Everest Base Camp Trek Packing List

Updated September 2026 · Vacation Checklists

An Everest base camp trek packing list is decided by three hard limits, not by what you want to bring: the Lukla flight weight cap, the weight your porter is allowed to carry, and the fact that you carry your own day pack for six hours a day at altitude. Pack a four-layer clothing system, a sleeping bag rated well below freezing, sturdy broken-in boots, and a water treatment method. Everything else is negotiable.

Start your base list with our free packing list generator, then use the sections below for the Himalaya-specific gear a generic hiking list will not cover.

Updated September 2026. Permit requirements, domestic flight baggage limits and porter weight rules in Nepal are set by Nepali authorities, airlines and individual operators, and they change. Confirm the current numbers with your trekking operator and airline before you finalize your gear.

The Three Limits That Decide Your List

Read this before you buy anything, because it is why the standard advice to "pack light" is more literal here than on most treks.

Limit one: the flight to Lukla. The small aircraft that fly into the Khumbu region carry a strict baggage allowance, commonly published around 15 kg (about 33 pounds) total per passenger, typically split into checked and hand allowances. Excess is charged by weight and is sometimes simply refused when the aircraft is full. During peak season many flights depart from Ramechhap rather than Kathmandu, which adds a pre-dawn road transfer with its own luggage handling.

Limit two: the porter duffel. If you trek with a porter, your gear goes into a duffel with a published weight cap set by your operator, commonly in the 10 to 15 kg range per trekker. Porters often carry two trekkers' duffels at once. Nepali porter welfare organizations campaign hard on load limits, so treat the cap as a real ceiling rather than a suggestion. Anything above it stays in your Kathmandu hotel storage.

Limit three: your own day pack. You carry water, layers, snacks, camera, documents and medication yourself, every day, at altitude. A day pack that feels fine in your living room feels different at 15,000 feet on the climb to Dingboche. Target a loaded day pack of 12 to 18 pounds.

Confirm all three numbers with your own operator and airline. They vary, and they are the most common source of a stressful morning at the airport.

The Everest Base Camp Trek Packing List, System by System

Teahouse trekking means you do not carry a tent, stove or cooking kit. You sleep in lodges and eat in their dining rooms, which removes most of the weight that makes backpacking heavy. Our overnight backpacking checklist explains that base weight math if you want the contrast.

Layer 1: base layers

• [ ] Two long-sleeve merino or synthetic base layer tops
• [ ] Two pairs of base layer bottoms
• [ ] Sports bras or underwear, four to five pairs, synthetic or merino
• [ ] One dedicated sleeping base layer set, kept dry and never worn hiking

Layer 2: mid layers

• [ ] Fleece or grid fleece jacket
• [ ] Light insulated jacket, synthetic or down, for the middle of the trek
• [ ] Trekking pants, two pairs, quick-dry
• [ ] One pair of soft pants for the lodge in the evening

Layer 3: insulation

• [ ] Down jacket rated for real cold, typically 650 fill power or higher, with a hood
• [ ] Down or insulated pants, optional, but welcome above Dingboche in winter months

Layer 4: shell

• [ ] Waterproof and windproof hardshell jacket with a hood
• [ ] Waterproof shell pants, side zips are a bonus

Head, hands and feet

• [ ] Warm hat that covers your ears
• [ ] Sun hat or cap with a brim
• [ ] Buff or neck gaiter, two, since one is always damp
• [ ] Liner gloves plus insulated waterproof gloves or mittens
• [ ] Sunglasses with high UV protection and side coverage, glacier style
• [ ] Trekking boots, broken in, waterproof, with ankle support
• [ ] Camp shoes or lightweight sandals for the lodge
• [ ] Trekking socks, four to five pairs, wool or synthetic
• [ ] Liner socks, if you are blister prone
• [ ] Gaiters, optional, useful in snow

Sleep

• [ ] Sleeping bag rated to roughly -10°C to -15°C comfort, which is about 14°F to 5°F
• [ ] Sleeping bag liner, adds warmth and keeps the bag clean
• [ ] Inflatable pillow or a stuff sack you fill with clothes
• [ ] Earplugs and an eye mask, because lodge walls are thin

Packs

• [ ] Duffel, 70 to 90 liters, for the porter, with a lockable zipper
• [ ] Day pack, 25 to 35 liters, with a rain cover
• [ ] Dry bags or heavy-duty liners for both

Water and food

• [ ] Two water bottles, one liter each, wide mouth so they do not freeze shut
• [ ] Water treatment: purification tablets, a UV pen, or a filter rated for the cold
• [ ] Insulated bottle sleeve or a thermos for higher camps
• [ ] Electrolyte tablets
• [ ] Snacks from home, since selection thins and prices rise as you go higher

