Hiking Essentials

• Map. A map not only tells you where you are and how far you have to go, it can help you find campsites, water, and an emergency exit route in case of an accident. Stories abound of lost hikers who could have avoided their predicament by consulting a simple trail map. Wandering for hours or days, these clueless campers turn up cold, tired, hungry and dehydrated or worse. With an up-to-date topographic map and some basic map reading experience, you can judge distances, find cutoffs, and distinguish end-to-end trails from loops.
  
  
• Compass. A compass can help you find your way through unfamiliar terrain especially in bad weather where you can't see the landmarks. Rescuers have countless tales of hikers who blunder off well-traveled, clearly marked paths. In tandem with a good map and orienteering skills, a compass will help guide you out of dense thickets, through featureless winter landscapes, and across untracked tundra. Even if you're just confused, with a map and compass you can pinpoint your current location and determine the direction of the trail.
  
  
• Water and a way to purify it. Without enough water, your body's muscles and organs simply can't perform as well: You'll be susceptible to hypothermia and altitude sickness. not to mention the abject misery of raging thirst.
  
  
• Extra Food. Any number of things could keep you out longer than expected: a lengthy detour, getting lost, an injury, difficult terrain. A few ounces of extra food will help keep up energy and morale. When accidents or natural events alter your itinerary, warns Turner, they also alter your meal plan. And while a growling stomach may be a great motivator, a calorie-starved body performs poorly in crisis situations. To stay warm, alert, and energized during the extra nights and days ahead, you'll need additional fuel. Plan to carry at least one day's worth of ready-to-eat high energy snacks, and increase your surplus for extended outings in remote situations.
  
  
• Rain Gear and extra clothing. Because the weatherman is not always right. Especially above treeline, bring along extra layers. Two rules: Avoid cotton (it keeps moisture close to your skin), and always carry a hat. Hypothermia sets in fast when you're lost, lame, or soaking wet, so to ward off chilling winds and survive nights without shelter, hikers should keep one set of warm, weatherproof clothes in reserve. In mild climates, this might mean a synthetic base layer, pile sweater, and waterproof jacket. In harsher environments, you might need a backup down parka. The key is to create a versatile, cotton-free layering system that can withstand rapid changes in climate and activity levels.
  
  
• Matches in a waterproof container. The warmth of a fire and a hot drink can help prevent an encounter with hypothermia. And fires are a great way to signal for help if you get lost. The ability to melt snow for water, fix a hot meal, and even send smoke signals starts with reliable matches. In some situations, like a forced bivouac in a winter storm, starting a fire can literally mean the difference between life and death.
  
  
• Fire Starter. Whether you pack a votive candle, priming paste, or dry tinder, a bit of easy-lighting fuel can jump-start a blaze and help you cope with the aftereffects of a plunge into icy waters or stove failure. One backcountry skier survived two nights with a broken kneecap because his makeshift fire helped forestall hypothermia. An easy one to make at home and carry with you is made by dipping a cotton ball in petroleum jelly then stuff them into an empty film canister.
  
  
• First aid kit. Prepackaged first aid kits for hikers are available at outfitters. Double your effectiveness with knowledge: Take a basic first aid class with the American Red Cross or a Wilderness First Aid class, offered by many hiking organizations. Imagine yourself descending an unfamiliar mountain as darkness falls. Your map, compass, and headlamp help you avoid a 500-foot cliff, but suddenly diarrhea strikes. You waste precious time in the bushes, cramps and dehydration sap your strength, and frostbite tickles your tush. That's one scenario. The other is that at the first twinge of trouble down below, you grab the Imodium from your well-stocked medical kit and stay on the trail. Knowing how to use every item is also a must.
  
  
• Army knife or multi-purpose tool. These enable you to cut strips of cloth into bandages, remove splinters, fix broken eyeglasses, and perform a whole host of repairs on malfunctioning gear, not to mention cut cheese and open cans.
  
  
• Flashlight, extra batteries and bulbs. For finding your way in the dark and signaling for help. Fetching hapless, lampless hikers from moonlit mountain ridges and out of ravines keeps rescue rangers in business. John Sanders, search and rescue coordinator for the Appalachian Mountain Club, recently delivered a cell phone-toting hiker from a trail high in New Hampshire's White Mountains. As he wryly notes, "A cell phone helps in some situations, but its LED readout isn't bright enough to bring you down the mountain."
  
  
• Sun screen and sun glasses. Especially above treeline when there is a skin-scorching combination of sun and snow, you'll need sunglasses to prevent snowblindness, and sunscreen to prevent sunburn. "Snowblindness is a debilitating condition," cautions Dr. Keith Conover, medical director of the Wilderness EMS Institute, based out of the Center for Emergency Medicine of Western Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh. "Your cornea looks and feels like its been sandpapered." People who frequent high places, like John Harlin, BACKPACKER's Northwest Editor and veteran mountaineer, swear by sunglasses that filter out those searing UV rays. "You come to snow that hasn't melted out yet and those sunglasses suddenly save your eyes and your trip," he says. Look for shades that block 97 to 100 percent of UVA and UVB radiation.
  
  
• Duct Tape. This little wonder can go a long way to repairing just about anything, newer flourescent colors can be used to mark guy lines.
  
  
• Rope. A good qualtiy nylon braided rope 3/8" by 100-feet. Can be used for anything from rescuing a hiker fallen from a ledge, to supporting a tarp for a make-shift tent, or hanging food out of reach of bears.