Part of Recommended Outdoor Gear by Mark Verber
The following covers all items except clothing and the "big three", shelter, sleeping, and backpack. There are a wide variety of things people take to the outdoors. This list only covers things I would consider taking. Don't expect to find hand cranked blenders, battery power DVD players, etc in this page.
Rational: Next to staying warm, the most important survive factor is to make sure you drink an adequate amount of safe water. This means you need to carry water in something and be sure that your water is safe.
My Choice: I normally use a 2L Platypus Water Bottle with a hydration tube. It is light, durable, and collapsible. I typically use Aqua Mira chemical treatment because it is light, reasonable easy, and has little taste. Most water is safe within 30 minutes of treatment. In the winter I purify my water by boiling an extra few minutes and use wide mouth Gatorade bottles because they are one of the few light weight drink containers which can handle boiling water poured into them without melting.
Options:
Carry: For carrying water, the standard backpacking container is the Nalgene water bottle because they are nearly indestructible and have a wide mouth which makes them easy to fill. Boiling water doesn't melt them which make them particularly useful in the winter as hot water bottles. You should be aware classic Nalgene water bottles are made of polycarbonate based plastic which might pose a threat to pregnant women and young children. Empty pop and bottled-water containers are a cheap and light alternative to the classic Nalgene water bottle. Growing in popularity are flexible water containers such as the Platypus, Camelbak, Nalgene Wide-Mouth Cantenes, and the heavy duty MSR Dromedary bag. The Nalgene cantenes are nice because they are easy to fill and clean like the classic Nalgene bottle, but significantly lighter and can be collapsed. Platypus are pretty much the lightest and most compact option. The one downside of a Platypus bottle is the narrow mouth which can make it a challenge to clean, dry, and in some situations fill. To dry, shake all the water out, fill with air, and then put the platypus in the sun. It will dry in a day. Platypus makes the Zip II model, with a zip lock top. I have found the zip to be hard to use and have repeatedly had it open accidentally. In 2008 the updated Big Zip SL might address the problems I have had getting the zip closed reliably. Some people express concerns about durability... but unless you really punish your gear, the platypus should be plenty durable. I used a 1st generation platypus daily for more than a year without a leak or a break and then on periodic trips for several more years. Hydration systems such as Camelbak and Platypus have become popular because you don't have to stop to get a drink. Personally, I think the Camelbak reserves are excessively complex and heavy, I think they are fine around the town, but would use something lighter backpacking.
Treat: Next you need to be sure the water is safe to drink. These days water filters are very popular because you can drink the water you pump immediately, they are simple to use, they are effective at removing biological contamination, and some will also remove some chemicals and improve water taste. Filters are particularly useful if you are in locations which are hot and have few sources of water. You can "camel up" at a water spot immediately. The Pur Hiker seems to be the most popular, MSR SweetWater is the easiest to use (thanks to the pump handle being a lever - though the lever can break), and the new MSR Hyperflow (fastest, light, but not a durable as others). Note: in the cases of water with a lot of biological muck, or glacier runoff with lots of silt, filters clog very quickly. Sometimes you need to remove the water from stream / pond and let it sit for a hour or two so the crud settles out. If you are expect water sources to have a lot of crud, you should make sure your filter can be cleaned in the field and bring a pre-filter. Some people have found using home-make or commercial inline-gravity filter systems such as the ULA Amigo, Platypus CleanStream or MSR Autoflow work well. Chemical treatments are small, light weight, and doesn't clog. I use Aqua Mira treatment drops (vendor page) which uses Chlorine Dioxide water purification. Chlorine Dioxide is significantly more effective than the iodine or beach based treatments, and has less of a "taste" than most other chemical water treatment. Just after treatment, the water can taste a bit like pool water just after treatment and becomes less pronounced after a few hours. In clear water it's fully effective in 30 minutes, in cloudy water everything but cysts are killed in 15 minutes, with the cysts taking up to 4 hours to neutralize. There are a few other chlorine dioxide based treatments including the pre-mixed Klearwater, tablets made by Aqua Mira, Kaytadyn Micropur tablets, and the MSR MIOX system. Recently, a number of products have come to market that use UV light to purify water. The most popular are made by Aqua Star and the Hydro Photon's SteriPEN Adventurer. The nice thing about the using UV light is it will purify reasonable clear water in something like 60 seconds. No work, just scoop up the water and turn on the light source. The downside of the UV systems are that they don't work well with cloudy water, and the systems is complex, which is more prone to fail. In particular, I have heard a number of failures reported in temperatures around freezing. It you decide to use a UV system, bring a chemical backup. Three minutes of boiling water is also highly effective. Anytime you aren't using a filter, there might been a need to deal with particular matter found in the water. There are a variety of techniques for this. A piece of women's nylon hose will keep the larger items out while permitting very fast fill-ups. More effective, but slower tools include using a bandana, coffee filter, or a specifically designed "pre-filter". Another approach is to collect water, let it settle for a few hours, scoop out the floatees, and then carefully pour the water into another container (or scoop water out) leaving the material that settled on the bottom behind. PCTA folks have a nice article Water Sources and Purification and more details in Water Purification In the Backcountry Overview & Treatment Comparison. The most complete review I have seen is the US Army's Commercially Available Water Treatment
There is significant evidence that poor personal hygiene (e.g. not washing hands during food prep) is the most significant source of contamination in the back country, so some people don't purify their water sources. I think this is an unnecessary risk and don't recommend this approach. There has been quite a bit of discussion about Sierra Nevada Mountain Water: Is it Safe to Drink? One of the early scholarly look at this was performed in 1984 about Giardia Lamblia and Giardiasis in Sierra Nevada and a more recent study from UC Davis from 2003 seems to indicate that the water in most of the high sierras is still pretty clean. You can read their technical article An Analysis of Wilderness Water in Kings Canyon, Sequoia, and Yosemite National Parks for Coliform and Pathologic Bacteria or check out their press release Backcountry Water Quality tests are Good News for Campers. Related articles include Cyst acquisition rate for Giardia lamblia in backcountry travelers to Desolation Wildereness and Evidence based Medicine in the Wilderness: The Safety of backcountry Water.
