ONLY Essentials: A Guide to Hiking Packing
By: Ethan Gan
23 August 2024
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ONLY Essentials: A Guide to Hiking Packing
By: Ethan Gan
23 August 2024
According to the Seat to Summit's article, "How To Pack a Backpack For Hiking," a well-packed backpack will make your hike experience easier, comfort-wise. Of course, there is no specific way to pack a bag, but there are some fundamentals such as choosing and layering gear to make a trip more pleasant.
For a good and successful hike, it is important only to carry the essential gear for survival. It is not required to make your bag heavy, but it is to have the basic equipment. Examples are tents, sleeping bags, first aid kits, food, and water. There are optional extras, like another set of clothes, a portable stove, and utensils, but it will cost your comfort. You need to ask yourself, “Will I be using it frequently?” It is also important to remember you will be trekking for hours with this pack. So, consider what is important to your person. But, the three most important things to carry are an emergency beacon, a first aid kit, and an emergency blanket.
When it comes to the actual organization of packing a hiking bag, it will be divided into layers: top, middle, and bottom. This specific arrangement will maintain a hiker’s center of gravity by putting the heaviest items as close to the back as possible. For the bottom layer, you should put things you will rarely remove from your backpack until setting up camp. These would be your sleeping system, like your sleeping bag, pillow, etc. You must put your heavy items in the middle layer to keep your center of gravity. These would usually be food and your tent. Finally, the top layer would be the most used objects, something that needs easy accessibility. This would be snacks, a map, a source of light, and the emergency equipment mentioned before.
With your bag packed up properly, you are all ready to go! Happy hiking!