What to Carry?
Below are some thoughts from the pros on what to carry as well as what we carry for day tours and in our first aid kits. We're sure there are lots of things we haven't thought of, and we'd really like to see everyone's different ideas on pack size and gear for the different sorts of trips. What did you take, or wish you had? Any cool tricks to save space/weight, fix breakages, stay warm? It's all good.
Day Tour
We're sure there'll be a massive range of different views on this, from a 15 litre pack with just the basics upwards. For us it's something like this (gear in orange would be one per group not one each):
Always in our packs (36 litres): Transceiver, Shovel, Probe, Skins, Ski crampons, Poles, Down jacket, Windproof top, Thin gloves x2, Beanie, Cap, First aid kit, Yellow goggles/lenses, Sunglasses, Skin wax & scraper, Survival Bag, Food, Water, Compass, Map, Sun cream, Lip salve, Spare parts, Multitool, Edge file, Toilet roll in Ziploc bag (to take it home!), Flare pen
In pockets (so you don't lose them if you lose your bag): Wallet, Passport, Lift pass, Phone (in airplane mode away from transceiver)
Depending on the terrain also: Rope, Ice axe(s), Harness, Ice screws, Locking Carabiners x6, Snap carabiners x2, Prussiks x2, Microtraxion, Tibloc, Pulley, Slings x2, Crampons, Radios, Altimeter
First Aid Kit
What you'll carry will probably depend on what training you have, but if you're going into the backcountry a first aid course should be a minimum, preferably one with a mountain slant. We carry a dry bag containing the following individually packed in Ziploc bags:
Military field dressing, clotting gauze, chest seal, scissors, tweezers, nasopharyngeal airway, elastic bandage, adhesive stitches, safety pins, tourniquet, gloves, Leukotape P, painkillers, antiseptic wipes, CPR mask
Multi Day Hut-to-Hut Tour
We'll be doing a couple of these for the first time this year, hopefully including the Haute Route. We'll be blogging our experiences so keep an eye out for that, but we're absolutely not experts in this, so if you are please share your knowledge.
Camping Trip
Going way out into the wilderness? Then you probably need to forward mount to a base camp Jeremy Jones style. This is what we really aspire to (in Alaska obviously) but still working up to that, so any experiences and advice you have let us know!