Welcome to episode 176 of the first 40 miles.

If you're new to backpacking, or if you're hopelessly in love with someone who wants you to love backpacking,

then this podcast is for you. We'll talk about the

essentials, how to lighten your load, and how to make the most of your time on the

trail. I'm your host Heather Legler. And I'm Josh Legler. And this is the first 40 miles.

Today on the first 40 miles, if you're bringing something on a backpacking trip

just in case there's a good chance you might never use that item.

But how do you know which just in case items are actually important.

Then we'll review a classic backpacking gear standard

that's lightweight, cheap, and easy to use.

And we'll share a hack that will help you to slim down your trekking poles.

All this, and that's about it, today on the first 40 miles.

We've talked about how when you're 40 miles.

We've talked about how when you're deciding what to put in your pack, just in case is not a good enough reason to put something in your pack.

You can end up overloading your pack with a bunch of stuff that you're just bringing it just in case you might need it or even just might want it.

And you've got all this extra stuff you end up never using.

Through hikers, they dump all kinds of gear on their first week on the trail.

In fact, Southern California is probably a great place to pick up gear.

Perfect, yeah, you could probably find some nice gear that people don't actually need for backpacking.

But there's also an element of being prepared and there are some things that you bring just in case, because the just in case would be such an important situation that you'd need to have that gear, even though you might not always use it. But when it does need to be used, you've got to have it.

So here's the dilemma in backpacking though. At home we can have redundancy. We can have two cars. We can have extra sheets for our beds, extra towels.

If we don't get around to doing the laundry, that's okay we've got an extra.

...