The best place to take water is from the top 1/2 inch of a lake. Constant exposure to UV light from the sun tends to purify the top layer of a fixed body of water.
Low Cost: Empty plastic 1 L pop bottles to carry water, and Aqua Mira..
Rational: A portable stove enables you to cook nearly anywhere. Most stoves burn clean which makes cleanup easy. While a stove will add weight to your pack, the combination of a stove and foods which you cook are often lighter than ready to eat foods. Boiling water is an effective purification method. In cold locales, stoves are used to melt snow for drinking water.
My Choice: I typically use a Ion alcohol stove on my solo trips because it is light, quiet, easy to use, and very compact. My stove is 1oz + .5oz of fuel for each meal where I boil 16-20oz of water. My stove, fuel for up to 5 days, windscreen, and all other cooking and eating items fit inside my .9L pot. If I am cooking or cooking for a several people, I use a Snowpeak Gigi Power GS-100 canister stove because it is a lighter than most options, easy to use, burns hotter than alcohol, and simmers well. I will also take a canister stove if there is a high fire danger since there is much lower risk of "spilling" or if I expect I will be cooking in an enclosed space because the canister has better flame control and produces less carbon monoxide. If I am boiling 4L pots of water for a large group, or melting snow, or in sub freezing conditions, I go with a Coleman Xtreme liquid fuel stove.
Options: Stoves should be evaluated based on a number of factors: step in weight (stove + fuel container), weight for the length of your trip factoring in fuel efficiency, accessibility of fuel, operating environment restrictions, need for simmering (flame control), initial cost, and cost of operating. Stoveweight vs Time Over 14 Days provides a useful graph which can help you appreciate how the step-in weight and fuel efficiency can effect carry weight. If you want to model out all stove / fuel weight options check out the light-weight stove calculator. For more information, check out the Stove FAQ. [Note: One nit is that the step in weight for the alcohol stove included a heavy nalgene bottle for fuel. That's silly. Use a pop bottle or a platypus and reduce the contain weight by a factor of 4-8x.] I found a nice collection of international fuel names which can be useful when looking for fuel outside your country of origin. Not Even the Kitchen Sink provides a nice discussion about technology trends in light weight stoves. If you are planning to use a stove inside a contained area (say a tent) read the five part series Stoves, Tents, Carbon Monoxide (summary: use a Colman Xtreme stove, or a canister stove with side burners like the Snowpeak GS-100 or Vargo Ti).
Canister stoves are understandably becoming quite popular. For most of this section we will discuss stoves that use the standard Lindal-valve. Canister stoves are reasonable light (stove + empty canister 7oz), easy to start, easy to use, don't tend to flair up, simmer well, burns clean, and are more fuel efficient that other options. They operate well in three season conditions (in colder conditions keep the canister in your pocket and/or sleeping bag). The downside of canister stoves are: they don't function well in subzero weather, wind can significantly impact performance, it is hard to get additional canisters in some locations, and the fuel is expensive. Finally, it's a pain not to know how much fuel is in the canister. You can shake it (imprecise) or check it's weight (not practical on the trail), or use a Brunton Gas Gauge. Note: altitude does not harm the performance of the canister stoves except for pizo-electric starters which tend to have problem above around 10k ft... use a match or a flint based sparker. I don't think canister availability should be an issue unless you are on trip which doesn't have reliable re-supply ever couple of weeks. I use a Snow Peak GS-100 GigaPower Stove (my review). I like it because it is very light, compact, and has four support arms which I have found to be more stable than most of the three arm mini stoves. The GS-100 also produces less carbon monoxide than most stoves. I have also used a Brunton Optimus Cruz a fair bit. The Cruz packs even more compactly that then GigaPower, has a more spread out flame, and seems to run about 30% hotter than the GigaPower... but I found I had to set pots on it near dead center or they would tip over. Other stoves I would consider if I didn't have something already would be the Coleman eXponent F-1 because it can burn a bit hotter and is cheaper than many other canister stoves and the Vargo Ti canister stoves because they seems beloved by it's owners. If you need to suspend a stove check out the MSR SuperFly Ascent. JetBoil has an interesting system, but the step-in weight is sufficiently high that even with it's higher fuel efficiently, it never beats my stand-alone canister stove + pot + fuel for total carry weight. No doubt some of the cool ideas in the JetBoil system will find their way into other cooking systems. The MSR Reactor is a new stove using a number of innovate technologies, with an integrated pot stove which was clearly influenced by JetBoil. The Reactor system is twice as heavy (20oz) and twice as expensive ($145) as my separate canister stove / pot. MSR seems to claim that this stove can be used down to -10F, with the limiting factor being the o-rings which tend to harden in extreme cold. The Ortik HeatIt is an interesting windshield / pot cozy for traditional canister stoves. The small Snow Peak fuel canister weights 7oz runs full out for approx 40 minutes in most stove, which is enough to boil 7 1L pots of water or 12 24oz pots in most conditions. The MSR and Primos fuel canisters will run twice as long. Primos makes "jumbo" a 450g canister which would be useful to someone cooking a lot. They You can mail iso butane canisters via surface mail as described in yellowjacket's canister faq. There are two other types of canister stoves. The first type are stoves which can use iso butane in cold weather because it has a warming system that vaporizes the liquid much the same way liquid fuel stoves work. I strongly recommend this type of stove of liquid fuel during the winter because they are less hassle, and safer to use in a tent do to less flare up and lower CO2 emissions, and are often lighter weight. The Coleman Fryestorm is the easiest stove of this type to find. The original Coleman PowerMax Xtreme is no longer sold, but if you want to DIY a lighter stove, the parts for the PowerMax Xtreme can be purchased and there are lots of ideas about PowerMax on a diet and an article about modifying winter canister stoves. The second canister type is made by Gaz and are rather heavy. They are more popular in Europe than in North America. I am not particularly fond of these stoves. I believe the lindal-value isobutane canister stoves are superior in every way.
