With springtime around the corner, many people are probably daydreaming about getting outside and enjoying some nature. Some may be gearing up for a backpacking trip to escape the daily grind or maybe thinking about taking their first one.
Last year my husband and I went on our first overnight backpacking trip. We really enjoyed the escape and had fun putting our "survival skills" to natures test.
As a first-timer, I did a lot of research to see what gear we needed. Since this was our first time, we wanted to see if we enjoyed it before investing in expensive and ultra lightweight gear. The items I found were of good quality and of a fair price. We did enjoy our first trip and may start to invest more ultra lightweight gear this year. (My goal is to go to the Enchanted Valley and do a 13.5 mile out and back for two days)
I wanted to share my tips and reviews of some of the items we used on our overnight trip.
Basic Essentials Back Packing checklist:
Tent for Shelter
Sleeping Bag & Pillow
Back Pack for gear
Ability to cook food
Ability to filter water
Starting a fire
First Aid & Hygiene items
Good shoes (tennis shoes or hiking boots)
Navigation tool (gps, compass, map)
My Details...
Sleeping Bag:
Since we were only going for one night and the temps were only going to dip into the 50's we didn't need a zero-degree sleeping bag. We opted for a lightweight (3lb) four-season Sleeping Bag from King Camp. This bag was soft and comfortable and I liked the extra portion at the top for your pillow. There is a nice little pocket inside to store your phone (or little flashlight). I like that it came with a compression bag to store it, this made it easy to store in my pack. Getting it back in the bag takes a little practice but it can be done. You can buy a left and right bag, which can zip together to make a double bag for two. We didn't do this, as my husband already had his own bag. The zippers were easy to use which was nice. I only wish the bag had a little more filling for comfort, it didn't look as fluffy as the picture. Overall nice bag for the price, would recommend to others.
Sleeping Pad: (MUST-HAVE)
After a long day of hiking, you want a sleeping pad. Trust me, your back and body will thank you. This Self-Inflating Sleeping Pad helped insulate us from the cold ground while providing relief from the hard ground. We were lucky to find a nice spot for the night, that also had ground leaves for cushion. If you had rocky terrain this would also be a lifesaver. This weighed in at 2lbs 4 ounces and took up some space, but again I wouldn't have wanted to sleep without it. I carried it on the outside of my pack, which was easy with its carrying case. Unroll the pad and unscrew the valve to inflate. The pad has foam inside which makes it very comfortable. You can blow into for faster inflation if needed or to choose how hard or soft you want it. It also came with a convenient repair kit in case something would have torn it. The material was nice which prevented me from sliding around on it all night. The pad comes in many different sizes, I chose the regular which was perfect for my size and my husband used the long.
Pillow (Extra Comfort): (recommended)
I don't know about you, but I need a pillow to sleep. This was a great option; however, I wish it was a bit bigger. This Therma Rest Pillow I chose was self-inflating, full of little foam pieces. That made it kind of lumpy and was pretty large in my pack. It came with a little carrying case to store it in once rolled up which was convenient. At the time the super compact inflatable pillows seemed to be more expensive than this option, but looking out there again I see a lot of great alternatives. I think I am going to pick up the DREAMER inflatable pillow soon so I can compare the two. If you don't want to splurge you could always roll up your clothes. Not sure how comfortable that would be though.
Back Pack:
To carry my gear, I wanted a pack that had lots of zipper compartments, I wanted it to be comfortable for my frame, and obviously, it needed it to hold all of my gear. After research, I ended up getting the Teton BackPack. It said it was a 60-liter pack, but I would say more 45-50ish.. I loved all the outside straps and zipper pockets. This helped me easily organize my gear. You want to make sure all the items you need during your hike are in the outside compartments so you can easily get to them when needed. I loved the big pocket on top of the bag, I used it to store my headlamp, map, camera, and other gear I needed. The zipper at the bottom was great for accessing my food, without having to dig through the whole bag. The padding on the back was nice and breathable. The design allowed for airflow (which we needed as it was scorching hot that day) the straps were soft on my shoulders holding the 33 lbs. and the waist strap provided extra comfort. The extra little zippers on the waistband were nice for my Chapstick, hand sanitizer, and travel bug spray. The pack also comes with a built-in rain pouch, which thankfully we didn't need. This pack was water bladder compatible with holes for both left or right hoses. Overall a great pack!
