You don't need that stuff until you do.

Some of it is definitely regional and seasonal.

First post says it all. Lock it up.

The only thing I carry is my hollow handle survival knife .  

I think it all depends on your hike.  If you are hiking a 3 mile loop in a crowded national park on a sunny summer day, I'd say you could pare that list down to 2 or 3 items.  If you're hiking the 100 mile wilderness, then I would say your list should be increased from 10 up to 15 or 20.

While reading this article, the rule of 3s was bouncing around in my head.

When you're the only one in your party carrying a gun and bear spray in Montana and Yogi suddenly appears

Major pucker factor there haha

They aren’t essential if nothing goes wrong. When something does go wrong, it buys you options.

Pocketknife
First-aid kit
Extra clothing
Rain gear
Water bottle
Flashlight
Trail food
Matches and fire starters
Sun protection
Map and compass

Surveying a group of hikers who didn't experience any actual adversity, is like determining the crash test ratings of a group of cars by driving them for an hour apiece on the highway.

The doctor is an idiot.

Getting hungry isn't really a survival situation. Now, if you're trapped outside with a broken leg miles from the nearest help, and looking at days and days before SAR starts looking, food might be an important survival angle (though honestly you're probably not going to have carried enough of it to matter much in those circumstances).

most of the "essentials" are so small and light that it's easy to stash em in your pack either way.  I only day hike but I bring stuff in the event the weather turns bad fast or I get lost.  


It's a lot like liability insurance - if you never get sued you don't need any.  BUT, what if you do..?

A couple of years ago a man from st louis took his two sons on a day hike here in the missouri ozarks.  Winter , but started out warm, weather changed to freezing rain and they all died.  I don't know if he had the ten essentials, but they sure would have been nice to have.

I’m with this guy.

Are we talking about hiking Pikes Peak or a “remote” city or county park outside of Kansas City.

Not too worried about signaling mirrors, fire starters and a change of clothes for one where a serious injury is a turned ankle.

Too bad he didn’t have a weather forecast.

Nice skirts.

Hiked a lot of places and the people I’ve seen heads into the trail in flip flops and a small bottle of Dasani is crazy.

We’ve all read the stories here:
Hiker/s rescued off camelback/south mountain/superstitions

Hikers rescued in Joshua tree/grand Teton/etc

Human bones of hiker lost on trail found 10 years later.

Family distraught after experienced hiker dad doesn’t return

40 Boy Scouts stuck in winter storm up on Mt baldy.

You are free to listen to whatever advice from anyone you like.

I’ll carry my gear that I need just in case shit goes south.

  Gun.

No problem, just shoot someone in the knee so they can't run as fast as you.

Yeah, we took the girls out to short hike at a popular area near by.

It was comical.

You can do the whole loop in about two hours, and you are never too far from the road if you straight line it.

We did it in just our clothes and shoes, and my wife carried a single nalgene bottle with water for all of us to sip on if anyone got thirsty.

You would have thought some of the people were going on a 5 day expedition deep in the Adirondacks or something.

I used to backpack a lot (everything from weekends to multi-week trips with no resupply).
I used emergency equipment several times.  Mostly building fires when cold and wet, probably wouldn't have died without it but the fire was nice!
The one time I really needed a compass and a lighter, I didn't have it:

We had hiked a few miles back into a local wilderness area and at about 9pm sitting around the fire we heard a low booming bass coming from in the woods behind us.
We thought some people had somehow brought sound equipment miles back into the woods and were having a party, myself and 2 other guys went to check it out.
I had a knife and flashlight in my pocket and since the sound was just a hundred yards into the woods we thought nothing of it.
We walked for a few hundred yards and the sound was still just another hundred yards in front of us.  We did this several times for about an hour and still the sound was just in front of us, just out of sight in the dark.
The sound was almost drawing us in, making us make stupid decisions.  We discussed going back and decided we were going to walk until we found where the booming was coming from.

We checked it later on a map and we had walked 4 miles before we came to a giant lake: it was the local hydroelectric dam.  They had turned it on and it made a low-frequency sound that was just as loud when we were standing next to it as it was 4 miles away!
It must have been about 1am then, we turned around realized we didn't have a clue where we had come from!  Our camp could have been any direction in the 180 degrees behind us.
We started walking through the woods, following the moon at first. then walking in the bottom of a valley for awhile, after about 2 hours (1am) we were hopelessly lost and started talking about making a shelter.  Really bummed at ourselves for not bringing a lighter or a compass.
This was before cell phones worked in the woods and the other half of our camp was still waiting for us, we didn't know what they were going to do in the morning.  We weren't at risk of death probably but it was about 40 degrees and we were all in very light clothing.
We decided to walk over the next hill to look for a spot to set up and saw 2 campfires in the distance!  We picked one and ran to it... It was our very campfire!!!!  We don't know how it happened to this day.

So now that I think about it: the time I needed survival equipment most: I actually got along just fine without it!

no.

but extra socks sure are nice.

I've been fucked by the weather forecast more than once.

A Dr. of what?

His study was not very scientific based on where he did it. ( At a 1/2  day hike beginner mountain here in NH )

So I suppose if you asked all the people going to Sunapee during the winter months you might find that they are all skiers or snowboarders.. and what they pack for their day of fun is vastly different too.

