- Should you bring deodorant backpacking?
No! (clatters)
Should you bring beer?
Maybe.
(bright music)
This is my show, gosh darn.
So there's lots of awesome content out there
about the 10 essentials and all the things
that you absolutely should have on your hike.
Just to run through them again, really quickly.
The 10 essentials are food, water, fire, fix-it,
first aid, insulation, illumination,
navigation, sun protection, and shelter.
Wow, these all smell a little bit bad.
Now, let's get into the 11th essential.
Those definitely not essential items
that people like to bring with them, myself included,
to have a little bit more of an interesting time.
That sounds creepy. (jazzy music)
(cork pops)
Over the years, I've whittled down my luxury items
and these are the things that have made the cut.
First off, we have my whittling knife.
So I bring a whittling knife with me,
as well as a spoon gouge and some pieces of sandpaper.
It's just fun to do and then sometimes,
I'll have a spoon at the end.
Sometimes, I'm working on it.
And then another one of my essentials
has been some sort of reading material.
Having an E reader so I can read a larger book
or heavier book on a long trip is really an awesome option.
Another thing that I don't consider
to be a luxury item, apparently it is,
is my bowl and my spork. (jingles)
I like to make my own food and I rehydrate it in this bowl.
So having a bowl and a spork for leftovers
or just to eat my meals is really nice.
I know this is a little bit of a cliche,
but it really is true that having a cold beer
on top of a mountain after you've hiked a long day
is just, mwah. (kisses)
So I'll carry a can of beer with me if I'm somewhere
where I'm not gonna be carrying around old stale beer cans,
it's like an overnight or two nights.
But if I'm not gonna bring beer with me,
I'll generally bring a flask.
If you're not a beer or an alcohol drinker,
you can always bring some sort of fizzy drink
or orange juice, or hot cocoa or whatever it is
that will maybe spice up your drink game,
so you're not just drinking instant coffee all the time.
So I love having this hat that I made.
This is sort of my cozy hat
that I will wear all the time, especially at night.
I also bring
a change of shoes. (jingling)
These are awesome to take your boots off
when you get to camp and just give your feet a rest.
For me, these also double as my water crossing shoes
so I don't have to get my boots soaked
if I have to cross water.
And then my favorite luxury item
for sleeping are my sleep socks.
I love having a pair of clean socks to change into
when I'm going to sleep, they're just super cozy
and it's my favorite part about climbing
into my sleeping bag at night.
(baas)
I also like to bring body powder with me.
So this is something that I think a lot
of backpackers bring.
It's just like the most refreshing feeling
to put on some body powder when you wake up in the morning,
especially if you're not changing clothes.
It makes me feel a little less filthy
than I am on like, day four of a hike.
You can also bring a lantern with you.
Lanterns provide very nice mood lighting.
So something like this is what I carry,
so I'm lightweight and I like to have this
for longer trips when I don't want
to always be using a headlamp and draining the battery.
But if I were to buy something again,
I'd probably choose something like this guy,
which is a solar rechargeable lantern.
♪ So moody, feeling good ♪ (sensual music)
(record scratches) (mumbling)
(beeps)
So these are some of my luxury items
that I'm currently still bringing.
That being said, there are some super weird things
that I have brought on past backpacking trips
that I probably wouldn't bring again.
For me, some of those bizarre things
include a bow and arrow, brought a frisbee by myself.
Oh, I brought a small carpet backpacking one time.
Box of wine, margarita mixer, a broom, a slack line,
wooden flute, kite, tweezers, cowboy hat.
- What? (laughing)
- Wallet and passport, when you're in the continental US.
Folbot kayak, that's pretty practical, Folbot kayak.
Yo-yo, aw yeah, yo-yo. (distant laughing and talking)
A thousand plastic meatballs,
fake mustache, fake glasses. (distant speaking)
Set of Instagram filters. (beeps)
So I polled some of my REI coworkers
to see what some of their favorite luxury items were,
or just unique things that they brought on their trips.
And then we had them write them down
and put 'em in this fishbowl.
(distant talking)
(chuckles) Did I just say fishbowl?
Wooden box. (beeps)
So let's check out what some
of the interesting backpacking luxury items are.
(rustling)
PBR, oh PBR, right, (chuckles) PBR.
Headphones, milk and cereal.
An eight pound wheel of cheese, Rainer?
Instant potatoes, inflatable pillow, chopsticks.
Ah yeah, first thing you learn to whittle.
A journal, having a journal is actually pretty smart.
I think I'm gonna start doing that,
'cause you can write down things
that you've seen on the trail.
(chuckling) Pool floaties for the river.
Oh look, I found my pool floaties.
We have Flexlite chair in here.
Flexlite chair!
If you do want to carry some kind of chair
with you, you obviously can.
You can also bring a sit pad like this one.
It's just to keep you off the ground, keep you dry.
Earplugs, no one likes a snoring tent mate.
A speaker, ooh, if you're gonna bring a speaker with you
on the trail, keep it low enough that you're the only person
that can hear it, especially if you're hiking
or if you're at a campground, (electronic dance music)
maybe don't leave it on if there are other people there.
It's just kind of a respect thing.
Not everyone likes the same music as you.
A banjo!
Bacon, bread and steak, that's so specific.
Swimsuit, that person should hang out
with the pool floaties person.
Chips, chips, says chips with a question mark
and an exclamation point.
Every pair of underwear I own.
Fish stuffed with potato chips.
Yeah, fish stuffed with potatoes chips. (chuckling)
REI camp bed 3.5.
Oh my gosh, if you don't know what the camp bed 3.5 is,
it's like a huge car camping sleeping pad,
but it's also really cozy.
So yeah, if you want to carry that backpacking,
by all means, do you.
"Anna Karenina."
What the heck! (laughing)
Where were you, why did you bring this?
Balloons!
- What? (laughing)
- It's the last one, balloons.
And that's it, sweet. (jingles)
So all you really need to bring backpacking
are the 10 essentials.
Anything else that you choose to bring
with you should just make the trip more fun
and more personal to you.
There's absolutely no shame in bringing
that extra pair of sleep socks or bringing that banjo
if that's what you decide to do.
Just don't bring so many items
that your pack is uncomfortably heavy.
If you have any fun or interesting things
that you've brought on your trips,
go ahead and write them in the comments below.
I would love to hear your stories.
And if you enjoyed this video,
please hit like and subscribe for more content.
That's it, and I'll see you guys outside.
(bright music)
I don't understand people who carry a flashlight
on a backpacking trip.
What if you're going to the bathroom
and you're carrying your poop kit in one hand
and a flashlight in the other hand?
What do you want this thing for?
What do you do with this?
Never bring a flashlight. (ominous music)
(chuckling)