If you鈥檝e ever forgotten an important piece of gear on a hike, you probably remember when it hit you鈥攖he moment that you went from blithely rummaging in your pack, to seriously digging through it, to finally tearing it apart in search of your puffy, sleeping bag, or stove. Then, when the rest of your gear lay scattered over the ground, a moment of resignation, and a question: What now?
Forgetting a key piece of equipment can (and sometimes should) put an end to your hiking plans. But as with a lot of things in the backcountry, you can often substitute a little bit of know-how for gear, at least for a night or two. We polled the staff about their hard-won solutions for making do without tent poles, bags, hiking shoes, and more鈥攁nd for their advice about when it鈥檚 time to just call it.
Tent Poles
So you packed your tent poles separately from your body and fly, but forgot to add them to your pack? You鈥檙e not alone: Just ask Alisha McDarris, and a spare pole from a friend鈥檚 tent after she forgot hers on a trip to Big Bend National Park. As her story demonstrates, it鈥檚 possible to come up with a makeshift solution when you leave your shelter鈥檚 bones at home. What that is depends on where you are, and what you have on you.
The simplest plan B: Do without a tent. People have been cowboy camping since the dawn of the human species, and as long as the weather is calm, the bugs are marginal, and your sleeping bag is warm enough, it鈥檚 still a good solution. (Pro tip: If you鈥檙e camping on the snow or on wet ground, use your flattened tent鈥檚 body as a tarp to keep you from dampening your bag if you roll off your pad.)
If rain is a possibility or the mosquitoes are vicious, all鈥檚 not lost. Your best bet is to string up your tent with a bit of cordage (paracord is your best bet, but this trick is possible to pull off with your shelter鈥檚 unknotted guylines, or extra rope you didn鈥檛 use for your bear hang). The process is easiest with an A-frame tent: Stake out the corners, run a line directly over the top of the tent between two trees or other tie-out points, and attach it with the clips or the pole sleeve. Two lines arranged in an X-shape can help keep your dome tent aloft, though the pitch will be noticeably flappier.
Turn around if: you don鈥檛 have the supplies to string up your tent or the weather forecast is truly stormy.
Sleeping Bag
Like your tent poles, you likely won鈥檛 realize your sleeping bag is missing until you get to your intended campsite, leaving you with relatively few options to replace it. One easy one is to share with a friend: Unzip their bag and sleep together under it like a quilt. Because your body weight normally compresses the insulation beneath you in your bag, you won鈥檛 lose much heat by sleeping directly on top of your pad, though you鈥檒l have to get cozy and stay still to avoid drafts. (Wear a beanie or pull up your jacket鈥檚 hood to keep your head warm.)
Going solo? If you brought a , you can make that work in a pinch. Despite how thin they are, they will help keep you warm鈥揑鈥檝e slept through late-spring snowfall under one鈥揵ut they come with some big caveats. The biggest: They don鈥檛 breathe, at all, so be prepared to wake up damp.
Turn around if: you don鈥檛 have a partner or an emergency blanket, or the weather is cold enough to risk hypothermia.
Sleeping Pad
Your sleeping pad is a small piece of gear with a big role: That inch or two of foam and air doesn鈥檛 just keep you comfy, it helps keep you warm by insulating you from the ground, too. Unfortunately, while improvised solutions can help with the latter, they won鈥檛 help much with the former: Get ready for an uncomfortable night.
First of all, consider whether you can get by without a mat鈥攐n warm summer nights, it鈥檚 possible, though you鈥檒l want to take extra care to find a smooth campsite or else wake up with the indentation of every pebble underneath your tent floor pushed into your back. If temperatures are marginal, you can try emptying out your partner and your backpacks and using them as an improvised pad. (This trick works best with packs that have an internal framesheet; frameless packs won鈥檛 be much help.) Backpacking solo? Lay your own empty pack on the ground and practice sleeping sitting up.
Turn around if: there鈥檚 snow on the ground or the temperatures are .
Hiking Shoes
Unlike your tent or sleep system, you鈥檒l invariably realize you鈥檝e forgotten your hiking shoes or boots the moment you go to put them on at the trailhead. There鈥檚 no hack or trick to replace these: All that鈥檚 left is to decide whether the street shoes you鈥檙e already wearing can carry you through your planned hike.
First, look at the weather. Sneakers won鈥檛 cut it for a winter backpacking trip when there鈥檚 snow on the ground. Pay attention to the trail conditions as well: If you鈥檒l be tramping through puddles and getting wet, you鈥檒l need shoes that are either waterproof or dry quickly. Second, look at the terrain. On a packed, even trail, you might be able to get away with wearing your sneakers; if the path is loose, rough, slick, or travels above steep terrain where a fall would be dangerous, it might be unwise to attempt it without better tread. Finally, take a look at your shoes themselves. Are they sturdy enough to handle a day (or days) on the trail without falling apart, and do they have the support you need to tote your pack without twisting an ankle? Use caution with slip-on boots or hiking sandals. Flip-flops and anything else backless is a hard no.
Turn around if: your shoes would put you at risk of injury, frostbite, or unmanageable blisters.
Water Filter
If you left your filter or purifier at home, you still have a safe, old-school solution available to you: Boil your water. Simply add your dirty water to a pot (consider pre-filtering through a bandana or baselayer to get rid of floaters) and bring the water to a rolling boil for one minute, or three minutes at an elevation above 6,500 feet. Let it cool, and pour into your bottle or hydration reservoir. (Some strong-stomached folk may choose to just drink the water straight from the stream, but as some of our colleagues will attest, , you鈥檒l do almost anything to avoid getting it again.)
Turn around if: you don鈥檛 have a stove, enough fuel, or access to a water source that you trust enough to drink straight.
Stove
Forgot your stove at home? No you didn鈥檛. You just got a surprise promotion to the ranks of burner-ditching, weight-cutting, cold-soaking lightweight hikers.
Granted, you can鈥檛 cold-soak every meal. If you were planning on first-night hamburgers or a pancake breakfast, you鈥檙e out of luck. But given enough time, it鈥檚 possible to prepare basically any dehydrated backpacking meal without a stove. All you need is time鈥攁 lot of it. As Chris Meehan wrote in , most prepackaged backpacking meals take between 30 and 90 minutes to reconstitute, though some (think instant mashed potatoes) are ready much faster. Pour in your water, seal up your bag, and either leave it sitting somewhere stable or carefully tuck it into an exterior pocket of your backpack, and have a taste every 10 minutes or so until it鈥檚 softened but not squishy. Delicate taste buds? You may need to hold your nose: Not everything tastes good cold (mmm, room-temperature chili).
Turn around if: you didn鈥檛 pack dehydrated vittles.
Headlamp
Headlamps take up very little space and weigh almost nothing, so bringing one is an easy choice. On the other hand, that also makes them easy to accidentally leave behind. Your first thought is likely to use your phone as a flashlight, but we don鈥檛 recommend that. While it may be bright enough for close-up tasks, it won鈥檛 throw enough illumination to comfortably hike with, and it will drain your battery too. Instead, shift your schedule to take advantage of the ultimate camping lantern: the sun. By getting up and moving at daybreak and aiming to be done with dinner and on your way to bed by dusk, you鈥檒l see more and get better beauty sleep to boot.
Turn around if: you鈥檙e hiking during winter鈥檚 short days or will be camping or hiking near hazards like fast-flowing rivers or precipitous drops.