10 essentials, well 11, really.

Classic

Overview

You're going to hear and read a lot about the 10 essentials. Worse, the market is absolutely stuffed to the gills with "out of the box" essential gear kits, survival tools, and all manner of paraphernalia that is quite simply silly.

You can put together what you need very inexpensively and easily. Here are some guidelines

1. Navigation (map and compass)
2. Sun protection (sunglasses and sunscreen)
3. Insulation (extra clothing)
4. Illumination (headlamp/flashlight)
5. First-aid supplies
6. Fire (waterproof matches/lighter/candles)
7. Repair kit and tools
8. Nutrition (extra food)
9. Hydration (extra water)
10. Emergency shelter
11. Backpack

10 Medical Essentials

1. Moleskin (2-3 whole ‘cut-your-own’ sheets or precut templates of various sizes, depending on your preference)
2. Anti-inflammatory analgesic (your preferred OTC medication of choice, such as aspirin, ibuprofen, acetaminophen, naproxen kept dry in a tiny ziplock bag with the name of the medication written on the bag; we recommend taking 2 different types: aspirin + non-aspirin; aspirin has anti-clotting properties & is not ideal for pain associated with bleeding; if you are hiking with your dog, use buffered or enteric-coated aspirin; ask your vet for the correct dose & write it down on the ziplock bag)
3. Anti-diarrhea medication (depending on how bad your trail diet is, you may also require antacids, antiemetics and laxatives kept dry in a tiny ziplock bag with the name of the medication written on the bag;Imodium (loperamide) is a safe to give dogs for diarrhea, although some Collie breeds are sensitive to it; ask your vet for the dose & write it down on the ziplock bag)
4. Eye drops (lubricating drops or artificial tears will help alleviate dry eyes when it is windy or dry; if a contact lens wearer, keep an extra small bottle filled with emergency saline solution aka ‘rewetting drops’ which also acts as a general purpose eye lubricant; bring your glasses in case your eyes swell up and you cannot wear your contact lenses; see also tips on backpacking with contact lenses)
5. Sterile Gauze (several 2″x 2″ sheets, good for lacerations that are too large for bandaids; put in a small ziplock bag if not individually packaged to keep sterile)
6. Adhesive waterproof tape (3-4′ long of 1″ wide tape rolled onto a popsicle stick or sewing thread bobbin)
7. Bandaids, assorted sizes (3 adhesive bandages of each size from a variety pack)
8. Butterfly bandages (6, used to to hold together the edges of a cut to expedite healing; larger cuts may require several butterflies)
9. Antiseptic wipes (4 – 6 alcohol or iodine wipes, unscented to prevent attracting wildlife; acts as an antiseptic for cuts & lacerations; alcohol wipes can also be used as emergency fire starter; alcohol is painful for open wounds on dogs; use iodine wipes on dogs)
10. Electrolyte tablet (1-2 tablets, such as Emergen-C to replace lost minerals caused by excessive sweating or illness)

10 Tool Essentials

1. Duct tape (roll about 3′ on the outside of your reusable water bottle or trekking poles; or wrap around popsicle stick/sewing thread bobbin and keep in kit)
2. Tweezers (ones that will actually work to remove ticks & splinters from yourself or your dog; test the plastic ones beforehand, most don’t work very well)
3. Safety pins (2 large pins; can be used for gear, to secure bandages, dig out a splinter, etc)
4. Needle with thread (keep in a match box; useful for gear repair & digging out a splinter)
5. Medical gloves (1 pair, nitrile surgical or non-latex barrier gloves; the sanitary option if you need to help someone that is bleeding, or you want them to help you!)
6. Water proof matches & fire starter (windproof & waterproof emergency matches to start a fire in bad weather; make your own fire-starter at home by collecting dryer lint, add to the inside of a paper egg carton, fill it with melted candle wax & cut away once dried)
7. Emergency blanket (aluminum style reflective blanket if you are hiking in cold or wet weather when hypothermia can be a concern; these can retain up to 80% of your radiated body heat & have other uses, including an emergency signaling device if stranded, a ground cover kept under tent, an insulator when placed under your sleeping bag and over your air mattress/pad)
8. Water purification tablets (your preferred back-up choice, such as iodine tablets, potable aqua, chlorine drops; always carry alternative water purification if your pump gets clogged, UV lamp breaks, or you run out of fuel to boil water)
9. Single-edge razor blade (even if you carry a multi-purpose knife, have a back-up blade)
10. Fingernail clippers (small; long toe nails can cause many problems during long downhill treks! Be sure to trim your dog’s nails before hiking, once you are hiking they will stay filed as your dog walks)

Optional Additions

These additions greatly depend on your circumstances, or maybe you’d rather be “extra” prepared and don’t mind the added mass.

