Many have been the times I've peered down from a high hostel bunk at an incredible array of stuff being crammed into a backpack. I've witnessed the process take hours while the crammer regales incredulous onlookers about Tierra del Fuego, the Pampas, and of some tiny place where a ten dollar bill creates great excitement.
Yes, I think in amazement, she (in this particular case) is a brave and hardy traveler, but how will all that stuff get inside that pack? And if somehow it does, how far could she possibly carry it? Did she spend this much time packing in Tierra Del Fuego?
It's always good to be able to shorten the story and hit the road within a few minutes.
Mesh bags
- Available from supermarkets for washing lingerie for $2, and from outdoor retailers for $3. These can be your chest of drawers, keeping like or related items together. Since you can see inside, locating and removing contents is faster. Put socks in the sock bag, stove items in the stove bag, food items in the food bag, etc. Having several colors and sizes of mesh also helps.
- Nylon ditty bags
- Available from outdoor shops for $3. Made of coated nylon to keep gear dry if your pack is left in the rain without a pack cover. Use various colors and sizes to make it easier to find whatever the hell you're looking for.
- Cord lock
- For closing mesh and ditty bags, a plastic gizmo which when pressed releases two cords passing through it.
- Plastic zip freezer bags
- At any time I'll have several of these in use. Freezer bags are thicker than regular bags so they last longer. The Hefty OneZip brand is easiest to reseal. Pack extras.
- Built-in pack pockets
- Your pack may have as many as five outside pockets. I suggest not stuffing them completely full. Having just a few often-needed items in each pocket improves their accessibility, saves time and frustration. You can also vary the size and feel of items in each pocket since mostly you will be locating them with only your hands. Other items needed only sporadically--say every few days, once per week, or emergency items--should be placed in one or more "toolbags" inside the pack.
- Accessory pack pockets
- 10-$25, about 5 oz. Many internal frame packs have only one pocket. This makes them more streamlined for squeezing through narrow canyons and fighting onto buses, but less convenient for getting to your gear. Packmakers offer optional accessory pockets which fit onto the pack, often by attaching to compression straps. Each pocket usually has two separate compartments. Some packs can carry up to three extra pockets.
- They add, however, considerable bulk and floppiness to the pack. Built-in pockets are more streamlined and stable. The only pocket I need on my toploader backpack is the built-in hood pocket.
Internal-frame pack design requires semi-careful packing because the bottom of the load actually becomes part of the load-bearing structure. This is most apparent in packs with a bottom sleeping bag compartment. Here the relatively light and bulky sleeping bag forms a base for other items to ride on. Furthermore, items stored in this lowest area actually apply more downward force on the pack-wearer because this is the pack area furthest away from the wearer's center of gravity line. Therefore it is doubly important to use the sleeping bag compartment for bulky but light items.
Put the sleeping bag in a stuff sack before loading it into the lower compartment. There should also be room for a few other items such as a rainjacket, sock bag, t-shirts, tent rainfly, etc. This is not the best place to put a water bottle, guidebook, or other weighty items.
Many panel-loading packs, including most travel packs, have only one large compartment. In these it is also best to place your sleeping bag and other light-but-bulky items in the lowest recesses.
For the rest of the main body of the pack place heavier items nearest the back wall of the pack, as close to your center of gravity as possible.
Your pack may have one or more access zippers, including one for the sleeping bag compartment, the top pocket, and perhaps a panel to the main compartment. It's easy to place frequently needed items such as camera, binoculars, guidebook, and toiletry bag in strategic locations near these zippers. For a top loading pack put frequently used items in last, near the top.
Do not leave home with a totally jammed-full pack. Allow 15% empty space. This makes accessing the pack easier and life on the road better. And as you acquire new things don't be hesitant about giving away or mailing back what you don't need.
The toolbag is a nylon, mesh, or plastic zip bag which contains items I don't need often, but are necessary to have. It may also be divided into two separate bags: one for items that are rarely needed, such as emergency items; the other for items used more often, such as aspirin. As you travel you'll work out what best goes where.
- Toolbag #1
- Includes occasionally needed items such as: detergent, nylon rope, spare butane lighter, matches, spare razor cartridges, earplugs, aspirin, rubber bands
- Toolbag #2
- Contains items I rarely, if ever, use. These include a plastic zip bag containing medical supplies, emergency aluminum reflective blanket, Thermarest patch kit, stove repair kit, spare AA batteries, plastic garbage bag, condoms, sewing kit, tweezers, iodine tablets, superglue, duct tape wrapped around a pencil, magnifying glass, and spare plastic freezer bags. Photo right: an in-practice toolbag 1-2 combo.
I use a quart-sized mesh or plastic zip freezer bag to contain the items I use the most: toothbrush, toothpaste, hair pick, razor, four-ounce Nalgene plastic bottle containing liquid soap/shampoo, a small bottle of roll-on deodorant, a pair of folding scissors, and a small mirror.
In my external frame pack I use for trail hiking I put the bag in an external pocket and pull the whole thing out when needed. In my internal frame I use for travel I keep the kit in the hood pocket so I can get to it quickly.
I recommend spending a dollar or two for a small Nalgene bottle at your outdoor shop, as they are strong and won't leak. CampSuds and Dr. Bonner's are concentrated all-purpose, biodegradable soaps which last a long time. Use them sparingly in wilderness areas, and never within fifty feet of
rivers and streams as all soap is harmful to naturally occurring bacteria and organisms.
Don't bring a Madison Avenue assortment of haircare products. I carry only a pick and a small bottle of shampoo. Most backpackers get by just fine without a hair dryer.
I dispense with shaving creme by using a good razor and plenty of soap. I had a battery-powered travel razor, but it proved ineffective and too heavy at five ounces with batteries.
For makeup just bring a small quantity of the basics--no more than the bottom of a plastic zip bag. One of the great beauties of backpacking is how it simplifies our lives--if you don't have something, you probably won't need it.