My Backpacking Gear Guide – Everything you need and more

My first backpacking trip was back in 2019 in Vermont. I remember borrowing a lot of equipment and researched extensively before heading out. It was a hot, humid day and the trail was not well maintained. When I found a campsite the mosquitos were so bad I spent most of the day under a bug net. At night, I could not fall asleep because it was so hot out. Even after having a rough time, I still really enjoyed the whole experience especially the solitude of camping. Three years prior, I had went front camping in the Rocky Mountain National Park. This was my first time ever camping, I rented a tent, but I had no sleeping pad or sleeping bag. I slept on the ground with a jacket as a blanket. I remember being super uncomfortable and cold. It makes for a fun story to tell, but if you had told me I camp frequently because I like it, I would have called you a liar.

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This will only outline my backpacking gear, if you’d like to know what I wear, head over to this post, where I provide all my hiking clothes.

When I first started backpacking I didn’t realize how much equipment I actually needed and I felt overwhelmed. I was a broke, post college girl who couldn’t afford to buy all this equipment at once. Over the years, I’ve learned from my mistakes and here are some tips to help you.

Quality matters. I bought cheaply made equipment such as a tent, it served its purpose. However, after investing in better equipment, I realized I was actually wasting money buying cheaply made equipment that wouldn’t last multiple seasons. Now this isn’t the case for everything, I bought affordable trekking poles from Amazon and I’m still using them – are they super lightweight? No, but they work fine for me.
Be patience. I slowly accumulated my equipment and waited for items to go on sale. Since this was just a new hobby for me and I didn’t have the income to just buy everything – I waited. Each month I’d buy an item or search Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, etc for deals.
Take care of your equipment. If you want it to last, know how to treat, store, clean, etc your equipment. There are many great resources online – I use a lot of Nikwax products to treat and clean my gear.

Ten essentials

The ten essentials are the basics that you should have when you’re out hiking/backpacking. Fun fact, in the 1930s, an organization for climbers and outdoor adventures based in Seattle created the ten essentials list. This list is a collection of items to help you if any minor injuries, sudden weather changes and/or unexpected delays occur. Depending on the climate, level of difficulty, etc you may need more items. The ten essentials are broken down into ten categories (systems).