The 10 essentials- 10 thing to always bring on a hike

There are a couple of things that one should always carry when leaving for a hike, or other activities in nature. Two things are important to be said right in the beginning: No, this doesn't mean that you need to walk with a huge, heavy backpack. And: No, owning these things is not expensive, nor exaggerated. The list is of course not an invention by myself but recommended by hiking organizations, the scouts and featured in books, like ' Mountaineering- the freedom of the hills'.

It doesn't matter if you are going for a weekend camping trip, a day hike in the mountains, a tour in your kayak or on your mountainbike- as soon as you are away from the town, the road, from other people and possibly also from phone coverage you should carry some extra material. The reason for this is not some kind of over-dramatized survival scenario or fear of something very improbable happening, it's simply a way to ensure you are comfy and safe, even if things go different than planned. 

A hike can take a bit longer than expected. The weather might change and suddenly it starts raining, or the sun might burn down on you from the sky. You might be unsure about which trail was the one you were supposed to choose on a way crossing. Your hiking buddy maybe stepped on their shoelaces and they ripped off. The way down the mountain after your climbing afternoon can take some more time cause you are stiff and tired. Having the 10 essentials is of advantage in any of those cases and prevents you starting to feel uncomfortable or potentially even getting in danger. 

And even without unforeseen events you should carry these things. Taking care of your basic physical needs like drinking, eating, being warm, not being blinded by the sun or getting a sunburn are fundamental for enjoying your day out in nature. Bringing a map and compass and/or a GPS, or even your smartphone with offline topographic maps, is not an option but a must. 

Don't be selfish and rely on your phone to call for help in case you get lost. And this point is valid not just referring to navigation but to all the gear you should bring with you, in order to ensure your own well-being. If you need to call mountain rescue because you failed to bring gloves in cold conditions and can't feel your fingers anymore, you are wasting the emergency services' time (and a lot of money). 

This might sound far-fetched, but there are plenty of accidents and incidents in the mountains every year (in basically any country you get statistics for) and a big number of those are caused by poor navigation, lacking material and inexperience in how to use the carried material. If we take a look at Spain, a country with plenty of mountaineous regions and many tourists, the statistics talk about around 800 rescues a year, executed by the GREIM (Grupo de Rescate e Intervención en Montaña) which is part of the Guardia Civil, a military force. Of those rescued, more than 50% are injured and more than 10% die, or are encountered already dead. 

You might think that it's mostly the more 'extreme' activities that are risk filled and that a simple hike is rather safe, but in reality it's contrary. In Scotland, for instance, 77% of all casualties in the mountains between 1996 and 2005 happened while hiking. Compared to Spain there is a lower number of fatalaties though, with an average of 26 per year. 

The same picture can be seen in the Alps, with Austria as an example, where over 80% of all fatalities happen during 'hiking in easy terrain'. In 2013 those where 162 persons, in 2014 156 persons. In comparison: only 6 persons died during ice climbing and glacier tours in those two years put together. I do believe that these numbers do show that a lot of hikers do understimate their hobby and do not equip and prepare themselves sufficiently. 

These numbers are not ment to scare anyone away from going to the mountains, it just shows the importance of realizing that is is literally not 'a walk in the park'. In the end, safety in the mountains is an equation with many variables, such as weather, clothing, preperation and planning, experience and the activity you are doing. Bringing the gear to keep you safe can not prevent all possible problems, but it's part of what you can contribute and what's inside your control. 

Here's a pic of what the 10 essentials can look like. Extra clothes (in this case long underwear), sunscreen and sunglasses, matches, a compass and a map, tiny first aid bag, a knife, my waterbottle, some high energy snacks, a bivaque bag and a headlamp, including extra batteries. (The headlamp is not needed in summer far up north of course, cause the sun doesn't set between late May and early August.)

This is what I would bring for a longer dayhike in the mountains, in summer. Not including my normal food for the day and the water in the bottle, it's all together only around 1,5 kg. Not too much to carry on your back, even if you are conscious about the weight you want to carry. Besides that, there are plenty of ways of making this setup even much lighter.

