LAST UPDATED: 4/21/26 – Backpackers Packing Guide

This Backpackers Packing Guide contains references to products on my Amazon Store site.  I may receive a commission when you purchase these products from my store, though at no additional cost to you.   I hand-pick and recommend only the products that I am either familiar with or comfortable recommending.

Backcountry backpacking can be an exciting and awe‑inspiring experience. Being alone in the wilderness gives you a deeper appreciation for yourself and the natural world, and some of the most stunning places I’ve seen in all my miles of hiking have been far from the main trails. The backcountry is where nature feels the most raw and its beauty the most powerful.

But as incredible as it is, backcountry backpacking can be difficult and even dangerous if you’re unprepared. I’ve seen many hikers in remote areas who clearly didn’t have the gear or protection needed to handle changing conditions, and I’ve genuinely worried for their safety.

That’s why preparation is essential, especially for overnight trips. Before you head out on your backcountry adventure, I strongly recommend reading my backpacker’s packing guide to make sure you have everything you need for a safe and enjoyable hike. I’ve also included a downloadable checklist so you can be confident you haven’t forgotten anything important.

If this guide inspires you to get out on the trail, you’ll also find several hike and destination guides below. Once you complete your first backcountry trip, you’ll likely want to take on more. I hope your experiences in the backcountry are as rewarding and liberating as mine have been.

Backpacker’s Packing Guide Navigation Menu

General Backpacking Guidelines

Preparing for your first backcountry backpacking trip takes careful planning to ensure you have what you need without overpacking. Before I share the list of recommended items, here are a few general packing principles to keep in mind as you get ready for your trip.

Pack Light

The key takeaway from my backpacker’s packing guide is to watch your pack weight. Bring what you need, but keep it light enough for long distances. As you shop for gear, remember that your backpack should weigh no more than 20% of your body weight—so if you weigh 200 pounds, your pack shouldn’t exceed 40 pounds.

Bring Enough Water

Many new backpackers underestimate how much water they need. Some items are luxuries or conveniences, but water is a necessity. Forgetting a snack or cookware is manageable; running out of water is dangerous.

Plan on 1 liter of water for every two hours of hiking per person. For two people hiking for ten hours, that means ten liters. Since each liter weighs about 2.21 pounds, factor that into your pack weight.

For longer trips, you can bring a water treatment device, but always confirm water sources ahead of time rather than assuming you’ll find them on the trail.

Plan Your Food

After water, food is the next most important thing you’ll pack. Long backcountry hikes burn a lot of calories, and without enough food, you’ll feel miserable at best and too weak to make safe decisions at worst.

Plan on 1.5–2.5 pounds of food per person per day, roughly 2,500–4,500 calories. Choose nutritious, non‑perishable, lightweight options.

Dehydrated backpacking meals are a great choice—they’re calorie‑dense, lightweight, last a long time, and only require boiling water at camp.

Use a Checklist to Pack

One of the worst things that can happen on a backcountry trip is forgetting something important. With so much gear to rely on, it’s easy to overlook items, which is why I strongly recommend using a checklist.

If you follow my blog, you know I’m a big fan of checklists, and I’ve included a printable one in my backpacker packing guide. I also like to lay out all my gear before packing so I can take a final inventory and make sure nothing is missing. It also helps me repack before each trip, so I know exactly where everything is on the trail.

Backpackers Packing Guide – Checklist

Before you start packing your backpack for your next big backcountry backpacking trip, make sure you download and print off my Backpacker’s Packing Checklist below. Using this checklist, you can make sure that you don’t forget any important gear that you will need for your trip.

Download and Print My Backpacker’s Packing Checklist

Essential Backpacking Gear

NOTE: This Backpackers Packing Guide contains references to products on my Amazon Store site.  I may receive a commission when you purchase these products from my store, though at no additional cost to you.   I hand-pick and recommend only the products that I am either familiar with or comfortable recommending.

When you start to put together a list of equipment that you will need for your backcountry backpacking trip, it is best to start with the essential gear. In addition to the backpack you will use to carry your gear, this essential gear includes the sleeping bag that you will take with you to sleep in and the tent that you will use to protect you from the elements.

These are key pieces of equipment that you will want to make sure to research before making a purchase. To help you find the right essential gear for you, I have included a wealth of information for you to review in my backpacker’s packing guide below.

