Hmm....

- light 8x monocular, sometimes my night vision scope (only if I plan on doing wildlife observation)

- Always take my PDA Phone and GPS module (nav, site marking, breadcrumbing, geocache finding, reading and reference, tunes, email and phone in/near town). I bring the keyboard if I think I'll be doing a lot of journaling.

- AM/FM/Weather radio on trips longer than a weekender or if the weather is very changeable.

- One of the digital cameras and now the Panasonic flash memory camcorder I got for Christmas. Which I take depends on what I plan on doing "out there".

- Bear spray (if I really expect bears) or the smaller 4-oz "Personal Protector" (for everything else). Experience has unfortunately taught me that two-legged predators at the trailhead are more problematic than all the four-legged ones on the trail.

- All those electrical devices need power, so there's one or two 5.5 Ah lithium batteries in the pack for recharging on longer trips.

I guess for me the electronics are the main luxuries. I know I could do without them but they help me document my travels so I'll have something to drool over in my old age!

-Jim