Alcohol stoves are the darling of the ultra-light community. The base weight of an alcohol stove system can be lighter than an ounce, can be very inexpensive if you make the stove (wings archive, jason klass stoves, stove types by zen), have no moving parts to fail, fuel is easy acquired many locations and is easy to transport making resupply easy, and alcohol burns quietly. Alcohol as a fuel has less BTUs / ounces than other fuels so if you have a lot of cooking to do (long trips without resupply, melting snow, cooking for lots of people) you would be better served with a different fuel source. It is also possible to knock over a running alcohol stove which could be a fire hazard, so some parks ban their use during times of high risk of fire. Most alcohol stoves do not simmer well, they can just boil water. So if you want to do complex cooking you might be better served using a different type of stove. Basic "simmering" can be accomplished through the use of a cozy such as those sold by AntiGravityGear or homemade with reflectix. A commonly asked question is how much fuel does it take to boil X amount of water. There is not fixed answer for this. The amount of fuel required depends on how much water you boil at one time, the temp of the water, the fuel efficiency of the stove, how much wind, and the size/shape of the pot. My experience is that the amount of fuel required to boil 16oz (.5L) is somewhere between 0.3 and 1.5 oz of alcohol. Most stoves will be between 0.5-1oz. My favorite homemade stoves because the are easy to make and effective are the Penny Alcohol Stove and the Cat Stove. If you want to buy a pre-made stove I would recommend the Caldera Cone Stove (easy to use, stable, efficient, good in wind, doesn't pack into pot, don't try to use with wood--it will melt), Ti-Tri Caldera (can be used with wood, expensive), thermojet stove (easy to use, stable, can simmer, doesn't pack into pot), or the ion stove (tiny, efficient, easy to use, easy to pack, but s-l-o-w). Brasslite makes stoves which are more durable than most home made stoves and one of their models simmer very well. Vargo make the cool looking Triad. The pot holder is stable and effective. Unfortunately the stove's performance is very poor. The stove is difficult to fuel and touchy to light. It's easy to over prime which results in significant flare-ups. Fuel efficiently is mediocre to extremely poor in strong winds. I would recommend skipping this stove. There was a nice commercial alcohol stove survey and performance report at BPL. Many people carry alcohol in light weight plastic containers. When people need a lot of fuel, Mountain Dew bottles seems to be popular because they are a different color than containers people drink out of. On weekend trips I use a small 2 oz bottle that campsuds came in. On longer trips I used a Playtpus Lil' Nipper with a cap from BPL. [Note: some people have reported problems with a Platypus + BPL cap leaking, but I haven't had a problem personally.]
Solid fuel (esbit) stoves provide structure to burn combustible solids. The most common form of this are esbit stoves which are designed to hold solid fuel tablets off the ground while they burn. Some people swear by esbit tablets, but I don't like them. They give of noxious fumes, leave residue on pots, and in a most conditions I have been unable to bring 16oz of water to boil using a single tablet. Maybe I am doing something wrong since there are numerous people who love using esbit stoves. The beercan esbit stove looks pretty cool and other people who have reported problems boiling water with esbit tables have been reporting success with the beercan stove. This stove generated a lot of discussion about making a beercan esbit stove. David Lewis designed a esbit heinlein beercan stove which weights just 49 grams (1.7 ounces).
Pressurized Liquid Fuel stoves have been the main stay of camping stoves. Most will burn white gas, many will burn other fuels as well. The step in weight for these stoves is at least 16oz, and in many come close to two pounds between a heavy stove and fuel bottle. On the other hand, if you have to do a lot of cooking, especially in cold weather, nothing can compare the the large fuel supplies that can be brought to bear. There are a number of multi-fuel pressurized liquid fuel stoves which can burn almost any flammable liquid simplifies re-supply, especially when you are outside Northern America. The MSR Whisperlite has been very populate for years... but I am not fond of it. It's not light, it sounds like a jet engine not a whisper, doesn't simmer, and can be temperamental. I think the MSR SimmerLite is a much nicer stove (lighter, less temperamental, and simmers well). The faithful MSR XGK has always impressed me with it's durability, can burn just about any fuel, and it's ability to function in extreme conditions though it is louder than the Whisperlite. There are also a few options which use canister gas in liquid form such as the Coleman Xtreme series or stoves which use the traditional iso butane canisters upside down. These have the advantage of easy use of canister stoves but will function well in colder temperatures. For multi-fuel stove, a number of people seem to like the more modern MSR Dragon Fly, though there are a number of new entries in this field, including a number which will also run on isobutane canisters.
Capillary pump stoves using Vapore technology (exclusively licensed by MSR for outdoor stoves?). This technology looks very impressive. Ultimately stoves using this technology could use lighter weight fuel canisters and be extremely efficient. There have been a number of web articles about the MSR/vapore stove. I thought the MSR Reactor stove was going to use the Vapore CFV technology, but reading the MSR web pages it seems this is not the case.
Wood burning fire made from material found on the ground. If you keep the fire small enough for just cooking then in many locations, this is an environmentally friendly way to cook. The down side is that there are places that small fires aren't recommended either because of the danger of forest fires or that the fuel supply / conditions are not appropriate. There are several designs for small, portable stoves which burn wood such as: the commercial jfalk stove, bushbubby stove, trailstove, Ti-Tri Caldera and the vortex titanium stove or the DIY penny wood stove, and Garlington Stove. An interesting variation of this is the Sierra Zip Stove stove which uses a small electric fan to drive the fire and the Kelly Kettle which has been popular with fisherman who don't need to worry so much about weight. The fire box in wood burning stoves typically is either steel or titanium because aluminum will melt.
Solar: There are a number of companies such as Soltac which make portable, solar powered ovens which can be used to cook food in the back country. These devices typically weight between 10oz and 2lbs and use just sun light for "fuel". Of course, they are only useful if you have good sun light available and typically take a lot longer than more traditional systems.
