Packing a backpack for a hike: packing rules. Packing a backpack on a hike How to put things in a backpack

Packing a hiking backpack

A backpack is the most important part of hiking equipment. After all, during the hike, these are all your things, your entire everyday life and your whole life. You are like a snail carrying its home. And your well-being, comfort and appearance in the photographs depend on how well the backpack is assembled.

Here are 10 simple rules, following which, you will correctly pack your backpack for a hike.

Write a list. You just need to take it and do it. We take as a basis the list of necessary equipment for your trip on our website. We write out in a separate list what needs to be purchased/rented. The sooner you start packing for a hike, the more likely you are to take everything you need and leave behind everything you don’t need.

Sleeping bag - down. Let's start filling our magic backpack. Magical - because you can't even imagine how much it can fit. We put a sleeping bag in the lowest compartment of the backpack or, as it is also called, in the “basement”. If you are using a compression bag, do not tighten it into a bun, leave it in a “relaxed sausage” state, this will make it more convenient to place things around it. Don't forget to place your already packed sleeping bag in a separate, durable bag in case of prolonged rain. Now about the “things around him”: these can be light things that you won’t need for a long time: walking shoes, a down jacket, woolen socks.

Heavy - to the back. First, let's determine what is the heaviest thing among things? Hiking boots? No, they will be on their feet. Turgenev 8 volumes? More on this later. Let me give you a hint - most likely it will be a module with food, which you will be given immediately before the hike, or other public equipment (an axe, cauldrons, a tent). This should lie near the back, that is, in the area from the lower back to the shoulder blades. This way the weight will be distributed correctly and the backpack will seem less heavy. Make sure that nothing sharp is touching your back through the backpack.

Cloth. This is where the battle for volume begins. Use not only compression bags, but also zip-lock bags (these are plastic bags with a special fastener that seals the bag tightly). Organize your clothes logically into the bags so you always know exactly what goes where. Push clothes into all the empty spaces along the walls of the backpack, under no circumstances fold them in a pile, this is not a closet!

Change is in your pockets. Estimate the number of small things such as a flashlight, cosmetic bag, set of dishes, documents, money, camera. Now estimate the number of pockets in the backpack. You shouldn’t stuff them to capacity, especially if it’s just one valve (a pocket in the backpack lid). Put in it what you might need urgently: a rain poncho, a flashlight, a knife, a band-aid.

Extra things. These are the things that should stay at home. Firstly, they are not on the list of required equipment, and secondly, they have weight in total, even if individually (in your opinion) they weigh nothing. Thirdly, these are our weaknesses, and on a hike we must be strong. So, what's left to do to relax on the couch while we conquer the passes? Books, including electronic ones. Enjoy the beauty around you, you only have two weeks (or even less) to absorb the beauty around you. If you have a long journey ahead of you, take a book that you won’t mind “forgetting” on the train. Denim clothes. The only thing heavier than denim is wet denim. Conditioner and any cosmetic liquids in general. Girls, progress has long reached solid shampoos and small packages. Electrical appliances. Yes, it’s incredible, but in most cases there are no sockets there. Don't repeat other people's mistakes. We also do not take porcelain and glassware, a full first aid kit (only the medications you need), a water filter, or folding chairs. The list can be continued endlessly, so be better guided by the list from point 1.

Try not to tie anything outside (especially your sleeping bag). Anything attached to the backpack could theoretically fall off. It’s impossible to count how many seats the gusty mountain wind has carried away, and then you have nothing to sit on. Yes, the rug (karemat) most likely will not fit inside the backpack, so we tie it tightly and secure it with ties. The same with a tent, but the poles can be placed inside the backpack along the back. That's it, no mugs, pots or flasks dangling from carabiners. Just a neat, fastened backpack.

Adjusting the backpack! We talk about this in detail in our video:

We put on the backpack correctly. Don't make sudden movements! This can cause you to tear your back or strain your shoulder even before the hike. Follow the instructions:

Step 1: take the backpack with one hand by the handle, the other by the shoulder strap and throw it on the thigh of the leg bent at the knee.

