Going on a multi-day hike means bringing a lot of gear. What gear to chose is up to you, wether you go for extremely light weight or bringing more comfort items too. Here’s how I went about it.

As I mentioned in a previous article, I chose my gear based on its weight for the most part. I was careful to take the conditions of my hike into account though. Hiking in October in the Ardennes means I can’t afford to bring really light-weight sleeping bags and sleeping mats since I’d be facing near freezing temperatures at night.

The Tent

For my shelter, I went for the MSR Hubba Hubba NX 2 person tent, weighing 1.7kg. Their 1 person variant weighs only 1.19 kg but I would be spending a lot of time in it giving the early nights autumn brings. So far, I haven’t regretted my decision at all!

The setup is extremely easy and takes less than 5 minutes to do. Packing it is just as easy and it’s overall volume means it takes less space than my sleeping bag does.

The Sleeping Bag and Mat

For the sleeping system, I opted for a the RAB Ascent 500 down-filled sleeping bag. At a few grams above 1kg, it isn’t the lightest sleeping bag out there but close. It will also easily keep me warm down to freezing temperatures. It also has a glow in the dark zipper which has proven more useful than I originally thought!

The sleeping mat replacing my NeoAir® XLite™ is the Therm a Rest Prolite Plus. It is actually a woman’s sleeping pad but it was the lightest option I could get at very short notice that had the necessary R-value. Needless to say I would much rather have had my original pad which was more comfy.

My Cooking Setup

I am extremely happy with my cooking setup, to the point that I even sent back a few elements I discovered I didn’t need due to the system’s efficiency.

My GSI Pocket Rocket 2 stove and accompanying GSI outdoors pot have proven more than capable of dealing with preparing meals and boiling water at ridiculous speeds. I really don’t see why I’d need anything more.

This led me to sending back the collapseable plate, mug and coffee filter I had to save on weight.

So let this be my main tip to you: you really don’t need as much as you think you do. Cover the basics, and you’ll be fine.