The Only Backpacking List You Need

Because we all know the real reason we're here.. I'll keep this short. Enjoy.

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Alright, so you've gone over the list and I'm sure y'all are wondering, "Mads, you missed a few things!" Well, I am, and that's because this is the revised post-backpacking trip list that I'll use next time I go, rather than the list I had started with. The biggest thing on my mind was weight and wherever I could cut it. So here's my logic. Of course, if you feel that you really want/need these things you can totally bring them with you.

1. Spoon and spoon only - I know that there are a lot of backpacking silverware sets that you can get and sometimes they come as one whole unit, but if you can bring JUST the spoon, do it. You're typically not cutting anything up with the plastic backpacking knife that comes in the sets and a spoon is a whole lot easier to clean in the backcountry rather than getting into the nooks and crannies of a fork.

2. Gloves - Now, depending on the time of year, I'll definitely switch this up and bring gloves when it's chillier but as long as you have a warm, lightweight sleeping bag, your fingers should be just fine during those summer months. *toasty fingers crossed*

3. Extra Hair Ties - So, this may not be on your list, but I had it on mine because I saw it one someone else's and I made the choice to not bring any extras. I brought two in general (because I like to put my hair into two braids) and decided that if something happened to one at least I had the other. This isn't a heavy item by any means, so feel free to bring extras if you choose.

4. Bug Spray - I'm sure some of you are thinking that I'm wild for this one, but bug spray didn't make the cut for my final list. A) it's heavy, even a small canister of it and B) even on our worst bug night, we wore our long sleeves getting ready for bed anyways and had our hoodies up to the point that only our faces and hands were out, so we weren't bothered too bad.

5. Sunglasses - This one is definitely preference, but I'm a big hat wearer to protect my face from the sun so while I was out there wearing my dad hat every day, I didn't wear the glasses that I brought.. literally once. I honestly forget they were in my bag until day 5 or 6 when I was rearranging some things around my clothes. So, if you're not a huge sunglass person, leave the shades at home.

6. Knife - So I didn't not bring a knife entirely. I just replaced it with the razor blade to shave a couple of ounces off the pack. Again, not totally necessary, just a little hack I found.

7. Umbrella - I was going to bring am umbrella for parts of the trail that weren't shaded well, but decided against if for it being more of a luxury item that I couldn't afford to carry around for multiple days.

8. Bio-soap - So I guess this one is entirely optional, but for me, I decided against it for a couple of reasons. One, I was really only making water in my jet boil, so I didn't need it to clean my stove as much as I thought I was going to in the first place. Two, baby wipes can do the cleaning trick for your body and are much easier when you're out there on the trail.