Multi-day hike checklist
Longer than a day walk changes the maths on almost everything: water gets filtered rather than carried whole, and the plan you leave with someone matters more.
22 items
Makes your own editable copy. No account needed.
The items
- Route planned day by day, with a copy left with someone at home
- Refuges or campsites booked ahead, where the route relies on them
- Backpack sized for the trip, fitted properlyA poorly fitted pack ruins a multi-day trip faster than any single item on this list.
- Boots worn in well before day one
- Tent, if not relying entirely on refuges
- Sleeping bag rated for the coldest night expected
- Sleeping mat
- Stove and fuel
- Food for every day, plus one spare day's worth
- Water filter or purification tabletsCarrying water for several days is too heavy — plan to refill and treat it instead.
- Map and compass, plus a route loaded offline
- Waterproof jacket and trousers
- Warm layers for campColder once you stop moving and the sun's down than at any point on the trail.
- Spare socks×3Wet feet for several days in a row is how blisters turn into something worse.
- Blister kit
- Headlamp and spare batteries
- Power bank or a solar charger
- First aid kit
- Trekking polesSave the knees on descent more than people expect until they try a trip without them.
- Repair kit — tape, cord and a needle and thread
- Cash for refuges that don't take cards
- Rubbish bagEverything carried in comes back out, food scraps included.
Makes your own editable copy. No account needed.
Questions people ask
- How is this different from a single day hike?
- Weight and water. Carrying several days of food and a shelter means a bigger pack and a filter instead of just bottled water — the day-hike list assumes you're back by dark.
- Should I always carry a tent, or can I rely on refuges?
- Depends on the route — book refuges ahead where they exist, but carry a lightweight shelter as backup unless you've confirmed every night's bed in advance.
- What's the most common reason multi-day hikes go wrong?
- Boots that weren't worn in and nobody knowing the route. Both are free to fix before you leave and expensive to fix on day two.