What to carry

The pack should feel like a toolkit, not a shop.

Buy shoes that grip wet rock and a shell that actually packs small. Everything else can stay modest until you hike often enough to know what you miss.

Always

  • Water (more than you think in heat)
  • Snacks with salt and calories
  • Rain jacket or poncho
  • Headlamp, even for a short day
  • Offline map or a printed sketch
  • Charged phone in a dry bag

Usually

  • Hat and sunscreen for open ridges
  • Small first-aid kit and blister tape
  • Light long sleeves in jungle
  • Trekking poles on long descents
  • Spare socks

Skip at first

  • Giant camping knives
  • Full cook kits on a 4-hour walk
  • Cotton jeans in the rain
  • Brand-new boots on a hard peak

Shoes, briefly

Trail runners are fine on marked paths if your ankles are happy. Mid-cut boots help in mud and scree. In wet forest, a shoe that drains beats a shoe that claims to be waterproof and then fills from the top.

Break footwear in on easy walks. Hot spots on the way up become blisters on the way down.