Hiking Essentials

The following post is sponsored by MindShift Gear.
As always, all opinions are my own. For more information see my disclosures here.

(First, thank you to Bryan for letting me feature you two days in a row this week!) Bryan and I love to go hiking. And by hiking, I mean taking walks at our favorite parks, not actual hiking up mountains or anything. Bryan would probably like to do that but I’m scared of heights. Anyway… when we go hiking, I like to be prepared for anything. If you saw my recent Purse Emergency Kit, you know what I mean. 

So what do we typically take with us? Let’s take a look. 

The most important item we bring is our backpack. We used to use my purse to hold all of our essentials, but carrying a heavy purse on my shoulder was no fun. Right now we absolutely love the MindShift rotation 180° Travel Away backpack. It has a bunch of pockets perfect for keeping our belongings organized, as well as a concealed belt pack for easy access to our smaller items. So when I tell Bryan I need my iPhone for the 234098th time, he doesn’t need to stop and take the entire backpack off. He just swivels around the belt pack.

Here are some of our hiking essentials:

1. Snacks: I like bringing something sweet, while Bryan loves anything salty. For this hiking trip we brought a Pure Protein bar and a bag of Panera kettle-cooked potato chips.

2. Spare Camera: I don’t always like carrying around the DSLR, especially if I’m hiking. I use my iPhone or my point and shoot digital camera instead.

3. Hot Hands: I mentioned in my Purse Emergency Kit post that I love keeping a few of these in my bag at all times and hiking is no exception. Since it’s getting pretty chilly here, I like throwing a pair of these into my gloves.

4. First Aid Kit: Probably the most practical item in our hiking bag. You never know when you’ll need a Band-Aid.

5. Gloves: Sometimes I wear gloves and sometimes I don’t. I like carrying a pair with us just in case I get cold. 

6. Water: Got to stay hydrated! 

I like to leave a little bit of room in our backpack in case Bryan or I want to take off our jackets and stow them away. (Also not pictured: my iPhone. I was using it to snap behind the scenes photos!)

We don’t carry tablets with us, but if you’re using this backpack for traveling it has dedicated pockets for a 15″ laptop and a 10″ tablet, while the belt pack can fit an 8″ tablet. 

This is a great gift for any active person on your wishlist. The bag is such high quality and I’m sure will last for years. If you’re interested in learning more and purchasing, please visit: http://bit.ly/1BJHbXl.  It retails for $199.99.

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