No matter the length of trip, I am always planning diligently for my outdoor adventures. This may stem from a place of stress, as my pre-trip planning always involves unpacking and repacking my bag a few times, but I love the peace of mind it brings me. The past few years, I have been making spreadsheets for my trips, each time filling out the things that I thought I would need, and as I packed them, I would check off boxes to make double sure that nothing was left behind. There is no worse feeling than showing up to camp and realizing something like your stove is hundreds of miles away, or something even as simple as your lighter was left in your car. I can say with certainty this has reduced my forgetfulness to a great degree.

Over time, I have been refining my packing process, and I now rely on a set of master gear lists that I use to start my packing. Instead of going through for each individual trip and making a spreadsheet, this method allows me to have most everything in one place, and mark things as either “packed” or “not bringing” instead of “packed” and “not packed.” This method of planning is also especially helpful, as you can save what you packed as a new sheet, allowing for future reference when a similar trip with similar weather comes along and you’re beginning the planning process.

When on a group trip, I try to figure out my things in advance, so I can coordinate with friends to allow them to see what I am bringing, what can be used as a group, and what they must bring individually. This allows for much smoother planning, and helps dissolve the idea of reliance, where someone expects an item to be at camp, and it may or may not be there. I tend to do this via shared iPhone notes, and recently, new updates have been made where it can show who checked what, to allow for even more clarity throughout the planning process. While this may sound a bit ridiculous and over the top, I encourage you to try this, as it could help when preparing for your next trip.

Below I have my Backpacking Master Gear List attached for reference.