The most useful 3 5 day backpacking packing list

Are you planning your first backpacking trip (or your 100th) and looking to get your backpacking packing list sorted? You have come to the right place. I am a super list maker and love sharing my lists with others! Without tons of research and many hundreds of miles of backpacking under our belt, we wanted to share with you exactly what we take on our backpacking trips and what we leave behind. (See unelevated to download a FREE printable backpacking checklist)

In this backpacking checklist, I share every item I bring on a 3-day backpacking trip in the late spring, summer, and fall seasons. I hope that this backpacking gear list will help simplify your planning, help you icon out what you need, and if you are just starting backpacking, requite you some good recommendations for backpacking gear to invest in that will last you many years.

Don’t forget to trammels out our post on backpacking hacks and tips to help your packing go smoothly plane on a first trip!

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are unite links, meaning at no spare forfeit to you, I will earn a legation if you click through and make a purchase.

Backpacking Packing List Essentials: The Big Items

These are the cadre essential backpacking items that will be included on every trip you take, regardless of where it is or how long it is for. When starting out you may finger like you can’t sire all of these, but it is ok to start with cheaper gear or plane renting gear from REI and work your way to lighter, increasingly expensive gear as you go.

These are the items that will probably weight the most and forfeit the most, so it’s useful to save up and buy the weightier that you can sire at the beginning.

Again these are the items that we unquestionably take with us while backpacking – there are tons of other options out there, but this gives you a good starting point.

Backpacking Backpack

After trying on a ton of variegated backpacks, I finally settled on the REI Traverse 60. The important thing to remember is to find one that fits you the weightier and feels the most well-appointed and fits all of your gear. I moreover really liked the REI Flash, but as it is SUPER lightweight, and it didn’t finger as durable when using a withstand canister. For many people though it is really important what your pack weight is when empty. For me, it was repletion first. It is a good idea to get fitted by professionals at REI to really understand what size bag you need and then try them on from that point.

Other options women really like is the Gregory Deva. This was a second runner up for me, but just didn’t fit quite as well.

I had hoped to go with a smaller 40-50L backpack, but since I have to siphon the larger withstand canister for both of us, those just didn’t work for me.

My 12 year old has the Osprey Ace 38, which has worked well for travel and backpacking.

Sleeping Pad

I veritably love my car camping sleeping pad, so I was sad to get a new one for backpacking, but it was necessary. It was important for me to go with the lightest, most well-appointed one on the market, considering sleep is king in my book. I bought this Therm-a-Rest inflatable pad. My son uses the foam pad for himself. My inflatable pad sort of feels flimsy and like a thin garbage bag when you take it out for the first time, but it is lightweight, easy to pack and is perfect to sleep on. I am very happy with it. In recent years increasingly and increasingly folks have been recommending the Nemo ultralight weight pad. I find that it is pretty noisy when used with a Big Agnes tent, but maybe it’s just me!

Sleeping Bag

We are big fans of lanugo sleeping tons and recommend getting a unconfined lightweight bag for all of your camping adventures, not just backpacking. We do not often zany in frigid temperatures. Our tons are 10 degrees for my son and 25 degrees for myself. On our first few trips, we went with the tons we once had – this Kelty square bag and my son had this lanugo bag from REI, but it is a bit heavier than I would purchase for him now. If that is all you have, try it out and only invest in increasingly expensive tons once you know this is your thing.

After years of backpacking with heavier gear, we finally upgraded to increasingly lightweight gear, including the Zenbivy quilt system. We LOVE our quilts and wouldn’t transpiration a thing now. They are SO warm, super light and provide increasingly warmth when needed with the prune in system. This system provides the weightier of both worlds – the snugness of a sleeping bag with the flexibility of a quilt.

