Rent or buy? What to bring to Nepal and what to pick up in Lakeside

Four items you should never buy for one trek, one you must never rent, and the small things that quietly ruin trips.

By Sabina Adhikari · 6 min read · Updated 1 August 2026

People arrive in Pokhara having spent eight hundred dollars in an outdoor shop at home, and about half of it was unnecessary. Others arrive with a daypack and sandals and have to buy everything on Lakeside in an afternoon, which works out fine.

There is a sensible line between those two, and it is not where most gear lists put it. Some things are worth owning and breaking in. Most things are worth renting for a few dollars a day from a shop two minutes from our office.

This is the list we actually give people, in the order it matters.

Buy at home, without exception: boots

Rented boots are the single most reliable way to end a trek early. They have been shaped by somebody else's feet, and four days of descending 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 through them before you get on the plane. Include downhill — going down is what causes damage, and a boot that feels perfect on the flat can push your toes into the end on a descent.

Mid-height with ankle support and a decent sole is right for every trek we run. You do not need a stiff mountaineering boot for teahouse trekking and it will make you miserable.

Rent in Lakeside, every time

A down jacket, a four-season sleeping bag, trekking poles and a duffel. Those four bought new will cost several hundred dollars and will sit in a cupboard afterwards. Rented, they are a couple of dollars per item per day. Reserve them with your booking and the set is waiting at the office when you arrive, fitted before you leave rather than in the dark at a trailhead.

Our rental wall runs to −20°C bags along with jackets, poles, microspikes and duffels, which is the range you actually need above 4,000 m. Check the rating rather than the loft, and if something turns out to be the wrong size on the trail we will swap it — that is included, and worth knowing before you suffer through a week in boots that do not 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 consider them optional at the start of a trek are usually buying a pair by day three.

The small things that quietly ruin trips

A headtorch with spare batteries — every sunrise start and every unlit teahouse corridor. A power bank, because charging above 3,000 m costs money per device per hour and is not always available.

Sun protection that is actually adequate: high-factor cream, lip balm with SPF, and real sunglasses. Reflected UV off snow at altitude will burn the underside of your nose and the roof of your mouth if you walk with it open.

A filter bottle or purification tablets. Bottled water above Chhomrong is expensive and the empties get carried out on somebody's back. You will save a few thousand rupees and twenty bottles.

Blister plasters, ibuprofen and rehydration salts. Your guide carries a first aid kit; these three are the ones you will want in your own pocket at the moment you need them.

Layers, and the myth of the big coat

The system that works is four thin things rather than two thick ones: a base layer, a fleece, a down jacket and a waterproof shell. That handles a hot valley afternoon and a pre-dawn pass with the same kit.

Two pairs of trekking trousers, four pairs of socks you trust, and a hat for sun and a hat for cold. Cotton t-shirts are fine at low altitude and miserable when they get wet.

You will wear the down jacket in the evenings and at breakfast far more than you will wear it walking. Uphill at altitude, most people are down to a base layer within twenty minutes regardless of the temperature.

What to leave behind

Leave your suitcase at your hotel in Pokhara for the length of the trek — almost all of them store luggage for guests, and if yours does not, ask us. You take a duffel that a porter can carry and a daypack you carry yourself.

We cap porters at around 9 kg per trekker with two trekkers to a porter. That is a real limit, not a suggestion, and it is the reason to be ruthless when you pack. Anyone offering to carry substantially more is either exaggerating or being exploited. Books, laptops, spare shoes, a second jacket, and most of your toiletries can all 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.

Trekking Gear RentalRent by the dayFrom Rs 300 per item / day · See dates →Permits & TIMS ServiceSame-day serviceFrom Rs 700 service fee · See dates →Tourist Bus & Flight TicketsSame-day bookingFrom Rs 1,600 per seat · See dates →

Questions we get asked

How much does renting cost?

A few dollars a day per item, with a deposit held against damage. A full set of jacket, bag, poles and duffel for a week comes to a fraction of buying any one of them.

Is rental gear clean?

Yes — it is laundered between hires. Bring a sleeping bag liner if you would rather have your own layer against the bag, which most people prefer anyway.

Can I buy gear in Pokhara instead?

You can, and Lakeside has a lot of shops. Quality varies enormously and branded goods are frequently not what the label says. For anything that matters — a jacket you will rely on at 4,000 m — rent a known-good item rather than gambling on a bargain.

What size duffel do I need?

Around 60 to 70 litres is standard, and the porter weight limit will stop you filling it. We provide one with the trek.

Do I need crampons or technical equipment?

Not on teahouse treks in normal seasons. Micro-spikes are occasionally useful on a winter pass or the last push to a high viewpoint — we carry a set and tell you on the day if it is that kind of morning.