Step 2: We put our hand under the nearest strap, move the backpack behind our back and put our other hand through.

Step 3: straighten the twisted straps, fasten the hip belt, chest strap.

One last piece of advice: don’t put your camera inside your backpack. The magical light falling on the neighboring peak will go away, the gopher peeking out of the hole will hide, and the pretty girl will stop drinking water from a bottle beautifully, and all this while you are taking the camera out of the depths of your backpack. Think about how to secure the cover on the outside and how to close it when it rains.

If you are planning a long hike, you need to take a backpack with food, water and other things necessary for the hike. Instead of quickly throwing things into your backpack, take the time to plan ahead. This way, you can properly assemble your backpack so that you can easily get out of it any thing that will be useful to you on the road. Packing your things may not seem like a big deal to you, but it's the little things that make an uncomfortable hike magical.

Steps

Part 1

Collect all things

Choose a backpack. If you travel on foot, you will appreciate the lightest backpack. Therefore, you should give preference to a small, lightweight backpack that will fit all your things. If you're going on a short hike, you'll be able to fit everything in a small backpack, but if you're going on an overnight camping trip (or going backpacking), you'll need a larger backpack that can hold all your extra gear (sleeping bag, tent) , as well as plenty of food and water.

Gather all the necessary things. When it comes to hiking, it is best to only pack the essentials. You may be tempted to bring your camera, diary, or favorite pillow, but additional unnecessary items will only add weight to your load. Pack only those things that are necessary for the trip. To find out exactly what you should take with you, find information on the Internet in advance, take into account the severity and duration of the hike, the number of nights, and weather conditions.
- Consider packing the lightest but most durable gear you can, especially if you're going on a long hike. For example, if you need to take a sleeping bag with you, it is best to choose the lightest and most compact bag that weighs only a couple of kilograms, rather than a large fluffy blanket that will take up a lot of space and be too heavy. It is necessary to take into account the weather, climate and area where you are going to travel. In some cases, larger items may be needed.
- If there is an opportunity to make some things easier, do so. Instead of taking a box of supplies with you, take them out of the box and put them in a bag. Instead of carrying a heavy camera or camera, use your cell phone camera. Some people are especially inventive - they cut off the handles of toothbrushes and halve the size of the toothbrush head itself.
Organize all your belongings according to weight. Lay out everything you decide to take with you and sort it into several piles (depending on the weight of the item). You'll have a pile for heavy items, a pile for medium-weight items, and small, lightweight items. Such organization will help you pack your things correctly to make the trip as comfortable as possible.
- Light items include a sleeping bag, light clothing and other lightweight overnight items.
- Medium weight items include heavier clothing, a first aid kit, and light food items.
- Heavy items include heavy food, cooking items, water, flashlights and heavy equipment.
Try to combine things if possible. It is important to maximize space and concentrate weight. If you combine items, they will not “dangle” throughout the backpack. Your backpack will be more organized and weight-optimized if you pack small items into the extra space.
- For example, if you have a small cooking container, fill it with something before packing it away. For example, you can put food or an extra pair of socks inside. Try to fill every empty corner.
- Small items that you intend to use at the same time should be packed together in the same place. For example, pack all your toiletries in a small, lightweight bag so you have them all within reach.
- This is a good opportunity to remove items that are taking up too much space. If you have an item that you can't pack with other items (because it's an awkward size or made of a different material), you may have to leave it behind.
Pack special containers correctly. These are tight containers used to store food, deodorant, sunscreen, and other items that may attract bears. These containers are essential if you are going camping in an area where there are bears. If you are going on a hike in such an area, it is important to pack such a container correctly so that it does not get in the way in your backpack.
- You should not try to fill the voids in such a special container with clothes. You can use a rain cover or packing bags to fill up the extra space. But you shouldn’t put everything you plan to use on your hike there. You don't want a bear to be attracted to your tent by the smell of the clothes you put on after they've been saturated with the smell of food.

I have been involved in tourism for almost 50 years (48, I made my first category ski trip in 1966. I have changed a lot of backpacks :). I started by wearing canvas “Abalakovsky” and “Yarovsky”. Then there was a period of “handicrafts”. This is the 70s. We began to intensively sew and produce easel (frame) backpacks with containers made of light and durable materials (nylon, nylon, parachute silk, etc.). The machines and frames were made in one piece (from pieces of aluminum clamshells connected using adapters machined from metal bushings, and composite ones, inserted into special pockets of the fabric container).
Then came the turn of ergonomic designs of backpacks - both home-made and later branded ones. Eh, it brings back memories.
What am I talking about? Yes, I remembered that too. Putting all the equipment into abalaki and yarovskie - that was Science! But easel and ergonomic backpacks spoiled the people - tourists began (of course, not all of them, but those with little experience, throwing everything in there in a row and mixed in 😉).
Therefore, your article, Sergey, in this regard is very useful for lovers of simple hikes and not only. It is also very informative for sports tourists planning long routes.
Thanks a lot!

Sergey Drozdov Reply:
October 7th, 2014 at 19:36

Thank you, Vitaly, for your high appreciation of my humble work!
Packing really became a “science” with the advent of ergonomic backpacks and the desire for comfort while hiking.
In my opinion, earlier comfort was somehow taken into account less, because ordinary Soviet people were traveling, not particularly accustomed to convenience.
There was interest. And when you, Vitaly, in those distant times, were collecting backpacks, was there any way to pack them or did you really just pile everything in?

Vitaly Reply:
November 21st, 2014 at 01:28

Sergey, I’m answering your question. Of course there was. 🙂
At the end of the 60s and in the first half of the 70s, we mostly went with backpacks that had neither a frame nor a machine - with Abalakovsky ones and, less often, with Yarovsky ones.
Therefore, the issue of packing, especially if we take into account the weight of the backpack on long-distance sports complex hikes, reaching up to 40 kg, or even more (in the summer of 1982, at the beginning of a combined hiking and water trip along the Eastern Sayan with rafting along the Urik River, the weight of my backpack was 47 kg, and Nikolai Kurilo, the leader of the campaign, it was 54 kg), great attention was paid.
As a rule, soft things were placed under the back, often a sleeping bag folded in an envelope, heavy things were placed in the lower part and on the sides - tin cans, etc., in the center and closer to the bottom we placed food packaged in double bags - cereals, sugar, salt, dried fruits, sublimates and concentrates. Higher up - lighter equipment and personal items (clothing, personal equipment). Well, etc. The system was clear. I've already forgotten a little. 🙂
Well, as for the little things, it’s about the same as described in your article. After all, where did the experience that today’s tourists use on hikes come from? From tourists from the fifties and sixties. 😀
Already in the second half of the 70s we switched to homemade frame and easel backpacks. So, before a ski trip across the Urals in 1976, we for the first time made 8 looms from “clamshells” for our newly sewn bags from calendered nylon. In those years, an article by I. Khnykin was published in the almanac “Wind of Wanderings” with a method for making such a backpack.

As the old travel wisdom says,
you need to start packing your things a week before the start,
and disassemble immediately after returning.
Life has proven that we do everything the other way around.

Friends, we continue to get ready for a hike. This time we will talk about the logic and how best to pack your equipment and fold your backpack.

Let's start with the most important thing: packing a backpack takes time! You should start packing your things at least a week in advance, and not do it the night before your flight. For convenience, divide the entire list of equipment into categories and devote an evening to each. This way you will calmly and without nerves and definitely won’t forget anything. So let's get started.

Cloth

You need to divide the entire mass of clothes that you want to take with you into several parts:

The clothes you wear directly. We go hiking in it and then, if the weather permits, we put it on every morning.
Membrane set - jacket and trousers. We won't move them far if the weather suddenly starts to deteriorate. For the same reasons, you can leave a thin fleece jacket.
A set of clothes that you will use in parking lots. As a rule, these are warm clothes, a change of dry clothes, etc. You will wear these clothes in the camp; the rest of the time they will be packed in your backpack.
Things that you will rarely take out, or that you will only need at the end of the trip. These things include the clothes you will wear when you return home, or a change of underwear and socks. In a word, you will look into this bag once every three to four days.

