10 Essentials/hiking basics

These are my speaking notes from a recent presentation to my daughters' Girl Scout Troop as they prepared to go hiking. The presentation also included a large amount of gear show and tell. I think that this distills a lot of conversations we've had over the past couple years, and many of those that are new will find this useful.

Note that this is HIKING vice BACKPACKING... but backpacking just scales up what you learn from hiking.


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Equipment is a tool to solve a problem; no problem, no need for another tool.

The 10 Essentials are a guide to what people generally need on a hike – to solve common problems

1. First aid kit
2. Water
3. Flashlight
4. Trail food
5. Sunscreen
6. Whistle
7. Map and Compass
8. Rain gear
9. Pocket knife
10. Matches or fire starters


Additions based on experience, situation, and objectives…
1. Something to carry all this stuff in?
2. Sticks or poles?
3. Binoculars?
4. Climbing gear?
5. Lunch?
6. Trail maintenance equipment?

Other considerations
1. Lightness is happiness
2. Water (and where you get more of it) is one of the primary drivers of weight
3. Weather drives clothing, water, food, sunscreen, and overall gear selection
4. Where you are going (how well traveled or remote, risks involved, available facilities) will also drive gear selection because location will create or remove problems for you to solve.
5. Cost is an important factor
6. Leave No Trace
7. Backpacking gear builds on 10 essentials
8. Equipment only manages risk if you know how to use it; the most important piece of gear is your prepared mind

I like the new version.

In 2003 The Mountaineers revised the essential list as part of the 7th edition of "Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills" to keep up with modern equipment. The current edition, 8th edition continues with the new essentials list with no major revisions. The new list takes a "systems" approach.

Navigation (map and compass)
Sun protection (sunglasses and sunscreen)
Insulation (extra clothing)
Illumination (headlamp/flashlight)
First-aid supplies
Fire (waterproof matches/lighter/candles)
Repair kit and tools
Nutrition (extra food)
Hydration (extra water)
Emergency shelter (tarp, bivy bag, space blanket)

I volunteer some with the Mountaineers, when schedule allows --- backpacking and snowshoe trips. It can be helpful to be able to remember the complete set of these ('new') 10 essentials, so after some thought the best acronym I could come up with was SNIFF RHINE. As in "smell the Rhine river" and never mind that the Germans spell it 'Rhein'. To be fair, I lived for three years about a mile from the Rhein and don't recall any particular smell to it, even when the river barge traffic was heavy ... but I digress!

So:

S-un protection
N-avigation
I-insulation
F-first aid supplies
F-fire

R-repair kit and tools
H-hydration
I-illumination
N-nutrition
E-emergency shelter


Works for me, anyway.

IMHO, the best "Ten" Essentials writeup I've found is here on this site--see the home page, left hand column, "Hiking Essentials." Unlike most of these lists, it explains what the individual items are for!

Here's the link.

Just me, but I've never been any good at using acronyms as a memory tool. They work for some but not for others.

Hmmm. I like NERF FINISH or SHERIFF INN....

I used to try the acronym system to study for tests only I'd get to the test, remember the acronym and spend 30 minutes trying to remember what it stood for.

One thing to remember when backpacking (as opposed to day hiking) is that most of the "essentials" are part of your normal backpacking gear! In most cases there is no need to take separate items.

One thing I have learned to take is backup for the water filtration system, which in my case is a package of chlorine dioxide tablets. I learned the hard way last summer when I forgot the tablets and my Sawyer Squeeze filter was completely blocked and didn't respond to backflushing. Fortunately, I had extra fuel along (for frying fish that weren't caught), but boiling drinking water for two is a lot of work! In addition, I'll be testing the Sawyer Squeeze the night before I leave instead of several weeks before!

Did you figure out what blocked the Sawyer?

I tried it out with tap water several weeks before the trip. Evidently you have to go through the year-end maintenance procedure after every trip or even a trial run at home!

It took hours of soaking in diluted vinegar before I could back flush the filter. I then ran bleach solution through the filter and let it air dry for several days.

Wow... I think I'll stick with my Platypus gravity system... It's easy to backflush on the go and as long as you dry it when you get home and store it properly you have no worries.

Sorry to hear you were having trouble.

The updated list makes more sense to me, but I would have thought there would have been something for signaling such as a whistle or signal mirror.