Low Cost: Wood fire contained by rocks, make an alcohol or esbits stove discussed above.
Rational: If you want to cook food, you need something that holds the water and/or food as you heat it up.
My Choice: When I am traveling solo I use a Evernew .9 L titanium pot. When I am cooking with others I have found that a Evernew 1.3 L in larger enough to cook in for two, and adequate for up four people if I am just boiling water which will be poured into an external bag to "cook" the food. If I am cooking in the pot, I found the .9 and 1.3 together will work for four people, though a 2L pot would most likely be a better option.
Options: What cookware is best for you will depend on how many people you are cooking for, and what style of cooking. Cookware is typical made from aluminum, titanium, or steel. For backpacking, I would leave the steel at home... its heavy. Titanium will be more expensive. For a given volume, aluminum is lighter, but titanium is stronger... so in theory you can use less of it. It seems in practice that at small volume (1L or less), titanium pots tend to be lighter than similar size aluminum pots, but as the volume of the pot increases (say to 2L or 4L), the pots end up weighting pretty much the same. My experience is that given similar size / weight pots, titanium will be more durable. If you are just boiling water, Titanium and aluminum works well, but if you are doing serious cooking you would want the more even heating of aluminum. With aluminum pots, I generally prefer hard anodized than those with non-stick coatings because they are more durable when scraped and scorched. Both hard anodized and the more traditional non-stick coatings prevent the nasty metal taste than comes from cooking tomato based products in untreated aluminum.
Solo: If you are mostly boiling water for just yourself then I think the REI/Evernew Ultralight Titanium 0.9 L pot is a great choice. It is light weight, durable, has nice handles, has a small pouring spout, and is wide enough to you don't lose a lot of heat up the sides. The GSI Soloist looks like a very nice system which holds a cup, bowl, small fuel canister and stove. One of the cheapest options is the Anti Gravity Gear 3 cup pot which is just $10 for the non-stick, and $13 for the hard anodized. Another popular option are kettles made by MSR and REI/Evernew which hold around .8L. If you boil water for bag meals, you could consider tea kettles from GSI and others which weights ~5oz and has a wide, fuel efficient bottom. Hardcore ultra-lighters often using mugs for drinking and cooking such as the a Snowpeak 600, Snowpeak Trek 700, BPL Firelite 550 or the IMUSA Aluminum Mug.
Two People: I think a single 1.3 L pot such as the REI/Evernew 1.3 L Nonstick Titanium Pot is ideal for 2 people who are traveling light. The GSI Dualist looks nice, coming with two bowls, two cups, and room for a large fuel canister and stove. Some people use larger pots such as the value priced Anti Gravity Gear 2L pot which can be used with larger groups as well. If you are doing fancier cooking, you might look at something like the nesting 1&1.5 L set such as the the MSR Duralite Mini.
Larger Groups: Four people will typically want a 1.5 & 2 L nesting cook. There are a number of other good options sold by antigravity gear including their value priced coated aluminum and some nice titanium pots made by Evernew. For several years we use a MSR Duralite Classic set which worked well, though isn't the lightest option. There are a number of other nice sets made by MSR, GSI. Many people automatically bring all the pots in their cooking set. If you plan your meals well you should often be able to do everything with a single pot... don't bring the pots you aren't going to use. If you have more than four people you could consider whether you want to use even larger pots, or break into smaller groups to avoid having to bring huge pots, and to boiling 4L+ on a single stove.
Other Approaches: I know some people who really like bring light weight ovens such as the trailbaker, bakepacker, the DIY fauxbaker or outback oven because they expand cooking options beyond what can be accomplished in basic pots.
Low Cost: The WalMart grease pot has been the traditional low weight, low cost option among thru-hikers, ultralighters and dirtbags. I would recommend Anti Gravity Gear pots. A few more dollars buys a good anti-stick coating, a lid, and a better lip making the pot easier to clean and less likely to spill.
Rational: If you are eating food that isn't ready to eat you need a way to hold it without getting covered in food.
My Choice: When traveling solo I eat out of my pot, use the spoon and sometimes the fork from a GSI Tekk Lexan Cutlery Set. The Tekk cutlery is a bit smaller than the standard size lexan flatware which allows it to fit into my cooking pot. On group trips, I bring Jetboil Utensils which fold up slightly smaller than the Tekk, and extend long enough to reach into freeze dry cook bags though they weight twice as much Tekk utensils. If I am on a group trip I bring a Orikaso Bowl (XL size) because it's ability to fold flat makes it easy to pack and you can lick it mostly clean.
Options: As mentioned above, if you are on a solo trip, then consider eating out of your cooking pot (or zip-lock bag if you are bag cooking. In groups, eating out of the pot is typically not appropriate. A minimalist approach in a group is to carry a single sierra cup, bowl or mug, and to drink and eat your meal in stages. Alternatively you could bring a large bowl (zip-lock 2 cup container makes a dandy backpacking bowl) and a light weight cup/mug. You will also need a spoon, though some people like a spork or foon (a spoon whose front is fork-like). I tried a spork for a while, but I decided that I really prefer a full spoon for spoons, and a real fork for everything else, so I switched back to carrying a small spoon & fork. I would recommend getting utensils made from Lexan because they are cheap, light weight, reasonably durable, don't have a "taste" like steel, and won't scratch pots like titanium. If you are using backpacker oriented freeze dry meals you might want an extra long spoon that lets you mix the food without getting you hand down into the bag. Recently GSI started making a nice line of ulta-light utensils which include telescoping utensils and a nice bowl & cup designed to nest with small fuel canisters. I would recommend avoiding the Light My Fire Spork. There are numerous reports of it breaking in the field. I also don't like the design, but that's just me.
Low Cost: There are plenty of "disposable" containers that get thrown out each day... you shouldn't have a hard time finding something that with work for you. My favorite item are the disposable plastic bowl for single serving of noodles or soap. Cost is around $1 and you get food as well. These bowl are durable, very light (.2oz) and holds the right amount of food. Fast food restaurants have cheap, flimsy plastic flatware. If you are using these cheap utensils, take a couple in case one of them breaks. Two "disposal" utensils will often be lighter weight than one more durable item.
