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Everest Base Camp Trek Packing List
- Mar 15, 2023
- 5 min read
Updated: Jan 28
This blog provides information on what to pack for the Everest Base Camp trek and details of travel insurance companies for high altitude treks.
Click here to read my other blogs about the Everest Base Camp and Everest 3 Passes treks.
Contents
1. Introduction
I am not a light packer and use a porter or porter/guide to carry my pack. However, this ultra light packing list is by someone who did the Everest Base Camp 3 passes trek in November and everything weighed 4.26 kilos including the pack! I usually have more than that in my day pack!
What I pack depends on the time of the year. I have only trekked in the Everest region in May when it is warmer and easier to wash clothes. See my blog My Daily Reports on the Everest 3 Passes Trek. However, I have trekked several times in other areas of Nepal in October, November and December.
I have done the Everest Base Camp trek twice. The first time I was too hot in my Rab Ascent 900 sleeping bag so I bought a Rab Ascent 700 for my second EBC trek. It was perfect for the May temperatures, but in the winter months I would take a warmer sleeping bag.
If you do forget to bring something for the Everest Base Camp trek you can very likely buy it in Kathmandu, Lukla or Namche Bazaar. I wouldn't recommend buying boots or hiking shoes in Nepal, nor cheap sun glasses as one's eyes are so precious. In 2022 I met a trekker in Gokyo who had to abort his Everest 3 passes trek as the boots he had bought in Kathmandu were falling apart.
2. Clothes in my Main Pack & to Wear
2 light pairs of long trekking pants (they can convert to shorts)
2 trekking T shirts (one synthetic and the other heavier merino wool)
1 light long sleeve synthetic trekking top
1 warm merino long sleeve trekking shirt
1 Rab trekking sweater
3 merino hiking socks
3 liner socks
4 underpants
Boots. Some trekkers get buy in hiking shoes but when conditions are bad, like they were in late 2025, boots are better. I used to wear heavy leather boots but now use lighter fabric and suede boots. It is said that every kilo on the foot is equivalent to carrying 5 kilos on the back.
Hiking shoes (not essential, but more comfortable in the tea houses, and a back up in case my boots break).
Long johns for trekking when it is cold and in the evenings
Primaloft pants for cold evenings. In 2022 I bought some for NPR 3,500 at Sonam's in Kathmandu.
3. Miscellaneous Items to Pack
Factor 50 sunblock
Trekking Map
Two pin double USB plug
Reading spectacles
Spare boot laces
4 Spare Energizer lithium AA batteries (for the Steripen)
Petzl rechargeable headlight
String (approx 6 metres for drying clothes in the bedroom)
12 Clothes pegs
Ear plugs (I don't like using them)
Kobo or Kindle
Photocopies of relevant pages from guide books
Water purification tablets (in case my Steripen breaks)
Cellphone charger
Earphones for listening to music at night
Dried apricots to keep me regular!
Spare sunglasses as I tend to lose them and they are so important when there is snow.
4. Medications
Paracetamol (I get more headaches at altitude)
Azithromycin for bad stomach issues (don't use Ciprofloxacin due to serious side effects risks)
Rennies tablets for heartburn
Strepsils for coughs (can be bought at some lodges)
Plasters (I take lots)
Micropore tape
Thermometer
Diamox (I bring it in case I get altitude sickness but have never needed it)
5. Toiletries etc
Shaver
Toothpaste
Toothbrush
Small soap
Trekking towel
Flip flops for showering
Very small bottle of shampoo
Small mirror
Nail scissors
Hand cream as my hands get dry and cracked in the cold weather
Small bottles of hand sanitizer as hygiene is so important
Comb
6. Sleeping
Sleeping bag. I use more expensive down sleeping bags as they are lighter.
Light silk liner bag. At warmer lower altitudes I use it with the lodges blankets and duvets. When used in a sleeping bag it adds a bit of extra warmth. Many trekkers use it to keep their sleeping bags clean. I don't as I find it gets tangled up in the sleeping bag.
Pillow case (to go over the tea houses' dirty pillows)
7. Day Pack
I have mainly used an Osprey 33 litre day pack and found it to have sufficient space when trekking with a porter or porter/guide. In May 2022 when I carried all my gear from Dzongla to Namche, over the Cho La and Renjo La, I had a 45 litre Lowe Alpine day pack and could just about get everything in.
I think that a 25 litre day pack would be sufficient if you have a porter but some hikers seem to want more space. A 45 litre day pack is the very most that should be required.
The contents of my day pack depend on the weather and temperature:
Lightweight waterproof jacket
Lightweight waterproof trousers (also used for warmth at times)
2 Trekking poles. I usually use one pole but on descents 2 poles are very useful.
Rab down jacket. The porter would carry this at lower altitudes. I mainly use it at the tea houses.
Liner gloves. Useful when not too cold and can be worn under mittens when very cold.
Warm mittens ( mittens are warmer for fingers than gloves)
Buff
Wool hat or beanie
Microspikes for the Everest 3 passes trek (the porter carries them in good conditions)
Two 1 litre Nalgene water bottles (avoid buying the fake ones in Nepal made of poorer plastic)
Tilley hat and baseball hat
Sunglasses (photochromic category 2 - 4). Don't risk buying cheap sunglasses in Nepal. Category 2 is the minimum required and category 3 is much safer if doing the 3 Passes trek.
Steripen for purifying water
Plasters and micropore tape
Blister kit (never used it)
Toilet paper
Lip ice (factor 30) and sun block if I haven't put it on beforehand
Cellphone
Money and passport
Garmin Inreach Mini
Cover for the day pack
8. Travel Insurance for the Everest Base Camp trek
Travel insurance for trekking in Nepal is expensive because of all the scams perpetuated by guides and trekkers themselves.
Do ensure that you obtain an insurance policy that will cover you up to 5,500 metres if you are trekking to Everest Base Camp.
Jamie McGuinness has climbed Everest 6 times and runs a trekking company called Project Himalaya. He has written a very good blog on travel insurance for Nepal and Ladakh. This blog provides details of companies providing the appropriate travel insurance in the UK, North America and Worldwide.
Great and to the point without excessive "tech" - Do you mind sharing what gloves exactly you used for higher elevations? Mainly for the Cho La Pass (EBC - Gokyo)
You provide quite a sufficient information of packing list for everest base camp trek.