Expedition kit list: what to pack when there's no shop for two weeks

Written by James Frost, founder of Flaming Phoenix and the maker of Phoenix Bars. Updated November 2026.

Quick answer: An expedition kit list is a multi-day hiking list plus five extra layers: environment kit for cold, heat or altitude, communications that work beyond phone signal, a power plan, a repair kit and the paperwork, with a backup for anything critical. Food is the heaviest single category: at about 800g a day, two unsupported weeks means carrying over 11kg, so calorie density decides the plan.

Underneath it all sits the one principle that separates expedition packing from holiday packing: nothing can fail unfixably, because there is no shop, no swap and no quick way home.

A note on the word expedition: if you're packing for a DofE expedition, follow the award's official kit list and your leader's word, that's a different job to this page. This list is for the grown-up version: remote treks, unsupported crossings, charity challenges, polar training weekends, jungle and desert trips, fieldwork seasons, the fortnight-plus adventures where you carry your world. It draws on conversations with customers who have carried my high calorie bars to Everest, across the Marathon des Sables and to the South Pole, and what they told me about the kit that worked and the kit that didn't.

The expedition principle: tough beats light, and critical means redundant

On a weekend hike, a snapped pole or a dead lighter is a story. On day nine of nineteen, it's the trip. So expedition packing inverts one hiking instinct: where the multi-day kit list chases grams, expeditions chase failure tolerance, and the grams follow. In practice that means two rules. Critical systems travel with a backup: two ways to make fire, two ways to light the dark, two ways to purify water, two ways to navigate. And everything else must be fixable with what's in the repair pouch. Groups get to share the load, one stove per pair, one big first aid kit, one repair kit, which is the quiet logistical advantage of not going alone.

The core

The base of the pack is the standard multi-day setup and lives in full on the master kit list: pack (60 to 80 litres at expedition scale), shelter, sleep system rated honestly for the coldest night not the average one, layered clothing, cooking kit, water treatment, navigation and first aid. Everything below is what expeditions add.

Layer one: environment systems

This is where generic lists die, because a jungle list and a polar list share a spine but not a wardrobe. Cold expeditions add serious insulation (a proper down jacket sized over all your layers), insulated boots, liner and shell gloves plus spares, goggles, and a sleep system rated 10 degrees below the forecast. Hot ones add full sun coverage, a wide hat, UPF layers, gaiters against sand, and electrolyte planning. Altitude adds its own rules for pacing, appetite and kit, which we cover separately in our high altitude nutrition guide, since appetite failing at 4,000 metres is a kit problem you solve at the food bag. Whatever the environment, the test is the same: kit chosen for the worst plausible day, not the brochure day.

Layer two: communications and remote safety

Beyond phone signal, carry a satellite messenger or personal locator beacon, know how it works before you need it, and agree a check-in schedule with someone at home, including what they do if you miss two. The group first aid kit steps up to expedition grade, and your personal medical pouch carries your own prescriptions for the full duration plus margin, in original packaging where borders are involved. Write the emergency protocol down: evacuation points, insurer's emergency line, nearest real medical care. And on insurance: read the activity list and the altitude ceiling on the policy, because standard travel cover routinely excludes exactly the thing you're going to do, and discovering that mid-evacuation is the most expensive way to find out.

Layer three: power

Sum your daily draw (phone, GPS, headtorch, camera, sat device), multiply by days, add half again, and that's the battery budget. Two smaller power banks beat one big one, redundancy again, and past ten days a folding solar panel starts earning its weight in sunny climates. Cold murders batteries, so electronics sleep in the sleeping bag, and everything charges opportunistically, never from empty.

Layer four: the repair kit

A hundred grams that saves expeditions: proper fabric repair tape, a tent pole sleeve, sleeping mat patches, needle and heavy thread, spare buckle and shoelaces, cable ties, a small tube of glue, spare stove seals, and a real multitool. The doctrine is simple: everything structural you carry should have a known fix in that pouch.

Layer five: admin

Passport and visas, permits printed, insurance documents printed, cash in the right currency for places card machines haven't reached, and photographed copies of the lot stored where a lost bag can't take them.

