The 15 Essential Items You Need for Hiking

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Hydration

Water is essential to carry with you when hiking, ensure you pack more water than you think you will need. Depending on the season and even the day, your body might need more or less water and it’s important to come prepared so you avoid running out of water mid-hike. It’s also important to have enough water in the event you get lost or injured and end up being out there longer than intended.

Depending on the type of hike, you may want to bring more than one container for drinking and the longer the hike the lighter you will want to pack. Keep this in mind when choosing what type of water bottle you’ll be bringing along.

• Lightweight: Nalgene water bottle
• Keep it cold: Yeti 36oz. Rambler
• For longer distance: 2-3L water bladder

Survival and safety essentials

If you are hiking in the woods, bear spray should be the next essential item you carry with you. If you are new to hiking or are travelling by airplane to a location for hiking, bear spray can be pricey – even if you don’t think you will need it, you should always have bear spray with you. Whether you actually encounter a bear or other animals like mountain goats or fox, bear spray can be used as a deterrent for more than just bears which is why it needs to be included as an essential in your bag. There are companies that rent them out (if travelling around Lake Louise, AB – Wilson Mountain Sports rents out bear spray) for day use or you could look into purchasing through Facebook Marketplace from someone who may have only needed it for a week like you but never ended up needing it.

A first aid kit is another essential item to have with you hiking. You can always build your own first aid kit if you don’t want to purchase a complete kit, but bringing with essential medical items can help when you’re on the trails and injure yourself, whether minor or major. One item you may not think about for your first aid kit is blister bandages, which will be a lifesaver, especially if you haven’t broken in your hiking boots yet.

The last safety essential item I recommend bringing with hiking is water purification tablets. If you are going on a multi-day hike then carrying all of the water you will need likely won’t be possible as you will end up carrying too much weight. Even on single day hikes, having water purification tablets handy are beneficial if you do happen to run out of water mid-way through your hike. In September 2021 I went on a hike, originally planning on a 13km round trip, but I ended up hiking further after meeting some people on the trails and joining them on a hike that was 27km. At that time, I didn’t have any water purification tablets and had run out of water and was grateful to the two girls I met on the trail who gave me one so I could have enough water for the rest of the hike.

I always make sure to carry my Swiss Army Knife with me when hiking. Just like with a first aid kit, you never know when a knife, scissors, or mini saw may come handy while in the wilderness. You likely won’t use it on most of the hikes you go on, but it’s small and compact and can help in different situations so when you do need it, you’ll be glad you have it.

If you have never heard of a bivy sack, at first read you may think it’s some Australian slang (at least I thought this when first hearing about it). A bivy sack is simply an emergency sleeping bag that is perfect for emergency situations – like you getting stuck on top of a mountain injured – though an extreme scenario, it may be something you need if mother nature had other plans and you weren’t prepared.

The last survival essential is a GPS – satellite communicator and locator. This is one item I have not been able to invest in due to the high price, but I do understand that this device could be what stands between life and death in an emergency situation. If you can’t afford to purchase one of these, then make sure anytime before you leave for a hike you let friends and family know your itinerary – location, the route you are planning on taking, when you are going and when you plan on returning home. When you do get signal after a hike, don’t forget to let those friends or family you told know you are safe so they don’t call a search party looking out for you.

Since I have never used a GPS, I can’t recommend what I personally use so I do recommend you speak to someone knowledgeable on the various GPS options to determine the best solution for you. MEC provides several different options at varying prices, I have listed a few below.

• Garmin inReach Mini $449.95
• ACR Resqlink View PLB-425 Personal Locator Beacon $559.95
• Garmin GPSMAP 66i GPS $829.95

Other Essentials

If you don’t think you need hiking poles or trekking poles, once you start using them you can’t imagine hiking without them. If the trails are icy or the hike has scree, hiking poles can help stabilize you. My first time hiking up a steep mountain that had scree for 3.5 km I didn’t have hiking poles. While I made it work without them, on my way down I ended up ripping my Lululemon leggings after losing my balance and sliding down the side of the mountain. Now, I don’t go on a hike without them and when not in use I attach them to my backpack.

A portable phone charger is always an essential item for me because I use my phone for offline directions and taking photos. Without a portable charger I would run out of battery in half a day so bringing it with is a necessity. I have had a TP Link portable charger (linked the exact one I have, no longer sold) for years now and while it is on the heavier side it works perfectly so I will continue using it until it breaks. Amazon has a similar size one that is much lighter, but is currently unavailable.

If you are hiking for a full day or longer, you will already be bringing food with you but I always like to pack an “emergency snack” above and beyond in case I end up hiking longer. Some great high calorie, high protein snacks include energy balls, nut mixes, or energy bars. I posted a tasty Peanut Butter Energy Balls Recipe on my blog which you can make yourself or I like to take along a Clif White Chocolate Macadamia Bar.

And for sanitary reasons, I always like bringing hand sanitizer with me. I also always bring some wet wipes and tissues – the wet wipes are great if you are prone to getting dirt on your hands or sap from trees. You should also carry a trowel with you in the event you have to go to the washroom so you can dig up a hole and cover it up afterwards.

Whether you are planning on hiking while it’s dark or not, having a headlamp in your pack will be helpful to keep both your hands free. I purchased a 350 lumens Black Diamond headlamp for $49.99 which is quite bright and has a setting to turn on a red light for night vision (though I don’t really understand the “night vision” part). After visiting my family though, I discovered they were using Duracell headlamps which are much brighter than mine, has the red light for night vision, comes in a 3-pack for less than the Black Diamond one.

Winter Essentials

Hiking in the wintertime means you’ll need extra layers of clothes, a hat and mittens. But in addition to layering up, when hiking there are some key items that can keep you safe and warm on the trails. If the trails are icy, crampons or spikes will provide you with traction on the ice to avoid any slips or falls. During the wintertime, I went hiking at Johnston Canyon with my boyfriend and his brother and I ended up being one of the few people with crampons. I was also one of the few people that wasn’t struggling to walk or slipping and sliding. I found my crampons from Costco by Icetrax for under $15, so if you don’t have a Costco membership the same pair will cost you under $23.99 linked here from Amazon. Otherwise, I found a similar pair on Amazon for the same price point I paid which is linked in the image below.

Finally, if your hands (or toes) are always cold even when wearing mittens and layers, hand warmers are perfect for those extra chilly days. They do make toe warmers which have a side that can stick to the inside of your boot, but hand warmers in the boots would work as well. Though the hand warmers aren’t reusable once opened, they last all day!

And that’s it for 15 essential items I recommend having for hiking. I know there are other items not mentioned here (e.g. bug spray, sunscreen, sunglasses) but wanted to include items most people may not think to bring or know what’s best to bring. Is there any other items you consider essential not mentioned above that you bring hiking? Comment them below.