The things I don’t leave without in my backpack on short hikes
Being a full time RV family, we end up doing a lot of short hikes. Here is a list of things I take in my backpack for short hikes. This list is only for “short” hikes and that what is considered a short hike will vary from person to person. For me, a short hike is anything that we can complete in a day. That may be a mile or 15 miles. I would take different things on each of those hikes and I will go over all of it.
But first, let me tell a hiking story. It was August of 2019. We were in Sturbridge, Mass and our RV spot was right next to our friends Luke and Brita Haag. Angela had to fly back to Florida to work for a week. Luke, Brita, and I thought it would be nice to take the kids on a short hike. We settled on the Bigelow Pond Loop just over the state line in Bigelow Hollow State Park in Union County, Connecticut. This is a short hike, a very short hike. All in all, it is only a mile and a half and only has 49 feet elevation gain. It takes on average only 30 minutes to complete. I looked at all of those stats before going and thought, “ya know what, I don’t want to haul a bunch of crap for the kids for only a 30 minute hike. Let me just load them up with lunch before we go, and take 1 or 2 water bottles each. It’s only 30 minutes of walking after all”. So, that’s exactly what I did. 
I had the kids eat their lunch before leaving and took a small amount of water for each kid. The Haags and I got to the state park and started out on our hike. I kid you not before we even left the Jeep I think all three of my kids had drank their waters. No big deal right? It’s only a 30 minute hike. Within minutes you’d have thought my kids were dying from thirst and starvation. They started complaining about being hungry as soon as they saw the Haags whip out some snacks for their kids. The Haags were kind enough to let my kids have some snacks since clearly they were starving as they had not eaten anything in a full 45 minutes at that point. Of course after the snacks, they had to have waters and couldn’t possibly wait until the easy 30 minute walk was over. So once again, the Haags were kind enough to give them some water before they all withered away. My plan to go as lightweight as possible for only a 30 minute hike had completely failed me. 
We do a lot of hikes in the 2 to 7 mile range with the kids, and I have done as much as 18 miles in a day with my son. The things I take in my backpack vary greatly depending on a number of factors. I consider a lot of things when deciding what is going in the backpack. I look at the distance we are hiking that day, location, weather, etc. Now, I am not saying that everyone should take everything that I take. And, maybe some of these things come from me being a bit of a “prepper”. But these are some of the things that we take with us on our hikes.
Water, water, and more water. The most important thing in the backpack.
First, and foremost, we pack water, and usually lots of it. I take way more water than I think I will need. The average person drinks, or at least SHOULD drink about 48 to 64 ounces of water per day. Now, consider that while hiking you will be exerting some energy. That is especially true if you are hiking in hot weather and/or any elevation. So you would require a lot more water. For us, I typically look at the number of hours that we should be hiking according to All Trails. I like to take about 16 ounces of water for each hour for each person at minimum. So if we are doing what will be about a 5 hour hike, each person would need 5 pounds of water. For a family of 5 like ours, that would be a whopping 25 pounds of water carried for a 5 hour hike. When my kids were younger, I was the one carrying all of the supplies in my own backpack (Thankfully they are older now and can carry their own crap). Hence the desire to go lightweight in my story about with the Haags. The lesson learned on that day is that even for a 30 minute easy walk, I will take at least a bottle or 2 of water for the kids. Typically when I go on hikes, I conserve my own water. This is in part due to the fact that I would want my kids to have enough water if they needed it. PLUS, I don’t want to have to sneak off to pee. On cool days, I usually will wait until the halfway point in the hike or even the end to take my first sip of water. Of course, this definitely wasn’t the case when my son and I did our 18 mile hike in the desert. I was suckin’ down water like no tomorrow the whole time.
All the snacks in your backpack.
