This zone will almost always include your sleeping bag, as well as things like sleeping mats and spare clothes or towels. Some backpacks have a separate sleeping bag compartment. If you have an external frame backpack, lash your sleeping bag to the frame underneath the actual pack.
Items in this section include things like your tent body, cookware, a stove and fuel, bear cans, or food. If you’re hiking with bear cans, place them on top of your sleeping bag layer (horizontally if possible) and store food inside of them.
Items in this section might include a spare jacket or sweatshirt, a first aid kit, flashlights, and toiletries.
Put things like snacks, a compass, sunscreen, sunglasses, a rain jacket or poncho, an umbrella, or a water filter in this top portion.
Store water bottles in your side pockets and small things like lip balm, maps, more snacks (hiking takes energy!), a pocket knife, or your phone in your hip belt. Kangaroo pouches are great for organizing similar lightweight items together, like hand sanitizer and bathroom kits or light jackets, small blankets, and bandanas.
Lash on things like trekking poles, tent poles, climbing rope, an ice axe, or even a camping chair to the exterior of your pack. To save space, some hikers lash their sleeping bag outside their backpack too.
This method makes the most of the space in your backpack and also stabilizes the hard, heavy items so they don’t move around while you hike. Use stuff sacks (drawstring bags for camping and hiking) to keep like items together or to compress soft items like clothes and blankets.
A wet backpack is heavy, even if the contents inside are dry. Protect your clothing, electronics, and bedding by putting them in plastic bags inside your backpack (even if you have a rain cover). If you don’t have a cover, line the inside of your backpack with a trash compactor bag before you begin packing. They’re cheap, light, and good at keeping your belongings dry.
If your load is light compared to the volume of your pack, lay the pack on its back panel and evenly distribute your items before you tighten the compression straps. Keep the compression straps loose while you pack to make the best use of your space.
Most of the weight should rest on your hips. The shoulder straps are designed to keep the weight closer to your back, not to hold it up. [14] X Research source
You have to sit down to put it on. The top of the bag is above your head when fully loaded. You’re leaning too far forward while you hike. You have to rummage through your backpack to find things because you can’t remember where you put them. After your last trip, you realized you packed things that never ended up getting used (besides essentials like a first aid kit).