Backpacking Tent

This is a backpacking essential where you can really shave off weight depending on how much you are willing to spend and how big of a tent you want. Since it is just me and my 12 year old at the moment, we went for the lightest tent we could sire plane though it’s a bit smaller than we would normally like. But unless it is raining, you aren’t spending a ton of time in the tent anyway. (And we have spent an unshortened 24 hours trapped in it in torrential rain – we survived!)

We love the Nemo trademark tents. We have the Nemo Hornet which is unconfined lightweight tent for 2 smaller people. We have used our friends Nemo Dagger which we moreover really loved. It’s a bit heavier though so we opted for the smaller, lighter tent.

If you really have some mazuma to shrivel and can manage with fiddling, consider the super light weight tents suchs as this one that is uber lightweight and spacious.

Trekking Poles

Yes these are under essentials. Not everyone needs them, but I need them while going up hills and expressly going lanugo hills! Trekking poles are essential for crossing rivers safety with a big pack as well. The trekking poles we have are unquestionably these children poles. We have had them forever and LOVE them, but understand they won’t work for everyone. Regardless, I highly recommend any of Black Diamond poles and to get the lightest pair you can afford. These are the ones I would upgrade to if something happened to ours!

Want to know how much everything weighs and alimony track of it? Trammels out this tomfool website LighterPack where you can enter all of your gear to see what you might need to cut out.

Backpacking Gear List: Water Necessities

I put this in it’s own section, considering it is one of the most important things you will need to consider on your backpacking trips. How much water to bring, have and how to get wipe water. In my opinion, you need three main things on your backpacking packing list – a water bladder/reservoir that fits into your bag easily, a reliable water filter and water bottles for uneaten water storage.

Water Reservoir

We have several water reservoir/bladders that we use on a regular basis. For the most part, we both use a 1.5 L Osprey hydration reservoir/bladder, however many people do recommend going higher with a 3L. For a trip where we might have less wangle to water we would consider bringing that, but they do not fit into our tons with the withstand canister as well as the smaller bag. Moreover note, water weighs well-nigh 2.2 lbs for each liter, so this is where a lot of weight comes in.

Water Filter

We have tried a few variegated water filters through the years. What we used on our first few backpacking trips (the Platypus Quickdraw and the Sawyer Squeeze), we now no longer use! Between the two of these, the one we preferred was the Platypus as it was light and much easier to use than the much increasingly recommended Sawyer.

These days however, our favorite water filter is unquestionably the Katadyn. We have this in both the 1L and the 3LZ (the 3 liter is only misogynist on Amazon). I prefer the 1L plane though it ways increasingly water refills. It just squeezes out increasingly hands than the 3L. However, we usually take both and end up using the 3L at night to refill all of our water bottles for the next day and for meals. For water sources that aren’t nearby it is much easier.

Some people moreover suggest bringing an volitional water treatment system just in case, which is why we unchangingly have the two with us in specimen one breaks.

Water Bottles

When you think of backpackers, you probably think of seeing them with Nalgene bottles hanging off their packs. While we like our Nalgene bottles, I will say that the most preferred water snifter for backpackers is unquestionably a Smart Water bottle. These are sturdy water bottles, slim and still hold a liter like the Nalgene does. On our first backpacking trip, we took both – one of each and preferred the Smartwater snifter 9/10 times. It fit perfectly with the water filter we used, was light unbearable to unchangingly bring with us plane on day hikes and was easier to drink out of without spilling. Without completing the JMT and many other backpacking trips, its unscratched to say our nalgene doesn’t overly come with us!

Curious how it is to hike the John Muir Trail with a child? Read well-nigh our experiences.

Roll-Up Water Bag

In wing to the water bottles, we used to moreover take a super lightweight rollup Platypus 2L water bag. This is unconfined to use as either an spare dirty water bag to be filtered later or to siphon uneaten water with you during long stretches without water. It is light unbearable that I would unchangingly consider bringing this regardless. Now that we hike with both the 1 and 3 liter Katadyn water filters, we leave this at home.