• Prescription medication (medication that your life depends on i.e. insulin, heart, blood pressure; if you are hiking in extremely secluded wilderness areas, also consider asking your doctor to prescribe a limited prescription reliever, such as Hydrocodone to get you through any injuries such as broken bones until you can walk to the nearest medical facility.)
• Antihistamines (if you suffer from allergies or sleep problems; Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) is a good all purpose medication that works quickly and is safe for dogs; obtain dose from your vet)
• Epi-pen (you suffer from severe allergic reactions)
• Hydrocortisone cream (look for a small travel size tube, reduces swelling and itching caused by insect bites and stings; this is optional since most people experience mildly annoying reactions rather than debilitating)
• Antibiotic ointment (use with discretion; soap & water or iodine/alcohol wipes are reliable for pre-treating wounds followed by a bandage to keep it clean and protected)
• Antihemorrhagic (agent to stop bleeding quickly, such as Quikclot or cornstarch, which is helpful for dogs and humans)
• Lip Balm with sunscreen (chapped lips can become painful if infected, see our natural methods of healing chapped lips)
• Insect Repellent (if traveling in heavily infested areas)
• Multivitamins (if health conscious, have a special diet or plan to eat badly and are concerned by the nutritional deficit)
• Snake Bite Kit (i.e. Sawyer extractor pump kit can be used on spider or snake bites; we highly recommend bringing this along if you are hiking in heavily secluded areas with known poisonous snakes, or you are hiking with a dog who likes to put his feet and nose under rocks!)
• Activated charcoal (for those hiking with dogs, can be used to absorb ingested poisons; check with poison control for proper dosage)
• Dog Boots (to protect a dog’s pads, which can get tender and sore when hiking extended miles, in rocky terrain, or on snow/ice)
• Baby Wipes (extra wipes to keep you and your dog clean when nothing else will work – i.e. your dog rolls around in something nasty)
• Anti-chafing / Anti-friction (skin protectant when you are in wet, hot and humid conditions)
• Superglue (when duct tape won’t do)

Chapter X: If you really have to...

Chapter X: If you really have to...

Stuff breaks, water-filters fail, people drop things, toilet paper gets wet. It happens. This chapter is dedicated to some common, and not-so-common pitfalls of setting out into the great unknown.

This chapter is not to scare you. Rather, we will turn our focus for some things that happen and what to do. You should be prepared. And you will be.

You should finish this chapter with confidence. By now you should have already set out to prepare yourself physically, mentally, and with the appropriate amount of gear. If that gear fails, or things go awry, this chapter will give you the know-how to trouble-shoot a wide array of obstacles and uh-oh's.

Water filter breaks. You should always, always, always have redundancies for

Feed me! Are you the cheese, or the macaroni?

Overview

In most cases, you are so hungry that it really doesn't matter what manner of food you stuffed into your pack. You'll eat what you brought with great alacrity. You'll be so hungry, you'll eat a shoe with peanut butter on it. You'll eat anything. However, it's really important that you make food that's both easy to prepare, and provides the desperately-needed nutrition that your completely exhausted body requires to carry on.

Your food ethos should be very different from eating at home. Your goal should be 3,500 calories per day and up. For this reason, you are trying to increase your calories at every turn-- generally, this is not how we tend to eat in normal life. You are burning calories at a high rate, and asking your body to perform at an extraordinary level. So, pump up your food intake!

Yes, there are tons of 'meal-in-a-pouch' options available. The advantage is that they are easy to prepare, and convenient. Unfortunately, these are heavily salted, expensive, and not nutritious as food you can prepare yourself. Also, they generally taste worse than a shoe with peanut butter on it. The technical term for these dehydrated meals is 'blechy!'

Below are some sample food plans, and some recipes to help make tasty, healthy stuff. I'm a big fan of ingredients that can be included in multiple meals.

Breakfast

Coffee or tea. Caffeine is an important part of your life at home, so should it also be on the trail. Tea bags are easy to bring along. My go-to for coffee is Starbucks VIA instant coffee. Running a close second would be to make your own 'coffee bags,' by putting a tablespoon or two of coffee in a filter, tying it off with dental floss.

Cereal and oatmeal. For adults, plan two (2) packets of instant oatmeal, three if you're of large appetite. Instant oatmeal weighs next to nothing so throw an extra packet or two in. Cereal like granola that can take a beating when smashed into your pack is excellent.

