Comments on: 4 Worst Things I’ve Ever Worn or Brought on a Trip

By: laura

laura — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 03:35:43 +0000

oy vey..I learned my lesson dragging around way more stuff than I needed in Turkey about 10 years ago, never again will I take more than 2 pair of shoes!! Keen sandals! best travel shoes EVER! mine have been all over Europe, all of Africa, Central America, South America, New Zealand, Australia, SEast Asia and the USA! and I wear them almost daily at home! I also have Keen hiking shoes (purchased last year for snowy weather). I literally have taken the same pair of Keen sandals on my trips for the last 5 yrs. Wear my Keens and have 1 pair of decent flats for every trip. Shoes are a serious “heavy” waste of space….on the other hand…duct tape: totally essential, it is amazing how often you will find uses for duct tape whether you are staying at a hostel or the Ritz, duct tape always comes in handy, and you can wrap it around many of the other “essential” things that you drag along with you!!!

By: Kibeth Nehema

Kibeth Nehema — Thu, 07 May 2009 17:42:45 +0000

I like to wear ballet flats when hiking… I need to feel whats under my feet… I also always bring this little army knife (probably like every one else) because its so usefull in the most unpredictable situation… and never forget dental floss… makes a good sturdy line that takes up minimal space with a slight minty flava!

By: richard

richard — Fri, 01 May 2009 15:57:47 +0000

I used to make my groups empty out their packs in front of me before a 5 day hike. Items removed: hair straightener, hair dryer and toilet seat. I am not even sure where he got the last item from!

By: Eva

Eva — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:36:02 +0000

Love this. I don’t know if I can put my finger on particular stupid things I’ve brought along — for me, the problem is always that I bring sensible-ish things, in absurd quantities. I always want to cover my bases in terms of weather-appropriate clothing… and it spirals downhill from there.

Oh, and I brought my rollerblades with me from Canada to Australia. That was straight-up silly, I guess. Although I did get good use out of them. I rollerbladed all over Brisbane and Canberra. Must’ve added ten pounds to my pack though!

By: Caitlin

Caitlin — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 21:39:13 +0000

Ha ha ha … I love the saw-vivor. I’ve brought some pretty dumb stuff on trips before… such as a life-preserver. Too up half my suitcase, and I only wore it once. Oh, the silly things I do to keep my mother from worrying.

By: TimR

TimR — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:13:22 +0000

I always ended up resenting the extra camera gear I used to take backpacking (extra lenses, tripod). Now it’s a small DSLR with one lens on it, and I don’t curse the extra weight on those long uphill climbs.

The megamid it great, if a little difficult to keep dry when it rains (I haven’t tried the optional floor for it yet).

@joshywashington: I always just have some duct tape wrapped around my trekking pole. It does come in handy at times.

By: joshywashington

joshywashington — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:07:40 +0000

I always bring stupid shit like magnifying glasses and chess boards.

MVP for all backpacking trips; duct tape and hemp twine!

By: Tim Patterson

Tim Patterson — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:19:55 +0000

Ha, funny that your remember that blazer. For some reason I thought it would help me out on that guidebook assignment in Patagonia. Stupid. It was a pain in the ass to carry around. I also brought a fishing net on that trip and my friend stepped on my fishing pole the first week. Packing light is so damn key.