I'm by no means an expert but here are some more ideas about each of the 10 essentials: 

1. Navigation- it is good to have an idea about where you are going; not only as a picture in your head, but a bit more reliable. It's not only about avoiding getting lost, but as well about finding an alternative way, in case you want to make a short cut or change your plans. The optimum is a map with anything between 1:20.000 to 1:100.000 as a scale to reality. It's not enough to just own a map, you should also stadily have a look at it and not wait till you are actually lost to get it out of your pack. It's even fun to look at it, see what are the names of mountains or lakes you walk past and see what's behind that forest you are walking through. The same is valid for your compass. Use it and get used to it and you might never even come in the situation where you are seriously lost.

Personally, I use my phone for navigation quite a lot. I draw trails into maps at home and upload them to wikiloc.com. I have offline maps for all places I go hiking in and track myself with the phone's GPS. I really do trust that system, but still I try to not walk around looking at the trail on the phone and rather search for the next trail marker ahead of me. Technology is really useful, but as opposed to a phone a paper map will never run out of battery.

2. Sun Protection- This one should be quite obvious. As nice as it is to get a tan, the sun can be destructive and it's wiese to protect your eyes, your skin and your head. Dark lenses are especially important when walking or skiing on snow. Becoming snow blind is painful and annoying.

Me, using textbook sun protection and a sunproof shirt on a  35ºC portuguese summer afternoon. 

3. Insulation- It's easy to get warm and sweaty while excercising. When you take a break it's always a good idea to have an extra layer of clothing at hand, especially when it's windy or overall cold. Even in temperatures around -10ºC I can still comfortably walk uphill in only a fleece, but once I take a rest, putting on my down jacket is mandatory.

Even on the warmest days I bring an extra sweater in my pack (and yes, there's an empty can of tuna dangeling from my backpack).

4. Illumination- As I mentioned before you need to adapt the light sources you bring to when and where you are going. In wintertime in Sweden I bring plenty of candles, extra batteries for my headlamp and even another light I can put on the table. That way I try to adapt to the 16 hours+ of darkness, which need to be spend one way or another. In summer I don't bring any light source at all, or just a tiny headlamp to use inside huts that have at times very few windows.

Getting light into a hut in Norway. 

5. First-Aid supplies- In your first aid bag you should have medicine you are familiar with and other supplies that you will probably use. There is no need in buying a first-aid kit at a gas station and bringing surgical scissors and other stuff you don't even know how to use, on your hike. Make your own kit instead. Fill it with pain killers you know work on you, pills against diarrhea, maybe antihistamines, tape, band-aids and blister band-aids. Think what you would want to use to take care of a wound and get it at a farmacy. Bring something to clean sores and a tiny tube of cortisone or antibiotical cream. In the end, what you should bring, depends mostly on your destination.

Participating in a wilderness First-aid course is a good way to learn about dealing with injuries and accidents. It's also fun to wrap up one of your friends like this. 

6. Fire- The least you can bring in order to make a fire, are of course matches or a lighter. If you even plan on making a camp fire, a knife to make feather sticks and tinder ist very helpful. In an emergency situation there are countless objects that can help you make a warming fire. From tampons, to batteries, wet toiletpaper or potato chips. You might have more burnable or easily inflammable things with you, than you might think.

My first try on making fire with steel wool and a phone battery- it worked! 

7. Repair kit and knife- This, again, depends a lot on your activities and where you are going. I always bring a knife, which I even use to prepare food. Usually it's my Mora knife, which is useful and cheap. besides that I have duct tape, which I wrap around my water bottle, so I don't have to bring a whole roll of it. It's awesome for repairs of all kind. Some thin rope and a sewing kit is also always a good idea on a longer trip and has hardly any weight.

Can you discover the duct tape bottle amonst all our stuff? 

8. Nutrition- Food should not be underestimated when it comes to lifting you mood. I always bring at least a müsli bar or some crackers on a trail. For longer trips I usually pack for one day more than I plan being out there. That way I'm more flexible and I don't have to spend a day on an unvoluntary diet if I get stuck in bad weather and have to spend an extra night somewhere.
Food for a whole day, including 3 meals and snacks, doesn't have to weigh more than 500gr, dehydrated food is the key to going light.

Eating outdoors can be a real pleasure. Taking in the view and waiting for the water to boil. 

