Well of course man has long ago abandoned his leathery footwear in exchange with good looking ones and he has also long forgotten that he has instincts which he could use in the wilderness. Now that there is still continuous quests to attempt and conquer the wilderness, he returns with more sophisticated equipment that helps him better with mobilization, tracking and of course hiking.
Now that you are planning to conquer the mountains yourself, you might be thinking that you could do as our forefathers have done. You could attempt but there’s no guarantee of success. The skills man has long ago are quite forgotten now. The good thing though is that these are being complemented with his inventions to equal, or even surpass the skills versus gadgets.
So the top 5 in your list of essential equipment for hiking are as follows:
Hiking boots- You can go barefooted if you want but of course that would mean prior preparation to condition your feet and perhaps lesser work. Top these with the lack of comfort for those who are not used to it.
So when choosing hiking boots you must decide on how you would put them in to use. Choose hiking boots in relation to the type of hiking you would be doing. There are various types that could cater even your specific needs.
Mostly for beginning hikers, the choice of hiking boots are trekking boots. These are designed specially for moderate off trail and are likely to be lightweight since manufacturers know that this type would be used for several terrains on short distances.
Long distance hiking boots however are normally used by expert hikers. Other hiking boots are engineered depending on the loads of your backpack or the terrain that the hiking boots will suffer.
Backpacks- What good would it be to travel without a backpack, well thats practically unimaginable. The main thing with backpacks is that they must support the weight you intend to carry behind you while giving you additional comforts. But backpacks go beyond to helping push you on steep trails.
Hiking accessories- Hiking gears vary anywhere from cooking utensils to more sophisticated devices such as night vision. Be sure to bring only those that you need most while providing you multiple purposes. Heavy accessories with too little uses should be put out of your list.
Hiking map- Unless you want to get lost, you should always be brining with you a hiking map to help you find the way in and out of the trail.
GPS for hiking- With modernity comes the ease of work. If you want to get better positioning and less hassle on finding trails then you must also bring with you a GPS device. However, for people who want to experience the real stuff of hiking and camping, it is recommendable that you leave this gear out of your list. Or, reserve it for more crucial conditions only. That is to say, you can bring it with you and never use it or bring it with you and rely on its benefits.
Remember though that all your choices of equipments used for hiking should increase your capacity, with more uses as compared with all others and should make you both enjoy your hiking experiences while gaining some to improve your skills. There are other things that you should consider bringing and the above five examples are just some of the most crucial things you can never leave out.