Which trekking gear to bring from home and which to rent in Lakeside
Four things aren't worth buying for one trek, and one thing you should never rent. Then come the small items that quietly ruin trips.
By the Lakeshore team · 6 min read · Updated 5 October 2026
Some people land in Pokhara after spending eight hundred dollars in an outdoor shop at home, and about half of it wasn't needed. Others turn up with a daypack and sandals and buy everything along Lakeside in an afternoon, and that works out fine too.
The sensible answer sits somewhere between those two, and it isn't where most gear lists draw the line. Some things are worth owning and breaking in. Most are worth renting for a few dollars a day from a shop two minutes from our office.
This is the list we hand our own guests, most important first.
Always buy your boots at home
Rented boots are the surest way we know to end a trek early. They've been shaped by somebody else's feet, and four days of walking down stone staircases in them will take your skin off.
Buy yours at least six weeks before you fly, from a shop that watches you walk, and put fifty kilometres on them before you get on the plane. Make sure some of that is downhill. Going down is where the damage happens, and a boot that feels perfect on the flat can jam your toes into the front on a descent.
A mid-height boot with ankle support and a decent sole is right for every trek we run. You don't need a stiff mountaineering boot for teahouse trekking, and on these trails it would only make you miserable.
Rent in Lakeside, every time
Rent the down jacket, a four-season sleeping bag, trekking poles and a duffel. Bought new, those four cost several hundred dollars and then sit in a cupboard at home. Rented, they're a couple of dollars per item per day. Reserve them when you book and the set will be waiting at the office when you arrive. We fit everything before you leave, not in the dark at a trailhead.
Our rental wall has bags rated to −20°C, plus jackets, poles, microspikes and duffels, which covers what you need above 4,000 m. Look at the rating, not the loft. If something turns out to be the wrong size on the trail, we swap it, and that's included in the hire. It's worth knowing before you put up with a week in boots that don't fit. Trekking poles deserve their own sentence. On the Chhomrong stairs or the descent from Mardi High Camp they take roughly a third of the load off your knees. People who call them optional at the start of a trek are usually buying a pair by day three.
The small things that quietly ruin trips
Pack a headtorch with spare batteries for every sunrise start and every unlit teahouse corridor. Bring a power bank as well, because above 3,000 m lodges charge per device per hour and sometimes can't charge at all.
For the sun you need high-factor cream, lip balm with SPF and sunglasses that do the job. UV reflected off the snow up high will burn the underside of your nose, and the roof of your mouth too if you walk with it open.
Bring a filter bottle or purification tablets. Bottled water above Chhomrong is expensive, and every empty gets carried out on somebody's back. You'll save a few thousand rupees and keep twenty bottles off the trail.
Keep blister plasters, ibuprofen and rehydration salts in your own pocket. Your guide carries a first aid kit, but these three are the things you'll want within reach the moment you need them.
Thin layers, not a big coat
What works is four thin layers instead of two thick ones: a base layer, a fleece, a down jacket and a waterproof shell. With that same kit you can handle a hot afternoon in the valley and a pass before dawn.
Add two pairs of trekking trousers, four pairs of socks you trust, a sun hat and a warm hat. Cotton t-shirts are fine low down but miserable once they get wet.
You'll wear the down jacket in the evenings and at breakfast far more than on the trail. Walking uphill at altitude, most people strip down to a base layer within twenty minutes, whatever the temperature.
What to leave behind in Pokhara
Leave your suitcase at your hotel in Pokhara while you trek. Almost every hotel stores luggage for guests, and if yours doesn't, ask us. On the trail you take a duffel for the porter and a daypack you carry yourself.
We cap porters at around 9 kg per trekker, with two trekkers to each porter. That's a limit we keep, not a suggestion, so be ruthless when you pack. Anyone who offers to carry a lot more is either exaggerating or being exploited. Books, laptops, spare shoes, a second jacket and most of your toiletries can stay in the suitcase. Nobody finishes a teahouse trek wishing the duffel had been heavier.
Walk it with us
Private departures on your dates, guided by the people who wrote this page.
Questions we get asked
How much does renting cost?
A few dollars per item per day, plus a deposit we hold against damage. A full set of jacket, bag, poles and duffel for a week costs a fraction of buying any one of them new.
Is rental gear clean?
Yes. It's cleaned between hires. Bring a sleeping bag liner if you'd like your own layer against the bag. Most people prefer that anyway.
Can I buy gear in Pokhara instead?
You can, and Lakeside is full of gear shops. Quality varies enormously, and a lot of the branded stock isn't what the label says. For anything that matters, like a jacket you'll rely on at 4,000 m, rent something you know is good instead of gambling on a bargain.
What size duffel do I need?
Around 60 to 70 litres is standard, and the porter weight limit means you won't fill it anyway. We provide one with the trek.
Do I need crampons or technical equipment?
Not on teahouse treks in a normal season. Micro-spikes are sometimes useful on a winter pass or the last push to a high viewpoint. We carry a set, and we'll tell you on the day if it's that kind of morning.
Still deciding?
Tell us your dates, and we'll tell you whether Trekking Gear Rental is right for you. If it isn't, we'll say so.
Nothing to pay online. We confirm your dates first.
Or call the office +977 61-457830