Kid's hiking trip at school

Hi! My kid's school is going on a 5-day (overnight) backpacking/camping trip deep into the Cascades. If you were going to send your kid with the most appropriate and useful gear (other than good backpack, hiking boots, flashlight, whatnot), what would you send? I'm debating renting her a PLB or SPOT, just in case, but what do you think? Thanks!

I would talk to the trip leader, who should be carrying a means of emergency communication for the group. I frankly would not entrust a youngster with a PLB of SPOT; consequences of "pushing the button" when it's not an emergency could be dire.

I'd be more concerned about knowing the safety rules for the group and the qualifications of the adult leader--again, contact the trip leader.

Hopefully there will be several adults with the group and the group will be within the legal wilderness group size limits (usually 12).

Thanks, Oregon Mouse - that makes sense. I don't believe they do bring PLB's with them, so I could offer to rent one for the group leader.

Can you recommend any other equipment that might be helpful for my kid other than the usual stuff?

Everyone's idea of "the usual stuff" is different. To me, the "usual stuff" is a pretty complete list of gear that let me be self sufficient. When I used to lead Scouts, their parents' idea of the "usual stuff" was a cotton sleeping bag, huge 4-AA flashlight, and 7 changes of cotton clothing.

Could you give us a more complete list of "usual stuff"? Also, what is the trip leader giving you as a list of gear your child should bring?

+1 to what Glenn said. Also, how old is your kid?

Among the whatnot I would include a good whistle. You hope he never needs it, but it is much more effective than the human voice in the wilderness.

And yeah, the group leader might not appreciate him practicing with it for hours on end...grin

There are several gear lists on the backpacking.net home page that might be useful.