Backpacking Kitchen Essentials

The backpacking kitchen is one place where you can get really thrifty and do various things. I’m not one for messing with lots of parts and gadgets, so we opted for simple, light and reliable.

Backpacking Camping Stove

While some people opt to zany without a backpacking stove, I am not one of those people! I like to have a few creature comforts and my 12 year old doesn’t think it’s a meal unless it’s hot! We decided to go for the new Jetboil Stash as it is all in one and packs into one small container. Without several years of use I can attest that we still veritably LOVE it. You can snap the fuel into the pot and it plane has space for a small lighter or matchbox. Other people like the MSR pocket rocket and then you can buy/bring the variegated pots and pans based on what your needs are. For us, for now, we try to just go light and minimal with making foods that just need hot water.

Fuel

Don’t forget your fuel canister for whatever trademark stove you buy. We brought an uneaten fuel canister which we did not need. Would I bring an uneaten again.. maybe for a longer trip than 3 days, but on 3 days we boiled water 13 times and still had plenty of fuel left over. It’s nonflexible to know exactly how many burns you will get when you are at varying elevations and depending on the wind, so I would suggest unchangingly going with one full can. For worthier groups/families, bring a few!

Lighter

I bought a small Bic lighter that was perfect. There are moreover waterproof matches that would be good, but you would need to bring the burnt match when out with you!

Spork

We brought two of these sporks which we LOVE. These were in our regular day pack hiking packs long surpassing backpacking. We moreover bought one of these long spoons which unquestionably was pretty unconfined to have as well. If we wanted to cut lanugo an ounce we might consider leaving one spork at home and going with only 1 and the long spoon.

As the years have progressed, we now have 2 long spoons and that is all that we take.

Small Knife

I brought a tiny Swiss Unwashed pocketknife and my son brought his regular pocket knife. He used his for scarification wood while at camp. I used the scissors on mine to cut moleskin. Some people recommend the Trango, but we don’t have one (yet!) so I can’t say for sure how light or useful it is at this point. But it is on my future list.

Bowl

My son insisted on bringing his favorite collapsible bowl. I would not bring this trencher again, rather I would find one that didn’t have the grooves in it. I found it difficult to efficiently wipe his bowl. That said, we did enjoy having a trencher to share our supplies increasingly easily. This is a unconfined trencher for pets however or just storing water. Without those first few trips, we ended up with this Seat to Summit bowl, which has been a mainstay. It does not collapse, but can prune to the outside of the bag if needed and it cleans super easily.

Cup

We brought one cup for each of us – two variegated types. One was this GSI mug which I love, but is a bit heavier if you are really trying to save a few grams. We moreover had this simple measuring cup which worked unconfined for measuring out our water for cooking as well as for hot chocolate and eating oatmeal out of.

Small Towel with Biodegradable Soap

One of my spontaneous purchases at REI was this double sided towel for cleaning up. It has a rough side to get off stuck on foods and a soft side. It is a mainstay in our backpacking supply kit. I moreover poured some CampSuds in a tiny Nalgene reusable snifter for zany soap (Remember your Leave No Trace principles and do not wipe dishes anywhere near water sources).

Food

Make sure to bring unbearable supplies for each day you will be backpacking. Try your backpacking meals out surpassing you go to make sure you like them. If you don’t love it at home, you won’t love it on the trail, trust me. We like carb rich, linty foods with plenty of indulgent snacks like Snickers, cookies, peanut M&Ms. Remember to bring a trail mix without chocolate pieces considering those do melt! Our wool favorite meals are these.

Backpacking Checklist for First Aid & Safety

One zone that you cannot skimp on in my opinion is first aid and safety. I find this expressly true when hiking with kids. Plan for the worst, hope for the weightier is my motto in this area.

