Hi folx! Cairns here.

This is my tried-and-true list of stuff I take and wear when I’m backpacking solo on basically any 3-season trip of any length, from overnight to short thru hikes. Note that I don’t take a stove when I’m out solo unless it’s winter (that list will be coming soon).

Big Three (tent, sleeping bag/pad, backpack):

Ultimate Direction Fastpack 35L

I love this pack and hope it lasts forever. Sturdy, lightweight, with just the right amount/size/placement of pockets.

For our trip to Isle Royale in August/September, I had to break down and buy a pack that could handle an 11-day food carry (ouch), et voila–the ULA Circuit in the top pic. This pack is super comfortable, well-built, and will be fabulous for winter trips and other times I can’t go as light. Looking forward to many more miles together.

Nemo Hornet 2p

I splurge on size a little and use this 2-person tent when I’m solo or solo-plus-dog, mainly because it rains a lot where I live and most places I travel, and I like having enough space to spread my stuff out in the tent without getting my quilt wet, including a 50lb damp doggo. It still has a pretty small footprint though, so I can squeeze it into some tight spots.

Shown with Thermarest ZLite Sol sleeping pad, cut to 3/4 length

Also, 6-8 stakes, a mixture of MSR Groundhogs and the ones that Nemo included with the tent, which seem about the same to me

~10′ of xtra guyline, currently Kelty Triptease

Nylofume pack liner

Hammock Gear Econ Burrow 20*, short/wide, inside a Sea to Summit eVent compression drysack, medium

Toasty but light and compresses small. I could fit this in a smaller drysack for sure, but I use a medium size so I can also stuff my puffy coat and sleeping clothes in with it if it’s super drenchy weather (multiple days and nights of downpour with no opportunities to dry stuff out if it gets wet, e.g., no town stops and no shelters) and I want extra insurance that everything will stay dry

Worn:

• Running shorts or nylon/synthetic hiking pants if lots of bushwhacking/bugs
• Tri-blend or merino t-shirt, depending on the weather
• Fleece hoodie
• Darn Tough socks
• Altra Lone Peak or other trail running shoes
• Baseball cap

Carried:

• Marmot Precip rain jacket (boys xl lol. If you can fit into kids’ clothing/shoes, I recommend 10/10–way cheaper than adults’ clothing…)
• Columbia Rebel Roamer rain pants. Not my top pick but I found these on amazon for $9
• Cotopaxi Fuego down puffy coat
• Generic thin acrylic beanie, ~2oz. I wish I could remember where I found this because it is The. Best. I can’t even find a close-ish approximation. However, if I lost it tragically and had to try to replace it today, I’d probably try out this lil guy
• Decathlon brand thin fleece gloves and sometimes rain overmitts (for the part of shoulder season that is freezing rain and/or cold and windy)

Sleeping clothes:

• Generic L/S thin fleece shirt
• Icebreaker 200 merino baselayer pants or thicker cheap fleece ones if the lows are below 40s-ish
• Sleeping socks

Ursack Major, Smelly Proof bags or loksak opsaks for food and trash, plastic/bamboo fast food spoon, Talenti jar for cold soaking oatmeal/instant mashed potatoes etc

Sawyer Squeeze water filter, 1L Smartwater bottle with sport cap for backflushing my filter, 32oz Gatorade bottle for coffee, lemonade etc (flavor pouches pour into wide mouth easier), 2L cnoc water bladder with Sawyer adapter if I need to carry more water

Snack-size ziplock bag with ID, health insurance card, a little cash, permits

Quart-size ziplock with first aid kit and toiletries:

• Glasses in bubble wrap, secured with a hairtie
• Contact lens case
• Travel size saline (~2oz) with a few feet of leukotape wrapped around the bottle (doubles as duct tape for gear repair etc)
• Travel size toothbrush and paste
• Chapstick
• Tiny baggie with ~10 ibuprofen, 4 acetaminophen, 4 benadryl, 4 immodium
• Natrapel wipes (usually just 2-3. If the bugs are bad enough that I need more than that, I’ve done a bad job of trip planning/campsite selection)
• (2) 3×3″ gauze pads
• (2) Triple antibiotic cream single use packets
• (2) safety pins
• (5) Butterfly bandaids
• 1-2 tampons (o.b.-style without applicators). These do double-duty for wound care as part of the first aid kit.
• Zpacks sewing kit
• Mini Bic lighter
• ~3 firestarters (dryer lint with vaseline/hand sanitizer, or I like these from REI. Note that if you have dogs, it’s advised to beg dryer lint from friends who do not have dogs, as your fire will smell like burning fur and also not burn well)

Gerber knife

Petzl e+ headlamp, (2) spare lithium batteries

My beloved 15-year-old Silva Ranger compass and paper map(s)

iPhone with CalTopo, Guthook, Avenza apps plus weather apps etc

Anker PowerBank 10000mAh, cables, in ziplock sandwich bag. I can charge my iphone about 4x with this (keeping it in airplane mode, only used for photos and gps/maps)

Bandanna

Hand sanitizer

A few dehydrated, unscented baby wipes in a ziplock

Face mask(s) in ziplock

…And that’s about it, friends! Finding links for all these things kind of shocked me with how $$$ a lot of them are, so I wanna add that it pays to do your research and know what you want but then to be flexible within those parameters if you’re on a limited budget (which, who isn’t. And also, why pay more than you have to for things, right?)

I ended up with a lot of the specific brands/models that I did because they were on mega-sale. (Like, 40-60% off.) Especially for the big-ticket items. Look for end-of-season sales, check out Steep and Cheap.

Also, random flash sales. Cotopaxi was not a brand I was familiar with or necessarily set out to buy, but I really needed a new puffy coat and happened upon their Fuego puffy for around $100 for a 12oz, 800fp down jacket, whoa. So I took a chance on it, and it’s turned out to be one of my favorite pieces of gear.

In a nutshell, there are a fuck ton of really excellent options out there in a huge gamut of styles and price ranges, including awesome used gear (check out REI Coop good&used, GearTrade, craigslist, or Facebook Marketplace). My first puffy coat was a synthetic Patagonia pullover I found at a thrift shop for twenty bucks. It was so worn out that it really only lasted me one or two winters before getting retired from hiking and camping use, but it’s still perfect for short runs in the winter.

On the other hand, you do wanna make sure you have gear that’s gonna do its job and not break or suck when you’re most depending on it. Dayhikes and short practice trips close to home or an easy bailout are key to figure out what that means for you.

If you’re new to backpacking and need some suggestions–or if you’re not new to backpacking and have some suggestions for me, haha–hit me up in the comments!

Happy hiking!