Absolute "Must Have" Indispensable Yet Innovative Items For Hiking

I've been reading quite a bit the past few months about gear, first aid, survival and similar topics here on VFTT, other websites and books. I am curious what you guys out in "VFTT land" feel are the most indispensable, must have, I don't care what it weighs, ready to use in a variety of circumstances items are that you carry year round. In particular, I'm interested in items that are usable in a variety of circumstances, require minimal or no set up time and effort. The minimal effort and ready to use aspect I find of particular importance as a solo hiker who would not have the assistance (or gear) of others to accommodate a variety of decisions.

As a maybe obvious example is the Z-fold pads most of us carry. It can provide a comfortable place to sit, insulation on cold ground in an injury or survival situation, can be improvised into splint material, used as a quick sun shade, wind and rain barrier, trap condensation or rainwater, etc, etc. And the z-fold is ready to use and can accomplish these functions with little to no effort, a major benefit if injured as a solo hiker or if becoming lost where energy and effort is best spent on other activities. This extreme ease of use and functionality justifies it's bulky package and space in the pack.

What other items are you carrying like this, the proverbial "magic bullet" so to speak, and how are you using it? Curious to hear. (I think we can skip duct tape as a suggestion. It's versatility and ease of use is well established and documented) And if there are threads already covering the topic a referral is fine. (I tried searching under "versatile", "minimalist" and some other terms but didn't pull up many threads and/or very very old threads). There are some unusual items that have come to mind for me that I am considering using as it dawns on me what I might be able to use them for quickly and easily. Thanks as always for the input.

P.S. With today being the last day of the football season my endless barrage of stupid questions should be coming to an end and I'll be getting in the woods more and talking less.

Off the top of my head - very small multi pliers( indispensable and one in every pack), sealed fire starter and waterproof matches, first aid kit and take Wilderness First Aid course, zip ties, bushwhacking glasses, small emergency clothing stash in waterproof bag. Extra mittens/gloves, hats for myself or for companions, extra: headlamp, compass, batteries. Map of area.

Waxed dental floss with several embroidery needles. One pre-threaded

A headlamp and a back up - like a key chain light, already attached to my headlamp strap. Weighs 1/4 oz. and costs $1.00. Brainless.

Bivvy Sack. Again, small, light, not that expensive.

"Waxed dental floss with several embroidery needles. One pre-threaded"

....taped to the underside lid of my first aid kit. John, I may have stolen this idea from you a few years ago.

When LED headlamps first came out they were the greatest innovation out there . The batteries seemed to last forever and the no issues with bulbs. I remember more than once digging out my spare bulb for a regular mini maglight after dropping it. Once LEDs came out they were darn near indestructible.

The other thing is an lightweight OR balaclava and poly pro glove liners. They take up almost no space and dont weight a lot but there is no substitute some days. I have carried those two items for 95% of the AT and wish I had them for the earlier 5%. They have made the difference between having to wait out a day or bailing more than few times.

I also carry an ACR whistle which is about a loud whistle as is available. They are real handy for signalling in crappy weather and I use it on occasion to let the local bears on my AT section that I am around.

My final thing to carry are a tirioxane bar (Esbit would serve the same purpose). No matter how damp things are I can usually get a fire going and even if I cant it usually burn long enough to get my hands warm.

Survival knife, paracord, roll of athletic tape. These 3 items can perform many task.

I have a bunch of electrical tie wraps in my first aid kit, 4 each in 3 or 4 sizes. I picked up a pacakaged set of various sizes at Home Depot and an electrician gave me a few really big ones that are stout enough snowshoe repair.

"Indispensible" and "innovative" are in conflict here. If you really really need it for walking around in the woods, somebody invented it in the Stone Age.

For example, I never carry a foam pad. Not heavy, but I just don't need it, and I don't like leaving bits of foam all over the woods when I bushwhack.

But there are a few fairly recent innovations that are quite welcome. The LED headlamp (Petzl Tikka being the archetype) is one. I'll name Katoola MicroSpikes as another.

Runner-ups would include backpacking stoves in general: the small ones like the Dragonfly and the newer, faster, ones like JetBoil and MSR Reactor.

Then there are the little multi-use items. Let us sing the praises of the zip-lock bag and the kitchen-sized trash bag!

I need to (re) up my game. The sewing needle & floss is a one-time thing (until you need it) unlike finding the Advil expired a year ago. I've been able to limp or ignore the petty injuries like blisters and bloody toenails (yesterday). Hiking with cub scouts have shortened my trips so being miles away from the car has not been an issue. Years of not needing anything has put some gaps in things. (Had the electrical tie wraps for snowshoe repair when I used Tubb's with decking. The MSR's weakness & only moving parts seem to be the binding.

What's managed to remain in the must haves: Whistle and small buck knife and LED key chain light all on my keychain. Headlamps, I should never have the, it got dark excuse. My fingers seem to go, warm or too cold (& cub scouts tend to have insufficient gloves - just learning "Be Prepared") so I'm redundant with gloves. Thick fleece mitts double as water bottle insulators (they go right over kids gloves and mittens) I usually have two or three pair of liners, one or two pair of wind-bloc fleece gloves not counting the pair inside the expeditions and then a pair of Pearl Izumi lobster mitts which have been fantastic the last couple of years.

I usually have poles as they makeup the support of any splint I may have to make. I've foregone the Z-pad as years of a desk job had me foregoing any extra sitting. (a great idea though to have) Figured I'd used webbing and extra fleece with a pole if I had to splint a leg. Old age (I know some of you are older) has made me dial down the danger meter maybe a notch from when I was 30.

I have a thermorest inflatable pillow size seat I love and rarely hike without. I've never carried spare shoelaces, but do have a length of paracord. I also carry a Ipod Shuffle, in case I have to sit for a while and need to distract my thoughts, or keep me energized when walking in less than thrilling terrain.

I think based on the type of answers I'm getting I didn't frame my question correctly. I was looking more for items that have a great many uses with little to no effort. "Indispensable" and "innovative" may have been a bad choice of words as nartreb has pointed out. That's what I was attempting to illustrate with my z-ply example.

Zip ties was another good example given (an item I recently added to my stuff too). They can be used to tie stuff to packs, repair broken items, possible first aid applications, used to make a shelter, etc, etc. Duct tape has a virtually unlimited number of uses. Trash bags are another great one. These were more the items I meant.

I suppose there just aren't that many "miracle" items out there capable of easily doing many things with little to no effort.

There are all sorts of things to add to a pack depending upon how much weight you're willing to carry and how bad you think you might need it. Frankly, I have a fairly compact and light pack but I carry a lot of things that I "must have" but have never used ... which is the way I like it. One such item is a dental cavity repair "kit" ... repackaged it doesn't take much space but if you've ever broke a tooth or lost a filling, especially out on a backpack, you'll be glad to have it.

Because we all hike our own hikes, the question will have many answers. The Dental Floss and needle makes clothing, pack and tent repairs possible plus you can even use it as dental floss. Either cord or bootlaces (which we should carry) can be used for tent and snowshoe repairs, bearbagging and used as bootlaces. (Anyone try fishing with either floss or cord? or has anyone tried flossing with fishing line??? )

Poles and a small tarp or a raincoat or Poncho can be used for a summer shelter. Poles are great for knocking snow off branches before you walk underneath. (I normally don't wear my jacket with the hood up so this is more important to me than someone who always has their hood on.)

With some people a coffee cup & their morning joe is a necessity, for others, not so much.

Not a "must have" but it's extremely cool

the smallest tripod I've ever seen:

http://www.rei.com/product/831273/joby-gorillapod-micro-250-camera-tripod