here - it was just a good day and I thought I'd share. The weather jammed up my plans to take a 2 night hike with dad in the Foothills earlier in the week so I've been a little bummed. Saturday made up for it, though. I was able to pop off 37 miles of asphalt, single track & jeep trail and I had lunch on the trail while I was at it. Good stuff.

 Grind grind grind... it never takes long to remember why I hate road riding.

Happy Meal (ramen noodles made with my Caldera Cone)

Miles and miles of gravel jeep trail... alone as it should be

 

Take time to smell the flowers dandelions

 Lazy bike... wanted to lay around and frolic in the flowers all day

Caldera Cone Packing

I stumbled onto a nice gear revelation while packing for a recent trip. You can fit a LOT of cooking kit into the Caldera Caddy if you're using a small mug. Photo evidence:

Everything packed together

Cone in with Evernew EA355 mug on top

Mug & lid, stove, fuel, cone, measuring cup

Stove & cone - very efficient cook system

Trail Designs Caldera Cone Stove Systems

Two great quotes:

"Simplify, simplify." – Henry David Thoreau

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

I think Thoreau could have gotten away with just one 'simplify', honestly. Maybe that's a better conversation over a few good pints.

Surprisingly enough, UL backpacking isn't limited to cutting your gear list to the bare minimum and buying the lightest gear you can find. One of the revelations over the years has been that weight isn't everything. After you get your kit under 15lbs for backpacking, further reductions are nice but not revolutionary. Below this threshold bulk, comfort & convenience quickly become as important as raw weight in making gear decisions. Bulk is particularly important on bikepacking trips.

Along those lines, I've been tweaking my cook system lately to find the best combination of size, feature and weight for UL trips. Last season I used the BackpackingLight.com 475ml Trapper Mug with a two piece Trail Designs Caldera Ti-Tri ULC cone. This is as bare bones as it gets, honestly. There are no handles, no lid and the volume is barely enough for typical 'boil in a bag' meal. The mug, silicone band, cone & stove weigh 4.0oz (116g). I eventually decided that the lack of handles was a little more spartan than the weight and simplification justified.

Trail Designs Caldera Ti-Tri ULC System & Trapper Mug
Complete System Assembled

Enter the Evernew 355 mug. It includes silicone insulated handles and a snap on sipper mug. The weight penalty over the handle-less Trapper Mug is only 1/2oz (17g). The handles will eliminate the burned fingers getting the mug out of the cone and the sipper lid make the best part of waking up in the wild (drinking good coffee) better. The whole system weighs 4-1/4oz (119g) so the weight difference between the two systems is practically a wash. I did modify the preheat flange on the 12-10 stove so that it would fit into the mug when packing.

BPL Trapper's Mug & Evernew 400ml mug with sipper lid
Evermew mug & Caldera Cone


If you care to trim down your 12-10 to fit inside of a smaller mug here's how I did it:

1. Flatten the lip on the pre-heat flange. Take your time and be neat. Needle nosed pliers were prefect.

2. Trim the flange to size. My Wiss snips were perfect for this job. I followed the markings from the previous draw to form the lip.


3. Form a new lip. Again, take your time and don't be a pig. I had a cheap square nose plier that was perfect for the job.


4. Admire your work.