Landscape hikers – “10 essentials” or not?

[Heroique]

...Good judgment and awareness of one’s limitations are important...

A slight tweak to this critical point: Putting together (or thinking through) an “essentials” kit – in advance of any particular hike – is a great way to condition greater awareness, and, therefore, safer behavior in the land you’re headed for.

That is, being resourceful = developing awareness.

Especially wise is the awareness that Mother Nature doesn’t care what you’re prepared for. (Source: Stephen Crane)

[Bill Burk]

Map and Compass
Sunglasses/spare glasses
Whistle
Signal mirror
Eraser
Pencil
Gloves
Level
Cable release
Toilet paper from an MRE shrink wrapped
Poncho
Steel and flint
Needle and heavy duty thread
Emery board
Nailclipper
Scissor from swiss army classic
LED flashlight
Duct tape
Vivarin
Leukotape
Single-edge razor blade in protective shield
Moleskin, Q-tips, Floss, sting relief and cleaning wipes, various bandages and Band-aids, steri-strips


...

Replaced underlying photo to improve image quality. Also replaced the single edge razor. It's a "mini scraper" from Ace hardware with excess plastic cut off of it.

[David_Senesac]

Signal mirror? Seriously?

No but I have brought all those items (except signal mirror haha) at times and in each case I would say...it depends. Hiking and backpacking is a complex activity with a broad list of possible situations, weather, and conditions. I've been a backpacker for decades. That is a good simple list for the inexperienced and novices but will make enthusiasts yawn.

http://www.davidsenesac.com/Backpack...ckpacking.html

[Bill Burk]

Signal mirror? Seriously?

No but I have brought all those items (except signal mirror haha) at times and in each case I would say...it depends. Hiking and backpacking is a complex activity with a broad list of possible situations, weather, and conditions. I've been a backpacker for decades. That is a good simple list for the inexperienced and novices but will make enthusiasts yawn.

http://www.davidsenesac.com/Backpack...ckpacking.html

Wait! Isn't that a signal mirror next to the headlamp?

[Bill Burk]

OK a declination story.

My buddy Tom (Mr. Search and Rescue) and I were the only ones of the group who wanted to bag a peak on our first trip of many in the Sierra. We were camped at one of the Mills Creek Lakes and headed on a day hike to Mount Abbott for a nice walk-up. We got to the saddle and I aimed my compass at the appropriate bearing and started towards the mountain.

It seemed like a really long approach, but with the top in sight, Tom decided to take a break. I did a bit more scrambling. It was a bit dicey but nothing worse than climbing the fireplace next to my house to get on the roof. So I get up and find the register.

I yelled down... Hey Tom, this is Bear Creek Spire.... I'm NOT climbing down a Class 4 mountain without ropes.

I took out the compass and map last weekend and checked the memory of this story with the facts on the map.

It would be impossible for me to make this mistake due to any declination correction error. At the saddle, Mt. Abbott was 90-degrees to our left.

I think the plausible explanation is that we set the bearing at camp. Then, having reached the saddle, continued on the original bearing. Not realizing we were on the correct bearing and had made the correct distance already... Now all we were supposed to do was turn left and walk up.