Kilimanjaro Packing List – Kit and Clothes for Kilimanjaro

Hiking Kilimanjaro is a mindbogglingly daunting task – physically and mentally. However, there is one other thing which adds to all this stress while you prepare to conquer Kili and those are the questions – Kilimanjaro Packing List ? Kit and Clothes for Kilimanjaro ? What to wear for the Kilimanjaro summit?

There are various posts which give you a complete list of stuff which you can take while hiking Kili (Read more). But not everything is necessary based on our experience. I have provided below a list of stuff which are a must have and also some stuff which are good to have while you hike Kili for 5-6 days.

Remember there is a weight restriction of 15kg per person for what the porter can carry – so select and pack wisely.

Lets start with the List of stuff which you need to pack –

#	Item	Must Have/Good to have?	Comments
1	Thermals — Top and Bottom	Must Have	Get the best thermals you can lay your hands on. An absolute must have as it freezes at night and also on summit day.
2	Base layer	Must have	Again to protect you from the cold.
3	Fleece Jumper	Must have	Take a thick fleece jacket – this is your best bet against the cold.
4	Track pants	Good to have	Initial 1-2 days are not that cold and you can hike comfortable in your regular home track pants.
5	Trek Pants	Must have	Preferably the zipped ones which have multiple pockets and can be converted to shorts.
6	Water Proof Jacket and Pants	Must have	It can get wet at times and water proof jackets/pants is a must. You can use it interchangeably with the regular Trek pants. You can hire them in Kili.
7	Thermal Underwear	Good to have	With Thermals, Base layers, Trek pants – didn’t need it.
8	Thermal Socks	Must have	You would need this for the summit day. Practice walking with these socks to avoid shoe bites as they can be quite thick.
9	Walking/Sports Socks	Must have	Regular socks are a must – Keep extra pairs as it can be wet on some days.
10	Woollen Gloves	Must have	A pair of woollen gloves are a must at night and summit.
11	Hiking Gloves	Must have	Very good pair of hiking gloves – So you would be using both the woollen and hiking gloves on summit day.
12	Woollen hats	Must have
13	balaclavas	Must have	A 100% must have – the best protection for your face, ears, and nose on summit day.
14	Glares	Must have	African sun can be very punishing.
15	Hiking Boots	Must have	The most important thing for the hike – a well-used, broken-in hiking boots. Ensure you have used them for quite a few hikes and are very comfortable with these.
16	Sun Screen	Must have	As I said African sun can really hurt.
17	Lip Balm	Must have
18	Moisturisng cream/cold	Must have	Your face tends to crack up in the ice cold temperatures – so a must have.
19	Walking Poles	Good to have	We never used it – but did see many people using it. You can rent it at Kili rather than take it all the way with you.
20	Sport/regular shoes	Good to have	At the end of the day, after walking for 5-6 hours, all you would want is to throw your hiking shoes and change into something more comfy.
21	Sleeping Bag	Must have	Unless you want to freeze yourself to death – this is a must have. But, you needn’t carry it with you – you can rent out.
22	Backpack	Must have	A backpack is needed to carry your essentials while you hike like water, lunch etc.
23	Water Bladder	Must have	Buy good quality ones which don’t freeze at minus temperatures.
24	Headlamps	Must have	Again for the summit night when you hike in pitch darkness they are your saviours – so buy good LED ones.
26	Rain cover for bag	Good to have	It can get wet at times so would need to protect your day packs.
27	Duffel bag	Must have	Porters prefer to carry your belongings in Duffel bags.
28	T-shirts	Must have	Take few good cotton t-shirts for the hike.
29	Towel, Napkins	Must have	Though you won’t be having much of a bath during the hike – you would need towel just to freshen up.
30	Toiletries – Tooth paste, Tooth brush,  Toilet roll, wet wipes (many)	Must have
31	Mosquito Repellent	Good to have
32	First aid kit—Diamox, bandaids, paracetamol, painkillers and antibiotics	Must have	Keep this handy. Diamox helps with Altitude sickness – no harm in trying though. Diamox – start taking 1 day before arriving at Kili to get used to it .
33	Vaccinations for Tanzania – yellow fewer and malaria!!	Good to have	Check your country’s travel guidelines for Tanzania.
34	Battery cells for Camera	Must have	Take additional batteries for your cameras as they tend to drain out more quickly in colder temperatures.
35	Zip bags	Must have	Use this for any valuables like passport, mobiles etc.
37	Eatables — Protien bars, nuts, gels	Must have	There is nothing specific you would need, just take anything which you enjoy and would keep you motivated – Even if it’s a snicker bar.
38	Shewee	Must have	The temperatures on the first day itself can get close to minus and also pitch darkness at night with no electricity doesn’t entice you to go out to take a leak.

This is what we travelled with and were very comfortable. People do recommend using glove liners, gaiters etc – which I don’t think are essential.

What you wear doesn’t matter much for the days before the summit night. It can be hot at day time when you do most of the walking so wear something comfortable, carry lots of water, glares, hat etc. The nights can be quite cold – so a good fleece and a sleeping bag can make you feel comfortable.

However the answer to the question –  “What to wear for the Kilimanjaro summit” matters a lot. You would be awakened close to 11:30PM to prepare for the hike. So be prepared on what you would be wearing. This is what I recommend –

Upper Body:

• Base Layer – Long sleeves
• Thermals – Long sleeves
• Regular T-shirt
• Thick Fleece Jumper
• Wind/Water Proof Jacket

Lower Body:

• Base layer Pants
• Thermal pants
• Hiking pants
• Thermal Socks

Other Stuff:

• Balaclava
• Woollen hat
• Woollen Gloves
• Hiking Gloves
• Headlamps

And finally take in lots of willpower – this is what will get you to the top.

View our Kilimanjaro Hike Video here –

Also, read our successful Kilimanjaro Hike journey here – Click here.

If you have any queries/feedback, leave me a comment with your email id and I’ll get back to you at the earliest.