Our experience trekking to K2 and Everest gave us massive confidence in our lightweight packing strategy. We had meticulously researched and felt prepared. However, shifting our focus to Nepal threw a curveball. While our previous journey had different luggage limits, optimizing our load for the remote, rugged Manaslu Circuit forced us to make serious adjustments. On Manaslu, every single gram matters—especially when you are managing gear for a family and need to keep a strict eye on efficiency.
Below is the comprehensive list of what we packed for our Manaslu trek, complete with notes on what worked, what we’d change next time, and how we adapted our gear to handle a remote wilderness route where there are no shops to bail you out if something breaks.
The Bag & Carrying System
Expedition Duffel Bag
On our K2 trip, we discovered that standard backpacks are a nightmare for porters and lack weatherproofing, forcing us to awkwardly line them with huge plastic bags daily (a complete pain in the proverbial ass). Fortunately, Elite Exped provided us with four heavy-duty duffel bags.
Pro Tip: Stick with one duffle bag per adult and share one between the two children for this trip. The 120L Duffels worked well but weigh 3kg each. Taking 4 bags means losing 12kg of your total weight allowance just to the empty luggage! Cutting down to just 3 bags saved us a crucial 3kg, and the huge openings made packing and unpacking every single morning a breeze.
Day Trekking Backpack with Rain Cover
For long, steep days on the trail, keeping the kids’ packs light is crucial. After thorough research and testing on our way to K2, Osprey backpacks remain our absolute go-to.
- Ben and Will comfortably carried their essentials in the Osprey Talon 22.
- Martina utilized the women’s-specific Talon 33.
- John opted for the larger Volt 45 to accommodate extra water, emergency layers, and equipment (which you always need when hiking with kids).
These bags have now survived weeks of high-altitude mountain punishment. They look as good as they did on day one and continue to provide the necessary space and comfort for our family’s hiking excursions.
Sleeping & Cold Weather Gear
Sleeping Bags
Our family already had high-quality sleeping bags from our previous trips: the boys used OEX youth bags, Martina has a Rab, and John has a Marmot. All our bags offer a -15°C comfort rating. Paired with thermals and a heavy fleece, they kept us cozy even on the chilliest nights when the unheated teahouse rooms dropped to -22°C.
Fleece Sleeping Bag Liners
Because Manaslu’s teahouses are primitive and entirely unheated, it gets incredibly cold at night. We brought along lightweight fleece liners for our sleeping bags. These were handy during the warmer, subtropical first days at low altitude where a full sleeping bag was too much, and they became an essential luxury layer when nighttime temperatures plunged as we moved higher up the valley.
Hydration & Filtration
Water Bottles
We cannot overstate the importance of clean water. It is the most vital item you’ll pack, and safe water is a strict must throughout the trip to avoid ruinous stomach bugs. While temperatures aren’t soaring on this trek, staying hydrated directly helps counteract the effects of altitude sickness.
We swear by Water-to-Go filtration bottles. We’ve trusted them for over 10 years to keep us safe, and they massively reduced our plastic bottle usage—making our family trip that much more sustainable in a protected conservation area.
Non-Filtration Bottle for Energy Tablets
As it is essential to stay hydrated, it is equally important to keep topped up with salts, minerals, and electrolytes on grueling climbing days. We carried an empty 2L wide-mouth bottle specifically to mix filtered water with Nuun tablets. They add flavor, replace lost salts, and provide a noticeable re-energizing boost for the boys on long trail days. On our big push day to Manaslu Base Camp, we doubled up on these as the sheer vertical gain and cold took a heavy toll on our energy levels.
Footwear & Traction
Trekking Poles
Trekking poles often get rave reviews, but we’re still not entirely convinced they are for everyone. For the boys, two poles can be a distraction, slowing them down as they focus more on pole placement than actual walking. That said, on the steep moraine leading up to Manaslu Base Camp, we used them more than ever for balance. A single pole each proved to be the perfect compromise—offering added stability on slippery terrain without overcomplicating things for the kids.
Hiking Boots
Choosing a boot brand was simple for us: we’ve been loyal Scarpa users for years.
- Martina stuck with her trusty Zodiacs.
- John switched back to Zodiacs after using Mescalito boots for K2. (He found the Mescalitos comfortable, but the harsh terrain took such a toll on them that they required emergency glue repairs after two weeks. Returning to the hardy Zodiacs was the right choice to handle the rough mountain tracks and his 90kg frame).
Finding hiking boots for growing boys has always been a challenge; high-quality options in child sizes are either prohibitively expensive or too flimsy (we’ve seen cheap pairs ruined after a single weekend on Scafell Pike). Thankfully, the boys are now big enough for adult sizes:
- William wore a size 4 women’s Scarpa boot.
- Ben used the Scarpa Rush.
Both pairs provided excellent comfort, ankle support, and grip on snowy trails, and have easily withstood the brutal environments of both the Karakoram and the Himalayas.
