Having the right equipment is not only necessary, but fun. For those of us into hiking and camping, a good outdoors store is like Disney Land — there are always new gadgets and designs and colors to check out and try on and play with. Here’s a general checklist of equipment for hiking and for camping (again, day-hiking and car-camping). It’s not exclusive, not all of it is *required* (we’ll talk about that later) and is a work-in-progress, subject to change upon my next visit to REI.
Hiking
- Appropriate clothing
- Appropriate footwear
- Day pack
- Water
- Food
- First Aid Kit
- Maps/GPS Devices/Distress Signal/Compass
- Cell Phone
- Camera
- Knife
- Binoculars
- Hat
- Sunscreen
- Bug Spray
- Waterproof Matches
- Emergency Blanket
- Bear Spray (no, really, it exists)
- Trash Bags (leave no trace)
Camping
- Tent
- Sleeping Bag
- Sleeping Pad
- Headlamp
- Powerful Flashlight
- Thermal Blanket
- Extra Blanket
- Cookstove/cookwear (if cooking)
- Fire Starting Gear
- Food/Water
- Cell Phone
- Water Purifier (not usually necessary for car-camping)
- Bear Canister (again, not always necessary for car-camping)
- Trash Bags
© Her Side of the Mountain, 2009.
Her Side of the Mountain 
Wow, how do you carry all of that stuff? One would need to be in good shape to carry it all. I guess that is what it is all about. To say nothing about the great scenery. Christy
Christy, it doesn’t actually amount to that much if you pack right. I guess I need a post on proper packing…thanks for the idea!
Got to be honest -think I’ll be pinching your list for my website! Like the idea of the ‘packing post’ – signpost me to it!