Most hunters are meticulous about the big stuff. The rifle or bow is checked and rechecked. Ammunition is counted and double-counted. The license is safely tucked into a front pocket. Binoculars are cleaned, calls are tested, and boots are broken in.
And yet, some of the most miserable — and avoidable — moments in the field come down to something that weighs less than a quarter and costs less than a cup of coffee. Hunting accessories.
It happens to experienced hunters just as often as new ones. You’re an hour from the truck, the sun is dropping, and the one item you needed most is the one item you left on the workbench. A dead headlamp. A dull knife. Wet feet from the one pair of socks you didn’t pack. Small problems that compound into a ruined sit, a dangerous situation, or a lost animal.
The items below won’t impress anyone at the trailhead. They don’t get the same attention as new optics or camo patterns. But ask any seasoned hunter what they always carry, and most of these will be on the list — because each one was earned the hard way.
Here are 15 small hunting items you’ll wish you packed, along with practical reasons why every one of them deserves a permanent spot in your pack.
1. Paracord
Few items punch above their weight like a spool of 550 paracord. Lightweight, compact, and genuinely useful in dozens of field situations, paracord is the kind of gear you never think about until you desperately need it.
Uses in the field include dragging game after a harvest, hanging equipment or a game bag off the ground to prevent spoilage, lashing down a tarp for emergency shelter, making field-expedient repairs to damaged gear or straps, and securing tree stands or ground blind components.
Even a 50-foot hank of quality 550 paracord weighs just a few ounces and easily coils into a jacket pocket or the outside pouch of a daypack. The inner strands can be separated for use as fishing line, gear ties, or improvised sutures in a true emergency. It is one of the most versatile pieces of gear on this list — and one of the cheapest.
2. Nitrile Disposable Gloves
Field dressing is a part of hunting that rarely comes with a clean setup. Temperatures vary, light fades, and the work itself is inherently messy. Lightweight nitrile gloves — the same type used by medical professionals — are a near-perfect solution.
They keep your hands cleaner during field dressing, significantly reduce the transfer of human scent to the carcass and meat, and make cleanup far faster and easier in the field. A box of 100 gloves costs a few dollars and takes up essentially no space. Packing two or three pairs in a small zip-lock bag and tucking them into your kit is a habit that takes about 30 seconds to establish and will pay off every single time you tag an animal.
For hunters who process their own game, nitrile gloves also reduce the risk of exposure to blood-borne pathogens, which is a practical health consideration that often goes unmentioned in gear discussions.
3. Hand Warmers
Cold fingers are more than uncomfortable — they are dangerous. The ability to operate a firearm or bow safely, tie knots, read a map, or perform basic tasks degrades quickly when your hands are too cold to function properly. Hand warmers are a simple, inexpensive solution.
Air-activated chemical hand warmers like the widely available HeatMax or HotHands models are reliable, lightweight, and designed to produce heat for 8 to 10 hours. Many hunters carry several pairs: one in each glove, one per boot, and extras in coat pockets for late-season sits.
On extended tree stand hunts in cold weather — especially during late whitetail or waterfowl season — hand warmers are not a luxury. They are a safety item. Pack more than you think you’ll need.
4. Small Roll of Electrical Tape
Electrical tape is one of those items that draws jokes at the trailhead right up until the moment someone needs it — at which point it becomes the most valuable thing in the pack.
A short length of electrical tape wrapped around a pen, lighter, or length of paracord takes up almost no space and weighs almost nothing. In the field, it can provide temporary repairs to cracked optic eyecups, secure loose strap hardware, patch a small tear in rain gear, weatherproof a connection, or reinforce a busted seam. It’s pliable in cold weather, sticks well to most surfaces, and is available at any hardware or sporting goods store for less than two dollars.
For hunters who cover rough terrain or run multiple days in unpredictable conditions, electrical tape has saved more than a few hunts that might otherwise have ended early.
5. Spare Headlamp Batteries
A headlamp is almost universally recognized as essential hunting gear. Spare batteries for that headlamp are almost universally overlooked.
The consequences are straightforward: the battery fails in the dark, during a packout, on a blood trail, or while navigating to your stand before first light. A set of fresh AA or AAA batteries weighs nearly nothing and costs almost nothing. Keep a spare set sealed in a small plastic bag and tucked into your pack. It’s the kind of insurance that eliminates one of the most common and most preventable equipment failures in the field.
If you use a rechargeable headlamp, carry a backup power bank — or carry a traditional battery-powered headlamp as a backup to your primary.
