Everest Base Camp Packing List 2026: The Complete EBC Checklist

Packing specifically for EBC

Everest Base Camp reaches 5,545m at Kala Patthar, with nights well below -15°C even in peak season and serious sun and dust. This EBC-specific list covers exactly what you need — and the Lukla weight limit you must respect. (For general principles, see our full Nepal packing list.)

Clothing (layering for -20°C)

• Base layers: 2–3 sets merino/synthetic tops and bottoms
• Mid layers: 1–2 fleeces or a light insulated jacket
• Insulation: 1 warm down jacket (rentable in Kathmandu)
• Shell: waterproof/windproof jacket and over-trousers
• Trousers: 2 pairs trekking + thermal leggings for high sections
• Extremities: warm hat, sun cap, buff (for dust — the "Khumbu cough" is real), liner + warm gloves, 4–5 pairs wool socks

Footwear, gear & sleep

• Broken-in waterproof boots (the most important item) + camp shoes
• -20°C sleeping bag (rentable) + liner
• 35–45L daypack; 60–70L duffel for the porter
• Trekking poles (vital for the long descents)
• Headlamp + spare batteries; power bank 10,000mAh+
• 2x 1L bottles or bladder + water purification (tablets/filter/SteriPEN)

Sun, health, documents & money

• Category 3–4 sunglasses, SPF 50+ sunscreen, SPF lip balm
• Personal first-aid kit, Diamox (consult a doctor), rehydration salts, blister plasters
• Passport + copies, permits (agency arranges), insurance with heli-evacuation
• USD and NPR cash in small denominations — no reliable ATMs past Namche

The mistake almost everyone makes on day one

Your duffel goes with the porter, and the porter walks ahead of you. You will not see that bag again until you reach the evening's lodge.

So anything you might want between breakfast and dinner has to be on your back — and every year people put their down jacket in the duffel on a mild morning, then stand shivering at a windy pass at eleven o'clock.

In your daypack, always: down jacket, waterproof shell, hat and gloves, both water bottles, sunscreen and sunglasses, snacks, camera, all documents and money, and any medication. In the duffel: sleeping bag, spare clothes, camp shoes, washbag.

The rule that never fails: if losing it for eight hours would ruin your day, it does not go in the duffel.

Reading a sleeping bag rating honestly

A bag sold as "-20°C" is usually quoting its limit rating, which is the temperature at which a warm sleeper survives a curled-up, uncomfortable night. The comfort rating — where you actually sleep well — is often 8–10°C higher.

For EBC in peak season, ask for a bag with a comfort rating near -10°C, which usually means a bag labelled -20°C. Add a silk or fleece liner: it costs almost nothing, adds a few degrees, and keeps a rented bag clean. Lodges give you blankets too, and nobody minds you piling them on.

How to check a rented down jacket in thirty seconds

Rental shops in Thamel have everything from excellent to exhausted, at much the same price. Three checks before you pay:

• Squash it. Good down springs back within a few seconds. If it stays flat, the fill is dead and it will not keep you warm at Gorak Shep.
• Hold it to the light. Even, opaque baffles are what you want. Thin patches are where the warmth has gone.
• Check the hood and cuffs. A jacket without a proper hood loses far more heat than the label suggests, and you will be wearing it at 5,545m before sunrise.

What actually fails up there

• Hydration bladders freeze. The tube ices within the first hour of a cold morning and the whole system becomes useless. Carry bottles; keep one inside your jacket overnight and it will not freeze.
• Batteries die in the cold — phones, cameras, headtorches and SteriPENs all lose power fast. Sleep with them in your bag. Charging costs $2–5 per device per hour above Namche, so bring a 10,000mAh power bank and charge that instead.
• Cheap sunglasses are a real risk. At altitude on snow you need category 3–4 lenses with side coverage. Snow blindness is genuinely painful and takes a day or two to pass, which you do not have.
• Boots that are new. Break them in over weeks, not days, and buy them half a size up so thick socks fit without crushing your toes on the descents.
• The Khumbu cough. Cold, bone-dry air plus trail dust irritates the throat, and a hacking cough is near-universal above Dingboche. A buff over your mouth and drinking far more water than you feel like helps more than any medicine.

What to leave at home

Cotton anything — it soaks up sweat, stops insulating and takes days to dry in cold air. Jeans, heavy books, spare electronics, and full-size toiletries. Every kilo counts twice: once against the Lukla limit, and once on the back of the person carrying it for you.

Planning the trek itself? See the full Everest Base Camp trek guide and cost breakdown, then tell us your dates.

Featured image: Mount_Everest_as_seen_from_Drukair2.jpg: shrimpo1967 derivative work: Papa Lima Whiskey 2 (talk) via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).