The Unsung Hero Of Backpacking Gear

What essential items do you keep in your Ditty Bag? What's something you won't hit the trail without??? 👇Let Us Know Down Below!👇

MD, neurologist and mountaineer here, one thing, that bugs me about people taking acetazolamide with them on trips, is that 99% of people don't understand how it works and how it's supposed to be taken. For treating AMS (acute mountain sickness) it's really the wrong tool for the job. If you have a trip coming up, you can start taking it 5-7 days prior PROPHYLACTICLY and prevent AMS. If you find yourself or others suffering AMS, you need something to remedy AMS and its two major complications, being HACE (high altitude cerebral edema, i.e. when people get bad headaches, get nauseaus, photo- & phonophobia, start acting weird, speaking nonesense, etc.) and HAPE (high altitude pulmonary edema, i.e. a dry high elevation cough & dyspnea, not to be confused with the dry cough you get in elevation due to cold dry air, kinda hard to tell apart in the field though); that's when you want dexamethason (NOT prednisolon, as it can't cross the blood brain barrier). Now after having taken dexamethason, you can, according to expert-opinion (not much evidence that exists for this yet), start taking acetazolamide, in order to help acclimate and reduce your need to take more dexamethasone. But if you already have AMS and HACE or HAPE, just taking acetazolamide will do exactly nothing for you. TLDR: 1. if you already have AMS take Dexamethason, not acetazolamide 2. you can take acetazolamide, starting PRIOR to your trip, to prevent developing AMS 3. if you have AMS and have taken Dexamethasone already and feel better, expert opinion (not much evidence) suggests, you can start taking acetazolamide, to help prevent further AMS bouts

I put a Queen-size Tempur-Pedic mattress in my Ditty bag, but that's just a personal decision.

Ive a tiny sewing kit inside a used Vic's inhaler (do you get them US?). Cut out the little tube thingy inside. stuff a little piece of ear plug foam into the base for needles and a thin bit of card wrapped in thread. Wrap luko or duck or finger tape on outside cap..

Black binder clips, the ones with "butterfly" handles. I've lost light gear I draped on a branch to dry. Also good to dry your socks on the outside of your pack as you hike without fear of losing them. Cheap as chips, as the brits say.

Pretty similar. My headlamp doesn’t go in my ditty bag, I have a pocket on the top of my pack where it lives. I have Trail Toes ointment in there, been carrying liquid bandage(my finger/thumbs always crack and it’s way better than a band aid) a bandana or lite load towel for drying after cleanup/brushing teeth. Sometimes my spoon is in there for when I’m gonna eat something soaked for lunch, but don’t want to pull out my food bag. Extra snacks/electrolytes in there too. My food bag tends to get buried under clothing layers, ditty bag, etc so I don’t like to have to yard sale to pull it out😅

Spare O ring for Sawyer Squeeze, and an extra cap for a Smartwater bottle.

I always have one Immodium and one Benadryl tucked away somewhere, plus a random plastic grocery bag for unexpected trash or wet clothes.

Interesting ! The very one thing I do differently is I keep my 1st aid kit separated in a red bag (guess red is the international color ?) so it's easily spotted by someone else in my group in case I need something and I can't reach it

Learned about leukotape from you yrs ago Darwin & it's been wonderful for me for a non=backpacking purpose: protecting my heals & tendons when wearing pumps, high heels, etc. So ... thank ya 😊

I did my first solo backpack overnight last weekend in Ohio. Archers Fork in Wayne National Forest. I had way too Many things in my diddy bag. Thanks for the motivation and great ideas.

Lots of good suggestions… one I haven’t heard is a tube of Aquaphor. Great for dry feet, to prevent blisters, for sun/wind burnt lips, for dry cracked cuticles, for rub rashes, etc. Never leave home without it!

Great look into what you usually take--domestic and international. I also take extra boot laces, much more Leukotape than you had (ha ha), a fairly emptied out but larger first aid kit, a mini multi tool, dental floss, a small amount of duct tape, and mini hand sanitizer.

Snake bandage - I’m in Australia. Thankfully haven’t had to use it.

Good to see you back. I started watching you when I first found out what YouTube was and have been surprised by some of the current innovations. I have been a backpacker for over 50 years and have even taught some courses and believe me things have changed drastically. Example a 10 pound canvas shelter half to 18-20+ DCF. Look forward to more of your sage advice in the future.

Similar to your spare BRS O-ring, I carry an extra sports cap for my BeFree filter, because I always seem to break the top off at some point, and it's no good without one (if you want to carry it with water in it). But my ditty bags (yes, plural) are kind of a mess, so this winter I will work on getting it all into one bag, and all organized!

That bag would be useful for traveling anywhere. Love that pouch/bag. One thing I bring with in a repair kit are a couple of safety pins. And for pain I use curamin which is a great curcumin pain reliever. For tummy issues I carry activated charcoal capsules and a product called cell food. It’s saved my bacon so many times. Never leave home without it.

That little packable purse thing is awesome I think I need one of those!

I love it! This is my favorite piece of equipment of my pack actually. It's fun going through it with a fine tooth comb and updating/swapping out things as you go from one adventure to the next (backpacking, rock climbing, ice climbing, back country skiing) mine always seems to be changing. Also the old plastic zip loc bags are great! I still have a large gallon ziplock from my PCT thru hike. It's like a trophy Cheers

Don't leave home without TUMS! Seems like getting dehydrated backpacking and eating not so great backpacking meals gives me heart burn from time to time.