Another one of the things I take in my backpack for short hikes is food. We typically take a sandwich or 2 for each person at minimum. But of course, we also like to take the typical hiking snacks like trail mix, granola bars, etc. One thing that I learned on my first hiking day with the Haags years ago is that even if a kid has just eaten lunch, they will eat again….and again, and again, and again. Here’s the thing I have realized, if kids have all the snacks, it typically keeps them from being so “complainy” on hikes. Things like granola bars and bags of trail mix are easy to carry, and are easy snacks for the kids on hikes. After the fiasco with the Haags, I feel like my kids could probably go through 50 granola bars each in 30 minutes if given the opportunity. But I do try to limit it to maybe 1 snack for each expected hour of hiking. Once again, I usually conserve my snacks until the last part of the hike.
What about injuries, emergencies, and insects?
Of course water and food top the list of things I take in my backpack on short hikes. But there is something else that is almost equally important. The first thing that I feel is absolutely necessary after water and food is a first aid kit. I have a first aid kit like THIS in my backpack at all times. Something small and portable like this can take care of small injuries like cuts, scraps, and blisters. of course, you can add things to your first aid kit to fit your own needs. If you take prescription meds, it may be a good idea to take a few extra just in case you get stuck out in the woods for an extended time. We also take bug spray along depending on location. we try to hike in cooler weather, so bugs aren’t always an issue. But that isn’t always the case! Lastly, you will likely need to take some sunblock along. Most of our hikes last for several hours, so sunblock is almost always in our backpacks!
You may need extra clothing in your backpack for your hike.
Another thing to consider is possibly some extra clothing. This can really depend on where you are hiking. For instance, if you’re in the mountains at elevation, the weather can change within minutes. This was a lesson learned on one of our trips to Yellowstone National Park where the temperature dropped over 30 degrees in about as many minutes. Check the weather. If there is any chance of rain, you will want to bring a rainproof jacket in the very least. We recently hiked in Banff where it rained the entire time. Thankfully we had these rainproof jackets in our backpacks and were able to throw them on before the rain got too hard. They helped a lot! If you’re in the mountains, even in the summer, you may want to consider bringing a long sleeve top and maybe some gloves n your backpack as well just in case! We recently went hiking in the mountains with no gloves and it was miserable. That won’t happen again on our mountain hikes! 
Here are a few small things I take in my backpack that may surprise you!
A lot of this comes from me being a bit of a “prepper”. Over the years I have heard horror stories about people getting lost in the woods or hurt and then getting stuck out in the middle of nowhere. So, I like to prepare for those unexpected things! here are a few more things I take in my backpack for short hikes that may actually surprise you! I will always have a way to make a fire. I usually have things like lighters, flint, etc in my backpack no matter how short the hike. I even took a small Starter Log on our recent 18 mile hike as I had some concern of getting stuck overnight way up on the mountain. I always have a pocket knife of some sort. Always. I heard someone say once, that if you don’t have a pocket knife, you don’t have your pants on. I agree. I take one with me everywhere and I always have one in my backpack! A lot of times I also have a Life Straw in my backpack on longer hikes, just in case we get stuck out in the middle of nowhere and run out of water. Another thing I will take on the longer hikes especially is some sort of emergency blanket. These can be found in first aid kits a lot of times, but I am sure to take one on the longer hikes just in case we get stuck out somewhere overnight. We also always have a flashlight of some sort. it’s nice having the flashlight on the phone, but if we are taking a longer hike that may possibly go into the evening time, I will take at least one small flashlight just to be on the safe side. Lastly, speaking of phones, on the longer hikes we will also take an emergency charger for our phones. We keep a little USB backup charger on hand and take it along with us. We use our phone cameras a lot and that can drain a phone battery fast. The backup charger is nice to have on longer hikes because it not only helps keep the phone charged for photos, but it keeps the phone charged in case of emergency!
Well, I hope all of this helps you! I am sure I will think of other things I take in my backpack on short hikes and as I do I will come back here and update the post. Until then, happy hiking! be sure to let me know if there is something that you take every time that we may have missed on here!