Rational: Many outdoor activities requires cutting things. Cutting needs might vary from food preparation to trimming material to cover a blister to hacking branches off a tree to build an emergency shelter.
My Choice: Most of the time the only knife I take is the knife that is always in my pocket, a Victorininox Rambler which is a lot like the tiny "Classic" except that it has a small philips head blade / bottle opener. The blade is adequate (though a bit short) for the food prep I do, I can cut through light rope when needed, the scissors are easier to use than a blade when trimming duct or other first aid pads / tape, I can manage my nails using the scissors and nail file, and the small flat head and Phillips head screw drivers have been useful when I need to tighten up various items. If I am doing a lot of food preparation which needs a knife with a longer blade, I take a Benchmade 530. If I need a more durable knife (like expected to do a lot of wood craft) I will typically take a Ritter RSK Mk1 Knife. In the past I used to take a USAF fixed blade survival knife if I was going to be off the beaten path or with boy scouts.
Options: There are a large variety of knives in the marketplace today. Options includes basic type (pocket, fixed blade, etc), type of ground used on the blade, quality of the materials, and finally style and craftsmanship. Doug Ritter's Sharp Stuff page has a good discussion of knife choices with an eye on survival. You can checkout Knife Forums and Blade Forums to see what knife enthusiasts have to say.
Pocket Knife: A knife is one of the most used tools while camping and backpacking, but there are many different styles selected by people. Ultra-light backpackers often make do with a tiny Swiss pocket knife like the Wenger Esquire or Victorinox Classic which have a small blade, scissors, a nail file, tweezers, and a toothpick. These tiny knives are more than adequate for basic "housekeeping" cutting. In the last thirty years the most popular outdoors knives seem to be the classic Camillus boy scout pocket knife and it's cousin, the medium size Swiss knife from Victorinox or Wenger which contain a can opener, bottle opener, awe, one or two blades, maybe a cord screw, maybe a philips head screw driver. Personally, I think a basic pocket knife is more than adequate for most tasks. Alas, the tendency of bloated "more is better" led to the creation of large Swiss "pocket" knives with their 10s of tools in a package that really doesn't fit comfortably in a pocket anymore. In general I don't like these knives since they are expensive, bulky, and I expect I will use less than 20% of the tools.
Multi-Tools: Growing in popularity are the multi-tools first introduced by Leatherman. These are typically foldable piers or scissors with a number of blades hidden away in the two handles. If you expect to be repairing machinery, these are a great option since it is like having a small toolbox in small package. Of course having a single package can be an issue since sometimes since you can't hold a bolt with the pliers and use a screw driver at the same time. I think multi-tools are typically not particularly useful in the back country. The Leatherman Squirt seems to be one of the more popular multi-tools among backpackers.
Folding Lock Blades: Folding lock blades are often a good compromise for people who expect to be doing a fair amount of cutting or whittling. By locking the blade they are much safer to use than typical pocket knives while being more compact than fixed blade knives. There are a few multi-blade knifes that lock such as the Victorinox Hunter. I generally perfect the simplicity of a single blade locking knife. The most common locking mechanism is a liner lock. It's cheap, but not super reliable. In recent years there are a number of locking mechanisms which are significantly stronger and easier to use such as the AXIS from Benchmade. My favorite high quality lock blades Ritter RSK Mk1 Knife, Benchmade 520, Benchmade 530, Benchmade 805, and the ultimate and expensive Chris Reeve Sebenza. More reasonably priced high quality lock blades include ag russell featherlite, Kershaw Chive, Spyderco Endura, CRKT Desert Lightfoot, Gerber Ultralight LST, and Buck Strider. Interesting looking is this relatively inexpensive titanium folder. Opinel makes a number of folding knives which have good quality steel blades, cheap but effective wooden handles, and cost around $10.
Fixed Blade: Finally there are some people who really like fixed blade knives because of their durability and wide range of uses, and ability to stand up to serious abuse (chopping, digging, etc). You should stick with knives with a full tang for maximum durability. Keep in mind that you don't need a huge / heavy blade, 3" is actually plenty for tasks as described in the book Bushcraft, and a short article in field&stream about The Wilderness Blade. The pricy Chris Reeve Aviator looks really nice though I have not used it. The Fallkniven F1 is also nice, and has a cheaper street price of ~$100. The most affordable, but decent quality fixed blades I have seen are from the Swedish maker Mora though many don't have a full tang which I prefer. If you are around salt water a lot you might look at the Gerber Silver Trident or the titanium Mission MPK-10Ti. The smallest / lightest "fixed blade" might be a classic safety razor blade wrapped with a bit of tape to you don't cut you fingers on the "back" side. This is a bit too minimalist for me.
Scissors: Some people have found that all their cutting jobs are easily handled with just a small pair of scissors. Super ultralight folks tear apart the Victorinox Classic, some use the scissors from the Victorinox Swiss Army Swiss Card, while others seem to like small blunt-end kid scissors.
Low Cost: The cheapest option would be a pocket strait razor at less than $1... but that's a bit minimalist for me. If just scissors will work for you, you can typically find a pair for less than $1. I generally would recommend the small Wenger Esquire and Victorinox Classic can be found for less than $10 and are often given away with someone's logo on the side. If you want a larger pocket knife, it is possible to find the classic Victorinox Recruit for around $11. If you want a locking blade folder, then you should be able to pick up a Opinel folding knife for less than $10, it will have a good blade with a wooden handle.
Rational: Flashlights let you continue your activities once it is too dark to see.
