Backpacking Checklist

When one wants to enjoy a vacation or an out-of-town trip, he must be ready with his things and gears, right? The more he must be prepared when he goes out on a wilderness adventure or a backcountry outing where most of the luxurious necessities in life are rare or inaccessible. This is why one must be ready with everything he needs with the following criteria in mind: lightweight, important, useful, practical, safety, security, and survival.

In order to remember everything, have a backpacking checklist at hand. Before you start packing, list down everything you need or you think you have to bring. From that backpacking checklist, mark the very important ones or the must-haves with a check, then mark those things which you feel you just can’t live without with a star, then lastly mark all the rest with a circle. Based on this backpacking checklist, you may now start packing, begin with the check-marked stuff, meaning the must-haves, once you’ve packed the check-marked things, and there’s still enough space in the backpack, then you can add the star-marked things in your backpacking checklist. But, if there’s no more room in your bag, then do not anymore insist on adding the star-marked things, because you’re sure to survive the trip with the check-marked things you’ve already packed. This is the reason why you’re making backpacking checklist, to prioritize what to bring in terms of safety, security, and survival. Do not anymore bulk your backpack with unnecessary stuff, you’ll be the one to suffer its burden when you’re on your walking or hiking or backpacking trip.

Some of the important things you have to note in your backpacking checklist would be: clothes and footwear, depending on what season, toiletry organizer, travel towel, camera and batteries, first aid kit and prescription drugs, sewing kit, Swiss army knife, money belt, laundry kit, flashlight, personal music players and extra batteries, and pen and notepad.

You must learn to list down everything, sort everything, prioritize everything, and then pack the necessities. Do not over-pack, because the tendency is, you won’t actually be able to use or wear everything even if you think you would. The important thing you have to bear in mind when you do your packing is stick to your backpacking checklist and make sure that what you have in your list are the ones you truly need, for your safety, security, and survival, or else you’ll only make your trip difficult for you, carrying heavy bags but not even using what you have in your bag, or worse case is that you haven’t included in your bag what you really need for your trip.