Backpacking Backpacks

Choosing the Right Backpack

Packing the perfect backpacking bag is a balance between carrying what you need and avoiding unnecessary weight. Bringing too little can put you in danger, while bringing too much can make your trip miserable. To help you choose the right bag for your adventure, I’ve outlined the key criteria to consider in this backpacker’s packing guide.

• The size of the bag that you bring will be dictated by the duration of the hike that you are planning. For shorter hikes where you are just staying overnight, you will need a much smaller bag than you would for multi-day or extended hikes. To understand what size bag is recommended for different backcountry hiking durations, please reference the chart I have included in my backpacker’s packing guide below.

When choosing a backpacking bag, it is important to choose a bag that fits you properly. An improperly fitting bag will make your hike uncomfortable at best. When trying on bags, there are two specific areas you should pay attention to.

The Waist Belt

The first is the waist belt of the bag. If the waist belt is too large, you won’t be able to distribute the weight of the bag properly, and you will struggle with the weight of the bag.

The Suspension System

along the torso of your body and not extend beyond it. If the bag’s suspension is longer than your torso, the weight of the bag won’t be evenly distributed. The suspension systems for bags differ from vendor to vendor, which is why it is important to always try on backpacking bags before purchasing.

In addition to the fit of the bag, it is also important to pay attention to the features of the backpacking bag that you purchase. There have been a lot of very impressive advancements in bag design that make lugging gear on hikes much easier. For an idea of what types of features to look out for when shopping for a bag, I have included some examples in my backpacker’s packing guide below.

Ventilation

On long hikes, it is important to keep cool in hot temperatures. Carrying a large, heavy bag on your back can often make it difficult. That is why choosing a bag that has proper ventilation features is critically important. Your bag should be able to ventilate body heat away from your body instead of trapping it against you.

Shoulder and Hip Padding

There is nothing worse on a long hike than carrying a large, heavy bag that is uncomfortable. For this reason, choosing a bag that has adequate shoulder and hip padding is important. Proper padding can be the difference between a joyful hike and a miserable march.

Rain Cover

When you hike in the backcountry, the gear that you carry in your backpack is everything you will be relying upon to stay safe and healthy. This is why it is critically important to take care of this gear. One way that you can ensure that the gear in your bag is taken care of is to ensure that you have a rain cover for your bag. A good rain cover will keep the gear in your bag dry, even when the weather is very wet.

Hydration Compatibility

Staying hydrated on a long hike can be challenging. This is especially true when hiking in a hot climate. The technology for carrying water has come a long way in the past few decades, so it has become easier to carry water with you. One of the best ways to carry and access water when hiking is through a hydration bladder. Choosing a bag that has compatibility for accessing a hydration bladder as you hike can be a huge advantage.

Sleeping Bag Compartment

After a long day of hiking, it can be frustrating to have to take everything out of your bag to get your sleeping bag out for a nap. That is why one of my favorite features that I look for in a backpacking bag is an easy-access sleeping bag compartment. These compartments make it quick and easy to get your sleeping bag out without having to empty your bag.

Quick Access Pockets

Speaking of quick access, another feature that is great in backpacking bags is quick-access pockets. These pockets are great for storing maps, navigation systems, or other items you will need mid-hike.

Removable Lid

If you have ever thought that it would be convenient if your big backpacking bag could transform into a smaller bag for use around camp, you are in luck. One of the neater features that you can find in backpacking bags is removable lids. These lids are great for storing smaller items you will need around camp or on short side hikes. Just remove the lid from your bag and use it as a fanny pack or camp bag.

Backpacking Tents

Choosing the Right Tent

Choosing the right tent is important because it’s your primary shelter on a backcountry trip. The wrong tent might not fit everyone, may not handle the weather, or could be too heavy to carry. Before you decide what to buy, here are some criteria in my backpacker’s packing guide to consider.

Tent Capacity

If you are planning on taking a solo backcountry hiking trip, then tent capacity isn’t as much of an issue. However, if you are planning on hiking with other people and not everyone has a tent, then you are going to want to be sure your tent can accommodate them as well. Even if you are hiking along, carrying a bigger tent than you need to can be an unnecessary weight burden. So before you start shopping for tents, make sure you give the capacity that you need some consideration.