In the end, we ended up with four piles. We don’t need packaging for everyday clothes; we wear them every day. There is also no point in packing the membrane separately, because... sometimes you need to get it out very quickly, and unwinding the bags only wastes time.

Thus, we need to add the remaining two piles. You can use compression bags: when compressed, clothes take up less space, but in the future this can complicate packing a backpack, because The voids between the “compression sleeves” are inconvenient to fill.

The best option for packing clothes is lightweight hermetic bags. For example, like this one. On the one hand, they protect things from moisture, and on the other hand, when folded they remain more flexible and are easy to pack tightly into a backpack.

And you should also think about where you are going to put dirty things, at least the same socks. To do this, you can also keep a sacrificial “seal” - it does not let in not only water, but also odors. And again your wives will thank you :)

Sleeping bag

With him, as a rule, everything is simple. In most cases, sleeping bags are equipped with standard compression bags, and you can safely use them. But if you do everything correctly, then it’s worth replacing it with a pressurized compressor - often it can compress a sleeping bag much better than a standard bag (this especially applies to The North Face sleeping bags). This packaging also protects the sleeping bag from water; believe me, sleeping in a wet sleeping bag is very unpleasant.

Products

We will talk in detail about packing and storing food while camping in a separate article, but here we will talk about general points.

The logic behind food packaging is that individual ingredients are arranged into dishes and pre-packaged. Thus, when you need to cook dinner, you don’t need to measure out cereals and pasta from different jars and bags - doing this in the vestibule of a tent is terribly inconvenient. You arrived at the place, lit the burner, took out the required package of dinner, opened it and poured it into the cauldron. Everything has already been measured and assembled in advance as needed. All that remains is to cook.

For packaging we use ordinary cellophane lunch bags: add the ingredients, let out the air and tie it. We wrap the resulting bag with tape, so it won’t tear in the backpack and it won’t be afraid of dampness.

Crackers are also packaged in portions. Wide-mouth plastic bottles are great for sugar and tea. And for storing sausage and cheese - insulated bags from supermarkets.

AlpIndustry employees in the Elbrus region. Long awaited stop :)

Cookware, fuel and kitchenware

There is a nuance here. If you cook with gas, everything is quite simple - gas cylinders do not require any packaging, and any suitable sized bag is suitable for the burner as a cover.

If you have gasoline, then spare no expense and buy special containers for storing and carrying it. Unlike ordinary plastic bottles, gasoline vapors do not leak out of them, and your things and food will not smell of it in a couple of days. For the burner itself, for the same reasons, it is best to purchase a PVC hermetic bag, and it should be stored separately from the main things, for example, in a valve.

If you cook with gasoline or over a fire, carbon deposits remain on the pot, which cannot always be completely cleaned off. Thus, in order not to get the contents of your backpack dirty, you should get a cover.

In general, a saucepan (kettle) in itself is an excellent package for kitchen utensils, and if a burner can also be placed in it, then it’s absolutely good.

"Iron"

Namely, an ice ax, crampons, carabiners, etc. The ice ax rides on the external sling of the backpack, and it will only need packaging if you are traveling to the place and back by plane and have to put the ice ax in the backpack. There are two ways here: you can buy protection for the beak and bayonet in the store, or, if you, like the author, tend to lose everything, then the beak and bayonet can be wrapped in newspaper and secured with tape to be sure. On the way back, repeat the operation.

The same situation is with cats. There are a lot of ready-made covers for sale, or you can simply put the cats together and wrap them in a note or any other thick fabric.

Carbines, jumars and other small pieces of iron travel well together with the harness in its own case. Just be sure to mark your carabiners and other hardware with colored tape or nail polish before you leave.

Tent

You can do different things with a tent. You can use the original case, you can do without a case at all, or replace it with a hermetic bag, and wear the arches themselves separately. We’ll talk about the meaning of this approach and the pros and cons of different options below.