GPS Communication Device

This is one of the most expensive items on our backpacking packing list and one we unquestionably borrowed from a friend for our first few trips and ended up ownership one second hand. The Garmin In Reach Mini is a must have in my opinion while hiking in the woodland where you do not have any service. We have had friends need rescuing from total accidents, so for us it is important to unchangingly have this on hand.

First Aid Kit

First aid is important to be prepared for on the trail. You never know what will happen. My son unquestionably had a scar on the marrow of his foot surpassing our trip plane began, so we were happy to have this lightweight waterproof set from REI which included moleskin. We moreover widow in a few tabs of Benadryl, Rocktape and Sheeps wool just in case.

Headlamp / Lantern

If you are camping in summer, you may not unquestionably need a headlamp, but I would unchangingly considering bringing one just in case. We love these rechargeable headlamps as you don’t need to bring uneaten batteries. While this one is a touch cheaper, we unquestionably prefer this one.

Bear Canister

Depending on where you are backpacking, you might need a withstand canister. There are substantially only two types on the market. One is a well-spoken box that comes in several sizes, but most often you will see – a smaller box and a larger box. These are notoriously difficult to unshut for some people. I am one of those people. Therefore, my only option was to use this type of withstand canister, which comes in only 1 massive size!

After a few trips with my heavy withstand canister I switched to this stat webbing one. I LOVE it. I used it for 15 days on the JMT and have used it for every trip since and it is still in unconfined condition. I believe I have the Blazer. Plane though the visitor did not think I could fit in a 7 day supplies supply for 2 I did pretty easily!

To unshut my Bearicade can, we both wear a small washer unfluctuating to a bracelet that opens it perfectly. The flathead end on the Swiss unwashed pocketknife and the long spoon moreover opened it easily.

If there is uneaten space in our withstand canister we include all of our kitchen gear inside for uneaten space in the backpack.

Emergency Rain Gear

We unchangingly trammels the weather meticulously surpassing setting out on our adventure, but as you know the weather in the woodland is unpredictable. During short vita with no expectation of rain, we usually leave our rain gear at home. However when hiking the JMT, we had to have it (and needed it!)

I have lightweight rain pants that I purchased from a random store in Mammoth, but I used this rain jacket which worked out quite well. It doesn’t squint amazing, but hey, its to alimony dry!

Also, make sure you walkabout has a rain imbricate included or buy one to alimony with you. This is your unshortened life on your when at the moment, so it is weightier to alimony it dry.

Duct Tape

As I mention in my post on Backpacking Hacks and Tips, duct tape is an essential backpacking item to have with you. Our recommendation is to wrap a bit virtually your trekking poles or some other snifter that you will be bringing with you. I put it virtually a small pencil that my son brings with him.

Essential Backpacking Clothes

The gown you bring is very personal on what is well-appointed to you. I will list what we took with us, the positives and negatives and then it’s up to you to icon out what will work for you and the climate where you will be backpacking. But there are a few essentials we highly recommend. I will say that the increasingly wool items you can manage, the largest off you will be in the scent department as well as warmth and comfort. Cotton does not dry as quickly and retains smells and is much heavier. Opt for quick dry synthetic fabrics or merino wool when possible.

Hiking Shoes

For many backpackers, the rugged toddle boots are the way to go. I on the other hand believe in lighter is largest and many JMT/PCT thru hikers stipulate with me. I wear and love my Altra Lone Peak trail runners. They do have higher top shoes as well if you need toddle support. These are lightweight, indulge your feet room to spread out which helps with wastefulness and swelling. I have nothing but love for these shoes.

My son wears Merrell upper top hiking boots. He has worn these boots since he was 4 increasing in size each year obviously.

The most important factor is repletion and support. Your hiking boots should not rationalization blisters. If they do, you might need to evaluate them and/or your socks.

Wool Socks

My favorite thing in the world these days is wool and this goes for my socks as well. My son wears either Smartwool or Darn Tough wool socks. I have both Smartwool and a local LA trademark Comrad. I prefer my Comrad pinch wool toddle socks the most considering I typically hike in a dress and don’t like having socks up my legs, but they have been out of stock for ages. I have been trying these out in their place which seem to work decently well.

