Over the years we have completed several longer trekking tours. Each tour thereby requires individual planning. To stay in control of what we are going to take with us, how heavy our backpack will be and of course to make sure that we don’t forget anything in the end, we create a packing list for each trekking tour.
This packing list is not static, as our equipment varies from tour to tour. The following list is therefore only a temporary snapshot. It serves as a reference point for demanding tours of several days to several weeks, for example in Scandinavia, with sleeping in a tent at lowest temperatures of about zero degrees.
We bought all our equipment ourselves and always focused on weight but also on durability. Our packing list is therefore not ultra-light, but absolutely reliable!
If you want to know what we carry for Lando, take a look at his packing list!
Sleeping
When it comes to sleeping, we don’t make compromises: when we hike a lot and have exhausting days, we want to sleep comfortably, warm and well in order to refill our energy reserves for the next day. Our Hilleberg Kaitum 2 is super spacious on the inside and high enough to sit comfortably. Even Lando still fits in well. Usually however, he sleeps in one of the two spacious apses. In the other one we stow our backpacks.
| Gear item | Name | User | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quilt | Cumulus Quilt 450 | Katharina | 685g |
| Pad | Therm-a-Rest Neoair X-Lite Women | Katharina | 340g |
| Pillow | Sea to summit Aeros ultralight | Katharina | 60g |
| sleeping bag | Mountain Equipment Glacier 450 | Manuel | 1.050g |
| Pad | Therm-a-Rest Neoair X-Lite | Manuel | 360g |
| Tent | Hilleberg Kaitum 2 | 3.100g | |
| Footprint | self-sewn | 400g | |
| Total weight | Sleeping | 5.995g |
Cooking
Our stove has the perfect size to boil water for two people. We use the MSR Reactor which is super powerful and extremely efficient: it boils one liter of water in about one minute. Therefore it is very important on our packing list when it comes to cooking! For those who prefer to cook properly, this stove is not ideal, as the heat input is rather difficult to regulate. But we take freeze-dried meals with us and therefore only need hot water.
| Gear item | Name | User | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stove | MSR Reactor 1.7 L | 489g | |
| Gas | 230g/8.1oz | 383g | |
| Hydration pack | Source (3l) | Manuel | 190g |
| Hydration pack | Osprey Hdraulics 3l Reservoir | Katharina | 245g |
| Knive | Opinel No. 8 | 50g | |
| Mug | Wildo, 2x | 94g | |
| Spoon | Spork, plastic | Katharina | 12g |
| Spoon | Metal | Manuel | 40g |
| Lighter | Storm lighter | 16g | |
| Total weight | Cooking | 1.519g |
Food
| Gear item | Name | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | per day and person, approx. 500 kcal | 120g |
| Cliff Bar | 2 per day and person, approx. 450 kcal | 150g |
| Snickers/Twix, etc. | 2 per day and person, approx. 480 kcal | 110g |
| Dinner | per day and person, approx. 650 kcal | 150g |
| Tea | a bit of everything | 56g |
| Total weight | Food (approx. 2000 kcal/person/day) | 530g/day |
Breakfast
In the morning we usually use a homemade mixture of milk powder and breakfast porridge, protein powder, muesli or semolina. Depending on what we prefer, we choose one or the other. As small highlights we also always have some freeze-dried rice pudding, chocolate mousse or similar with us. We enjoy these meals when the mood is not so good or when a particularly exhausting day lies behind or in front of us. In fact, whenever we need a little extra energy or a small boost of motivation!
During the day
We skip lunch as a big meal needing preparation. Instead we take easy to eat and high-energy snacks like Snickers, Twix or Cliff Bars. Stowed in the hip belt pocket these are always easy to grab and can even be eaten while walking. The most important thing for us is that we don’t have to unpack our backpack during the day in order to eat something. For this reason, we already take our the ration for the day in the morning! However, this absolutely does not mean that we do not take breaks. We just don’t want to spend them eating and cooking.
Dinner
In the evening we have a meal from the variety of freeze-dried foods. By now we have tried pretty much every brand available on the market and have identified our favorites. That way we have a delicious meal within 10 minutes after a hard day and don’t even have to wash up afterwards! The disadvantage of this option, however, is the produced waste. Needless to say, that we take it with us. So far, we have not come up with a better and especially lower waste solution.