Dried milk. Buy whole milk. Nido makes a good product. Whole milk is a great additive for lots of things, but particularly breakfast where protein can be scarce. Dried milk fortifies your coffee or tea, makes the oatmeal and cereal go down great and also can boost nutrition in other meals.

Dried fruit. Apricots, raisins, dates, apples, all of these are great. Throw them in your cereal or oatmeal, or eat them by the handfull while you're breaking down your camp and getting ready to hit the trail.

English muffins. Can be packed flat, slightly toasted on a pan after you've boiled water for coffee or oatmeal, and can feel extremely luxurious on the trail when slathered appropriately.

Peanut/Almond butter. Another one of the super-foods that can double up. Carry this in a tube. Squeeze this over slices of apple for lunch as well.

Other squeezable spackle. Honey is great. Jam gets sticky but does okay. Nutella.

Almond butter has slight nutritional advantages:

http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/advantages-almond-butter-compared-peanut-butter-6541.html

Boost your water. This becomes especially important the first morning you wake up in the back-country. I recommend shaking up some Emergen-C powder, or other electrolyte-infused enhancements into your water bottle as you prepare the face the day. Basically, you're trying to buttress your inputs at every turn. So, sneak in some electrolytes, vitamins, minerals, and calories (yes, even calories from sugar are good in the back country).

Now, you've had a nice breakfast, a strong cup of coffee and you're ready to break camp and hit the trial. Here's what you want to have on hand through the day while you're hiking.

Lunch

I usually plan for three mini-lunches throughout the hiking day. One mid-morning snack, something that you can keep in the top of your pack, that you can pull out and chow down on while you're stopping for water. One more official 'lunch' where you might take your pack off, sit down, and dig in. Third, a late afternoon snack, again; something easily accessible while you stop for water or to check your map in the shade. Here are some ideas.

Snacks. Almonds, peanuts, trail mix (gorp), dried fruit, snickers bars, energy bars, peanut M&M's, chocolate bars, fig newtons, all of these are excellent.

Lunch. When you do stop and take off your pack for 20 minutes or so, make it worth it. Break out the apples and oranges, spread some peanut/almond butter, mix up some electrolytes. 

Dinner

The big event. You're exhausted. Dusty. Dirty. Your team is stumbling around, enthralled with the views from your new camp, or simply heaved on the nearest log or rock, wondering with great earnest why in the world they signed up for this torture. In either case, the name of the game is to start pumping calories into your gullet quickly and with as much ease as possible.

I, for one, am not willing to forego flavor, especially in the backcountry. So, it's worth the extra planning and effort to bolster your main meal as much as you can. Here's some tried and true recipes.

Tuna Mac and Cheese with peas. Peas? Yes, peas. Peas add a nice little punch of protein, punctuate your gloppy mess with some happy green accents, and create a slight-but-appreciable textural difference from the floppy noodles. The whole thing can be done in 10 minutes. I have personally experiences this dish transforming an expired cranky grouch into a fresh-as-a-daisy trail maestro in a matter of five forkfulls of this delightful goop.

This dish tastes best when you're snow-camping in a cave or the back of a frozen pickup truck with a trail buddy, and his gassy dog.

Ingredients (per person)

- 1/2 box Kraft Mac N Cheese (yes, you can substitute brands)

- 1/2 cup dried peas

- 1/4 cup dried milk

- 1, 2.5 oz foil pouch tuna

- 2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions: Before you go, take all ingredients out of box. Collect in large ziplock back. Cut out directions with scissors and put inside of ziplock bag.

Prepare mac & cheese per instructions on box. When adding milk (dried milk) add peas, tuna, olive oil.

Dessert

Do not forget dessert. Do. Not. Forget. Dessert. You're on vacation! You can bring ingredients for smores, if you want. For me, a couple bites of chocolate do the trick. I also love hot cocoa especially when spiked with something special. 

...And if you are going to bring something special, you should be aware of this handy product:

GSI Highland Fifth Flask

http://tinyurl.com/ld3qs69

Larder Items

Where do I buy all this?

Supermarkets are good sources, so are Natural Food stores (see the bulk bins for things like dehydrated beans & soup bases). I also have had good experience with online retailers, especially finding dehydrated food in bulk.

Planning and Prepping

Making a plan
Battlestations!
Assembling the assemblage

1- Fitness is fun! Boring ass salads.

2- Your team

3- Your gear

4- Your plan

5-

Budget - show me the money