This study is like "DUH"

I always wonder if they are just looking for an excuse to use the stuff they own, are just trying things out getting for a future hike or if they are just goofy.

Moral of the story: grown men shouldn't carry Barbie dolls. Crocs are optional.

Looks like the woman brought some floatation devices.

The only people I know who post this stuff are morbidly obese and should focus on the extra hundred pounds of fat they carry.

Not to hijack

But OP funny you posted about preparedness when this just happened

https://seacoastcurrent.com/peril-on-the-trails-nj-hiker-to-be-billed-dover-woman-rescued/#:~:text=A%20Dover%20woman%20was%20rescued,could%20not%20hike%20without%20assistance.


A Different Lesson For a New Jersey Woman
A New Jersey woman who was less prepared will likely be charged for the cost of a rescue crew that helped her down a trail in the White Mountains late Sunday afternoon.

Aleeza Shaikh, 26, of Jersey City was hiking with a friend on the Liberty Springs Trail in the Franconia Notch state park when she became "distressed" and unable to complete the hike around 5:20 p.m. according to NH Fish & Game.

Another group of hikers found Shaikh laying on the trail and helped Shaikh continue the trip along the trail.

A NH Fish & Game conservation officer and a small rescue party from the Pemigewasset Valley Search and Rescue met the group on the trail just before 6 p.m. and accompanied them to the parking lot. They arrived without any problems by 7 p.m.

Shaikh was prepared for a day hike, but did not have gear to spend the night.

"Due to inaccurate planning and equipment of the hiker, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department will be recommending that Shaikh be billed for this preventable rescue," the agency said in a statement.

The only had and fast rule is that there are no hard and fast rules.  

If I read it correctly he is qualifying adverse events as including very minor issues like a sting or scrape. That silliness would greatly skew the numbers.

Cull it down to people lost in the wilderness for a day or two and lets see who used the emergency gear they brought. I suspect the people with supplies were more comfortable both physically and emotionally.

Every year  day hikers have to be rescued in New Hampshire's white mountain range.  I've seen starting temperatures in the high 60s low 70s at a trail head and have it drop to 10 wind chill in a matter of hours .

Dirty patchouli smelling granolas like them are the types that get carried out of the linville gorge several times a year by our local search and rescue. Hell, many have had to be Blackhawk evac out they fucked up so bad.

Or have passed these people on the short loop while hiking with their kids. Is your skirt a breathable fabric, or does all of the extra airflow take care of that?

Nothing worse than finding out you need something that you intentionally did not bring just because the chances are low you will need it.

There is nothing in the 10 essentials that will ruin your day if you don't use them, better to have than want.

I hunt a lot  alone ….

I carry all that when I go hunting…

But then again..I don’t hunt on human trails…

I do 36 - 52 mile long runs when training for an Ultra. Generally, with just a Sawyer Mini-Squeeze, Skratch Labs hydration mix and [sometimes] grapes/bacon.

Yep, I can get away with a lot in my climate. I can’t get away with the same in the Presidential Range of Northern New Hampshire.

Sounds like a great time to solicit donations to the ammo fund.

People don't think a casual Sunday hike can become a critical situation but it can and does.

Now do IFAKs and people who carry guns.

This week

Getting lost in the woods is no joke.  Never trust a woman with the map.

The area is known for that.

FPNI

FPfuckingNI, again!


ETA- Many a short day hike has inconceivably turned into long trek for survival.

I did one late season hike up Lafayette. It was maybe 40 at the bottom and -10 above the tree line. Whiteout conditions with maybe 50ft of visibility. I turned right the heck back around at the top of little haystack.

I can understand it as a hobby. Before the kid we were pretty big into hiking and camping, and like any hobby you  kind of refine it as you go.

It's silly to pack out for an overnighter though when you are just hiking in for an hour, eating lunch and headed back out....you can carry all that stuff in a cinch bag or something.

I think every hobby goes though the cycle of entry level (cheap/heavy stuff), accumulation (adding more gear), refinement (getting much nicer gear), KISS (realizing you have way too much gear, time to go back to basics).

FPNI

I'm teaching my 8 year old that every time he leaves home he could end up spending the night outside. Prepare accordingly. When it's dumping snow you don't wear shirts and a t-shirt because it's warm in the car....

There is a balance, but some simple preparation will keep you out of trouble 99% of the time.

Yep, I know an educator who kept having.....um adventures afield.    Lost because her hiking partner thought she moved too slow and they separated.  Her last big oops, was winter hiking, left her space blanket home to save weight.


Spent the night in an open lean to with no fire because she couldn’t get her hands to work.  Took her boots off and couldn’t get them on her feet in the morning.  Hiked back out in the snow in her socks.  

She is typical Brooklyn girl in the woods, tries, stubborn and gets into deep trouble.   Too city smart to listen to others about her bad antics.  This was after numerous trips where she made hikes and got out of the woods (or not) well after dark.  She did have an emergency contact that would call the rangers an hour after dark if she was MIA.   The rangers got to know her by name over several months.


carry the basics, know how to use them and know what not to do!