I keep a gear list for every backpacking trip, with the weight of each piece. Eight of those lists run from three nights on the Lost Coast in February 2022 to the first leg of my Tahoe Rim Trail loop in July 2026, and together they hold 139 different items. 34 items went on all eight trips, and another 27 went on six or seven.
The 34 items carried on every trip weigh 8.7 pounds together, leaving out the water. Shelter changed with the trip. I slept in the hammock on five trips and in the tent on three, so the hammock, the straps, the underquilt, the tent, and the sleeping pad each turn up on only part of the lists.
One item I always carry is missing from most of the lists. My BearVault BV450 bear canister weighs about 33 ounces and goes on every trip, but most of the lists never recorded the canister, so the canister is not counted in the tables.
The Trips column counts how many of the eight lists carried an item, and each weight comes from the newest list that carried the item. An item name in bold links to my review of that piece of gear. Items that went on fewer than three trips, many of them single dinners, stay off the tables, and the eight full lists in the last section carry every item.
Tap a list on your phone to open the whole list in Backpackers Friend as a gear bundle, with every weight and quantity, ready to apply to a trip of your own.
Young Lakes, June 2024One night at Young Lakes out of Tuolumne Meadows in peak mosquito season. 77 items on a 21.9-pound base weight. Read the trip.
Chilnualna Falls, May 2024A solo loop toward Buena Vista that ended one crossing short, carried with a tent instead of the hammock. 72 items on a 17.7-pound base weight. Read the trip.
Backpackers Friend keeps a gear list with each trip, holds the weight of every item, and adds the total up as you pack. Planning a trip is free and needs no account. The gear checklist and offline maps come with Premium.
Free to plan · iPhone · gear checklist with Premium · no account required
