Light up the sky...

...or at east the path in front of you.
How much light is too much light?
Depending who you ask the answer will be that there is not too much light.

I have a couple of pictures from lights I use when I go hiking.

This are some of the lights I take with me.
People tend to take no flashlight with them when the hike is only for an hour or two, but you never know what happens, so I always have the head lamp, the LED one and the flash light with me.
Maye you planned for a short hike but you get injured and need to stay over night, or you help someone that got injured and it will take longer to get home.
No matter what the reason is, it's better to have one with you and never need it then to have none with you but need one. And a cell phone isn't a great flash light.

The strobe is something that can become useful when hiking in the mountains or in the back country and you get lost. As you told someone where you are going and when you will be back, the search teams should know the general idea you will be in, so just use it to let them know how to find you.

If you ahve questions just ask and I will be happy to tell you more about these items.

Hiking basics water

One of the main things you should have with you on a hike no matter if it's short or long is water.
I hiked with many people and I saw that Germans in the USA like to buy water bottles, something that isn't very cost effective or environmentally friendly, and they are such environmental friendly people in Germany.

Personally I have a Camelpak, actually I have a couple of them for different hikes from  60 oz to a 100 oz bladder, and for the longer ones in hot areas even two that gives me 200 oz of water.

I don't have anything in it, just pure water, so in case you need to use it for something else, like washing out a wound, you can do so without a problem.
Or give some to a fellow hiker that didn't bring as much as you did.


 This is my mule and it's is the 2009 model, so you won't find it anymore on the market.

I have some bigger ones but this one comes with a 60 oz or 2 liter bladder and with the space for the essentials for a half day of hiking.

 Yes I have an LED light on it at all times that has four colors and several modes. I used it a couple of times while night hiking in Arches NP so I could scout out the trail and my group could follow me.

This is my main pack for local hikes and in the next posting I will show you a couple of things that go with me on every hike.