6. Waterproof Matches or Fire Starter
The likelihood of needing to build an emergency fire during a day hunt is low. The consequences of not being able to when you do need one can be severe.
Waterproof matches, a ferro rod, a butane lighter sealed in a small zip-lock bag, or commercial fire-starter cubes are all lightweight, inexpensive, and compact. The best approach is to carry two different fire-starting methods — one primary and one backup — since no method is completely foolproof in wet or windy conditions.
Cold temperatures, early darkness, unexpected weather, and injuries are all realities of backcountry or extended hunting trips. The ability to create warmth is a fundamental survival capability. Experienced hunters and wilderness professionals agree: fire-starting capability belongs in any pack, regardless of how short or routine the trip seems.
7. Flagging Tape
Bright surveyor’s tape — usually sold in rolls at hardware stores and hunting retailers — is one of the most overlooked and most useful small items in any hunter’s pack.
In the field, flagging tape helps you mark a blood trail so you can back out and re-enter it efficiently without losing your position. It helps you mark the location of a downed animal so others can find it if you go for help. It’s useful for marking a route back to camp or a vehicle when you’ve been moving fast and need a reliable return path. It can identify tree stand or ground blind locations quickly, especially in unfamiliar territory.
A single roll of 150-foot flagging tape weighs under one ounce and costs about two dollars. It’s the kind of item you’ll use on almost every hunt — and one you’ll genuinely miss the one time you forget it.
8. Small Compass
GPS units are excellent tools. Smartphone mapping apps are remarkably capable. And both of them fail when their batteries die.
A basic button compass or small baseplate compass weighs next to nothing, requires no power source, and will not fail in cold temperatures, wet conditions, or when you’re miles from the nearest cell tower. Navigation backups matter most precisely in the situations where your primary electronics are most likely to fail — extreme cold, physical damage, dead batteries, or simply no signal.
Knowing how to use a compass in conjunction with a map is a foundational outdoor skill. Carrying a compass doesn’t require advanced land navigation knowledge to be useful. Even a basic understanding of cardinal directions can prevent a serious situation from becoming a dangerous one.
9. Zip Ties
Zip ties — also called cable ties — are the duct tape of fasteners. Hunters find creative applications for them constantly, from attaching game tags to attaching cameras, from securing loose gear to creating emergency repairs on stand hardware, tree saddles, or packs.
Carry an assortment of sizes. Small ones (4 to 6 inch) are useful for lightweight tasks and organization. Larger ones (12 inch) can be used for structural repairs or improvised drag rigs. A handful of each weighs virtually nothing and takes up a fraction of a pack’s side pocket.
Like electrical tape, zip ties are one of those items that experienced hunters almost universally carry — not because they plan to use them, but because they eventually always do.
10. Extra Pair of Socks
This one seems obvious. It doesn’t get packed often enough.
Wet feet are not just uncomfortable — they are a legitimate cold-weather hazard. Moisture against the skin dramatically accelerates heat loss, and once your feet are wet, your comfort and safety for the remainder of the hunt are significantly compromised. A dry pair of socks, sealed in a zip-lock bag to keep them dry regardless of conditions, weighs a few ounces and takes up minimal pack space.
For late-season hunts, long sits in the cold, or any terrain that involves water crossings or wet vegetation, a spare pair of moisture-wicking wool or synthetic hunting socks can transform a miserable, abbreviated sit into a productive full day. It’s one of the highest-return investments on this list.
11. Lens Cleaning Cloth
Optics get dirty in the field faster than most hunters expect. Dust, rain, moisture from breathing, smudges from gloves, and contact with brush all accumulate on eyepieces and objective lenses with surprising speed. Dirty optics cost you clarity exactly when clarity matters most — at legal shooting light, in low contrast conditions, or when trying to identify an animal at distance.
A small microfiber cleaning cloth costs almost nothing, weighs almost nothing, and fits easily in any optics case or pack pocket. Keep one dedicated to your field kit. Never use shirts, sleeves, or rough materials on quality glass. A quality microfiber cloth and a puff of breath can restore full optical performance in seconds.
12. Toilet Paper or Travel Tissues
There is no polite way to address this item other than directly: nature calls in the field, often at inconvenient times, and everyone eventually needs this. A small travel-size pack of tissues or a few strips of toilet paper sealed in a zip-lock bag takes up essentially no space in a pack.
Pack it. You’ll be grateful you did.
