Wildland Fire pack contents
When you work on a wildland fire you wear a specialized backpack. It has pouches and pockets like regular backpacks but it also has compartment to hold a fire shelter which is PPE used as a last resort. The contents of your pack will evolve over time as you get a better sense of what you actually need or don't need and maybe make some changes as you get older and stick with it. Some of the items listed might be on my pack, not in it or maybe in pants/shirt pockets. The picture is my pack taken on the Crooks Fire in April 2022.

1. Drinking water
Staying properly hydrated is of course crucial. Most modern packs have a Camelback-like pocket for a bladder or you can put bottles in the side pockets.
2. Duct tape
solves a lot of problems
3. A multi-tool
These can be very handy.
4. Some sort of pocket knife
Also very handy
5. Some EMS supplies
I have a SAM splint, baby aspirin (in case someone has a heart attack), tourniquet, material to treat cuts including band aids, pulse oximeter. We have a BLS (stands for basic life support, EMT level care) bag with oxygen on each truck so this is just extra.
6. At least one bandana
They come in handy for a lot of things.
7. Spanner wrench
For when couplings or fittings are tighter than hand tight.
8. Paracord
Like others on this list, can come in handy.
9. Food
This is obviously important but there is a learning curve to figure out what you actually need when you're working that hard.
10. Incident Response Pocket Guide (IRPG) and something to write with.
A lot of crucial information in these.

11. Tubular webbing
Can be used as a rope for some functions, the can be fashioned into a harness to carry heavy things, very handy.
12. Extra socks
This is a nice to have, sometimes I do and sometimes I don't.
13. Carabiner and a clip or two that looks like a carabiner
A real carabiner can hold a tremendous amount of weight, you'll see the limit etched on there measured in KN which is kilonewtons. The clips that look like carabiners can't hold any meaningful weight but are handy for holding gloves and other similarly light items.
14. Thing to wipe my glasses
Occasionally you'll get some soot or ash into your face so cleaning off glasses becomes important.
15. Smart phone
Can get GPS, can look up information if we have signal and we might need to take pictures of things like potential points of origin or want to take pictures of what's going on. Also it's obviously a way to communicate if there is signal.
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