Energy
All in all, this results in about 2000 kcal/day. This may sound little, but it is enough for us. We found that we have little appetite when we are moving all day long. On some tours we had more snacks or larger servings for the evening and simply didn’t manage to eat them. The energy that our body needs beyond the food supply that we carry can be easily mobilised from our fat reserves. Nevertheless, there are also days when we are simply feeling hungry. For these situations we always have little extras with us, which we enjoy then!
Clothing
There is actually not so much to write about clothing. Our motto is definitely “less is more”. Nevertheless we take two different sets of clothes with us – one for during the day and another one for the night. This way we don’t have to wear the sweaty and dirty clothes of the day in our sleeping bag at night.
| Gear item | Name | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Hiking pants | Lundhags Makke Pants | 450g |
| Tank Top/T-Shirt | 2x, 1 for during the day, 1 for at night | 180g |
| Underpants | 3 pieces | 45g |
| Merino sweater | 2 pieces, 1 for during the day, 1 for at night | 405g |
| Jogging pants | for sleeping or to wear underneath when it is cold during the day | 60g |
| Socks | 2x waterproof socks, 1 warm pair for night | 200g |
| Down Jacket | Fjällräven Keb Touring Down Jacket | 485g |
| Gaiters | self-sewn | 30g |
| Rain poncho | 545g | |
| Gloves | 27g | |
| Beanie | 92g | |
| Total weight | Clothing Katharina | 2.519g |
For protection from the rain, Manuel counts on the classic combination of a rain cover for his backpack, rain jacket and rain pants. On the contrary, in the last years I always took a poncho with me, which I wear over my backpack. Together with my gaiters I am also well protected from rain. The poncho is lighter and definitely more airy, but also a bit more sensitive to wind and difficult to put on alone.
| Gear item | Name | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Hiking pants | Lundhags Makke Pants | 450g |
| Buff | 30g | |
| Underpants | 3 pieces | 195g |
| Merino T-Shirts | 2 pieces | 240g |
| Sweater | 400g | |
| Socks | 2x waterproof socks | 160g |
| Jacket | warm jacket, synthetic fiber | 500g |
| Gaiters | 220g | |
| Rain jacket | 380g | |
| Rain pants | 370g | |
| Gloves | 40g | |
| Beanie | 80g | |
| Total weight | Clothing Manuel | 3.065g |
Electronics
Our smartphones cannot be missing on our packing list and especially in our hiking backpack. For navigation we rely on our mobile phones with offline maps and GPS. In addition, I always take notes in the evening about what I experienced during the day, so that I have an easier time later when writing blog articles. Last but not least, we use our cell phones to take pictures of our vacations. An empty mobile phone battery is therefore definitely not an option. In order to always have enough energy, our hiking backpack contains a power bank and a solar panel. With this we can easily charge our phones on sunny days, while the power bank provides energy on shady days.
| Gear item | Name | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Some charging cables | 100g | |
| Power bank | 100 Wh | 470g |
| Smartphone | 2 phones | 400g |
| Solar panel | Anker | 461g |
| Total weight | Electronics | 1.431g |
Miscellaneous
What else is on the packing list? Of course the backpack itself cannot be missing. But we have also learned to love our hiking poles. Especially in difficult terrain or when crossing rivers they give us a lot of stability.
Apart from that, we always have some “tools” with us to be able to react in case of material failure and above all to repair it. So far we needed the toolbox on every tour at some point. It is also important for us to have a first aid kit with some bandages and medication such as painkillers, iodine ointment or a remedy for diarrhoea. Also remember to bring something like that for your four-legged friend!
| Gear item | Name | User | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Backpack | Osprey Talon 44 | Katharina | 1.091g |
| Backpack | Tatonka Yucon | Manuel | 2.960g |
| Trekking poles | Leki Micro Vaio Carbon | Manuel | 588g |
| Trekking poles | Leki | Katharina | 520g |
| Tools | Superglue, cord, tape, sewing kit, multitool, etc. | 390g | |
| First aid kit | 140g | ||
| Toothbrush, toothpaste | Ajona | 45g | |
| Soap | biodegradable | 50g | |
| Toilet paper | 150g | ||
| Deodorant | 80g | ||
| Hairbrush | 50g | ||
| Total weight | Miscellaneous | 6.064g |
Total weight
All in all, depending on the tour, we end up with a total weight of about 16-22 kg. This also includes water. We will take different amounts of water depending on the supply situation. The weight also reflects the length of the tour as well as the possibility to buy additional food. Finally, it is also influenced by the dog food, which we have not listed here, but always have with us.
