Our Always Ready Hiking Pack – What’s In It?

When we first started out in RV life full time, I wanted to have a ready to go hiking pack we could grab and just add snacks. I’d seen way too many stories about unprepared hikers that didn’t plan to be out long, and, for one reason or another, were.

BJ disagreed. He’s the one good at navigation and could live with a pocket knife and poncho, if need be, courtesy of his upbringing and military training. He thought it wouldn’t be a good use of time or space in the camper, especially when he saw what I was packing in it, but went along with me. Over the years, we have used it dozens of times, and it has come in handy on several, and others, it was just a sweaty or rain-drenched mess.

I try to keep it simple, so we only need to add water and food, based on the trek that day. We may take a second bag if we need rain gear or layers for warmth, and we have a dog carrier back pack if Luna will be on trail with us, just in case it’s too long or the terrain is too much for her. We also have a cooler and a carry picnic blanket that may go with us, or stay at the truck, just depending. There are also some trails we take only a bottle of water and my inhaler, it really just depends on terrain, distance, and accessibility.

Here’s a breakdown of our gear. Yours may build out differently than ours, and that’s okay! If there’s something we don’t have that you’d suggest, let us know in comments or over social media!

THE BAGS

We started with a small day pack with lots of pockets for the bulk of the gear. We have two fanny packs, and one stows and can clip on. The purple pouch is a neoprene water bottle strap and also has a pocket on the front. The camelback will hold 32 ounces of water. The cooler usually stays in the truck, and we can carry the picnic blanket or stash in another bag, if needed.

SAFETY GEAR

We carry bear spray in most locations, especially out west, or if recommended by the posted signs. The Avon skin-so-soft bug spray and sunscreen has become a favorite item and we have one in the RV and in the pack. A palm flashlight, a whistle/compass/thermometer combo and orienteering compass help navigate, especially if it got dark on us, and a mosquito head net has come in handy on multiple occasions.

SURVIVAL GEAR

This is a random list, but it could be very useful in the right situation. We’ve got a couple of life straws, and yes we’ve used them just because! A cooling towel and 4 gators (one for the dog!) for sun and heat protection. A flint and steel rod, multitool and card multitool with saw. Two carabiners (a keychain style and climbing style) and some 550 cord. A she-pees kit (if you know, you know), and a bag with toilet paper and trash bags.

FIRST AID

This small first aid pack came as is from the store. It has blister bandages, adhesive bandages (or plasters for the Brits), ointment, bug sting treatment, antiseptic wipes and bug sting wipes. It all fits into that tiny pack. Not pictured are the inhaler and EpiPen always on us for my allergies and asthma.

PET GEAR

Luna loves hiking, so when she gets to go, we are ready! Since she is only 15 pounds, we will take her pack with us, or we will carry her out and let her hike back, it just depends on the trail. She also has a reflective cooling vest, hard-soled dog boots, a Dowg water bottle that is insulated and has a treat/kibble bowl on the bottom, and a reflective extended leash with poo bags clipped onto it. We can use one of our carabiners to clip it onto us if we need to be hands free for some reason.

OTHER Other items in the pack include extra trash bags for us or for cleaning up the trail, if we see a lot of trash, an extra roll of dog poo bags, a stash of contact cards for our social media, solar referrals and the SeRV community (we talk to a lot of people on trail, and we all exchange info when we can.) We also will carry our frog togs rain gear, if the weather may be bad, and these are great when it’s cool and damp, too. At least one of us always has a pocket knife on us, and at a minimum, we will wear a ball cap, if not a large-brimmed sun hat.

WATER AND SNACKS We have 2 32 ounce hydro flasks that fit in the pack, a neoprene sling for a 3rd one, and an insulated water bottle and food holder for Luna, when she hikes with us. We also have a 32 ounce Camelback. Luther and I also have fanny packs for emergency snacks (BJ draws the line at wearing a fanny pack), and it is where I keep my inhaler and EpiPen, so they are always on me. As for snacks, we like to make our own trail mix, dried fruit, nuts, granola bars, sandwiches, chips–it depends on our plans for the day. We usually pack the cooler in the truck as well, if we plan to do multiple hikes or several stops.

KEEP IN MIND Every hike will be different, especially if you travel often, and even if you have hiked that trail before. Every one of our hikes look different. Sometimes, we’ve carried that gear and not needed a thing, and other times we’ve been able to help a fellow hiker that was unprepared.

We got most things from Wal-mart in the camping/outdoors section, including the camelback. Our fanny packs came from REI, the neoprene water sling, frog togs, dog cooling vest, and dog back pack from Amazon, and the dog boots came from a pet store in Texas when she walked through her last pair from Amazon. The bear spray and long dog leash came from Bass Pro Shop. The sunscreen bug spray is from Avon, which we just find at a local flea market. Just hit us up if you want a link to anything and we can send it out. Pet water bottle was bought locally but they are at dowgpet.com. We don’t have an affiliate store to share out.

As for maps, we will download offline maps before we leave, or take a photo of the trail map on site, just depending.

So, what do you take on a hike? Do you keep an always ready to go pack, or do you prep as you go?

**Update 7/7/25** After may trips with the green Walmart bag, we are looking at another backpack. We are proud to be partnering with Viking Bags, and will be trying one of their backpacks! https://www.vikingbags.com/collections/motorcycle-backpacks