What should I carry in a day walking rucksack?

A day walking pack is not about comfort so much as about the four things that go wrong: it gets colder, it gets wet, it takes longer than planned, and someone gets hurt or tired.

Safety

What you'll need

• A 20 to 30 litre rucksack with a hip belt
• Waterproof jacket and trousers
• A dry bag or bin liner to line the pack

Step by step

1. Carry full waterproofs.Jacket and trousers, every time, whatever the forecast. Wind resistance alone makes them worth carrying, and British weather does not require much notice to change.
2. Carry an extra warm layer.One more than you expect to wear. Stopping for lunch, waiting for someone or an unexpected delay all mean sitting still in the wind, which is when people get cold.
3. Take more food than the walk needs.Lunch plus emergency food that stays in the bag — flapjack, chocolate, nuts. Being cold and hungry is what turns tiredness into poor decisions.
4. Carry at least a litre of water.More in hot weather or on a long day. Dehydration causes headaches and fatigue that feel like general unfitness.
5. Always carry a head torch.With working batteries. It is small and light and it is the item most often absent from the packs of people who need rescuing.
6. Carry a paper map and compass.In a waterproof case. Digital mapping on the phone as well, but not instead.
7. Take a small first aid kit.Plasters, blister dressings, tape, painkillers, a triangular bandage and any personal medication. Blister dressings are what actually get used.
8. Carry a foil blanket or bothy bag.Tiny, cheap, and the difference between a wait for help being uncomfortable and being dangerous. A group shelter is better still for two or more people.
9. Line the pack with a bin liner.Rucksacks are not waterproof, and rain covers do not deal with water running down your back. A liner or dry bags keep the spare layers actually dry.
10. Put the heavy things in the middle, against your back.Water, food and anything dense. Close to the spine and roughly between the shoulder blades and the hips, so the weight sits over your hips rather than pulling you backwards.
11. Keep what you need quickly at the top.Waterproofs, hat, gloves, snacks and map in the lid or the top of the pack. Anything that requires unpacking gets left in the bag when it is raining.
12. Fit the pack properly.Hip belt on the top of the hip bones and tightened first, then shoulder straps, then the load lifters. The hips should carry most of the weight, not the shoulders.

Tips

• Line the pack with a bin liner. Rucksacks and rain covers both leak.
• Heavy items in the middle, against your back. It changes how a load feels completely.
• Hip belt first, then shoulders. Most people wear the belt too low and carry everything on their shoulders.

Common mistakes

• Leaving the head torch behind on a morning walk — Walks overrun for perfectly ordinary reasons and British afternoons get dark quickly for much of the year. Almost nobody who ends up walking out in the dark planned to.
• Packing heavy items at the bottom — It pulls the pack away from your back and levers you backwards, which is tiring and unstable on rough ground. Dense items belong in the middle, close to the spine.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask