How I Packed My Pack

Caveat: HYOH (hike your own hike) and all that.

Packing one’s stuff is very specific to each individual so take this with a grain of salt. There's no right way or wrong way to do it (although I'm sure there are ways that are better than others regarding weight distribution, etc.) but I thought I'd share how I set up my pack for those looking for ideas (and so I wouldn't forget how I did it).

How I organized my backpack...

I made sure everything went in the same place so when I packed up in the morning, I knew I had everything. I also focused on having the stuff that I'd need during the day easily accessible and the rest of the stuff for camp secured in the main body of my pack. So here goes...

On my right shoulder strap, I secured my cheap watch so I could check the time easily.

On my left shoulder strap, I had a little pouch in which I kept my iPhone. I also tied a small bottle of hand sanitizer that I kept in the pouch’s outer pocket for easy access when I had to go. And I tied my cotton bandana/rag to my left strap to wipe sweat and blow my nose.

I had two, 1L-sized hipbelt pouches.

• The right one had my sunglasses that I never used, a tiny Swiss Army knife, Sawyer Insect Repellant, a Rite-in-Rain pen, a small compass, a waterproof Long Trail map, and my iPhone ear buds.

• The left belt pouch contained my snacks. Plenty of room for a few Luna bars and a bag of peanut M&Ms.

I had two water bottle pouches on either side of the pack where I kept my water bottles. (Yes, I'm Captain Obvious!)

I also attached two mesh side pouches above the water bottle pouches, one on each side.

• In the left side top pouch, I kept my rain jacket and my water filter. Made it easy to grab them if it started raining or if I needed to refill my water bottles during my hike.

• In the right side top pouch, I kept the Garmin inReach, my rain pants, and a black plastic bag with my TP (secured in a ziplock bag), my trowel, and a small bottle of hand sanitizer.

The main outer pocket on the back of the pack is a large, 8L-sized mesh pocket.

• I kept my tent in the center of this pocket with one sandal on the left side of the tent and the other sandal on the right side.

• In between the sandal and the tent on the left side I kept my gallon ziplock bag used for trash.

• In between the sandal and the tent on the right side, I kept my waterproof ditty bag containing my first aid supplies.

• On top of the stuff sack containing my tent, I secured my rain cap.

At the bottom on the outside of the pack, I strapped my sleeping pad.

The main compartment of the pack is 42L in size and was plenty large enough for the gear I brought. I packed horizontally, layer upon layer. I know some prefer to pack vertically but that didn't work for my system.

• At the bottom of the compartment, I stuffed my sleeping quilt (loose) and my down puffy jacket in a Nylofume liner bag to keep them dry. My pack is virtually waterproof but I didn’t want to take any chances. It compacted really well.

• On top of the sleeping quilt, I placed the D-shaped Hyperlite pod containing my extra clothes, electronics, inflatable pillow, and extra TP, etc. It fit the circumference of the compartment perfectly.

• My cook and water system went on top of the Hyperlite pod with my 900ml pot on one side, my coffee cup in the middle with the fuel bottle, and the Platypus water bottle rolled up on the other side.

• On top of that I placed my food bag. The photo below doesn't have the food bag in it but you can see that there's more than enough room.

And that's it. Everyone needs to find what works for them but I hope you find this info helpful!