Aside from having fun, the goal of the backpacker on any trip should be focused on staying safe — that is staying dry, warm, avoiding injury, or becoming lost.
Keep in mind that I am presenting my opinions, have been backpacking for nearly 50 years, and almost always hike solo. Many risk avoidance backpackers will be critical of this small kit.
I see so many different kinds of hats on the trail, reminds me of the song Easter Bonnet. And with so many Yuppie brands and big bucks to be made, most outdoor gear fitters have an extensive inventory of models available. A hat can be critical for survival or comfort given a “Perfect Storm” of conditions to threaten the hiker’s well being in the wilderness. I almost always take a hat, but most of the time it is inside or strapped to the outside of my pack.
When I first started backpacking, eating was complicated. I didn’t have a backpacking stove (didn’t know that such a thing existed) and I cooked over a campfire. Simmering over a campfire wasn’t always easy, not to mention the difficulties when it was raining or windy. With a campfire or backpacking stove, food required preparation and oversight.
Until 2008 my method of preparing for backpacking trips was to assemble a checklist, place my gear, water, and fuel into the pack and weigh it. What it weighed, is what it weighed. There was nothing else to do because the gear was what I needed for the specific trip. After playing around with spreadsheets and base weights, I have come back full circle.
I am not a pencil user; my preference is a fountain pen. It has been decades since I regularly used a pencil. Even in math, chemistry, and physics classes taken in high school and college I used a fountain pen – probably because my teachers and professors didn’t like pens. But my dislike of the lowly pencil may have changed.