How to use
- Read each essential as a job, not as a brand. Navigation can be a paper map and a compass, or a GPS you can still use when the battery is low.
- Check the box when the group is packed. Leave it unchecked if you are still deciding.
- If you have a weight, type it in ounces on that row. Do not invent a weight to make the total look complete.
- Press Calculate. The count is checked rows over all rows. The essential warning counts only the ten groups. Reset clears every box and every weight.
How it's calculated
Missing essentials = essential rows that are off
Weight = sum of ounces on checked rows that have a number
The arithmetic is a count and a sum. It does not score the kit. A checked box with no ounces still counts as packed and adds nothing to the weight. An ounce entry on an unchecked row is ignored, so a shelf item does not pretend to be in the pack.
The Ten Essentials are a system from The Mountaineers’ mountaineering teaching, restated in their books and on their site, not a product list. Weighing the same items for a base-weight total is the backpack weight calculator, where you name every object. Water volume, before it becomes a weight, is the water planner.
Worked example
If you check navigation, light, sun protection, first aid, and extra water, and you type 3 oz, 4 oz, 2 oz, 8 oz, and 35 oz on those rows, the weight of checked items is 52 oz, or 3.25 lb. Five essential groups are still open, so the result says five essential groups are missing even though a weight exists. Checking the other five essentials without typing ounces raises the count and leaves the weight at 52 oz.
Assumptions and sources
The ten groups match the Ten Essentials as taught by The Mountaineers (navigation, headlamp, sun protection, first aid, knife or repair kit, fire, emergency shelter, extra food, extra water, extra clothes). The short wording on each row is a prompt, not a quote of their book and not a complete instruction. Rain shell and whistle are extra rows because they are often packed and are not, by themselves, the whole of “extra clothes” or “navigation.” No item weight is prefilled.
FAQ
Is this the official Ten Essentials text?
No. The groups follow that system. The sentences on the rows are packing prompts written for this page.
Why can I leave the ounces blank?
You may know an item is packed without having weighed it. A blank does not become a guessed weight.
Does checking every box mean the hike is safe?
No. Weather, route finding, skills, and daylight are not boxes. The list is a reminder of categories.
Where do I put the backpack itself?
This checklist does not have a pack row. Add the pack on the backpack weight calculator if you are totaling base weight.