Packing List

Here are the things that I had with me with some explanatory notes.

SHELTER:

1 x 1 man tent 

1 x 10 foot by 15 foot light duty tarp* 

4 x 1.5 foot bungee cords 

2 x 100m Parachute cord 

The tent should be a no-brainer but what was really crucial was having the tarp.  It was light, folded down pretty well and, above all, could be pulled out easily and strung up to trees or whatever using the bungee chords in a matter of minutes.  Assume at all times that it’s about to rain.  The tarp system gave me a good, dry-isa workspace for me to open my bag, get the tent out and generally set the camp up.  You can then take it down or just leave it up once the tent is up.  In a bind you can use your parachute cord/550 cord, but only use one of the rolls - save the second one in case you need to build a raft for the river. 

Running low on water, I also used the tarp as a rain catch to plus up on H2O.  It’ll certainly rain on you overnight, don’t waste that clear, clean, beautiful water. 

CLOTHING:

3 x pair soccer socks

3 x pair ankle socks

1 hiking shoes 

3 x pairs dry wick shorts

3 x dry wick t-shirts

1 x bandana 

1 x sweatshirt/long sleeve shirt

1 x loose fitting cotton pants 

1 x sandals 

1 x poncho 

Re: The socks, shorts and shirts…honestly, you could probably do this with one of each.  I would river or rain wash my clothes when I could and leave them to dry overnight.  Which sort of happened at higher altitudes.  I barely touched my third shirt/sock/short and only used the ankle socks once for the proper mountain ascent when I knew there’d be few leeches to combat. 

RE: the hiking shoes, the locals all wear “Adidas Kampung”, which are these cleated rubber shoes.  They’re great for the mud and if you poke holes in the sides they’ll drain the water well, but they’re shit on slippery rocks.  I couldn’t road test these myself as they don’t make them above a European 43 (at least not that I could find anywhere in KL) so I went with a pair of Merrell’s that had a proper hiking sole but that were low cut and had mesh siding.  I would recommend a mesh side or at least something that didn’t retain water because you’re going to want to do your river crossings IN YOUR BOOTS.  You’ll want no only the grip but the toe protection and the assuredness of being able to lace that thing tightly to your foot.  You can try in sandals but my recommendation is to just accept wet boots.  You’ll be soaked everywhere from sweat anyway.  Regarding low vs high cut boots, I typically don’t strain at the ankle until my pack is about 60 or 65 pounds, so these worked for me.  

RE: The sweatshirt and loose fitting pants.  It was nice to have dry comfy clothes at the end of the day and to sleep in at higher altitudes but make sure they’re light and don’t take up much space.  

RE: Sandals.  Pop these on at the end of the day after camp is made so you’ll have a way to let your feet dry out.  Flip flops will do.  I had a cheap pair of Teva knock-offs that did the trick just fine.

SURVIVAL and MISC GEAR: 

1 x magnesium bar w/flint 

1 x lighter

1 x multitool / utility knife

1 x ten inch full tang blade  

1 x summer sleeping bag

1 x headlamp (w/1 x set of replacement batteries)

1 x small LED flashlight 

3 x Wet weather bags (one for your clothes, one for your food and one for tent/sleeping bag. You can roll the dice and try to use trashbags for this but if you do I’d recommend double bagging them and ensuring that the bags themselves are quality/leak proof)

2 x large trash bags (one for dirty clothes, one for food and misc trash)

10 x 1 gallon ziplock bags (for maps, electronics, medical supplies and small groups of gear)

1 x lensatic or navigational compass 

1 x 50m roll duct tape (just buy duct tape and rewrap a length of it around a small stick or something)

NAVIGATION:

1 x Garmin Handheld Trex Unit (with preloaded route)

1 x iPhone 6

1 x Rayovac usb recharging unit

12 x AA batteries (for the Rayovac/iphone)

2 x copies of all paper maps

HEALTH and MEDICAL:

loperamide/anti diarrheal (10 capsules) 

ciprofloxacin (anti bacterial) (14 ish capsules)

azythromycin  (anti bacterial) (one Zpack)

ibuprofen/paracetamol (pain relief) (15-20 pills)

Claratin or any antihistamine (allergic dermatitis, allergies) (7 x daily amount)

epi-pen (I didn’t have one but you might need one)

Prednisolone (I use steroids to curb nerve inflammation from a chronic condition) 

4-5 x 2x2 inch badges 

10-20 x alcohol swabs 

10 x regular band aids 

1 x 1 m ace wrap 

1 x toothbrush, paste

1 x small bar of soap (never used)

FOOD:

2 kg quick oats

16 snickers bars

14 servings jerky 

2 x jars peanut butter

1 x large container raisins 

2 x 1.5 liter bottles for water

1 x vial chlorine (water treatment)  

1 x small bowl, plastic 

1 x spoon, metal

RE: Food.  I’m not picky, I just aimed for something close to 2000 calories per day.  Since I was alone, I opted not to bring anything like a stove.  I suppose I could have brought a JetBoil, but again, I don’t care and didn’t want the weight.  I had a snickers, a spoonful of peanut butter, a piece of jerky and raisins three times per day with oatmeal and breakfast and dinner, when I’d simply pour cold water over quickoats in my bowl and consume.  I can assure you by the end of this trip I never wanted to see a snickers bar again in my life/was about to murder someone for a salad..but never the less, I needed foods that were very calorie dense that wouldn’t totally destroy my stomach and that’s what I came up with.  

RE: Water chlorination.  There are lots of ways to skin this cat.  Some people prefer Iodine tablets, some use Steri-pens.  For my money, 8 drops of chlorine per gallon (16 drops if the water is very dirty or questionable) works just fine and bleach is cheap to buy (I got mine at the supermarket).  You’ll have trouble using a steripen in some of the water points because the water is just too muddy for the light to effectively shine through and kill any organisms.  I recommend chemical cleaning.