Food and Water:
We wanted to keep things simple, so for dinner we packed our favorite Mountain House meals. They have so many great choices, many of which we tried before. This time we decided on the Beef Stroganoff and the Lasagna. Both have great flavor, and the warm pasta hits the spot after a long day of hiking. They usually take about 5-10 minutes once you put in the boiling water. Make sure to get the longer sporks, this make it easy to reach down deep in the bag for your food. Our Cooking Kit was easy to use and inexpensive. It was the perfect size to boil water for our two meals. This particular kit was nice as it came with 2 spoons, cleaning sponge, and nice bag to pack it all in. The handles don’t get hot so they are easy to handle. I packed only what I needed for this trip and was able to easily fit it in the included bag. I looked ahead of time to see if our hike would have fresh water access, which it did, so I knew we didn’t need to carry excess water for cooking or cleaning. I packed with us the Sawyer Water System which enabled us to get spring water and filter and clean it for drinking. This allowed us to fill up our Water Bladders the next day so we had plenty of water for the hike back. This system was easy to use, we brought the bag with us and you can also attach this system to a water bottle as well.
Cooking:
I bought two different camping stoves for boiling water. After testing them at home, we decided to carry with us Option 1 (this one was a little heavier, but holds the pot more sturdy).
Option 2 for Stove (cheaper, doesn't hold pot well, I ended up taking this one back). Both boiled water in about one and half minutes, which made cooking dinner quick and easy! If you choose these options don’t forget to pick up a little propane canister for your stove. When selecting the size, make sure to figure how much cooking you are doing and how long you will need it for. This Jet Boil option was perfect for us as we were only doing minimal cooking. You can pick these up at your local sporting goods store as well.
Light and Fire:
Since we overnight camping we needed some light! We opted for head lamps to keep us hands-free in the night. Works great if you have to go off to the bathroom or if you are cooking in the dark. The headband was soft and comfortable and we loved that you could tilt the light down at different angles. We also used this Lantern to hang up inside the tent. We had a hook right in the middle of our tent which was perfect for hanging this. It provided the perfect amount of light, with the option to vary the amount of lighting it gave out. For the campfire I had several options to start one including waterproof matches or this fire striker. We gathered some small sticks and twigs for tender and got it going really fast!
Shelter:
Our shelter for the night was the Coleman Sundome 2-person tent. This was a cheap option and provided exactly what we were looking for. Coming in at 7lbs, it was a little heavy, however, my husband was willing to carry the extra weight for us. The tent came in a carrying bag (however fitting it all back in was a little tricky). My husband was able to strap the tent to the bottom of his pack for easy carrying. The tent had plenty of room for the two of us, our bags, and room to spare. It had nice venting options for air flow, a rain cover, two pouches for electronics and a hook in the middle to hang lighting. Overall this was a nice tent that worked great for us. There are many choices out there for lighter weight tents, but with the hefty price tags, this one was perfect for our needs and budget. Don’t forget to pack a tarp to put under the tent. Helps to keep the tent clean and if you put some extra out front, you have a little “porch” to put your shoes and gear on outside the tent.
First Aid:
I put together my own kit, with various items. If you don’t have time to make your own, there are plenty of options out there. Hiking First Aid or First Aid Kit.
Make sure you have plenty of hand sanitizer or wipes, band-aids, anti-bacterial cream, bug spray, bug bite ointment, Tylenol or ibuprofen for your achy body, and for sure mole skin to help with any blisters you may have gotten along the way. Luckily no injuries on this trip, so we didn’t have to get into ours!
Wish List:
Go Girl making it easier to pee in the woods. Luckily, I had a Styrofoam cup from McDonald's which I ended up using as my toilet.
Camping Chairs. Luckily the site we found had some great tree stumps we used for sitting on. However, it would have been nice to have a back to lean on, especially if you were doing a longer hike.
Well, I hope after reading this it has inspired you to get out there in nature and go backpacking. Let me know in the comments below what supplies you found helpful, any
This post is not sponsored, all opinions expressed here are my own. However, there are affiliate links listed above and I will be compensated if a purchase is made. My Amazon Store: Essential Backpacking Items
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