Other things

As a rule, at the finish line there is a bunch of small things left, with which you also need to do something.

For documents Nowadays there are a lot of hermetic packaging on sale, and here I would advise you not to skimp. Documents are important. In addition, as a rule, mobile phones also fit well into such cases.

For first aid kit There are also a lot of ready-made cases with a bunch of compartments and other pockets. There's plenty to choose from. Or you can use any hermetic bag. It is important that this bag stands out from other things and can be quickly identified as a first aid kit.

Wash accessories do not require special packaging; toothpaste and brush will feel great in a regular nylon bag. Soap can be stored in a simple plastic jar. By the way, you don’t have to take a whole bar of soap with you; you can cut it in half.

Ready! We have collected and packed our things, all that remains is to put them in a backpack.

When packing a backpack, you need to follow the weight distribution rule: all light and bulky things are folded down, and everything heavy is placed as close to the back as possible and, if possible, in the area of the shoulder blades. Don’t forget about centering: place things evenly so that the backpack does not hang on one side.

Secondly, we try to leave things that we may need during the day at the top, everything else goes down. Start with your sleeping bag: it's the first thing you pack in the morning, and you definitely won't need it until the next evening, so feel free to throw it in the deep end. If there is any free space left, fill it with clothes that will only be needed in the parking lot.

Remember the tent? We install it first in the parking lot, and collect it last in the morning. It makes sense to keep it on top. I strongly do not recommend wearing it outside (in general, there is only room outside for foam and an ice ax). If the volume of the tent and backpack allows, then the tent can be placed inside in its original cover. The author prefers to fold the arcs separately along the back of the backpack, and randomly fold the tent itself on top, filling the voids. In case the awning does not have time to dry after the rain, a light seal is stored.

If your backpack has side pockets, you can put a membrane kit there - you will have less to rummage through your backpack in case of rain.
All small things go into the valve: a flashlight, a mug, documents, etc.
If there are pockets on your belt, keep sunscreen and spare batteries for your GPS there.

That's all, actually. The process of packing a backpack falls into the category of pleasant chores, but if you do everything at the last minute, these chores can drive you crazy. Have a nice trip everyone, and see you in the mountains!

There are two basic principles for packing a backpack. The first one is quite obvious - heavy things should be placed as close to the back as possible. This way the backpack will sway less while walking. But, most importantly, the closer the center of mass of the backpack is to your spine, the more natural and straight your body maintains, the less tired you get while walking.

Second principle - the heaviest things should be located at the height of your shoulder blades. At first glance, this may seem quite strange, but this position of the center of mass is the most biomechanically optimal. If you place heavy items at the bottom, the backpack will constantly try to tilt your body back. To resist this overturning force, the body will be forced to further strain the muscular corset, expending extra strength. (However, there is a small exception to this rule - cases when you have to move for a long time on very difficult terrain. For example, you have to balance a lot on rocks or constantly bend down while crawling under trees in forest rubble. Knowing this, on such a day it makes sense to specially pack a backpack with lower center of mass. This will add a little stability.)

Ultimately, the most optimal backpack packing looks like this. The lower compartment of the backpack holds a sleeping bag and spare clothes. These are some of the easiest things to do and are usually the last thing you need before going to bed. (among other things, this arrangement allows you to rest during breaks, sitting on the bottom of the backpack, without fear of crushing anything in it). Next, the heaviest things are placed closer to the back: food, various liquids, a tent or ropes. The rest of the space is filled with lighter things like dishes, pots and other things. At the top of the backpack you leave what you might need during the day: a raincoat, a warm jacket, snacks, etc.

Laying density

In addition to the distribution of things by weight, it also matters how densely and evenly they are packed. This determines how the backpack will keep its shape during transitions. (primarily this applies to backpacks with a soft back). If things are packed too loosely or there are hollow spaces on the sides of the backpack, then shaking when walking will gradually deform it, move to one side and cause constant discomfort.

It is better to immediately pack your equipment as tightly as possible, without voids, starting from the very bottom of the backpack. So that it does not clot when carried.