Guide · Planning
First overnight hike packing list
Updated October 5, 2026
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Pick a short, fair-weather night
The achievement is sleeping outside and walking back, not a big mile count. Choose a site a few miles in, with water you understand and a forecast that is not a lesson. Turn around if the afternoon slips.
Check permits, fire rules, and food-storage rules before you pack the fun gear. A bear box or a canister is not optional where it is required.
Shelter you can pitch tired
Use a freestanding two-person tent even if you are alone. You want a place for a wet pack and a pitch you have done once in daylight. Stake it anyway, freestanding or not, so a gust does not relocate you.
- Pitch it in the yard first
- Footprint on rock
- Do not debut a tarp
Sleep is a system
The bag and the pad fail together. A warm bag on a thin pad is still cold from the ground. If you do not know whether you sleep cold, borrow a warmer bag. Cotton stays in the car.
One meal you have already cooked
One stove, one pot, one spoon, a lighter, and food you have eaten. Boil water at home so the igniter is not a mystery. Treat water with a filter you have backflushed, plus tablets if the filter is new to you.
The unglamorous kit
Map or an offline map, a shell, a warm layer, blister care, repair tape, a whistle, and a second light. The phone is not a map unless the map is downloaded. Tell someone when you will be out.
Gear for this guide
FAQ
What pack size?
40 to 50 liters if you are disciplined. More only if the sleep system is bulky.
What food?
A no-cook lunch, a hot dinner you have eaten, and a breakfast that is not a project.