9. Hydration- I go by a simple rule: I bring a bit more to drink than I plan on needing. Going thirsty and looking for a water source is no fun at all... When you're in the cold try to melt snow instead of eating it, you will lose a lot of body heat and energy that way. Try to be informed if water is good to drink, or if having a filter, or other means to clean your water, are necessary. I usually have some Catadyn micropur pills in my first aid kit, which I use whenever I'm in doubt.

The colour of this source in Iceland was not promising... It's supposed to be a water especially good for your health though. Cheers! 

10. Shelter- A shelter can be anything between a feather light space blanket, that fits in your pocket, or your tent. Finding shelter from wind and rain doesn't have to imply an emergency, but is a simple commodity to have a moment of rest, look on your map or have a quick snack.

Looks like I'm member of a weird cult, but I'm actually just trying to ice fish without freezing myself into pieces. Here I'm sitting in a windsack from Hilleberg, which can be used as a bivaque bag for up to 3 persons, or just as a wind protection. 

Packing for a triple trip!

Soon it's time to travel again! 

In February I'll be lucky enough to go on three trips: The first one to Bilbao in the Basque Country, the second one to Kiruna in Swedish Lapland and the last will be a roadtrip in Rondane and Jotunheimen Nationalparks in Norway, ending with Vasaloppet skiing race in Mora. So I'm looking forward to a lot of sunshine, waves, delishious food, snowy mountains and exciting adventures!

In the Basque Country we're going to start off with some days of surfing, mostly around the wonderful city of San Sebastián and later a bit more west, close to Santander. Surfing is something I'm really looking forward to, alongside with some more sunlight and warmth. Self-explanatory you don't get much of that in the swedish winter (if you're not a hardcore surfer, who jumps into almost frozen water- which I'm clearly not). 

After the surfing part were gonna head for the mountains, namely Picos de Europa in Cantabria and Asturias. weather conditions in these mountains are fast changing and fickle year round and I'm not sure what to expect now in winter. There might be anything between 20ºC and sun or a snowstorm. Therfore I make sure to be equipped for every possible scenario, being safe is an absolute priority, many hikers have disappeared in this area before.  
It'll be also important to have an eye on avalanche forecasts, possible fog coming up (the mountains are very close to the coast and moisture is high) and bringing enough water, cause you can't find water sources pretty much anywhere. 

Here's what I'm bringing for the trip: 

(I'm actually bringing some more clothes to look reasonable when I walk into a Spanish Tapas restaurant, they're not in the picture since they're not relevant in terms of  gear)

One of my favorite bits of gear in this picture, is the Exped lightning 60l backpack. It's only about 1kg (2,2 lbs), which is very light for a pack with that capacity. I already tried it on some shorter trips, such as last weekend in Tresticklan Nationalpark and so far it feels very comfortable. I will test it further and find out if it can be the backpack to bring on my long summer trip. 

As you can see I will also bring my snowshoes, which I have last used in June on Kungsleden, gaiters, hiking poles and even crampons. Not in the picture is my ice axe, but I'll bring that one as well for the case of encountering some steeper, icy stretches. 

Because of the lack of water in Picos de Europa, I'll bring my water bladder, besides my normal water bottle of course. If it looks like it's going to be freezing temperatures I'll bring several more water bottles instead. Of course I also have a map of the area and a compass. 

As for the surfing part I'll bring a 4/3 wetsuit, a hooded vest to wear underneath and my good old surfboard, which is by now already 6 years old, but still my favorite. 

Second trip - Kiruna

The second trip to Kiruna will be a rather short one and involve some family business. So the layout of my equipment is not that interesting. The only outdoors activity that is planned, besides some backcountry skiing, is a dogsled tour. I'll make sure to bring some really warm clothes, goggles, a face mask and thick boots. 

I'm not much of a dog person but I still think it'll be fun. A sled dragged by cats is unfortunately not really a thing. 

A pic from last winter. That's what I'm looking forward to see going with a dog sled. Sälka huts.

Third Trip - Norway and Vasaloppet! 

The third trip will, unlike the first two ones, bring me to several places I haven't yet been to. We'll start by driving north to Dalarna, where we'll do at least one skiing tour to a hut in the mountains. Afterwards we'll drive into Norway and stay two days on the foot of the Rondane Nationalpark, which offers more options to ski, eat good food and relax in a sauna. We'll continue to Jotunheimen, an incredible national park, which hosts all of Norway's highest mountains. There we'll stay for five days and join an organized tour.