How heavy is the food for an expedition?

Plan on 700 to 1,000 grams of food per person per day, so an unsupported fortnight is 10 to 14 kilograms before the spare day, usually the heaviest single category in the pack. Unlike your tent, it's a weight that grows with every day the route demands.

At an average of 4.5 calories per gram, 700g a day is about 3,150 calories and 1,000g about 4,500, so the right column is for long, cold or heavy-hauling days. Weights are approximate and exclude stove fuel and water.

Three doctrines manage it. First, density: every food choice is a calories-per-gram decision, and moving your ration from average density toward the top of the calorie-dense foods table can strip kilograms from the start weight without stripping a single calorie. Second, the day-bag system: ration each day into its own bag at home, breakfast, evening meal, and generous daytime fuel, so the maths is done once, in the kitchen, not nightly in a tent. Third, morale: expeditions run calorie deficits almost by definition, appetite gets strange when you're worked hard, and the ration that survives contact is the one you actually want to eat on day eleven, which is why every experienced ration plan protects a daily treat. I make Phoenix Bars, so weigh this accordingly: up to 557 calories in a compact, 120g bar, about 4.4 to 4.6 calories per gram, with no cooking and no washing up. They won't freeze or melt, you can eat them with gloves on or mix one with water for porridge, and customers have taken them to the South Pole and the big hills. My round-up of the best energy bars for expeditions ranks the alternatives by calories per gram and how they cope with cold. Add a sealed spare day of food per person as the non-negotiable reserve, the logic our emergency food guide runs on, and plan daytime eating deliberately with the snacks that survive a pack. The full eating strategy sits with our hiking nutrition guide, and for longer, harder trips the ultra-endurance and expedition nutrition guide.

The condensed expedition kit list

Core, per the master list: 60 to 80L pack and liner, shelter, sleep system rated below the worst night, layered clothing, stove and fuel budget, water treatment twice over, navigation twice over, first aid. Environment layer: the insulation, sun or altitude additions your trip demands. Comms: satellite messenger or PLB, check-in plan, written emergency protocol, insurance that actually covers the activity. Power: budgeted banks, solar past ten days, electronics kept warm. Repairs: tape, pole sleeve, mat patches, sewing kit, buckles, laces, cable ties, multitool. Admin: documents, permits, cash, copies. Food: day bags at 700 to 1,000g per day, density-led, morale protected, one sealed spare day each.

Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between an expedition kit list and a multi-day hiking list? The hiking core plus five layers: environment systems, satellite communications, a power strategy, repairs, and admin, all governed by redundancy for anything critical, because there's no resupply and no early exit.

How much food do you carry per day on expedition? 700 to 1,000 grams per day at good calorie density, bagged by day, with a sealed spare day in reserve. Over two weeks that makes food the heaviest single category in the pack, which is why density is the first decision, not the last.

Do I really need a satellite messenger? Beyond reliable phone signal, yes. It's the difference between an incident and an emergency, and modern units weigh around 100 grams.

Satellite messenger or personal locator beacon? A personal locator beacon (PLB) only sends an SOS, but it needs no subscription and is built for exactly that one job. A satellite messenger lets you send and receive messages and check-ins as well as an SOS, but needs a paid plan and its battery managed. On a long trip where people at home expect news, a messenger is usually the better fit, and a PLB is the simpler backup.

How much spare food should you carry on an expedition? At least one sealed spare day per person, kept separate and only opened when the plan breaks. On routes where weather can hold you in a tent for longer, such as polar or big-mountain trips, carry two or more.

How do I keep devices charged for weeks? Budget the draw, carry it in two banks rather than one, add solar past ten days, charge little and often, and keep everything warm at night.

What insurance do I need? A policy that names your activity and your maximum altitude and includes evacuation. Read the exclusions before you pay, not after.

Written by James Frost, founder of Flaming Phoenix and the maker of Phoenix Bars. Our bars have been carried on expeditions to Everest, the South Pole and the Sahara, and this list is borrowed from the people who carried them. Last updated November 2026.

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