My Choice: The most excellent Ritter Photon Freedom II is light enough that it's always in my pocket, in the back country or around town. It has multiple intensities to save batteries, water resistant, and it is easy to change the batteries. I found I get around 5 hours of useful light out of it, and many more hours of marginal light. I sometimes use the Freedom clip (often attached to the ear piece of my glasses) for hands free operation. If I am expecting to do a lot of night time navigation I will bring a Fenix L1D CE hand held light (L1D-CE review) which weights just 2oz with a lithium battery, or a bit more with NiNH rechargable. I get 20+ hours using a rechargeable battery on low setting with a near constant output until the last hour, and can be switched to high mode were it's brighter than most 3W lights. I normally use high capacity (2200mwh or better) NiMH rechargeable batteries, though I switch to Lithium batteries on snow camping trips. When I am not expecting challenging night time navigation I will often bring the Ritter eQ because it's light weight, has a versatile beam, can be used for basic navigation (the Photon isn't really up to the task), and can be mounted or clipped just about anywhere.
Options: These days, I would recommend sticking with LED lights. They are more energy efficient than conventional bulbs (similar to florescent), and significantly more durable and longer lived. There are three types of LED flashlights on the market today. Micro or button lights, headlamps, and the more traditional hand-held flashlights. I generally recommend getting a headlamp because the hands free operation is extremely useful and you can always use it like a hand light. Why would you use a headlamp in your hand? Having a light source coming from the same location as your eyes creates hard shadows which can make it harder to see things. When night hiking having the light coming from down around your waist makes it much easier to see the terrain. Secondly, when in groups, there is a tendency to turn toward people who are talking which minimal exposes them to the spill of the headlamp if the headlamp is properly adjusted down, or worse case, you just hit your friend with full force light. During summer months I would recommend using a modern NiHM rechargeables which I have found outperform classic alkaline batteries and are more eco-friendly. I would also recommend getting a conditioning charger because you can be losing more than half a batteries capacity using stupid charger. I normally recommend the La Crosse BC-900, though the Maha MH-c9000 has more features at the cost of ease of use. In cold conditions NiHM batteries function better than alkalines, but I would recommend using Lithium batteries because they even less effected by cold, hold more power, and, are 30-40% lighter as an extra bonus. You should be aware that lithium batteries burn-out some LED lamps. All of the Princeton Tec regulated lights mentioned below have circuitry which support Lithium batteries. For more information about flashlights, batteries, etc check out Candle Power Forums and flashlightreviews.com to learn what flashlight fanatics are raving about.
Button Lights: Small lights that are powered by watch batteries and have a single LED. These lights are very small and light. They typically have 5+ hours of useful light useful for basic camp tasks or easy navigation on well developed trails. All of these flashlight permit momentary on/off operation by squeezing the case, and some provide some sort of locking mechanism to keep the light on. Many of the locking mechanisms will accidentally turn on, draining the battery during the day. While more expensive than some options, I think Doug Ritter's MkII Photon Freedom is the best button light currently made. It's surprisingly bright thanks to the Nichia LED, water resistant, and the batteries are easy to change. It's user interface is very good (easy to vary intensity and to select push-to-light mode, and the various strobes stay out of the way unless you need them). It is pretty resistant to getting turned off in the pocket it you switch it to the momentary-on mode. I just wish it has the 2 minute auto-turn off mode found in the now discontinued Photon III. Photon also makes the less expensive X-Light which has the same UI. Many people hold their button lights in their mouth for "hands free lighting:". This is ok to do time to time, but if you do this a lot you run the risk of rusting the guts of the light with your saliva. Some people put a Velcro dots on a button light so it can be attached to something, or use clip/frame that Photon includes with the Freedom for hands free lighting.
Headlamps: For basic task lighting there are a number of light-weight LED headlamps. If you are looking for a moderately priced headlamp I would recommend the Princeton Tec Aurora which you should be able to find for less than $20. If you have a bit more money ($30), I used to recommend PrincetonTec Quad which has super bright .5mm LEDs, is highly water resistant, a battery life indicator, and a primitive voltage regulation which doesn't do much for maintaining a constant output of light but allows the use of lithium batteries. I wish the Quad had an extra low setting because even it's low setting is overkill for many of my tasks. If you are looking for a more compact headlamp I would suggest the Petzl Zipka Plus that uses a Spectra "zip" cord rather than a more bulky headband at the cost of being able to easily adjust the angle of the beam. If you need a decent throw for navigation I would recommend the PrincetonTec EOS Headlamp (review) which has a 1W LED and is pretty small. The downside of the EOS is that it has a focused beam with very little side spill which means that while it's great for hiking, it's a bit too focused for around camp. I would recommend something like Jim Wood's DIY EOS diffuser to address this shortcoming. I think the perfect headlamp would be the EOS with a Cree bulb, a sliding diffuser like the Tikka XL, and an ultra low (say 3 lumens) setting. The Petzl Tikka XL is the most competitive alternative to the EOS. The Tikka XL's advantages over the EOS is that it has a "boast" button which gives you a 20 seconds where the LED which can run at 3w and that it has a built in diffuser so it can function as a flood light around camp. Alas, it lacks voltage regulator so it can't take Lithium batteries, is not as well weather sealed, and is hard to use with gloves. If the EOS isn't bright enough for you, and you need something right now than I would recommend the PrincetonTec Apex or doing a EOS Cree mod. If your need isn't immediate, I would recommend waiting for headlamps which use the Cree or Luxeon Rebel LEDs which should appear sometime in 2008. These LEDs are 2x more efficient than the classic Luxeon LEDs that are used in most of the brighter headlamps. There are now several Luxeon Rebel and Cree based headlamps, but none excite me. The zebralight is a wide flood which isn't helpful when way finding, though something they did right was have a very low power (2 lumens) mode. The Coleman Cree Mini is small and light, but uses a single CR2 battery. Coming sometime in 2008 will be an upgraded Petzl Myo XP which will be using one of the high performance LEDs and the incredibly bright Petzl Ultra Belt able to produce something like 300+ lumens. Some people like using micro headlamps which are much like the button lights with an elastic head strap. I think the best option for this is the Ritter's updated eQ hands free light because it's less than 1oz, uses a pair of to reasonably easy to find 2032 batteries, a good lens / reflector to maximize useful light, is very resistant to accidentally turning on, and has made a good trade-off on brightness to battery life. Some people like the Peztl e-Lite but I think it uses the batteries too quickly and the switch makes it a bit too easy to accidentally turn on. I would not recommend the Black Diamond Ion because it uses a hard to find battery and provides just one output level which seemed to be slightly less than a Photon Freedom on high.
