Backpacking ten essentials: the first ten items in this list are the selections of essential backpacking gear which The Mountaineers refer to as The Ten Essentials and promote as critical and essential items which belong in your pack as insurance against the unexpected. Although you may not use all the backpacking ten essentials every day, they can be life savers in an emergency.

Also, if you shop with prudence, these essential gear items can be lightweight, as well.

As a supplement to the ten essentials, weI have added four additional backpacking essential gear items which are pretty important to our health and welfare in the wilds, as well as suggest some small, lightweight, purchase options for many of the "essentials".

The most important essential , however, is not on the list--"Common Sense". Having the right gear is one thing, knowing how and when to use it is quite another. Most often, it's not a person's equipment that saves their bacon. It's their experience, know-how, and good judgment.

Conversely, it is generally inexperience and lack of good judgment that gets people into trouble. Not only must we have the proper equipment -- including the ten essentials plus four -- and know how to use them, but we must also cultivate knowledge and wisdom related to the backcountry activities that we engage in--thru self-study, courses, and leveraging off the experiences of others.