Seasons of Use

Before you purchase a tent, you will also want to consider which seasons you will be using it. For most hikers, a three-season tent is more than adequate. These tents typically include mesh panels that allow airflow and keep insects out, upright walls to give you more headroom in the interior, and fewer poles and lighter fabric to reduce weight.

However, if you plan on hiking during the winter, early spring, or late autumn, you may need a more heavy-duty tent. Four-season tents will include fabric panels that have zip covers for mesh areas to keep snow out, as well as more poles to give the tent added strength in strong weather. Because three and four-season tents are very different in some ways, many hikers will choose to purchase more than one tent so that they are covered in all scenarios.

Tent Weight

An often overlooked factor to consider when choosing a backpacking tent is the tent’s weight. Most beginning hikers get so focused on the features of the tents that they are looking at that they lose sight of the fact that you have to carry this tent with you for long distances.

While it shouldn’t be an end-all factor when choosing a tent, the weight of the tent you choose should be an important consideration. When looking at tents, you will want to consider the Minimum Trail Weight, and not the Packaged Weight, of the tents you’re considering. The tent’s Packaged Weight includes everything inside the box, including the instructions, stuff sack, and other stuff you may not bring with you on the trail.

The Minimum Trail Weight, on the other hand, just includes the weight of the essential items that you need to use the tent. You may bring other gear for your tent with you, but that is an option you can consider, not something you absolutely need to use the tent.

Comfort

Arguably, the most important factor that you are going to need to consider when choosing a tent is the comfort level the tent provides. Some of the factors that you will want to consider when making comparisons between tents are the amount of floor space, the amount of headroom available, the amount of ventilation, and the number of storage compartments for your gear.

The amount of floor room is an important indicator of how much room you will have in your tent, which is important if you are sleeping with multiple people. As is the amount of headroom, which is a big factor in the comfort level of a tent you will be spending a lot of time in. Ventilation and storage are also important factors to consider if you plan on hiking in warmer temperatures and have gear that you would like to organize while in your tent.

Ease of Setup

The final factor that you will want to consider when choosing a tent is how difficult the tent is to set up. You are likely to need to set up and tear down your tent several times throughout a long backcountry hike, so choosing a tent that is cumbersome to assemble could be frustrating.

It can be especially difficult if you are setting up your tent after dark while spending the whole day on a trail. For this reason, making sure that the tent you buy is reasonably easy to set up and break down should be a factor you consider before purchasing a tent.

Backpacking Sleeping Bags

Choosing the Right Sleeping Bag

While a good backpacking sleeping bag must be able to keep you warm, it must also be light. Your sleeping bag can be one of the heaviest pieces of gear in your backpack, so you must also consider the weight of the bag when choosing a sleeping bag for your trip.

To help you choose the right sleeping bag for your backpacking trip, I have included some of the most important factors to consider when shopping for a backpacking sleeping bag in my backpacker’s packing guide below.

Temperature Rating

One of the most important factors that you will need to consider when choosing a sleeping bag is the temperature rating for the bag. Many sleeping bags will have both a lower limit rating and a comfort rating.

The lower limit rating, or survival rating, is the lowest temperature at which the bag can be safely used. Keep in mind that this rating doesn’t mean that you will be comfortably warm at this temperature. To determine what temperatures the bag will be comfortable at, you will need to look at the comfort rating instead.

Weight

Another important factor that you will want to consider when looking at backpacking sleeping bags is the weight of the bag. Again, you are going to need to carry the sleeping bag in your bag for all the miles you travel on the trail, so you need to keep the weight down as much as possible.

Typically, backpacking sleeping bags will weigh between 1 to 3 pounds, depending on the type and amount of insulation. Any bag that weighs over 3 pounds is too heavy for long backpacking trips in the backcountry. My suggestion is to determine what temperature rating you need for you need first, then start looking at the weight and cost of bags that meet that rating.

Bag Shape

The shape of the sleeping bag that you choose will not only impact your comfort level, but the shape of the bag you choose can impact the warmth of the bag. Four main shapes of backpacking sleeping bags come in. This includes rectangular, semi-rectangular, mummy, and spoon-shaped.

Rectangular bags are typically the roomiest. However, rectangular bags also have the most space your body needs to warm, so they often sleep the coldest. Mummy bags are designed to fit the shape of your body and minimize the amount of space to warm, so they tend to sleep the warmest.