After that it's time for the exciting last part of the month: Participating in the skiing race Vasaloppet, a traditional swedish competition. Since I'm a beginner on skis and don't feel like I can manage to ski 90km in a couple of hours, I'll do the short version, which is only 30km long. Here's a short video that shows you the incredible dimension of this race. 

Even though I'm a poor skier, I'm absolutely excited about participating and of course I hope I can complete the race, cross the finish line somewhere amongst 10.000 other participants and receive my participant's medal. 

Here's some equipment I'll bring on the road trip

Mostly skis and skiing accessoires, some safety and cooking equipment, maps and ice fishing equipment. A lot of the functional clothes will be the same that come with me on the first trip, that's why they're not in the picture- they're already packed. 

Learning what to bring on a trip, or: evolution of my gear

Hiking in northern Spain, 2011 style. 

Learning what to bring on a trip

or 

Evolution of my gear

As I happen to frequently take pictures of all the gear I bring on a trip, I have an overview over how my setup has changed. I haven't been into serious hiking for all too long, but my gear, what kind of clothes and food I bring, has already changed a lot. 

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of my gear on the Camino de Santiago I walked in 2011, 2012 and winter 2014. I absolutely don't remember what I brought back then but it would be interesting to know. The only picture I have is the one below, of my cotton packpack ready for the Caminho Português in 2011. It's a 50 liter pack and I hiked in summer... my sleeping bag was way too warm and big. I mean, it doesn't even fit into the pack! 

                                             

Caminho Português 2011

But to be honest, I had no money at all back then and buying a second sleeping bag just because my other one is too big and warm, was not really an option. What else I remember from that trip was that I had long cotton pants that I didn't use a single time, also I walked in a heavy skirt, H&M cardigan and with tennis shoes on. Unsurprisingly I was sweating a lot in my clothes and I had aweful blisters from day one of the trip. It never occured to me though that it was because of my clothes, I just accepted it as it was. 

What else would you wear on a 120km hike? Blundering in september 2011. 

In 2012 hiking for me was all about wearing Nike running gear from head to toe. Way better than H&M cotton.

I know that there's different opinions about this, but I don't think (anymore) that Fjällräven cotton clothes are optimal for glacier hiking, or any hiking really. Too heavy, too bulky, too warm. Sold all of that stuff.
February 2014, Solheimarjokull, Iceland. 

Some years later I finally discovered the existance of hiking gear and clothes that need less than three days to dry after they become sweaty. Still there was a quite limited perspective on what was available, but I think that's perfectly natural when you are just getting in to a new hobby. At first it's always hard to see what you really need, what products are just useless and which are your personal favorites. It's a process of buying, trying it out, selling stuff second hand and starting over. 

Here's two pictures of my first Kungsleden in summer 2014. Since then I have changed basically everything you can see in this picture. The sleeping bag was colder than sleeping naked, the hiking poles broke right after this trip, the compression bag was incredible heavy and bulky, the water bladder leaked and got permanently green on the inside (blergh...). The gas stove is not bad but very sensitive to wind and quite slow. Why I brought several meters thick rope and a headlamp (midnight sun) is still a mistery to me...

I still have the gore-tex jacket though and it's still awesome, same for the Lifestraw water filter (that you don't need in Lappland though) and my compass. I also still use the first aid kit which I restock accordingly to the trip I'm on. 

Taking a look at the food I brought... it's actually not too bad. It just lacks some fresh stuff and there's definitely too little proteins and fat in the picture. I remember that I was dreaming about cheese, fries and oily stuff. Nowadays I would be bringing a salami, a little bottle of olive oil (I'm not a big fan of butter) and more canned fish. If I had space maybe also some fruit or veggies for the first days.

Here's what I brought on a snowy trip in Jämtland in the end of September 2014. I finally got better hiking poles and a better sleeping bag and sleeping pad. If your sleeping equipment is bigger than your backpack and heavy as a stone, it just can't work out. I also got some durable, light metal cutlery, which I'm still very fond of. 