Day/Camp Shoes
Around the basic teahouses, you’ll want something more comfortable than stiff hiking boots, but still sturdy enough to handle cold stone floors, rocks, or a light dusting of snow. Any decent cross-trainer will do. John used Salomon Speedcross trainers, Martina used Scarpa Rush cross-trainers, and the boys stuck with basic, cheerful hiking shoes from Karrimor—perfect for relaxing in the evenings.
Safety, Tech, & Essentials
Dry Bags
As we have found on numerous occasions, these are a non-negotiable must. Get them, and get lots of them! We used varying sizes of Sea to Summit dry bags to keep our clothing organized and completely waterproofed inside the duffels. They have lasted incredibly well and still look brand new.
Sunglasses (The Two-Pair Rule)
For high-altitude trekking, you genuinely need two distinct pairs of sunglasses.
- Pair 1 (Daily Wear): A good, polarized set. John and the boys swear by Duco glasses from Amazon (approx. £30), which do the job brilliantly without breaking the bank. Martina prefers her trusty Ray-Bans.
- Pair 2 (The Lifesavers): Glacier glasses. This is not a luxury; it is a critical safety item to avoid snow blindness and sunburned eyes—an agonizing issue we saw firsthand when one of our porters suffered badly on a previous trip. We chose Vallon Heron Glacier Glasses. The side shields offer unbeatable protection against high-altitude UV rays reflecting off snow fields above 4,000m. Don’t skimp here.
Power Banks
The higher you climb on the Manaslu route, the scarcer electricity becomes. Because solar charging systems in remote villages fail when clouds roll in, your devices will drain battery rapidly in the sub-zero cold. We brought high-capacity power banks from Amazon. They are vital for keeping headtorches and phones alive when you are completely off the grid for days at a time.
Mobile Phone & Connectivity
We brought our phones primarily for the cameras. Be prepared: while EBC has a growing digital infrastructure, Manaslu is highly remote. Local SIM cards generally stop working shortly after leaving the trailhead, and Wi-Fi is incredibly rare, expensive, and poor once you get high into the valley. Treat this trek as a true digital detox.
Lip Balm & Suncream
Your face is exposed to intense, high-altitude UV rays, bitter winds, and freezing temperatures for up to 12 hours a day. We used Ultrasun Extreme Factor 50. It’s an investment, but worth every penny—non-greasy, sweat-resistant, and acts more like a heavy moisturizing cream. Pair it with an SPF 50+ lip balm to prevent painful, cracked lips.
Wet Wipes
An absolute comfort lifesaver for two reasons:
- When running hot water isn’t an option (which is most of the time past day 4), a quick wipe-down each morning makes you feel 5% better—which feels like a 500% improvement in the mountains.
- They are invaluable for basic hygiene during bouts of trail illness and for cleaning dusty tables. No parent travels without them!
Hand Sanitizer
While we were impressed by the general cleanliness of the teahouses, you are still in a wilderness area where pack animals dominate the trails. Avoiding a stomach bug is absolutely critical to keeping your trek alive. We used hand sanitizer militantly before every single meal. While it didn’t prevent the airborne “mountain coughs” that spread like wildfire through tight communal dining rooms (which Martina caught badly), it kept us completely free of stomach illnesses for the entire duration of our time in Nepal.
Medical & Altitude Strategy
Personal First Aid Kit
We packed one comprehensive, shared kit for the four of us. Even though reputable guiding teams carry medical supplies, having your own immediate backup is vital.
Our kit included standard trauma basics (plasters, bandages, medical tape, steri-strips, slings) along with a robust stock of day-to-day medications: paracetamol, ibuprofen, travel sickness pills, allergy meds, eye drops, throat lozenges, and cough syrup. You will use these, so pack generously.
The Antibiotic Rule: We highly recommend sourcing antibiotics (such as Doxycycline, Ciprofloxacin, and Amoxicillin) before heading deep into the mountains. Since they require a prescription in the UK, we make a point to buy them safely from registered pharmacies in Kathmandu before hitting the trail. If you encounter a severe respiratory infection or a waterborne parasite in a remote valley with no clinics, having these on hand can mean the difference between a safe exit and a full-blown emergency.
Diamox (Our Preventative Altitude Strategy)
Our absolute biggest priority when planning this trek was managing altitude safely, especially with children. Altitude sickness is unpredictable; we’ve previously witnessed terrifying moments where young, incredibly fit teenagers collapsed with severe AMS in a matter of minutes. On Manaslu, where helicopter evacuations are severely restricted by narrow river gorges and weather, caution is your only option.
Following thorough research and consultations with mountain experts, we used Diamox (Acetazolamide) as a preventative safety net—not a cure.
$$\begin{aligned} \text{Adult Dose:} & \quad \frac{1}{2} \text{ tablet (125 mg) twice daily} \\ \text{Boys’ Dose:} & \quad \frac{1}{4} \text{ tablet twice daily} \end{aligned}$$
We started this regimen the day we left Kathmandu and continued it through our ascent. It triggers deeper, faster breathing to help your body adapt to thinning air. Be prepared for the common side effects: it causes a harmless but strange numbness and intense “pins and needles” tingling in your face, hands, and feet that can last for an hour after taking it.
