The ABCs of Packing Your Pack

Yesterday I had the luxury of getting a backpacking tutorial, from one of my friend’s sisters who went to school for adventure-based environmental education. She regularly leads expeditions and had lots of great tips for packing your pack.

Khalila explains that packing your pack is like brick laying. You want to utilize all of the available space. The items in stuff sacks are your bricks while clothes are the mortar. Line your pack with a 3mm trash compactor bag which will keep everything in your pack dry.

The ABCs of Packing Your Pack

Accessibility- Pack the things you need readily on top: snacks, hat, gloves, and rain shell. Your tent and sleeping bag should be placed at the bottom of your pack, since they required only at the end of the day.

Balance- The heaviest items should be packed in the middle of your pack opposite the middle of your back. This allows you to have a better center of gravity while with pack.

Compression- “I’m not into the bag-lady look,” says Khalila, referring to items clipped to the outside of a pack. Loosen all straps and pack your pack using all the space available, then compress your pack by tightening the straps.

“Make your backpack your home; get organized,” she says.

Bottom Layer- “Your sleeping bag is like your baby…do not let this baby get wet…ever!” Line the compression sack with a 3mm trash compactor bag.

Your sleeping bag is the first brick. It goes in a compression sack and is placed at the bottom of your pack. Your clothes act as the mortar and are used to fill the cracks.

Middle Layer- Your heaviest items should fall in the middle of your back. These items consist of your kitchen setup, food and tent. These items fit into stuff sacks are another two or three bricks.

Top Layer-

Stuff you will need to access easily, e.g. first aid, snacks, rain shell, hat and gloves should be placed at the top.

It is vital that you get enough Vitamin C on the trail. Khalila suggested the commercial product, Emergen-C, however, a good friend once told me that the Indians used to chew on the pine needles of white pine (which are rich in vitamin C) to fight scurvy’s (a vitamin C deficiency). I have tried the needles and I think they are comparable to the combination of a mild orange peel and a white grape which is not what you would expect, but it’s enjoyable. So go try it for yourself. White pine is everywhere; it’s needles are about 3” long and in groups of five.