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The first step before hitting the trails: Be properly equipped
By GREG JOHNSTON 
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
Consider comfort your most compelling consideration in selecting backpacking gear: proper fit for things you wear, lightweight and ease of use for other articles.
Here's a short list of equipment, with tips based on experts' advice and my own 20 years of tramping trails with a load on my back.
Backpacks
Most hikers are choosing internal-frame packs because they ride closer to the body, provide better balance and tend to be lighter. The traditional external frame pack, however, allows more ventilation of sweat and handles heavier loads better.
Variations in body size and shape make it mandatory that you try on several before buying. Find one that can be adjusted to fit comfortably.
Use a coated nylon pack cover at night to keep out rain and dew.
Boots
For three-season hiking, you're better off selecting a pair of leather boots, preferably of one-piece construction and waterproofed with a liner of Gore-Tex -- the waterproofing that "breathes" -- if you can afford it. Try to find a boot that fits comfortably and is light in weight, but with a sole that provides a firm foundation. Waterproof boots periodically with a coating such as Snow Seal.
For summer backpacking with light loads, nylon/leather boots are OK if they're waterproof. Carry sneakers or water socks to wear around camp, for comfort and to minimize damage to vegetation.
 Comfort is imperative, and a dry tent, inflatable pad, mummy bag and pillow allow sweet dreams. |
Tents
A dime-store tent isn't worth a plug nickel in a Quinault-class downpour. Get a high-quality tent with a rain fly that goes almost to the ground on all sides. Seal the seams as the manufacturer recommends. This is one of the heaviest items you'll carry, so think light. Use a ground tarp of simple light plastic, cut to fit just inside the edges of the tent bottom, so it won't collect rain under you.
Sleeping bags
Get one rated to 20 degrees for three-season hiking in the Northwest mountains. Down is the lightest insulating material, but synthetics are excellent. Use a coated nylon stuff sack, and if you carry it on the outside of your pack, put it in a plastic bag in case it rains.
Sleeping pads
If you can sleep anywhere, a simple closed-cell foam pad is fine. If not, your dreams will be sweeter with an inflatable. I spent many restless nights before I got a Thermarest, the industry standard inflatable made by Seattle's Cascade Designs. It's light, durable and cushy. I also carry in my sleeping-bag stuff sack a small pillow with synthetic insulation that weighs 2 ounces.
First-aid kit
I've never needed mine, but I don't hike anywhere without it. It should hold at least a roll of gauze, gauze pads, medical tape, simple bandages, antiseptic towelettes, some type of disinfectant, antihistamine, pain reliever and an emergency space blanket.
Water filter
Some hikers still drink "pure" mountain water, but with Giardia lamblia -- the cause of "beaver fever" -- so prevalent these days, most filter, treat or boil water. Some use simple iodine tablets, but this leaves a bad taste and takes a half-hour or so to work. Boiling requires that you carry additional stove fuel. A light filter with pores of 0.4 microns or less will take care of Giardia lamblia concerns and is my preference. My PUR Scout works well.
Clothing
Synthetic fabrics are the way to go because they are light, durable and breathe, allowing your body to ventilate sweat. This system works for me: polypropylene liner socks and long underwear, wool/nylon hiking socks, nylon shorts, synthetic fleece jacket and pants, with an outer "shell" of a Gore-Tex coat and pants.
Your shell can be of significantly cheaper coated nylon, which will work fine around camp. But if you have to hike in it, you'll be wet on the inside because it breathes poorly.
In summer, I pack a cotton T-shirt for wearing around camp, although the experts advise against cotton because it saps warmth from your body when wet, due to rapid evaporation. In spring and fall, I carry a thick fleece shirt and gloves, and in late fall a down jacket.
I wear a baseball cap on the trail, and my Gore-Tex shell has a hood. Keep the clothes you're not wearing in a plastic bag inside your pack.
Food
 Many hikers put off the freeze-dried stuff and carry in fresh food for their first night's dinner, such as this stir-fry. |
For the second night, we'll usually have packaged soup and crackers, with cheese or salami. Freeze-dried cereals, such as granola with powdered milk, are fully acceptable breakfasts, especially in fall when you can pick and add blue huckleberries. Powdered eggs are not half bad; add the leftover green pepper, onion and garlic.
Most hikers also carry a favorite food as a pick-me-up, such as licorice or chocolate bars. Round out the menu with packages of hot chocolate, granola or power bars, your favorite trail mix and maybe some jerky.
Keep food in a nylon stuff sack.
 Lightweight stoves -- such as the Peak One Xpert, which operates with a detached canister of compressed gas -- can bring a pot of water to boil in minutes. |
Stoves
I prefer those that use white gas, since it burns well in all conditions. The types that use the fuel container as the stove reservoir, such as the venerable MSR Whisperlite, generally are lightest.
Cooking gear
If you're not boiling your water, you can keep it simple: Small aluminum pan to cook in and eat from, fork, spoon and cup made of high-density plastic, and a folding knife with a stainless steel blade, which you can use for a myriad of other tasks around camp: carving toothpicks, shaving pieces of downed cedar for kindling, etc. I also carry a stick-free aluminum sauté pan.
Flashlight
I prefer the type that uses four size AA batteries, is made of high-density plastic and turns on when the lens is screwed in. It's tough, reliable and not too heavy. Always carry extra batteries and bulb.
Water bottles
High-density plastic is best, because it does not retain odors. Consider which will work best with your filter, since many fit into wide-mouth bottles.
Other essential stuff
A good compass and topographical map; matches in a waterproof container and/or at least two disposable lighters; 50 feet of nylon cord for hanging food to keep it away from bears and raccoons; plastic bag for trash; sunscreen; biodegradable soap; toothbrush and small tube of toothpaste; sunglasses.
Photos by Jeff Larsen/P-I
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