However, they can be difficult to move in and uncomfortable for side sleepers. The semi-rectangular and spoon-shaped bags try to give you the best of both worlds by minimizing unneeded space but providing you enough to move while you sleep.

Insulation Type

In addition to the shape of your sleeping bag, the other big factor that will influence the warmth of the bag you choose is the type of insulation used in the bag. There are two types of insulation used in backpacking sleeping bags – Synthetic and Down insulation.

Each of these insulation types has its pros and cons, so consider what is important to you before choosing a bag to purchase. For instance, down sleeping bags tend to be lightweight, easy to compress, durable, and excel in cold conditions when they are dry. On the other hand, sleeping bags with synthetic insulation tend to be much quicker drying and provide more insulation when wet.

Sleeping Bag Features

The final thing that you will want to consider when deciding on a backpacking sleeping bag to purchase is the other features that the bag offers. In the past few decades, there have been a lot of very innovative features that manufacturers have come up with to make backpacking sleeping bags more comfortable, durable, and organized.

These features include such things as sleeping bag hoods, draft-blocking features, venting features, anti-snag zipper features, stash pockets, and pillow pockets. For a summary of these features, please refer to the diagram I included in my backpacker’s packing guide below.

Backpacking Sleeping Pads

Backpacking Camp Kitchen Gear

NOTE: This Backpackers Packing Guide contains references to products on my Amazon Store site.  I may receive a commission when you purchase these products from my store, though at no additional cost to you.   I hand-pick and recommend only the products that I am either familiar with or comfortable recommending.

When you’re overnight in the backcountry, everything you eat and drink has to come from what you carry. There are no stores or restaurants, so you’ll need to make your own coffee, cook your meals, and haul your water.

Since most of us can’t carry huge amounts of weight, it’s important to be smart about the food and kitchen gear you bring. To help you decide what to pack, I’ve included a list of backpacking kitchen equipment below.

Backpacking Hiking Gear

NOTE: This Backpackers Packing Guide contains references to products on my Amazon Store site.  I may receive a commission when you purchase these products from my store, though at no additional cost to you.   I hand-pick and recommend only the products that I am either familiar with or comfortable recommending.

While a lot of your focus when packing for your next big backpacking trip will center on what you have in your backpack, some of your focus should be on what you will be wearing and using when you hike as well. Your hiking clothes and hiking gear are critically important pieces of equipment that will keep you comfortable and safe while on the trail.

If you haven’t done an extensive amount of hiking in the past, I have included a list of some of the gear that I would recommend having with you in my backpacker’s packing guide below.

Choosing the Right Hiking Boots

When you go on a backcountry hike, an injury that leaves you unable to walk can be a major inconvenience or even dangerous. You will want to make sure that you have the proper footwear with you before setting off on any hike, let alone a multi-day hike in the backcountry. When looking for the right hiking shoes or boots, please keep the following factors in mind:

Things to Consider When Choosing Hiking Boots

• Lightweight Boots – Choose boots between 2.2 and 3.3 lbs to avoid extra strain on long hikes.
• Good Traction – Pick rubber soles with deep lugs for reliable grip on uneven terrain.
• Ankle Support – Use mid‑ or high‑cut boots, ideally with speed hooks or D‑strings for added stability.
• Fit With Hiking Socks – Try boots on with your hiking socks to ensure an accurate fit.
• Toe Room Check – Make sure your toes don’t touch the front to prevent pain on descents and scrambles.
• Waterproofing – Choose waterproof boots to avoid wet feet, blisters, and potential injuries.

Navigation and Emergency Equipment

NOTE: This Backpackers Packing Guide contains references to products on my Amazon Store site.  I may receive a commission when you purchase these products from my store, though at no additional cost to you.   I hand-pick and recommend only the products that I am either familiar with or comfortable recommending.

When it comes time to start packing your backpack for a backcountry hike, some of the most routinely overlooked pieces of equipment are related to navigation and safety. These are pieces of equipment that you hope you won’t need, but can be absolutely lost without.

Should you get lost in the backcountry, having these tools to help you navigate and stay safe until you can get yourself out or are found can be the difference between life and death. That’s why I strongly recommend that you carefully review the equipment I have listed below and make sure you have these items packed in your backpack.

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