What to take on a hike in Turkey? List of things

If you are going on a “warm” hike in Turkey (Lycian or Carian Trail) then you may be interested in looking at my list of equipment for such trips. I am a mountain guide and have been leading hikes in Turkey since 2010, which means I have some experience in this matter. However, I do not consider this set of equipment to be ideal and I do not consider it universal (it will not suit everyone).

Equipment list

This is not an advertisement and I do not receive any benefits for mentioning brands. All equipment was purchased with my money. Links to equipment stores and manufacturers' websites are provided purely for clarity and convenience of readers.

Main (big four) - 2630 g

Backpack KVN-trek 65 - 950 g
Tent 3F UL Gear Lanshan 1 Pro - 800 g
Down sleeping bag - quilt/poncho ROCK FRONT 200 Pro - 630 g
Inflatable mat Thermarest Uberlite - 250 g

Kitchen - 366 gr

Titanium mug Ti Artisan 600 ml with “kozy” and lid - 137 g
Titanium spoon - 19 g
Drinking system SOURCE WIDEPAC 3 - 125 g
Folding knife with scissors VICTORINOX 0.6223 CLASSIC-SD - 22 g
Water filter Katadyn BeFree 1 l - 63 g

Clothes (on me) - 1664 g

Trail Running Shoes Salomon Xa Kuban - 320 g
Hiking Shirt Columbia Silver Ridge - 250 g
Pants - shortsQuechua Trek 100 - 270 g
Elastic knee pads TARMAK Soft 100 - 100 g
Thermal shorts Neve Dyno - 73 g
Short socks, synthetic Quechua NH500 Low - 37 g
Trekking poles Black Diamond Trail Pro - 530 g
Sun hat - 84 g

Clothes (in a backpack) - 923 g

Insulated jacket Montane Prism Jacket - 440 g
Thin sports trousers - 167 g
Thin fleece hat - 46 g
Replaceable thermopants - 73 g
Replaceable socks - 37 g
Microfiber towel - 40 g
Light flip-flops - 120 g

Rain protection - 325 g

Short silicone poncho - 225 g
Waterproof silicone trousers - 100 g

Electronics - 2274 g

Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II camera in case - 423 g
Powerbank Xiaomi 20000 mAh - 350 g
DJI Mini 2 quadcopter + spare batteries - 1000 g
Smartphone - 190 g
Wireless headphones - 60 g
Nitecore NU25 flashlight - 28 g
Wire set - 30 g
Charger TOPK B354Q 30W 3xUSB - 60 g
Mini tripod and selfie stick - 133 g

Food - 6360 gr

Sublimates (21 packets) - 2000 gr
Isotonic (6 tablets) - 40 gr
Dried fruits (3 packets) - 300 gr
Water (in a hydrator) - 1000 g
Protein bars (6 pcs) - 350 g
Community products (cookies, bread, cheese) - 2000 g
Gas (450 ml) - 670 g

Hygiene - 330 gr

Toilet paper - 150 g
Short toothbrush - 15 g
Hotel soap - 15 g
Personal first aid kit - 150 g

Public equipment - 882 gr

Gas burner MSR Windburner - 252 g
Kettle MSR 4 l - 630 g

Total backpack weight

If you add it all up, it turns out that at the beginning of the hike the backpack will weigh about 14 kg, and another 1 kg will be on me in the form of clothes and shoes. In reality it always turns out worse than in theory, so you can immediately throw at least 300 grams on all sorts of nonsense (money, documents, keys) that will unnoticed get into your backpack during the packing process.

By the end of the hike, most of the food and fuel will be used up and the weight of the backpack will be reduced to 9-10 kg.

From previous experience, I know that even 14 kg is perceived by my body as a completely normal weight. Those. a subjective assessment would be “my backpack is more light than heavy.” And 10 kg will definitely be accepted as a “very light backpack”.

How to make a backpack even lighter

When assembling this kit, I did not strive for maximum lightness. The goal was a reasonable compromise between weight, comfort and creative plans (photo and video).

If the goal was to minimize weight, then I would NOT take a significant part of the electronics, a third of the clothes and half of the food on the hike. Here is a sample list of potentially “unnecessary” things:

Protein bars (6 pcs) - 350 g
Community products (cookies, bread, cheese) - 2000 g
DJI Mini 2 quadcopter + spare batteries - 1000 g
Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II camera in case - 423 g
Mini tripod and selfie stick - 133 g
Thin sports trousers - 167 g
Waterproof silicone trousers - 100 g
Microfiber towel - 40 g
Light flip-flops - 120 g

This would lighten the backpack by about 4 kg. Then the starting weight would be about 10 kg. This is wonderful, but in this case it is not necessary, because in my opinion the route is quite short and simple.

If I were not going with a group (let me remind you that I am a guide), but alone, then instead of a large burner with a 4-liter pot, I would take a compact SOTO Windmaster (70 g) and boil water directly in my mug.

Last year, at the end of the autumn trip to Turkey, I also took stock of my equipment. Then I did it in video format. So if you want to not only read, but also look at my equipment for the Lycian Trail - click here. True, my equipment set has changed slightly since then... Do I really have to record a new video?

Kirill Yasko, Kyiv. 08/20/2021