Handlights: MiniMag lights have been very popular because they were close to indestructible and have adjustable focus from flood lighting to spotlighting. They are also heavy, so I would normally recommend choosing some other flashlight. One of the simplest LED hand lights with long run times is the Pac-Lite which connects two LED batteries to a 9V battery. There are a number of nice compact LED flashlights which have 1-3W bulbs. The Streamlight ProPolymer Luxeon 4AA is bright, reasonably priced flashlight with a decent runtime but a bit heavy. As with headlamps, if you can afford the $50+ cost, get something that is using the Cree or Luxeon Rebel LED. Today my first recommendation today would be the Photon Proton Pro since it uses easy to find AA batteries and uses the intuitive "Freedom" circuit control. The hand lights from Liteflux also look interested because you can have up to six user defined intensity settings. The Fenix L1D (AA) is also an excellent choice for a high quality light which a good user interface. If you want even more light, consider Fenix lights which use 2 AA or CR123A batteries. Slightly different but interesting are small multi-LED flashlights such as the JetBeam JET-I Mk-II and Photon Proton, but I have no personal experience with these lights.
Fuel Lanterns: Not a flashlight, but close enough. In the old days, candle lanterns, or small oil lamps were the lightest way to provide long lasting light. There were not bright, but you could get something like 12 hours out of a 2oz candle. The candle holder would be another 4-6oz, or you could use sand in the bottom of a bag like Christmas time luminaries to save the weight of the lantern. These days LED lights with lithium batteries provide more light for a longer period of time for less weight and long term cost without the danger of catching something on fire. The old candle lantern has the one advantage of providing a bit of warmth which is nice on a cold night. There are also a number of small, pack-able gas lanterns. If you want a lot of light, there is no better option. For around 8oz you can get a canister lantern such as the Primus Alpine Yellowstone Easy Light Lantern which will provide the equivalent of a 40 watts light bulb. Note: While the Brunton Liberty Mantleless Lantern seems to be a good design, I was disappointed with the quality and quantity of light it produced (skip it).
Low Cost: For basic task lighting, the photon II knock-offs are $3 from Brasslite and a number of other companies.
Rational: You want to protect yourself from biting insects for comfort and health.
My Choice: I normally use physical barriers. Supplex clothing and an OR deluxe head net. When I am not wearing supplex clothing I will use Ultrathon. I have been trying Picaridin but don't have enough experience to say much about it yet other than it doesn't feel as yucky as DEET. For a bit more information, see my bites & stings first aid page.
Rational: Popular in Europe for years, trekking poles are catching on in North America. There are a number of reasons to use poles. First, they help provide stability when the footing is difficult such as crossing streams or very narrow trails. Second, using poles distributes the work load between legs and arms which many people find less fatiguing, especially when climbing hills or carrying heavy loads. Finally, using poles can relieve stress on knees, especially when going down steep hills. I found four downsides with using poles. First, you are exposing your hands to more of the environment than normal... you run the risk of getting blisters and sunburn in a new location, and when it is raining, your hands can get quite wet (and cold). Second, I found my hands sweating more. Third, if using anti-shock poles, they are noisy enough to chase away some wildlife. Forth, while using poles seems to distribute the work load, it seems to use more energy than the times I don't use poles. Not surprisingly, using the poles gives your arms a workout, but that could be viewed as a good thing. Pete's Poles Page is a good place to learn about using trekking poles.
My Choice: I have used trekking poles on and off since 2002. They made a big difference as I was transitioning from carrying a heavy-weight load. I have found them not as critical with an ultra light load except when facing extremely tricky terrain. While I bring poles, I use a pair of Titanium Goat Ajustable Trail Poles.
Options: There are five factors to consider. First is the length of the poles. Shorter poles tend to be lighter and pack more compactly, but the don't have enough reach for taller people, and might not be sufficiently long for use with some shelters. Second is the material of the poles. Carbon-fiber is extremely stiff for a given weight, but is also susceptible to breaking if you aren't careful. Aluminum will be heavier than carbon-fiber poles, but more durable. Third, is the shape / angle / material of the handles. This seems to be a very personal choice, though positive angle grips seem to be generally preferred. Forth is whether the pole is a single piece of material or made of sections joined by some sort of locking device. I wish poles makers would stop using the twist locks because I have found them difficult to adjust and have had them fail twice. Finally, there is the question of whether to get poles with anti-shock devices. I originally tried the classic Leki Super Makalu COR-TEC PA. I used poles with the anti-shock feature turned on and off. There might have been a tiny improvement on the down-hills and level sections with the anti-shock feature enabled, but I am not convinced that the anti-stock feature is worth the extra weight, cost, and noise, but the angled handles were nice. If you can, I would suggest borrowing one anti-shock, and one normal pole and compare them. These days I typically don't use poles. If I was going to buy a new pair of poles today, I would consider:
Rational: Storage containers are often used to contain smaller items. The storage might be used for protection (water or crushing), make it easy to find, or to take up less room (compression devices).
My Choice: I used to use a varied collection of storage containers. These days I normally use three Sea to Summit ultra-light Drybags + some sort of food storage. My sleeping bag / quilt and any clothing that will only be used at night go into a 13L drybag. I never open this bag until I am in camp so what's in the bag will stay dry. Clothing that I might need during the day are in a separate 8L drybag. Small items which are sensitive to water (first aid kit, matches, etc) are organized using zip-lock bags and protected using a 4L drybag. Combining all the items in the drybag makes it easier to find in my pack than if the individual items were loose. If I regularly used a pack with a top lid, I would most likely have these items organized using small Aloksaks and do away with the drybag. All my cooking / eating items live inside my cooking pot which protects them from being crushed or poking other items.