Did it work? For us, yes. None of us experienced severe mountain sickness, though both Martina and William experienced a temporary loss of appetite above 4,000m (a mild sign of altitude adjustment). Always take professional medical advice and design a strategy that fits your family.
Travel Towel
Skip the tiny, flannel-sized micro-towels—they aren’t practical for a long family trek. We got lightweight, compact, normal-sized quick-dry towels from Decathlon. They are affordable, highly durable, and have lasted us for years.
Trail Snacks
While we had three full meals a day provided, snacks are something you must manage yourself to keep the kids’ morale and calorie intake up.
- The Sourcing Strategy: Buy all your chocolates, energy bars, and treats in Kathmandu, or at the very absolute latest, the major trailheads. As you move higher up the remote Manaslu valley, snack availability drops drastically, prices double, and items are frequently past their best-before dates (which won’t hurt you, but it’s good to know). Don’t get stung buying bulk snacks at high-altitude teahouses.
Technical Clothing & Layering
When you are exposed to unpredictable Himalayan weather for 12 hours a day, your layers will make or break your trip. Do not skimp on quality for your outer shell and insulation layers.
| Clothing Item | Quantity | Our Family Choice & Notes |
| Rain / Hard Shell Jacket | x1 | Gore-Tex is non-negotiable. John wore a bright yellow Montane Gore-Tex jacket (perfect for visibility). Martina and the boys wore Rab Gore-Tex shells. They stayed perfectly dry against freezing wind and wet snow. |
| Thick Fleece-Lined Trousers | x1 | Not strictly needed for hiking as they cause overheating, but highly useful for staying warm in the unheated teahouses at the end of the day. |
| Breathable Waterproof Pants | x1 | We all used Berghaus Paclite over-trousers. Cheaper alternatives leave you wet from your own sweat; these are lightweight, breathe well, and slide easily over regular trousers. |
| Midweight Down Jacket | x1 | An essential featherdown insulation layer. Excellent for cool afternoons or worn directly under a hard shell jacket when the weather turns aggressive. |
| Heavyweight / High-Loft Down | x1 | We invested heavily in four Rab Positron Pro Down Jackets (approx. £300 each), and it was the best decision we made. On freezing nights, putting these on is like wrapping yourself in a warm marshmallow. Since child-sized high-loft jackets are nearly impossible to find, we bought the smallest adult sizes for the boys and pulled the drawstrings tight. They worked flawlessly. |
| Fleeces | x2 | Bring at least two. Drying clothes on this route is nearly impossible, so you need a backup if one gets damp from sweat. John used a hooded micro-fleece jacket; the rest of the family used traditional zip fleeces. |
| Base Layers | x1 set | John and the boys used basic synthetic options from Decathlon. Martina opted for Merino wool, which can be slightly itchy but is incredible at shedding odors over long, multi-week stretches without a wash. |
| Hats & Accessories | x1 each | A warm, practical beanie for cold mornings, alongside a standard baseball cap to shield your face from intense daytime sun. |
| Buff / Neck Gaiter | x1 | Incredibly versatile. Used as a dust mask in the lower, drier parts of the river gorges, and transformed into thick neck warmers to block the icy winds higher up. |
| Gloves (Mid & Lightweight) | x2 sets | Thinner gloves for active hiking; a heavy, insulated, waterproof pair (Gore-Tex rated) for camp or extreme cold. |
| Merino Trekking T-Shirts | x3 | John and the boys used budget-friendly merino options from Decathlon, while Martina used Isobaa shirts. Merino wool is highly recommended over cotton because it dries fast and manages odor brilliantly. |
| Trekking Shorts & Pants | x1 each | No cotton allowed. We used lightweight, durable synthetic hiking trousers and shorts from Decathlon. The knees take a beating on sharp moraine rocks, so prioritize durability over water-resistance if you already have good over-trousers. |
| Trekking Socks | 3 pairs | We stuck with high-quality technical hiking socks from Decathlon. They perform brilliantly, though after consecutive days of high-altitude output, expect them to smell! |
| Underwear | 3 pairs | To prevent painful chafing on long, consecutive walking days, we spent time trailing options and completely converted the family to Danish Endurance underwear. They are a synthetic blend, dry incredibly fast when washed in a sink, and completely eliminate friction. |
| Head Torch | x1 | Crucial for moving around unlit teahouses after solar power cuts out at night. Bring spare batteries or a power bank connection. |
The Ultimate Takeaway
Trekking a remote circuit like Manaslu means accepting that you are going to slum it, smell a bit, and completely forget about fashion. When you are restricted on weight, you end up literally counting grams as you pack.
Don’t sacrifice your safety layers (Gore-Tex shells and heavy down are life-saving essentials), but trim down on duplication. For the transit days or internal transport, remember our favorite family trick: wear your heaviest, bulkiest layers and boots onto the vehicle or plane to save precious space in your duffel bags. Pack smart, stay flexible, and respect the mountains!