My goal is to get everything into two packs. The idea, is that with only two packs, portaging is much easier and less time consuming. My model is to have all my clothing, toilitries and sleeping gear (tent, sleeping bag and matt, ect.) in the first pack. The second pack holds all my food and kitchen tools.
Pack 1 - Clothing and Sleeping Gear
The first thing is to get an idea of the weather and length of trip. Keep an eye on the weather forecast to see if it's going to rain, what the temperature will be and if it'll be windy. Don't forget to consider how cold will it get at night. Also, keep in mind how many days and nights you'll be gone.
If you consider that you aren't arriving at the park in your birthday suite then you're going to save yourself some pack space, and maybe a little dignity. Generally, on the first day, I'll wear shorts, an under shirt, a t-shirt and some sandals. I'll keep shoes, pants and a sweatshirt handy, and pack them at the last minute if I think I need them. It may not seems like much, but these few things can take up valuable pack space.
Let's say I'm going on a two day trip, and the first day I'm already wearing most of my clothes. If the weather's going to be mostly warm and no rain, I'll just pack an extra shirt, and for night time a pair of warm socks and a sweatshirt. If it's going to be cold and rainy, I'll pack the same stuff, but throw in a pair of pants and light shoes. Regardless of the forecast, I always bring a small plastic poncho, and that takes care of the rain. Usually you don't want to fill the pack with too much clothing because arguably the tent and sleeping gear are more important.
The tent, sleeping bag and matt can hopefully be strapped to the out side of the pack, so they don't take up space inside. That saves room for toilitries. You'll need toilet papper, cuz honestly, who wants to use leaves? A tooth brush and some mini tubes of tooth paste, shampoo, soap and hand sanitizer. I also throw in a small first aid kit and some pain killers, just in case. Don't forget to bring a towel. I have a light, medium sized towel that I like to use, but you can get some camping towels that are absorbent and compact. Those are the basics, but you may want to add a few extra things based on the weather or your individual needs. You get the idea?
Pack 2 - Food and Cooking Supplies
This pack can get out of control quickly, especially if you're like me, in that my eyes are bigger than my stomach. For this reason it helps to be organized, so I ask myself a bunch of questions. What's my menu going to be? What are the ingredients, and how much of each do I need? Do I need oil, butter or seasonings? What will I drink with my meals? How will I prepare my meals? What pots, pans, utensils or other tools do I need? Do I have a camping stove and enough fuel for the trip?
To give you an idea, let's say I'm going to have steak, a potato and some fried veggies for dinner. I'll want to bring my grill so I can cook the steak on a nice open flame. I'll want some tin foil for the potato so the flames don't char the skin. I need to make sure I have a pot large enough to fry the veggies, along with some oil or butter. I'm probably going to want some seasoning or extra butter for everything. I'm going to need some tongs for the steak, and maybe a large spoon for the veggies. In the morning, I'm having oatmeal and coffee. I need a pot to boil water, a bowl to hold the oatmeal, and a spoon. I'll need a mug for the coffee and maybe some cream and sugar. I might just take instant coffee, but I'm a bit of a coffee snob, so I'll need to bring a press too, space permitting. This is the kind of thought process I go through, before I start packing.
Don't forget that you'll need to wash up too. A dish cloth and dish towel should suffice. Growing up, camping with my family we used sand instead of soap and it actually works quite well at cutting the grease, but you can also get some biodegradable soap.
One last thing to consider here is your stove. You really should have one, even if you plan to cook on the open flame. This is because, you never know for sure, until you get to your site if you'll be able to have a fire or not. Even then, it's always handy to have. I often use both. I'll use the fire and grill for the steak and potato and the stove for the veggies. Don't forget the lighter, and matches to back it up.
Hopefully that gives you a good idea of what you need for this pack. Really, there's much that could be said here, but it all depends on what you want and then you need to tailor your "kitchen" accordingly.
Extras
Here's where the packs suddenly fill up and you have to start leaving things out, because at the end of the day these things aren't always needed. Like, I usually bring my camera and accessories, a deck of cards and a small booklet on the mushrooms of Algonquin Park (After several years I've still never read a word of it, but I might some day and it barely takes up any room). My friend Nick always brings his fishing gear. Suffice to say, you might want to bring something to pass the time.
Another popular extra is a pillow. Personally, I grew up using either a bag of clothing or my life jacket as a pillow, so that really saves on space. But, there's a lot to be said about having a good pillow, especially when you're basically sleeping on the ground. You can find some decent camping pillows that are inflatable, or can be compacted into a small bag. I haven't invested in anything like this yet, but I have taken some small pillows from home, provided there's space in the pack.
Some extras are more important than others. For example, you're probably going to want a flashlight or two. I usually keep one with my clothing pack and another with the kitchen stuff. I've also experimented with bring small solar patio lights. An oven mitt can be really handy to have, but you can always use a towel if needed. I keep a pair of work gloves with the kitchen stuff, they come in handy. I always make sure I have extra matches. I like to bring news paper and/or fire starters to help if the fire wood is damp. I could go on forever, but I think you get the idea.
Two Packs? Check out Mister Luxury!
For some added perspective. Two packs per person is quite luxurious. Way back in the day, my parents claim they only had two packs in all. That's one pack per person! Sure I could argue that, the gear these days is bulkier, but that would only be true of things like, camp mats, sleeping bags, tents and many other things who's bulk can be attributed to luxury. I could also try to say something obnoxious like, "This isn't your parents camping", but that would seem to imply that my trips are more intense than there's were... given my gear is luxurious by comparison and I know for a fact that my trips haven't yet been as extensive as theirs, that would make the statement exceptionally hard to believe.
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