Whatever you like, but just make sure you get wool socks. They will swizzle moisture to help prevent blisters. Wool is moreover unpolluted which reduces stink. I brought 2 pairs for myself and washed one pair at night to switch out. My son brought 3 pairs.

Wool Wiring Layer Long Sleeves

I love wool. I will say it again. The only long sleeve item I had with me was my long sleeve lightweight wiring layer from Smartwool. It is super well-appointed so that I can wear it plane in the heat of the day to alimony the sun off my arms. It keeps me warm in the morning nippy and doesn’t rub when I wear it with my walkabout on. Highly recommend having a merino wool long sleeve wiring layer in your backpacking packing list arsenal. My 12 year old had his wool wiring layers that moreover make-believe as PJs.

These days I much prefer my ultra light wool hoodie that keeps my stovepipe covered in the heat of the day, but can moreover be worn as a long sleeve layer.

Down Puffy Jacket

Everyone needs a lanugo puffy jacket. I have a Patagonia jacket that I bought 5 years ago when we went to Alaska that is still going strong. Yes, these jackets are expensive, but they are so worth it. For children, you can consider the REI trademark lanugo puffy jacket or plane this one from Shred Dog which is plane increasingly economical, but provides the same power, strength and repletion in a lightweight package.

Hiking Pants

Hiking pants for me ways leggings. I love my Prana leggings, but found they were a little too heavy for much of our backpacking since it’s quite warm in the day. Instead, I opt for wool of course! I LOVE these velocipede shorts that I wear under my Wool& dress. I moreover unchangingly bring one long pant. Depending on the weather I might bring these lightweight leggings or these thicker leggings if it’s going to be unprepossessed or I’m only using them at night and in the morning.

My son wore a pair of long pants and brought a pair as extra. In the future we may cut out the second pair and opt for shorts depending on the weather forecasts.

Clean Underwear

Ladies, just bring the wipe underwear for each day you are on the trail. You will be much happier putting on wipe undies every day, trust me. This is the weightier way to finger fresh and wipe without a shower. This is a must for my backpacking packing list! My go to are these wool undies.

Sports Bra

Wool is the way to go here too! I typically just take one and it is unconfined at the end still. This one is great.

Camp Shoes (Optional, but useful)

One item that might be included under luxury and repletion items is a pair of zany shoes. I disagree and finger it is a must have item. Your feet need to outbreathe and get a rest when you are at camp. Without lots of trial and error using super lightweight backpacking type sandals, I have ended up loving my Birkenstocks.

Clothes for Tomfool Weather

If you are camping during spring or fall, your backpacking packing list might need to include items for colder weather. We did not need any items for colder weather plane though we were upper in the mountains. If you do, considering bringing thermals to sleep in, a skullcap and gloves.

We did bring with us 2 buffs that were unconfined to imbricate our heads during sunny moments, imbricate our necks and to get wet and wrap virtually our necks when we were hot.

Backcountry Toiletries

Even though you will be without a shower and smelling pretty, you can’t skimp on a few woodland toiletries that we share below.

Poop Shovel

Yep, you read that correctly, you will need a poop shovel on your backpacking packing list. We love this super light weight, but very sturdy shovel. In wing to this, you will moreover need toilet paper and a ziplock bag to siphon out your dirty paper. Yep. It’s not as bad as it sounds to be honest. As my friend calls it, poo with a view.

Pee Rag

My favorite hiking whatsit these days is my Kula Cloth pee rag. This thing is really unconfined and really helps reduce any uneaten smells that can build up from lard drying. Use this for pee only.

Zip Lock Bags

As much as I hate to use zip lock bags, these were our weightier friend during backpacking. From supplies waste to trash, we used them all the time. Bring the light weight sandwich tons for dry waste and a the freezer quart size to pour hot water into while cooking.

