It's time for me to put together a regular, permanent, day hiking pack. This will stop me from robbing/borrowing from other specif purpose packs when I get a chance to do a day hike.

I will use my small patrol pack with a built in camel back. At home, I EDC a Buck 110, Leatherman Wave, 2 paracord bracelets, a mini Bic, a photon light. A P-38, sunglasses, ink pen, a bandanna, wide brimmed hat, a cell phone, and a walking staff.

I'm thinking that I need to add a poncho, a mid hike snack, a small FAK, toilet paper, and bug spray (for Louisiana's state bird).

The day hikes are 10 miles or less, usually less. Is there something I'm missing here?

you might upgrade your day signaling capabilities with a signal mirror (mirrored lensatic compass for dual duty) and whistle, and lighting with a LED headlamp, chem light, and LED utility light

I would add some tinder to go along with the mini Bic. This can be nothing more than cotton dryer lint, mixed with Vaseline in a small zip loc bag. It will probably be sloppy wet when you really need a fire.

It's a good idea to have a map of the area.

I agree with including tender. I always grab a state/national park map wherever I go.

Yes, money maps are important

I've been known to add a mid-sized fixed blade to my pack. If things go pear-shaped having one might make it a lot easier to get a fire going or build a shelter.

If you own a PLB, I don't think it's overkill to bring it even for 10-mile day hikes.

Our helpful hints are bulking up your pack. To lighten the load, I suggest carrying the poncho only when rain is likely and substitute a large plastic bag, brightly colored if possible. Slits for the head and arms turn it into a workable poncho and it will have other applications as well - like signalling if a gaudy color....

Is this in addition to a PSK? If not, I would automatically include a comprehensive PSK. I always include a poncho or 2 in my day pack, for shelter, and something to boil water or cook in. It can be nice to stop and have coffee or tea (or hot chocolate for the kids).

In keeping with bulking up your "Day" pack, consider what happens when you really need it to be an overnight pack because things went south. Maybe it's not so bad that you need to activate your PLB, but something in addition to your mid-hike snack may be in order. A small Ti (Snow Peak 700) or stainless pot that can boil water, soup...whatever may be a good addition -- instant soup (chicken noodle?) & tea come to mind. Other than an overnight, standard EDC items should be more than adequate.

(I prefer nalgene or other polycarb bottles to bladders for carrying water. Just a preference.)

[repeating and adding on to other's suggestions]

Map & Compass
Ritter PSK, or at least whistle, signal mirror, tinder, lighter, etc.
AMK "Ultralight .5/.7/.9" or similar FAK, add ACE wrap or coach's tape
Two HeetSheets or poncho
Something to keep you dry in rain and warm in cold, to match the climate/season
Spare dry socks
Something to eat like power bars or other energy snacks, and maybe some tea and/or energy drink mix
Small cookpot or metal cup, and perhaps something like a little alcohol burner.
Something else to carry water in, or at least patches for water bladder [been there, done that]
Water treatment/filtration
Everything in ziplocks to keep things dry.
You have your choice of blades, cordage, etc., in your EDC.

Many, if not most, SAR missions began with a short excursion in a familiar area, where someone got too injured to make it even a short, known distance back out. So, even on easy, quick day hikes, it's well worth letting someone trustworthy know where you're going and when your due back.

For spontaneous or short day hikes, I have a Condor H2O pouch and shoulder strap, with a Nalgene bottle and a metal cup with folded tinfoil lid inside; with a combined mini-FAK and PSK, HeetSheet, iodine tabs and a power bar in the outer pocket.

You any good with a harmonica? Might be worth learning and bringing along.

I've been playing with a feadore but it will be a long time till I'm practiced enough to take it along.

Me, I'd carry sunscreen, put the entire contents in a plastic bag for waterproofed ness, spare glasses, have a bright/ reflective jacket/ pack, FAK, and a bigger light

tro

I forgot to mention, I EDC a button compass and a whistle. There's also a NukAlert on the same pocket chain.

About a fixed blade knife, I think I'll include a K98 Mauser Bayonet. It's heavy and is useful for many applications.

Wow, that is a big chunk of steel to carry around.

Years back my gear philosophy started leaning toward that of Peter Kummerfeldt (in addition to ETS). He leans toward packing pretty light, carrying a large bright trash bag (I like 2 of them - one over you and one under you), and making sure your gear will allow you to survive (stay alive) through a couple of nights. It doesn't need to gear you up to homestead. Of course time of year and impending local weather requires you to adjust the gear.

That said, I'd plan for the day pack to get you through a few nights too.

Good suggestions above - tinder (I like cotton & Vaseline), headlamp (as much for night signaling as anything else), signal mirror, good map and real compass with adjustable declination (not just one that points north) and knowledge to use them, ...

I'm a GPS guy. Lots of stories of survival start with getting turned around and lost. I like one that will point to my car and tell me how far away it is. Even the smallest simplest Garmin will do that. I pre-load useful waypoints.

I'm also a big fan of the PLB. Other survival stories start with an injury and the struggle to find help.

To lighten the load a bit - consider ditching the bug spray in favor of a good bug net. It works great with wide brimmed hat, weights nothing. I'm wearing mine in a ring around the hat's crown. The net in folded bandanna is wrapped around 2 coils of steel wire, which is fixed to my head size by 2 pieces of duct tape. Tight paracord wrap around the entire thing makes it about a pinky finger thick soft to touch ring. 3 safety pins holds it in place when the ring is not engaged in keeping the hat on the head in strong wind (I hate the underchin strap). Also, a thinner piece of sleeved steel wire is in my hat's brim. In addition to its utility value, it keeps the brim rigid and allows to transform the hat to many styles (i.e. cover the ears).

