Tramping Gear List

Tips
Written By Nick Allen

I use this list to double-check my gear as I pack my bag. I compartmentalise all my gear into drawbags or packing cells to keep it organised in my pack. For this reason, I have found that it's easiest to list the gear according to its drawbag, represented by each bolded subheading below. I've also organised the list in the order I pack my gear – starting with the stuff that goes at the bottom. 

Group items: all items marked "*" are group items. Depending on your group size, you will need only one of these for the whole group.

Hiking Gear List

🏕️ Equipment

  • Pack: Choose a 35-45 litre pack for an overnight mission or a 50-65 litre pack for multi-day missions.

  • Pack liner: choose a liner slightly larger than the volume of your pack.

  • Walking poles

  • *Tent, shelter or bivy bag (optional)
    Tip: I almost always bring one of these if I stay at a popular hut, just in case it is full.

💤 Sleeping system

  • Sleeping bag (see Appendix B for more info on which sleeping bag I choose)

  • Silk or booster liner

  • Sleeping mat

  • Inflatable pillow

  • Eye mask and ear plugs (optional)

🧢 Clothing drybag

Accessories:

  • Sun hat

  • Woollen or fleece beanie

  • Buff

  • Gloves: 1-2 pairs, depending on the season and likelihood of precipitation.

Base-layers:

  • Activewear short-sleeve shirt for tramping: 1 per 3-4 days

  • Merino thermal long-sleeve shirt for the hut/camp: 1 shirt

  • Fast-drying undies (avoid cotton undies at all costs!): 1 per 2-3 days

  • Long-john thermals or fleece tights (for use at the hut, or in an emergency): 1 pair

  • Hiking socks: 1 pair per 2-3 days

  • Thick woollen socks (for use at the hut): 1 pair

Mid-layers:

  • Fleece: 1 top
    Tip: I choose one high-performance, ultra-fast-drying fleece to cover hiking and nights at the hut/camp. If you don't have a fast-drying fleece, bring a lightweight fleece for hiking and consider an additional mid-weight fleece for use in the hut.

  • Shorts or hiking pants: 1 pair

  • Hut pants (optional): 1 pair

Outer-layers:

  • Down/synthetic jacket: 1 jacket
    Tip: I prefer synthetic jackets because they stay warm even when wet. This feature means you can safely use one jacket both for hiking and at the hut/camp. In winter, if you don’t have a synthetic-filled jacket and will be hiking with a down jacket, consider bringing a backup down jacket for the hut.

  • Rain Jacket: 1 jacket

  • Rain pants: 1 pair

Footwear:

  • Tramping boots or hiking shoes

  • Gaiters (optional)

  • Hut shoes (optional)

🍜 Food drawbag

  • See Appendix A for detailed list of what I take with me.

🪥 Personal hygiene and medications bag

  • Toothbrush

  • *Toothpaste

  • *Dental Floss (optional)

  • *Deodorant (optional)

  • *Wet wipes

  • Small microfibre towel

  • Personal medications

📖 Miscellaneous drybag

  • Reading material (optional)

  • Reading glasses (optional)

  • *Rechargeable lantern (optional, but a much better choice than candles)

  • Driver's license & EFTPOS card

  • DOC hut tickets 

🍽️ Kitchen bag

  • Spork or long-handled spoon

  • Water bottle

  • Mug

  • Collapsible bowl (or use an empty & clean dehy packet)

  • *Pepper and salt combo
    Tip: I mix the two in a small pill bottle; sometimes I throw a bit of chilli powder in there for extra flavour.

  • *Biodegradable dish soap

🚰 Cooking bag

  • *Water purification kit

  • *Pot, lid and handle

  • *Pot scrubber (optional)

  • *Cooker

  • *Gas canisters or liquid fuel 

  • *Lighter & flint
    Tip: I like to bring both a and a flint: the lighter is great inside, but the flint is better outside if it's wet, cold or windy.

  • *Fire Starters (optional)
    Tip: Individually wrapped fire starters are a much lighter and more convenient option than taking in a newspaper.

🧻 Toilet pack

  • *Toilet paper

  • *Hand sanitiser

  • *Trowel

🩹 First aid kit

  • Take a standardised first aid kit suitable to the size of your party.

📷 Camera and electronics drybag

  • Camera

  • *Phone charging cables

  • *Power bank
    Note: this is an essential item. Ensure you have enough stored power to recharge everyone's phone at least once.

  • Headphones (optional)

🔦 Lid of the pack

  • Map and compass in waterproof sleeve

  • *PLB and/or InReach

  • Headlamp (my favourite is the Black Diamond Spot 400-R)

  • *Sunblock

  • Sunglasses

  • *Rubbish bag

  • Knife

  • Personal medications (that day's meds, inhaler, etc.)

Appendix A - Food

Below, you’ll find the food list I take with me to the supermarket. I eat dairy and gluten free, and this is what works for me.

🍫 Snacks

  • Muesli bars: 2 per day  OR   Bliss balls: 4-6 per day

  • Mixed nuts: 75g per day

  • Dark Chocolate: 1/3 of bar per day (including dessert)

  • Peanut butter slug: 1 per day (optional)

  • Hardboiled eggs: 1-2 per day (optional)

☕️ Breakfast

  • Paleo Muesli (1/2 - 2/3 cup) + protein powder (2 tbsp): serve per breakfast

  • Milk powder OR Fruit puree to go with breakfast

  • Coffee powder: 2 tsp per breakfast

🌯 Lunch

  • Wraps: 2 per day

  • Grated carrot: 1 large carrot per day

  • Protein: Salami 80g OR Tuna packet 110g per serve

  • Hummus 80g (optional)

  • Oranges: 1 per day

🍪 Afternoons

  • Miso soup: 1 sachet per day  OR Instant Rice Noodles: 1 per day (optional)

  • Electrolytes: 1 sachet/tablet per day

  • Biscuits (optional): 2 per day

  • Tea bags: 1-2 per day

🥗 Dinner

  • Options: pick one

    • Freeze-dried Radix / Real Meal

    • GoNative meal + 1/4 cup dehy rice + 1/4 cup dehy vege

    • Rice noodles + pack of sauce or soup + 80-100g salami OR 2-3 eggs

    • Freestyle with fresh produce

  • Dehydrated fruit: 20-30g per night

Appendix B - Choosing a Sleeping Bag

Here's how I construct my sleeping system. Please note that I use 800-loft down sleeping bags to save weight. Below, I list the bags by the amount of down fill (e.g. 180g, 400 or 600g of down fill), but if you use 600-loft sleeping bags, choose bags that are filled with 100g more down than is listed below (e.g. 280, 500 or 700g). Here are the sleep systems I select for different situations.

🌞 Summer:

  • Hut: 180g bag + silk liner OR booster liner if cool temps

  • Tent in still conditions, middle of summer: 180g bag + silk liner + sleeping mat with an R-value of 3-4.

  • Tent in windy conditions or shoulder seasons: 400g bag + booster liner + sleeping mat with an R-value of 3-4.

❄️ Winter:

  • Hut: 400g bag + silk liner

  • Tent in above-freezing weather: 400g bag + silk liner + sleeping mat with an R-value of 3-4.

  • Tent in windy conditions or light frost below the snowline: 400g bag + booster liner + sleeping mat with an R-value of 3-4.

  • Tent in heavy frost or above the snowline: 600g bag + booster liner (I rarely regret it) + sleeping mat with an R-value of 4-6

Nick Allen
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