quentinc wrote:The Sierra Club and its ten essentials always amuses me. Below is the Angeles' chapter's list (which one is theoretically required to comply with even to go on their day hikes). Of the ten, I have never once carried a compass and never regretted it. I no longer carry a knife (I used to for cutting moleskin, but now know that duct tape is much better. Also, if my arm got trapped under a boulder I would just chew it off like a coyote
). I no longer cook, so I don't bring a "fire starter" or matches (why do those count as two separate essentials?). I've also lost/broke sunglasses on many a trip, and while I would have liked to have had them, did just fine without. So I find 40% of the list completely inessential, and another 5% optional.
All well and good, it's your prerogative to bring what you need... but some food for thought.
Having had cataract surgery in my early 30s, I absolutely find sunglasses an essential. Sun exposure was the only cause the docs could come up with... previously I had the same attitude, that I didn't need to wear them. I have a different attitude now. Huge medical bills or sunglasses. Loss of eyesight or sunglasses. Hm. Easy choice.
Duct tape slides off my feet and so I use athletic or leukotape instead - in fact leukotape has replaced my duct tape. I like that I can tape up once and hike for four days without needing to re-tape my foot. Duct tape doesn't stick to hydration bladders but leukotape will. Fixed a pinhole leak in a bladder so well with leukotape that it didn't leak for the duration of the pack trip, even when under pressure of the rest of the gear in the pack.
I always carry a knife and firestarter, always carry a compass, but since I know exactly why I would need them and how to use them if I had to - that makes sense. Just because I haven't used something doesn't mean I don't carry it. I know that if I do need it, I will be sorry to have left it at home - this is why it's an essential. First aid kits and that extra pair of socks also fall into this category.... It's been a rare occasion that the first aid kit comes into play but when it does, everyone's glad I brought it.
Some people I've hiked with have carried a compass and had not a clue how to use it - they didn't even have a map. They may as well have not brought the thing. So yes, the 10 essentials aren't necessarily essential - if you don't know why you have them, they aren't going to be much use. The 11th essential is skill and knowledge - knowing why this should be in the pack, and how to use it. When your dayhikes are the length of most people's backpack trips, the essentials related to keeping you warm and hydrated are even more essential. The unplanned night out can happen to anyone, however.
Some people take the 10 essentials so seriously that they have a separate hip pack just to carry them in, so if they step away from the backpack, they have them. Having been on search and rescue missions for the car camper who wandered away from the campground and vanished, I'd say that's not such a bad idea. You just do not know when and where something may happen. It might not happen to anyone you know. It might not happen to you. But it does happen, which is why the 10 essentials are still called essentials.