Thanks, there've been a lot of good responses. If I was on a day hike in the park closest to me I'd keep my gear pretty minimal as it would be difficult to get very lost there (small park). But if I was hunting or camping in wilder woods I'd definitely carry more. While the gear you'd want on you may vary from region to region some stuff is near universal- fire, water, shelter, etc.

I find a small lumbar pack to be comfortable to wear and unobtrusive. Right now I have a Jansport Coltrane and two Mountainsmith packs, a recylced-material Day and an older Tour. With the Strappettes the Day will carry a lot of gear comfortably, and even though my older Tour won't accept them it has a good suspension system. At the moment one of those bags generally contains my PSK & day hiking stuff. I recently ordered a True North Gear SERAC SAR but they goofed and sent me a Double Diamond. I'm RMA'ing it and hopefully will have the SAR soon.

I'm like a fish when it comes to water! Gotta have it on me all the time. It's not unusual for me to drink 3 liters a day at home! So I have a stainless steel 1 l bottle on me even for an hour hike. Obviously that's heavy but I'm willing to accept it to have water.

The most minimal kit I carry is my Maxpedition 11 x 5 bottle holder. In it I keep the water bottle, a cup, and a collapsible silicon funnel & filter. In the front pouch I keep a modded Ritter/AMK PSP, a disposable poncho, a space blanket, 10 Chlorine Dioxide water sterilizing tablets and 2 small fire steels and strikers. I also have a few different packages of vacuum sealed tinder (1 fatwood & Tinder Quik, 2 x PJ cotton balls and a square of tinfoil). On the side I have a Mora Triflex with the sheath stuck into the molle webbing. There's about 25' of paracord wrapped around the knife sheath, secured at the end by a 1.5" wide strip of bicyle inner tube. It keeps the cord on and is a good firestarter. I actually haven't weighed that pack yet, but with a padded nylon shoulder strap I swiped off my old laptop bag it carries very well. I consider this about the least gear I'd take with me if there was any chance at all that I'd have to face an unexpected couple nites out.