13. Compact First Aid Kit
Minor injuries in the field — blisters, cuts from field dressing, small puncture wounds from thorns or wire fences, twisted ankles, and abrasions — are genuinely common occurrences. A compact first aid kit designed for hunting or backcountry use addresses most of them without adding significant weight.
A minimal hunting-specific kit should include adhesive bandages in multiple sizes, antiseptic wipes or a small tube of antibiotic ointment, pain reliever such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen, moleskin or blister treatment, and a few strips of medical tape.
Purpose-built compact kits from brands like Adventure Medical Kits or NAR (North American Rescue) are available for under $20 and weigh a few ounces. The goal is not to replace professional medical care — it’s to address minor problems before they become major ones and to stabilize more serious situations until proper care is available.
14. Knife Sharpener
A sharp knife is one of the most important field tools a hunter carries. A dull knife is one of the most common frustrations in the field — and one of the most dangerous, since it requires more force and creates more opportunity for the blade to slip.
Compact folding knife sharpeners, ceramic rod sharpeners, and diamond-coated pocket sharpeners are all available in palm-sized form factors that fit easily in any pack. A quick touch-up before and during a field dressing session keeps the work efficient and safe.
Quality field sharpeners from brands like Lansky, Work Sharp, and Smith’s are available in compact formats for under $15. It is one of those items that hunters who skin and process their own game will reach for on virtually every harvest.
15. Lightweight Trash Bag
A heavy-duty, contractor-style garbage bag or a lightweight dry bag serves more purposes in the field than most hunters anticipate.
A large trash bag can protect a pack and its contents from unexpected rain. It can carry wet or bloody clothing out without contaminating everything else in the pack. It serves as a seat cover, a rain poncho in a true emergency, or a bag liner to keep meat or harvested game insulated and clean during a packout. Small zip-lock bags are excellent for protecting documents, electronics, ammunition, and small items from moisture.
A single large trash bag folded into a shirt pocket adds essentially no weight and no bulk. Experienced hunters in wet climates — Pacific Northwest, Gulf Coast states, Great Lakes country — often consider this item non-negotiable.
The Real Cost of Forgetting Small Hunting Accessories
Most hunting trips don’t end in failure because of the big things. The rifle works. The calls are right. The stand was hung in a great location.
They end — or become genuinely miserable — because of small things that were left behind. Cold hands that killed your ability to make a shot. A dead headlamp that turned a blood trail into a guessing game. A lost animal because you had no flagging tape to mark the trail. A dull knife that made field dressing take twice as long.
The 15 items above share several characteristics. Most cost less than $10. Most weigh less than a few ounces. Most take up far less space than a rolled pair of socks. And every single one of them has been the difference between a productive, comfortable hunt and a frustrated early exit.
Building a small “insurance kit” that lives permanently in your hunting pack — restocked after each season — is a practice that experienced hunters adopt early and rarely abandon. The investment in time and money is minimal. The return in the field is significant.
Frequently Asked Questions
What small hunting accessories should every hunter carry in their pack?
Beyond core equipment (weapon, ammunition, license), experienced hunters typically carry navigation tools (compass, map, GPS), fire-starting materials, a small first aid kit, emergency signaling capability, and a collection of small support items including spare batteries, paracord, flagging tape, and gloves for field dressing.
What hunting gear do most hunters commonly forget?
Based on feedback from experienced hunters, the most commonly forgotten small items are spare socks, disposable gloves for field dressing, backup batteries for headlamps and GPS units, a simple compass, and flagging tape for blood trailing.
Is a compass still worth carrying if you have a GPS?
Yes. A compass requires no battery, no signal, and no power source. It functions reliably in extreme cold, rain, and rough conditions that can disable electronics. Carrying a compass as a backup to your GPS is a standard recommendation from wilderness safety professionals and experienced hunters alike.
Should hunters always carry a first aid kit?
Yes. Even on day hunts in familiar terrain, minor injuries are common. A compact first aid kit addressing cuts, blisters, abrasions, and basic wound care is a lightweight, low-cost form of field insurance that every hunter should consider standard equipment.
What is the best paracord for hunting?
Look for genuine 550 paracord (also called Type III paracord), which has a minimum breaking strength of 550 pounds and contains seven inner strands. A 50-foot hank in a high-visibility or earth-tone color provides significant utility for most field applications.
Looking for the right gear to stock your hunting pack? Browse our full selection of hunting accessories and field gear designed for serious hunters who value preparation and performance.