Ten Essentials

src: www.nps.gov

The Ten Essential is a climbing survival item and the Scout organization recommends for safe travel in the interior.

Ten Essentials first appeared in print in the third edition of Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills (January 1974). Many regional organizations and authors recommend that pedestrians, backpackers, and climbers strictly ensure they have ten important things with them. However, personal preferences and differences in conditions can determine otherwise and with experience most adventurers add and subtract from the list depending on the situation. Some lighter pedestrians do not always carry all the goods and believe it is an acceptable risk that they take to travel light and fast.

Video Ten Essentials

List

According to the eighth edition of the book Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills there are ten important things, now referred to as "classic" important things. Although still valid and widely used they do not reflect the modern outdoor sport and all the new gadgets that are now common.

Maps
Compass (optional with GPS receiver)
Glasses and sunscreen
Extra clothing
Headlamp (or flashlight)
Recipes, over-the-counter medicines like aspirin, and first aid kit
Firestarter
Matches
Knives
Extra food

In 2003, an important list was revised as part of the seventh edition of Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills to follow modern equipment. The current edition, 8th edition continues with a new important list with no major revisions. The new list uses a "system" or a functional approach.

Navigation . Topographic maps and various maps in waterproof containers plus magnetic compass, optional altimeter or GPS receiver.
Sun protection . Sunglasses, sunscreen for lips and skin, hats, clothes for sun protection.
Isolation . Hats, gloves, jackets, extra clothes for the coldest weather possible during the current season.
Illumination . Headlamp, flashlight, battery. LED bulb is preferred to extend battery life.
First aid supplies , plus mosquito repellent.
Fire . Butane is lighter, fits in a waterproof container.
Packages and repair tools . Knives, multi-tools, scissors, pliers, screwdrivers, shovels/shovels, masking tape, cable ties.
Nutrition . Add extra food for an additional day (for emergencies). Dry foods are preferred to save weight and usually require water.
Hydration . Add extra 2 liters of water for an extra day (for emergencies).
Emergency shelter . Tarpaulins, bivouac sacks, space blankets, plastic tube tents, jumbo jumbo bags, insulated sleeping mats.

The textbook recommends to complete ten important things with:

Water purification and portable water bottles
Ice ax for glacier or snow trip (if necessary)
Signal devices, such as whistles, cell phones, two-way radios, satellite telephones, unbreakable signal mirrors or beacons, laser pointers.

Some experts recommend duplicate Essentials in different sizes of kits: in pockets, on keychains, in kit pockets, belt pockets, belt packs, day packs, and backpacks.

Maps Ten Essentials

More list

Other outdoor organizations have variations of Ten Essentials related to local conditions.

Boy Scouts of America's "Scout Basic Essentials" is very similar (Map and Compass, Sun Protection, Extra Clothes, Flashlight, First Aid Kit, Game and Fire Beginner, Pocketknife, Food Trail, Water Bottle and Rain Equipment.)

Utah Wasatch Mountain Club lists additional water in exchange for food, because Utah is largely desert plain, and water is harder to find.

The Spokane Mountaineers list of "thirteen essentials", which complements the list with emergency shelters such as space blankets, signal devices, and toilet paper and shovels (for sanitary sewage disposal, toilet paper also serves as a regulator for lighting fires).

"Ten Important Groups" is an alternative approach to the selection of important gears. The items from each group should be chosen depending on the season, geographical location, and duration of the trip. In 2011, Columbia Sportswear adopted the concept of "Ten Essential Groups" for their iOS app "Take the Ten to the Great Out".

The Arizona Mountain Rescue Association promotes the 12 Essentials, which include Signal Devices and Personal Goods.