Take a hike. While you’re at it, take these essentials with you
Brett Venter
Sometimes you feel like taking a walk. If you’re surrounded by nature, it automatically becomes a hike. We don’t make the rules, we just write about them. But not all hikes are created equal. Take to a mountain trail while wearing a pair of Doc Martins and a leather jacket and you’ll be protected from scratches and possibly a porcupine attack. Otherwise, though? You’re not in for a good time.
It’s a far better plan to hike while toting the right gear. If you’re even moderately experienced, you’ll know that weight is a prime consideration. The less you’re carrying around, the better. Unless you get lost and need food. They might have laughed at your backpack full of protein bars (and two rolls of toilet paper) but who’s laughing now? Oh, right.
If you’d like a few pointers as to what should be in your pack (and what your pack should be), here’s what we’d take on a hike.
Hoka Kaha 2 GTX
There’s one element of a hike that must not be ignored — your feet. When you’re on a hike, there are dos and don’ts but some of these are options and others can be skipped if you’re okay with discomfort. But terrible shoes? Those can turn a hike from an exploratory quest into several hours of torture. Some brands of shoes are better than others but if you’re sticking shoes from Merrell, Salomon, or this Hoka Kaha pair over your lowest extremities, you’ll find tramping up and down over varied and often rugged terrain a more pleasurable experience. These are tailored with so many proprietary buzzwords that you’ll have a hard time believing Hoka Kaha didn’t invent the entire concept of the hiking shoe.
Assuming you’re only out for the day, this twelve-litre backpack should hold everything you need to take along on your journey. There’s ample room for tightly packed clothing, fluids, food, and most of the other items on this list. You might even find that you’ll be able to tote a few luxuries along. Exterior pockets for water bottles are one feature but there’s also a fillable bladder inside so you can carry an emergency supply of water that doesn’t have to be carted around in unwieldy bottles. Plus, you know, it’s made from reflective, water-repellent material.
You can, and should, take whatever wristwear you own along for your hike. If it’s Apple’s Watch Ultra, a device explicitly made for this activity, then all the better. It’ll help you find your way back to where you parked your car, even when you’re far away from all signal, provided you’ve remembered to keep it charged up. It’s also an Apple Watch, which is rewarding in itself. Offline maps are a highlight, as is the backtrack capability but most big brands like Garmin and Samsung have their own take on this hiking tech. Some of those even have a battery that lasts for more than a day or so.
Clothing choice is important on a hike. Always stuff something warm and lightweight into your pack. If you can arrange it so that item is entirely waterproof, all the better. You’ll probably survive a night out in the elements. You won’t be happy, but you’ll live. But what about your lower body? An odd choice might be some workwear, like these Ripstop pants. They’ll shrug off tearing from branches and trees and should provide some puncture protection. But it’s mostly the scratch-proof properties that we’re concerned with here. Hey, if it’s good enough for folks working on job sites, it’s good enough to take on a leisurely walk through the countryside. And then up a mountain.
Unless you’ve tucked a doctor away in your rucksack, you should probably take some form of medical assistance. Kits like this one pack the essentials into one neatly stuffed bag. You won’t reattach a severed limb but you’ll bandage most ouchies and even patch up one or two larger injuries for long enough to ferry the victim back to somewhere there’s a nurse. Generic options exist for less but when it comes to first aid packages, you tend to get what you pay for. Opt for the set with surgical shears rather than the one with a dinky set of blunt bandage scissors.
At a little over 140 grams, this little Leatherman won’t cut too deeply into your raisin ration allocation. It’ll also dramatically increase your survivability and comfort when stamping through the bush. Whether that’s extracting a particularly nasty thorn from a boot (and possibly also the foot inside it), slicing through rope, or popping open the inexplicable beer you’ve just liberated from your pack, this will do it all. Almost. A bit more weight and a bit more cash will see you toting a small saw along. That’s handy for building shelter or removing an inconveniently-trapped limb in a bid to escape to safety.
Should you be taking fire up the mountain? Historically, it’s the folks that bring it down from one who really get into trouble but having the ability to make fire at a moment’s notice is an ability that should be kept alive for more than just a hike. We’re not saying you’ll need a flint and steel — a Zippo or a lighter works just as well — but this thing weighs nothing, will let you start a fire just about anywhere (hint: you need dry stuff to burn), and will serve anywhere from a riverside braai to a deserted island. You probably don’t need to take this anywhere. You should probably take it everywhere.
If you’re going on a hike, even a short one, you should probably pack a mylar blanket. You know, that super-skinny shiny crackly thing paramedics will drape over you when you’re involved in a cash-in-transit heist? It’ll keep you warm overnight and can even be turned into a rudimentary shelter. But if you’re paranoid, you should just bring… shelter on your hike. This tent weighs a little over 2.5 kilograms, which is a lot of weight to haul up a mountain. But if you’ve distributed the load well enough, you’ll get away with keeping it handy. The Lunar Tent sleeps two people and will suit most conditions. The dead of winter or a monsoon might give you trouble. Maybe pack that mylar blanket in addition to this, actually.
There are various brands of dehydrated food on the market. Some of these are, by most accounts, even tasty. But ‘tasty’ doesn’t give you any sort of hiking cred. No, for that you should haul along some Army surplus SANDF MREs (meals, ready to eat). It’ll cost R270 for 24 hours’ worth of rations, covering three meals, drinks, snacks, and condiments. There’s even a vegetarian option or, if you’re feeling especially fancy, a gourmet option. Should you happen to find it in stock, there’s also a three-day ration that will tide you over and keep you from eating the slower hikers when a rockslide closes off everyone’s return to civilisation. Or you could opt for one of those squeezy energy carbohydrate things in various luminous colours. Those are probably super filling. Probably.
You’re supposed to take fluids along with you on a hike. It’s unavoidable unless you’re actively trying to experience dehydration. What are you, a movie actor about to do a shirtless scene? But water, as any person who has ever held a trekking pole will tell you, is heavy. Each litre weighs roughly a kilogram, and you’ll need several. But if you run out, or just forget to pack enough dihydrogen monoxide, you’ll be glad you’ve stashed the Lifestraw in your pack. You can sip from any water source you encounter, unless your hike takes you near Koeburg or Pelindaba, without worrying about getting the squirts. At 65 grams, you could also pack enough that you don’t have to share with any of the other explorers.
You’re going to take a hat along anyway. Why not make it unwieldy but very practical? Ecoflow’s Power Hat is just what it sounds like – a hat with solar panels in it. Those panels charge up connected mobile devices via a controller box built into the brim. It’ll accept USB-A and USB-C cables and Ecoflow reckons it’ll charge up 1,000mAh per hour when out in direct sunlight. Since you’re supposed to be weight-conscious, the Power Hat weighs 370 grams. That’s impractical in one way but when you’re charging everyone’s phones while Jerry decides which of the lost hikers will be eaten first, it’ll be instrumental in keeping you off the menu for a day or two longer.