Hand Sanitizer

While this isn’t a necessity on a backpacking packing list, I highly recommend bringing a small tube of hand sanitizer that was useful for quick uses without going to the bathroom. You don’t need a ton though, so don’t worry well-nigh a big bottle.

Sunscreen

Sunscreen and sun protection (aka hats) are a must for all summer backpacking packing lists. We took a small tub of stick sunscreen, but next time I will take a liquid version instead plane though it may not hold as much. I found that I was less likely to put the stick on my stovepipe and legs, which did get quite a bit of sun. Bring what works weightier for you.

Body Wipes

For most backpacking packing lists, it is recommended to take victual wipes. I decided to try the Sea to Summit Large Body wipes, and I was very happy with these as they are scent self-ruling (meaning they didn’t have to go in my withstand box, but I put them there anyway!) and are quite large. I could hands wipe my squatter and neck down, legs and feet with just one wipe. Remember you must pack out what you bring, so take an uneaten ziplock bag for the dirty wipes.

Chapstick / Lip Balm

The mountain air unchangingly makes my lips get chapped, so I made sure to bring withal my favorite SPF chapstick. Love this stuff!

Toothbrush & Toothpaste

For many people, small tube of toothpaste is the weightier option for backpacking. However, we have something plane better! Bites Toothpaste are tiny small round pill shaped shit that are unquestionably toothpaste. They are unconfined considering they are small, totally dissolve and are largest for the environment. Pack your Bites in a small sawed-off sized bag and you are good to go. For ultra lightweight toothbrushes, consider getting bamboo brushes.

Small Hairbrush

A small hairbrush is not a necessity at all for most backpacking packing lists, but since both my son and I have long tangle prone hair, we decided at the last minute to bring our tiny hairbrush. I am so happy we did as well. It felt nice to be worldly-wise to skim my hair that was super sweaty and tangled up from stuff in a hat. This is up to you though.. bring it or not.

Optional Backpacking Gear List

The next few items are considered optional for some people and mandatory for others. We take all of the items unelevated with us, plane if they are a bit heavy.

Insect Repellent &/or Bug Spray Wipes

Depending on where you are going and what season, you may need to bring bug spray and/or wipes. I brought my favorite Doterra Bug Spray oil as well as a few packets of Natrapel wipes. I like the wipes largest than spray only considering I can hands get under my gown without worrying well-nigh staining.

Pro Tip: Spray all of your gown with Permethrin surpassing you throne out on the trails to alimony your gown bug free.

Backpacking Pillow

For me, this is a must have on my personal backpacking packing list. I took this really lightweight wrack-up up pillow which was wonderful to have and didn’t add much weight.

Small External Shower Pack

Over time I have upgraded my shower packs to these. I take two on most trips considering they are small and light and hold a good charge. For shorter trips you probably only need one as most things will hold a good charge. For long hikes and backpacking trips, I love this solar panel that is super light and helps to refill my shower packs during the day as I hike.

Lightweight Quick Dry Towel

Not a necessity on your backpacking packing list, rather a good idea if you are planning to be virtually lakes or rivers, is a quick dry towel. We took two small ones, which I would probably take again. One we used for dishes and the other we used for our feet and to sit on by the lake.

Printed Out Permit

For most woodland hikes in California you will need a permit. Make sure to print out your permit and your camping stove permit to siphon with you withal the route.

ID, Mazuma & Car Key

Depending on what you are doing, it might be important to moreover siphon your ID, a bit of mazuma or a credit vellum and your car key. It is useful to have a few of your important items in specimen of an emergency. I did not take any mazuma considering I knew we were doing an out and when trail, but for any thru hikes I think it’s important to have just in specimen you need to reservation a bus or ride.

Before you go, don’t forget to download your FREE Backpacking Checklist!