My Three Summer Backpacking Must Haves

I’ve only been backpacking since last year. BUT, I feel like after spending 21 days with my backpack, I have a little bit of trail cred… I definitely learned about things I don’t want to live without during the summer heat. Speaking of summer, we had quite a teaser of 90+ degree weather in June, and now, it feels like fall already! I’m feeling ripped off. I’ve had a few cooler weather trips, they definitely have different must haves. When I get more time out in cold weather, I’ll be sure to share those must haves too!

ps. I’m not getting paid to talk about any of these products, they’re just what I’ve used and really enjoy. I put links to each item in their title.

Mission Cooling Towel

While hiking miles and miles, in the hot sun, it was so nice to have something to help cool down. Just dipping my towel in a bit of water and snapping it to help it feel cool again was amazing. I also love that it looks like I’m wearing a fashionable scarf on the trail. Lol! They have some super cute designs now. One other bonus, sports bra straps and backpack shoulder straps aren’t so fun together. When you leave the towel untied, it covers the fact that you aren’t wearing a bra!

Simple Water Filter

So far, I’ve used two types of water filters—one was a hand pump and the other was a gravity fed filter. I’m ALL about the gravity fed filter. When you’re thirsty, or tired, pumping water is no bueno. The Platypus Gravity Works made it easy to grab water when getting to camp, and then let it filter while setting up. I’ll probably never use a pump filter again, unless my Platypus breaks. I am, however, on a mission to find a filtering water bottle that I love so that I can fill up at streams along the trail with minimal effort.

Justin’s UL Phone Pouch & Water Bottle Attachment

I love my backpack but the water bottle pockets aren’t super convenient. Also, the little belt pockets aren’t very big. I was super pleased to find Justin’s backpack attachments. It was super easy to get my phone in and out of the little snack/phone attachment. It was nice because I didn’t have to worry about it falling out on sketchy terrain either. I loved them so much that I bought one for each of my backpacks. I didn’t use the water bottle attachment on the JMT because I carried my camera with me, but it’s definitely been great for other hikes.

What are your must haves?

All three of my summertime “must haves” came from other people’s recommendations when I was just getting started. I’m all about learning from someone else’s experience and would love to hear your must haves! Make sure to leave a comment and subscribe so you don’t miss out on future posts.