Surely that decision depends on your clothing. I'm always hiking in long pants and long sleeved shirt (nylon) - quite unusual for California, but extremely practical

In the camel back's compartment I'm also keeping the Sawyer water filter along with its collapsible bottle. It's small and lightweight.

Petzl e+Light (with the belt pouch, wide head band, and its tiny whistle clamp) is my choice of headlamp (ultra compact, long lasting, and promotes natural night vision). By the way, there is a hat clamp available for the Photon light.

For the cordage, I'm always carrying about 50' hank of 1/8" Amsteel Blue - ready to deploy in emergency (spliced with climbing carabiner attached). Planning to replace my leather belt with a paracord one.

A large fixed knife is always good to have in the wild. Kindling, shelter, digging... In my camelback pack I'm keeping the narrow model Cold Steel Bushman with a diamond sharpener and a firesteel rod in the handle - very reliable thing.

10 miles isn't that far. Do you have cell reception?

What I consider to be important items to add:
- Sport tape (To add support to your ankle if you twist it, so you can walk out)
- Bivy bag (AMK heatsheet one, in case I can't walk out)
- ORS
- Water and food

On any outdoor outing, I've been finding it helpful to start with the boy scout 10 essentials:

1) Knife
2) Flashlight
3) FAK
4) Extra clothing
5) rain gear
6) Sun protection
7) matches and firestarters
8) trail food
9) water
10) map and compass

Expanding on a few of these, for sun protection I include a wide brimmed hat, sunscreen, sunglasses, and SPF 15 lip balm. For matches and firestarter I include UCO stormproof matches (with stirker of course) and a bic lighter inside a waterproof case. I stuff any leftover space with tinder tabs and some cardboard. Because I am diabetic, my version of trail food becomes heavy snacks, usually a bag of beef jerky and several snack bars to supplement the glucose tablets I EDC. The rest of the list is, I think, pretty self explanatory.

I add to this with a PSK on my person and other gear to supplement the activity in question. In this case, for a day hike of about 10 miles, I'd consider including the following:

- Back pack stove with cooker and spork (gotta have my coffee, and could add a dehydrated meal or ramen to the food stuffs)
- hand sanitizer and/or wipes of some sort
- mini-tarp (when thinking about this and reading all the previous suggestions, I seem to recall there are ponchos that can also perform as a tarp and vice versa so I'm thinking of one piece of gear that could serve both functions although I don't have a specific suggestion)
- TP and shovel (you never know when nature is going to call and how urgent the call may be)
- cordage
- couple days worth of any critical meds
- PLB if you have one, or your cell phone if you're assured of reliable cell phone service

Note I said I'd CONSIDER adding lol. Speaking from experience, this makes for a fairly heavy pack, especially when you add about 1 and 1/2 liters worth of water weight (3 1/2 liter water bottles, i'd guess your built in camelback bladder has a similar capacity?). YMMV

Chapstick and a $20 bill.

If a good quality, inexpensive sharpened prybar is what you're looking for I'd recommend a Glock field knife instead. It's surprisingly light but pretty much indestructible and comes with an awesome lightweight sheath (much better than the heavy steel scabbard on the Mauser bayonet).

Or an AK-style bayonet. Cheap and very durable. I keep a Bulgarian AK-74 bayonet in my toolbox, it makes an awesome heavy duty tool but it was a pain to sharpen for the first time. Those things were never really intended to do much cutting but the blade is capable of taking a decent edge and the point can be used to pry or dig with little risk of damage. Also, the scabbard and bayonet can be used as a wire cutter - quite effective in that department.

I think I'll play with the K 98 for awhile...

I take the "sharpened pry bar" advice quite literally and often something like this accompanies me on field trips and excavations: http://www.stanleytools.com/en-US/produc...n-bar/stht55134

When grubbing around in the rocks and gravel, a gadget like this is a very useful tool indeed. Sharpening them helps...

Yup, agreed. I don't have much experience with that particular product but it's a lot like a couple of prybars that I've modified over the years to do pretty much the same thing. Not a tool I would carry regularly on field trips, though. A little heavy and bulky, plus not very effective at cutting.

That's why a sturdy knife might be a more practical option out in the field. I mentioned the Glock M78 because it's cheap and works really well for that purpose. I also like Wildman's suggestion. Granted, bayonets are not often thought of as practical outdoor tools but some types are acutally pretty good for that kind of rough work. Not so sure about the good old Mauser '98, those things are already pretty old and have considerable collector value. Also, the blade on some models tends to be soft and bends easily.

The ubiquitous AK bayonet is easily available on the surplus market, it's compact, lightweight and really well made for what it is. A semi-sharp, almost indestructible chunk of steel with a very strong point. The sawback isn't all that great but works reasonably well as a root saw. And the wire cutter can be useful at times. That's just one example, I could think of many more options that I know would perform OK in the field.

No bayonet that I know of can replace a good sheath knife as a cutting instrument but as a backup tool for rough work, well - I think the idea has some merit. Just make sure to avoid the models prone to breakage. Unfortunately, many modern bayonets fall into that category. The British issue SA80 comes to mind, the US M9 is not much better in that regard.