Health and hygiene

• [ ] Personal first aid kit, expanded for altitude and blisters
• [ ] Prescription medication, plus copies of prescriptions
• [ ] Sunscreen, SPF 50, and SPF lip balm
• [ ] Hand sanitizer and biodegradable wet wipes
• [ ] Quick-dry towel
• [ ] Toilet paper, which lodges charge for
• [ ] Blister kit, moleskin or hydrocolloid dressings

Electronics and documents

• [ ] Power bank, 20,000 mAh or two smaller ones
• [ ] Headlamp with spare batteries
• [ ] Charging cables, plus a Nepali plug adapter
• [ ] Passport, permits, insurance documents, passport photos
• [ ] Cash in Nepali rupees, since ATMs stop above Namche

Why the Sleeping Bag Rating Matters More Than Anything Else

Teahouse bedrooms above Namche Bazaar are unheated. The dining room has a stove, the bedrooms do not. At Gorak Shep, the last stop before base camp at about 5,164 meters (16,942 feet), overnight temperatures inside your room can sit well below freezing. For how comfort and limit ratings translate to a night like that, see our cold weather sleeping bag guide.

A bag rated to -10°C to -15°C comfort is the standard recommendation. Two things people get wrong:

Comfort rating versus limit rating. Manufacturers publish a comfort rating and a lower limit rating. The lower limit is roughly the point at which a sleeper survives the night curled up, not the point at which they sleep. Buy on the comfort rating.

Bags run colder in the field. Damp, altitude, low food intake and days of accumulated fatigue all reduce how warm your bag feels. A liner adds a useful margin for very little weight, and lodges usually offer extra blankets.

You do not have to buy one. Sleeping bags, down jackets, and trekking poles are all widely rented in Kathmandu's Thamel district and are also available through many operators. That is often the smarter choice for a once-in-a-lifetime trip.

Buy your boots at least two months before departure and put at least 30 to 50 miles on them. Every blister story from this trek starts with a boot that was fine on a weekend hike and wrong on day six. Our hiking packing list covers the fit and blister prevention detail.

Altitude: What You Pack For and What You Cannot Pack For

Everest base camp sits at roughly 5,364 meters (17,598 feet). Kala Patthar, the viewpoint most trekkers add, is higher still. The route from Lukla at about 2,860 meters climbs steadily over roughly eight days up.

Altitude sickness is the single biggest reason people turn back, and gear does not prevent it. What prevents it is the itinerary.

The acclimatization pattern that works:

1. Fly to Lukla, roughly 2,860 meters, and walk down valley to Phakding.
2. Climb to Namche Bazaar, roughly 3,440 meters.
3. Take a full rest day at Namche, hiking high and sleeping low.
4. Continue to Tengboche and Dingboche, roughly 4,410 meters.
5. Take a second full rest day at Dingboche.
6. Continue to Lobuche and Gorak Shep, then base camp.
7. Descend, which is faster and treats almost every altitude symptom.

Two acclimatization days is the widely followed pattern, which is why the trek takes 12 to 14 days rather than the eight the map suggests. Operators who sell it shorter are selling a higher failure rate.

What you pack for altitude:

• Prescription altitude medication, if your own doctor prescribes it after a real conversation. This is not a decision to make in a Kathmandu pharmacy.
• A pulse oximeter, small and light, which many groups carry anyway
• Electrolytes, because you dehydrate faster in dry cold air at altitude
• Painkillers for altitude headache
• A thermos, since drinking three to four liters a day is much easier when the water is warm

What you cannot pack: fitness and time. The CDC and the Himalayan Rescue Association both publish current guidance on high altitude illness, and the treatment for anything beyond mild symptoms is descent. Our travel first aid kit guide covers sizing the medical portion, which matters here because the nearest real clinic can be a day's walk away.

Insurance is part of this list. Standard travel policies routinely exclude trekking above a certain elevation and almost always exclude helicopter evacuation unless you buy the specific coverage. Read the altitude clause, not the summary page.

Season Changes the Weight of Your Bag

Autumn and spring are the two main seasons for good reason. In either one, expect Namche daytime temperatures in the 50s°F range and Gorak Shep nights well below freezing on the same trip. That spread is why the four-layer system is not overkill.

Flight delays into and out of Lukla are common in any season because the airstrip depends on visibility. Build two buffer days into your Kathmandu return plan. This is a packing decision too, since it means keeping enough clean clothes and medication for the extra days.

Permits and Documents

You need permits for this trek, and they are checked at posts along the route.

