Luggage For Trekking Nepal

For Trekking in Nepal, Your luggage should consist of three main pieces:

Main Luggage - The item of luggage used to carry all your belongings in the hold of the plane and for storage in Kathmandu.
Trek Kit Bag - Used whilst on trek for clothing and sleeping bag carried by porters.

Main Baggage:
You will arrive in Kathmandu with everything you need packed for the entire trip in a piece of luggage (normally a suitcase or rucksack). This main piece of baggage will become the receptacle for anything you will not need whilst on trek on the mountains and this is stored at the hotel in Kathmandu. Items you will need whilst on trek should be repacked into your trek kit back and your day sack/rucksack. Advice on how and what to pack for the trek will be given in Kathmandu but it may be useful to do a trail pack before you leave home. When doing your initial packing, please bear in mind the airline weight limit for luggage (normally 20kg).

Trek Kit Bag:
Before leaving Kathmandu there is time to re-sort luggage into what you need on trek and what can be left in Kathmandu. The porters or pack animals will carry your trek luggage including sleeping bag. The weight limit for this is 10kg but you will probably find that you will not need this much. The bag needs to be strong enough to cope with rough handling; we recommend ex-army kit bags, which can be obtained quite cheaply or a nylon or canvas bag with a zip along the top. Rucksacks are unsuitable. We advise that you line your kitbag with a large plastic bag (heavy duty bin liner) to keep the contents dry.

Rucksack/Daypack:
During the course of a trekking day, you do not have access to the luggage, which is being carried by the porters. In any mountain region the weather can change rapidly and you must be equipped for this eventually. Your daypack, which is carried by yourself, should therefore be large enough to carry the following: waterproofs, spare fleece/jumper, long trousers (if walking in shorts), warm hat and gloves, sun hat, sun cream, water bottle (minimum 1 litter). Most people normally find this adds up to 2 to 3 kg. Camera equipment can be heavy so think carefully when deciding what to take. Remember to carry spare film/s with you during the day. It is usually more comfortable to carry a larger pack than one which is overfull of with bits tied to the outside – aim for a 30-35 litre capacity pack. We advise you to line the sack with plastic bag to keep the contents dry. Other optional items in a daypack might be a diary or a book to read at lunchtime. On a few occasions it is also necessary to carry your own packed lunch. Your daypack could be used as hand luggage on the flight to Nepal bearing in mind that shoulder bags are not practical for the trek.