The Ten Essentials are survival items that hiking and

Scouting Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...

organizations recommend for safe travel in the backcountry. The Ten Essentials first appeared in print in the third edition of '' Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills'' (January 1974). Many regional organizations and authors recommend that hikers, backpackers, and

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rigorously ensure they have the ten essentials with them. However, personal preferences and differences in conditions may dictate otherwise and with experience most adventurers add and subtract from the list depending on the situation. Some ultralight backpackers do not always carry all of the items and believe it is an acceptable risk they take in order to travel light and fast.

List

The ninth edition of ''Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills'', published in 2017, defines the Ten Essentials as: # Navigation: map, altimeter, compass, GPS device,

personal locator beacon An Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) is a type of emergency locator beacon for commercial and recreational boats, a portable, battery-powered radio transmitter used in emergencies to locate boaters in distress and in need of i ...

# Headlamp: with

LED bulb An LED lamp or LED light bulb is an electric light that produces light using light-emitting diodes (LEDs). LED lamps are significantly more energy-efficient than equivalent incandescent lamps and can be significantly more efficient than mos ...

and spare batteries # Sun protection:

sunglasses Sunglasses or sun glasses (informally called shades or sunnies; more names below) are a form of protective eyewear designed primarily to prevent bright sunlight and high-energy visible light from damaging or discomforting the eyes. They can s ...

, sun protective clothing,

sunscreen Sunscreen, also known as sunblock or sun cream, is a photoprotective topical product for the skin that mainly absorbs, or to a much lesser extent reflects, some of the sun's ultraviolet (UV) radiation and thus helps protect against sunburn and ...

# First aid: a first aid kit, wrapped in waterproof packaging # Knife: hikers on a short trip may also carry a multi-tool, strong adhesive tape and

cordage Cordage may refer to: * Rigging, cords and ropes attached to masts and sails on a ship or boat * Rope, yarns, plies or strands twisted or braided together into a larger form See also * String (disambiguation) * Cord (disambiguation) Cord or ...

; on a longer trip, further small tools may be useful # Fire: the means to both start and sustain a fire; either a butane lighter or

matches A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...

, or other fire making device. Firestarters for igniting even wet wood, and in areas where no firewood will be available, a stove is highly advisable. # Shelter: plastic tube

tent A tent () is a shelter consisting of sheets of fabric or other material draped over, attached to a frame of poles or a supporting rope. While smaller tents may be free-standing or attached to the ground, large tents are usually anchored using gu ...

, jumbo plastic trash bag or

bivy sack A bivouac shelter is any of a variety of improvised camp site, or shelter that is usually of a temporary nature, used especially by soldiers, or people engaged in backpacking, bikepacking, scouting, or mountain climbing. It may often refer t ...

# Extra food: at least one day's food for a short hike, that should require no cooking. # Extra water: drinking water and the skills and tools to purify water # Extra clothes: additional items may be needed if spending the night in the emergency shelter The first five items are intended to prevent and respond to emergencies, the second five to safely spend one or more nights outdoors.

Other lists

Other outdoor organizations have variations of the ''Ten Essentials'' pertinent to local conditions. Boy Scouts of America's "Scout Basic Essentials" are quite similar (Map and Compass, Sun Protection, Extra Clothing,

Flashlight A flashlight ( US, Canada) or torch ( UK, Australia) is a portable hand-held electric lamp. Formerly, the light source typically was a miniature incandescent light bulb, but these have been displaced by light-emitting diodes (LEDs) since the ...

, First-Aid Kit, Matches and Fire-starters, Pocketknife, Trail Food, Water Bottle, and Rain Gear.) Utah's

Wasatch Mountain Club The Wasatch Mountain Club is a recreational outdoor club for adults based in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is a non-profit organization and has no restrictions on who may join. Some of its missions are: * To promote the physical and spiritual well being ...

lists extra water in place of food, as Utah is mostly desert terrain, and water is more difficult to find. The Spokane Mountaineers list "thirteen essentials", which supplement the list with emergency shelter such as a

space blanket A space blanket (also known as a Mylar blanket, emergency blanket, first aid blanket, safety blanket, thermal blanket, weather blanket, heat sheet, foil blanket, or shock blanket) is an especially low-weight, low-bulk blanket made of heat-refle ...

, signaling device, and toilet paper and trowel (for sanitary disposal of

human waste Human waste (or human excreta) refers to the waste products of the human digestive system, menses, and human metabolism including urine and faeces. As part of a sanitation system that is in place, human waste is collected, transported, treated a ...

; the toilet paper also doubles as tinder for starting a fire). The "Ten Essential Groups" is an alternative approach to essential gear selection. Items from each group should be chosen depending on the season, geographic location, and trip duration. In 2011, Columbia Sportswear adopted the "Ten Essential Groups" concept for their iOS app "Take Ten to the Greater Outdoors". Central Arizona Mountain Rescue Association promotes the 12 Essentials, which includes Signaling Devices and Personal Items.

References

External links

* * {{cite web , url=http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/ten-essentials.html , title=The Ten Essentials , last=Wood , first=T.D. , date=2014-02-18 , publisher=

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Hiking equipment