The day pack

Always in it

• Fire, two ways, in a waterproof case
• A knife
• A headlamp with spare cells
• A litre of water and a way to make more
• Food you do not have to cook
• A spare base layer and a hat in a dry bag
• A rain shell
• A space blanket or a bivvy bag
• A whistle, a compass and a paper map
• A first aid kit with a tourniquet and real dressings
• Bug dope and sunscreen
• Twenty feet of cord
• A power bank

How

1. Pack it once and leave it packed. A bag rebuilt every trip is a bag with something missing.
2. Put fire, light and whistle where you can reach them without taking the pack off.
3. Check the batteries and swap the food out every couple of months.
4. Tell somebody your route and your time back.
5. Weigh it. A heavy bag gets left home, and a bag left home saves nobody.

Watch for

Notes

This is the bag for the day that goes wrong. That is the whole reason it exists.