Options: There are lots of storage options. Some people use compression sacks to make large, compressible items smaller. This can be useful if you are packing into a limited space and you have a number of bulky but compressible items. I typically don't use a compression sack because they make solid lumps which often create dead space and are compressing things I might not want to compress. For example, sleeping bags will have a longer light if you minimize the amount of compression it undergoes. Many people use stuff sacks of various sizes to make items findable. Stuff sacks can be made out of mesh or nylon. Dry bags such as the Sea to Summit ultra-light Drybags are an excellent way to keep larger items dry under normal conditions. If I was facing seriously wet conditions I would recommend a more heavy duty dry bag. There was a nice review of ultralight dry sacks at BPL.com. Another option are Aloksaks which looks like ziplock bags, but are air tight bio hazard rated containers waterproof to 200ft (in theory), and some versions "odor proof". I haven't found Aloksaks very durable... ziplock freezer bags last longer. They are also very difficult to sell properly. I would skip them. I have often found that I re-use contains other products come in. For example, bio-degradable soap goes in what was an micro eye-drop bottle. You can find lots of small contains at travel shops, outdoor stores like REI, and backpackinglight.com, and easytraveler inc. It is often useful for the storage containers to be either transparent or translucent so it is easy to fine items without having to open up the container. Some people will use a pack liner rather than individual containers to keep their gear dry. Doing this can be lighter, and more space efficient than protecting items individually. Effective pack liners might general use items like a large plastic garbage bag, a pack size sil-nylon drybags, or a very purpose driven design like the gossamergear pack liner bag. Sometimes items need to be protected from not just water but use from being crushed. There is often a rubbermate product that will do the job. If you need items to be ultra-protected, you should look heavy but effective hard cases made by Pelican.
Generally I like leaving high tech gadgets at home. Part the my joy on the trail is getting away from the rapid fire interrupts endured in a go-go world (cell phones, pagers, email, etc) and to have a sense of connectedness with the world rather than being distracted by various gadgets.
Compass, Maps, Mapping Programs
National Geography Mapping Software & Ink Jet Paper. Google Earth
GPS
In general I don't think GPS are needed or even that useful. A compass + map is more reliable and is cheaper. GPS requires batteries (while typically last between 10-20 hours), the electronics can fail (has happened to me). It's also possible to accidentally erase waypoints (I have done this), so don't only take a GPS unit. Some people use GPS units to closely monitor their progress (e.g. how far they have gone, how much for distance / time until the next stop). In general I think this will detract from the outdoor experience. GPS can be a blessing when normal navigation queues are missing: e.g. night time, during a white out (though you should most likely be hunkering down and not moving), the the middle of deserts without durable landmarks, or if your goal is pure speed. I don't normally take a GPS. I own a Geko 201 which gets used periodically. GPS don't make a good altimeter because the earth is irregularly shaped. For a list of good GPS units check out gps information. In some urban-ish locations, it is possible to use Cell phone as GPS.
Pedometers
Some people like using Pedometers to keep track of how far they have walked. They can be reasonably accurate +/-5% and will be lighter and use much less power than a GPS. I don't use one. From what I can tell, New Lifestyles makes the best pedometers. Low tech low cost version is ranger beads. Often accurate within 10%.
Communication and Signaling Technology
See short section on signaling & communication on my survival page. Note: Some people might bring high tech signaling devices such as a Sat Phones not so much for safety, as for a spouse or parent's piece of mind. Normal cell phone don't work in most back country locations... and if they did, do you want to receive a call in the middle of a trail. I generally recommend not taking computing devices on backpacking trips. One exception would be people on extended / thru hike. On these longer trips something like pocket mail or a PDA can enable keeping and sharing a journal with just moderate lag time. PDAs can also be a light weight way to carry reading material.
Weather Instruments
I have always been fascinated by weather. I like the Brunton line of weather instruments. I currently own a Brunton Atmospheric Data Center Pro and love it. I took it on every trip I went on for several years. This helped me to learn how various factors effected my perceptions of conditions, and what equipment / clothing allowed me to face various conditions comfortability. Kestrel also seems to make a nice line of portable weather instruments. If all you care about is tracking temperature, take a look at the temperature logger from ibutton. Other ways to record max-min temp and read them on the trail are the Coghlan's C-Tech Time & Temp Digital Dangler, control company traceable stick, or the expensive oakton digital thermohygrometer
Entertainment
iPods, Gameboys, etc. My recommendation is leave them at home.
Rational: The best thing you can take away from a trip are the memories. Pictures are a great way to remember what you have seen, and provide a great way to share some of your experiences with other.
My Choice: I my opinion, there are no cameras which are ideal for backpacking. I normally take an Pentax S4 because I own it, and it is compact (fits in an Altoids Tin) and is light weight. Image quality is adequate for snapshots, and I haven't found a similarly sized camera which is significantly better. When I really care about image quality I bring a Canon Digital Rebel XTi. When I was using film I took a Leica/Minolta CL, but I have switched to 100% to Digital Photography.
Options: The first choice is if you are wanting a camera for snapshots, or you are wanting high quality images. If you want high quality images you choices are either somewhat heavy, high end digital ranger finders or DSLRs, or film cameras which use high quality lens. The lightest option is using film with a high quality range finder such as the old Leica CL. There are currently no pocketable digital cameras which have high quality sensors. Maybe the Sigma DP-1 will be the first. In the mean time the best options are the Canon Digital Rebel (cheapest), The Olympus E-410 (lightest), Leica M8 (expensive!). If snapshot quality is good enough for you, then there are lots of choices. In most cases I would recommend a digital camera. If you are going to be the in the field for an extended period of time, I would recommend going with a camera which uses AA batteries and a solar recharged if needed. If several hundred photos will be enough for any given trip, then one of the internal, proprietary batteries should be good enough.
Low Cost: Disposal cameras (typically I would recommend the file over the digital due to higher image quality) can be fairly inexpensive if you don't want to take a lot of pictures. There is the added benefit that you don't have to worry to much if it gets lose or broken since they are not very expensive.
Rope: Kelty Triptease, gossamer gear ezc2 line