I still use most of these clothes, besides the gaiters that were not breathable at all and made my legs sweat that much, I could have stepped as well in any puddle around. After this trip I swapped out my drinking bottle for a Nalgene. The aluminum bottle from Sigg was freezing every night and ended up leaking all over my sleeping matress which willingly sucked up half a liter of water. Not so nice in a cold night...

In March 2015 I went skiing on Kungsleden and spent a week in Abisko. I didn't camp though, so my packing doesn't include a kitchen or a sleeping pad. I still think that this is quite a good setup and I would bring basically the same on a similar trip. Of course I also brought skiing boots, they're just not in the picture. The sneakers I brought are a bit too heavy and in the meanwhile I got some secondary shoes that I can wear indoors or just for going to the outhouse that are less than half the weight of these. I sold some of my sweaters and ski underwear on a flea market in summer and substituted them by merino wool products. Wool is just the warmest and most comfortable material. 

The sleeping bag felt a bit too heavy for me, with 1,6kg. I recently sold it and ordered a new one from Roberts.pl that will be only about 800 grams while having the same comfort temperature. 

In June 2015 I went for a two week camping trip in Lappland again. There was so much snow left that we went on snowshoes, it was actually not that different from March...

I try to bring all my socks and underwear in wool and go lightweight. The Smart Wool socks are so warm, fast drying and never start smelling, that it's enough to bring two pairs for the whole trip. One pair that I wear during the day and one pair for the evening and night. 

The crampons and the Therm-a-rest didn't make the cut and I left them at home. 

A look into the Trangia kitchen. The idea is to fill out all small spaces and bring just as much as needed. There's no need to bring more detergent or more than half a sponge for washing the dishes. 

Around the cooking pot you can see all other kinds of stuff I brought. I don't save on lighters, matches and a fire steel. 

I'm being realistic though and know that in a couple of years I will look back at these pictures and think 'was I crazy?'. Or just imagine how it will be, looking back twenty years from now!?

Picking gear and equipment, improving it, changing it,... is really just one of my hobbies and I think it's a lot of fun. I'm not regretting any of the "poor" choices I've made in the past, all of the blisters I got from Lidl socks and pain I had from my too heavy backbacks. I think it's interesting to evolve and be able to look back to see where you've come from. 

Dreaming about next year's big hike

The incredible feeling of finishing a trail, of coming to the top. 

Now in December the days are short and dark. The best thing, especially at work, is to dream about my plans for next year. At this point I don't want to call it "planning" yet, cause I still haven't decided for a specific hike. 

A big inspiration for me is the norwegian adventurer Lars Monsen, who has spent years of his life in the Scandinavian wilderness. I recently got two of his books and especially the story about his year long hike through Norway is an absolute inspiration. In 1988 he and his friend Trond decided to walk along the Norwegian border, all the way from Russia to the south of the country. Even considering that the conditions have changed a lot since then, the book gives me the awesome feeling that I can make happen anything that I dream about. 

Mixing up languages- one in German one in Norwegian

 I can't even say what attracts me so much about a long hike. I guess it's the feeling of adventure, of doing something unusual, outside of the time frame of a normal holiday. Also it's the concept of "holiday" that I don't like. Holiday is a week or so to take a rest and get a break from work in order to relax. What I want to do is (at least in my mind) not a holiday. It's not an expedition either, since others have done it before, it's an adventure, a task that I give myself, an experience I want to have in my life. 

Of course I can't even be sure I will stick to my plan. What if I get tired of walking? If I start to feel bored, worn out, if my body hurts, if I feel lonely or lost? 

I know all these things can and most of them will happen, to some extend at least. What I will try is to overcome the negative feelings, wait it out, see if it gets better and maybe afterwards realize how overcoming these problems made me stronger. 

Even giving up before finishing the hike is of course a possibility but I will try to avoid that, of course. One thing that can help to overcome situations in which I will want to give up is for instance this blog, or signing up for an "official" hike, such as Gröna Bandet or Norge på Langs. Knowing that there is something specific to archieve, that I can count the kilometers backwards to point X and that some people are virtually following my trip is definitely a huge motivation. 

Other than that, signing up for anything seems a bit pointless of course, since I would need to follow specific rules, which takes away a part of the freedom of the hike. But because of the motivational aspect I will probably still do it.