• Sagarmatha National Park entry permit, issued by Nepal's Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation
• Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality permit, issued locally, which replaced the TIMS card requirement on this route
• Passport, valid well beyond your travel dates, plus a Nepali visa
• Passport photos, several, for permits and visa paperwork
• Proof of insurance covering high altitude trekking and evacuation

Each permit carries a fee, and the fees and the exact permit combination have changed more than once. Check the current requirements with your operator and on the official Nepal Tourism Board pages before you travel rather than relying on older accounts. Our international travel checklist covers the visa and document prep side.

Carry cash. ATMs exist in Namche but they are unreliable and stop entirely above it, and lodges above Namche generally do not take cards. Charging your phone, using WiFi and taking a hot shower all cost money at the lodges, and the price rises with elevation.

Worked Example: A 14-Day Trek, Packed to the Limits

Here is how the weight actually breaks down for one trekker in October.

Porter duffel, target under 15 kg:

That is about 11.9 kg, comfortably under a 15 kg cap with room for items you shift down from the day pack on hard days.

Day pack, target under 8 kg loaded:

Two liters of water at 2.0 kg, down jacket at 0.8 kg, shell jacket at 0.4 kg, snacks at 0.5 kg, first aid and medication at 0.4 kg, camera at 0.6 kg, documents and cash at 0.2 kg, power bank at 0.4 kg, hat, gloves and buff at 0.3 kg, and sunscreen and lip balm at 0.1 kg. That totals roughly 5.7 kg, about 12.6 pounds, plus the pack itself.

Worn: boots, socks, base layer, trekking pants, fleece, sun hat, sunglasses.

Left in Kathmandu: travel clothes, laptop, city shoes, anything for the flight home.

Add the duffel and the loaded day pack together and you are at roughly 17.6 kg, which is above a 15 kg Lukla allowance. That is not a mistake in the math, it is the actual squeeze every trekker faces, and it gets solved by wearing your boots and down jacket to the airport and carrying the heavy items in your hand luggage. Weigh everything at home on a luggage scale so you find this out in your living room rather than at the check-in desk.

Frequently Asked Questions

How cold does it get at Everest base camp?

Nights at Gorak Shep and base camp regularly drop well below freezing even in the main trekking seasons, often into the range of 14°F to 5°F (-10°C to -15°C), and colder in winter. Daytime in the sun can feel pleasant at the same time, which is exactly why the four-layer system exists.

What sleeping bag rating do I need for Everest base camp?

A comfort rating around -10°C to -15°C, which is roughly 14°F to 5°F, is the standard recommendation for the main seasons. Buy or rent on the comfort rating rather than the lower limit rating, and add a liner for a margin that weighs almost nothing.

Can I rent gear in Kathmandu instead of buying it?

Yes, and many trekkers do. Sleeping bags, down jackets, trekking poles and duffels are all readily rented in Thamel or supplied by operators. Boots are the exception: rent nothing you have to break in. Buy those at home and wear them for weeks first.

How heavy should my day pack be on the EBC trek?

Aim for 12 to 18 pounds loaded, including water. Water is usually the single heaviest item, so filling one bottle at a time and treating water at lodges keeps the weight down. Anything over about 20 pounds becomes noticeably harder above 4,000 meters.

Do I need a porter for the Everest base camp trek?

Not strictly, but most trekkers hire one, and it is the single easiest way to enjoy the trek more. Hiring a porter also supports the local economy directly. If you go without, your entire kit has to fit in one pack you carry every day, which means cutting the list roughly in half.

What is the Lukla flight baggage limit?

The airlines flying the route publish a limit commonly cited around 15 kg total per passenger, typically split between checked and hand baggage, with fees for excess weight. Limits and enforcement vary by carrier and by how full the aircraft is, so confirm with your airline and weigh your bags at home.

How much water should I carry and how do I treat it?

Carry two liters and drink three to four liters a day, more than you would at sea level, because dry cold air dehydrates you quickly. Treat lodge water with purification tablets, a UV pen or a filter rather than buying bottled water, which creates a real waste problem in the Khumbu and gets expensive as you climb.

What should I not pack for Everest base camp?

Cotton anything, jeans, a tent and stove, more than two pairs of trekking pants, hardcover books, a laptop, and full-size toiletries. Also skip new boots, a bag rated for mild weather, and any insurance policy that does not explicitly cover high altitude trekking and helicopter evacuation.

The Short Version

Pack a four-layer system, a bag rated well below freezing, boots you have already broken in, a water treatment method, and enough cash in rupees to get you to base camp and back. Weigh the duffel and the day pack at home against your operator's cap and your airline's limit, then cut whatever is over.

Rent the bulky items in Kathmandu, build in two acclimatization days and two buffer days for Lukla weather, and buy insurance that names high altitude trekking and evacuation in the policy text. Start your list with the packing list generator, size your kit with the travel first aid kit guide, and if you are also doing an altitude trek in South America, our Machu Picchu packing list covers a very different set of rules for a similar problem.