These are all good suggestions...I had to ask because I'm a big guy and I sweat if I think the word "warm". I know I'll need enough so my clothes don't walk on their own, but at the same time, my clothes take up a lot of room when packed. Lucky for me that I don't get cold easily, so I can hang in shorts comfortably longer than a lot of people. Maybe a pair of those new tac zip off pants I just saw an ad for...cover more bases with one garment...

And being in Iowa, I'll have to change contents slightly with the seasons. We can go weeks with the temp below zero and weeks with temps in the 90's and 100's with high humidity. There are places colder and hotter, but we have such a broad range...

Has anyone considered a packable jacket like the 5.11 kind? For me, that would be a three season deal...keep rain at bay, for a while at least, as well as wind... doesn't look like they take up much space and I think they are only $20 or so...

I think I'm going to be hijacking my own thread, but what do you do for water? Purification methods, or carry some and purify some? Since a drought is predicted this year...I'm thinking about for the whole family too...hard to convince young ones that they need to drink nasty looking water...even if it is purified as well as can be.