Frequently Asked Questions

Don’t Forget the Spoon (DFTS) is a gear and packing list app for backpackers, hikers and campers.

You enter your gear once in a digital Gear Locker, then build a pack for each trip from it. The app adds up your pack weight, shows where the weight is coming from, helps you plan meals and calories, and lets you swipe items as you pack them so nothing gets left at home.

It also has a community side: a shared gear database, public packs from other hikers, weight rankings, and live packs you can fill in together with your trail partners.

On a winter trip to Clouds Rest in Yosemite, we made camp in Little Yosemite Valley after dark, melted snow for our dehydrated dinners and then realized we’d forgotten our spoons. We carved one out of a stick so we could eat. That night was the start of the app. Read the whole story.

• iPhone, iPhone Duo and iPad: App Store
• Android phones and tablets: Google Play
• Any computer with a web browser: dfts.app

Sign in with the same account on each one and your gear and packs sync between them.

On iPhone Duo, the app is optimized for the large inner screen: unfold it and screens like pack weight show your breakdown and your gear side by side.

Yes, it’s free to download and use. The free plan includes:

• Up to 5 packs
• Up to 200 items in your Gear Locker
• Up to 5 trip to-dos per trip
• Pack weight summaries, swipe to pack and calorie tracking
• Find Gear, Find Packs, weight rankings and pack sharing

DFTS Pro removes the limits and adds gear photos, folders, sub packs, container packing, meal planning, AI Pack Shakedown and live shared packing. You can choose an annual subscription or a one-time lifetime membership. See DFTS Pro for details.

Yes. You sign in with Google, Apple or email, which is what lets your gear and packs sync between your phone, tablet and the web app. See How do I sign in? for details.

No. Anything you pack for works: backpacking, thru-hiking, day hikes, car camping, mountaineering, snowshoeing, bikepacking, paddling or a photography trip. Tags on each pack (like Backpacking, Winter or Pacific Crest Trail) help you and others find the right kind of pack.

Only you, unless you choose to share:

• Packs are only visible to others if you make them public or invite someone to pack with you.
• Gear is only added to the community gear database if you turn on Share with the community for that item.
• Gear photos only show on a public pack if you turn on Share photos.

For the details of what data we collect and how it’s used, read our Privacy Policy.

A spreadsheet can add up weights, but it can’t easily reuse gear across trips, show you which category is heaviest, compare your gear with what other hikers carry, plan meals by day, let a partner pack with you in real time, or let you check items off at the trailhead with a swipe.

If you already have a spreadsheet, you can bring it with you. See How do I import gear from a spreadsheet?

The app is built around two things: your Gear Locker and your packs.

1. Add each piece of gear to your Gear Locker once, with its weight.
2. Create a pack for a trip and add gear to it from your locker.
3. The pack adds up your total, base, worn and consumable weight for you.
4. When it’s time to go, swipe items to mark them packed.

Because gear lives in your locker, you can reuse the same item in as many packs as you like and only enter it once.

• My Packs: your trip packing lists.
• Gear Locker: every piece of gear you own.
• Find Gear: search the community gear database.
• Find Packs: browse public packs shared by other users.

The + button in the middle creates a new pack (on My Packs) or adds new gear (on Gear Locker).

Tap the ••• button in the top right of My Packs or Gear Locker, then tap Settings. The same menu has Pro upgrade, Help and Log out.

Yes. Go to Settings → Replay onboarding.

Yes. The web app at dfts.app uses the same account, so your packs and gear sync between your computer, phone and tablet.

A few features only work in the phone and tablet apps: CSV import and export, archiving packs, inviting people to a pack, gear collages and buying Pro. Answers on this page marked “App only” don’t work on the web.

There are two ways:

• Type it in: on the Gear Locker tab, tap + and fill in the item name, brand, weight, gear type and category.
• Copy it from the community: on the Find Gear tab, search for the item, open it and tap Save to gear locker. The details are filled in for you, and you can adjust the weight before saving.

Item name, brand, weight, gear type and category are required. Everything else is optional.

Besides the required name, brand, weight, gear type and category, you can add:

• Temperature rating (for sleeping bags and quilts)
• Volume (for packs and water containers)
• Calories (for food)
• R value (for sleeping pads)
• Cost
• Notes, such as fit, season or how you use it
• A photo (Pro)
• A Gear Locker folder (Pro)

Tap the item in your Gear Locker to open it. From there you can change any detail and save, or use the ••• menu at the top to duplicate or delete it.

Duplicating is handy for items that come in several sizes or colors. Deleting an item removes it from your locker.

Press and hold an item to start selecting, then tap more items to add them. Use the buttons at the top to delete them or move them into a folder. Tap the X to stop selecting.

Tap the search icon at the top of the Gear Locker. Search looks at item names, brands, categories, gear types and notes.

Open the item, tap the photo area and choose Camera or Gallery. You can crop the photo before saving it.

Folders (also called bins) let you organize gear to match how you store it, such as a shelf, a bin, an activity or a season.

• Create a folder: tap New Folder, pick a name, color and icon.
• Put gear in a folder: choose a folder when you add or edit an item, or select items and tap Move to folder, or press and drag an item onto a folder.
• View a folder: tap it to see only its gear. Tap it again to go back to all your gear.
• Edit or delete a folder: use the folder’s actions menu. Deleting a folder doesn’t delete the gear inside it; that gear becomes Unfiled.

Tap the summary button at the top of the Gear Locker to see your gear broken down by category, gear type and brand, plus a cost summary, your wish list and your folders.

To keep the summary showing all the time, open the ••• menu and turn on Pin summary.

Open an item and tap the Find lighter gear button. The app shows community items of the same gear type that weigh less than yours, so you can see what an upgrade would save.

When adding or editing an item, turn on Share with the community. This adds it to the community gear database so other users can find it in Find Gear.

Free accounts can store up to 200 items in the Gear Locker. Pro removes the limit.

1. Go to the My Packs tab and tap +.
2. Give the pack a name and, if you like, a description of the trip.
3. Optionally add tags (like Backpacking or Winter) and trip locations.
4. Choose whether the pack is public, whether to share photos, and whether it’s a sub pack.
5. Tap Create pack, then start adding gear.

Open the pack and tap the + button. Pick items from your Gear Locker; you can search and filter the list. Use the switch at the top to add a sub pack instead of single items.

Gear has to be in your Gear Locker before you can add it to a pack.

Swipe an item to the right to mark it packed, and to the left to unpack it. In the Photo grid view, double tap an item instead.

The Packed Items card shows how much of the pack is done. To start over, open the pack’s ••• menu and tap Un-pack to mark everything as not packed.

Tap an item in a pack to set these:

• Worn: things you wear, like your boots or jacket. They count toward worn weight, not base weight.
• Consumable: things you use up, like food, water and fuel. They count toward consumable weight.
• Packed: the item is in your bag.

Everything that isn’t worn or consumable is your base weight.

Tap the item in the pack and change the Quantity. The pack weight updates to include every copy.

Tap the item in the pack. You can change its quantity and tags, edit its details, or tap Remove from pack. Removing it from the pack doesn’t delete it from your Gear Locker.

The top of each pack shows summary cards you can swipe through:

• Total and base, worn and consumable weight
• Weight by category
• Packed items
• Packing suggestions and AI Shakedown
• Sub packs
• Brands and cost
• Calories and the meal planner
• Trip to-do list
• Trip locations and map

Use the summary button to show or hide them, or turn on Pin summary in the ••• menu to keep them showing.

Open the pack, tap the ••• menu and choose Edit. You can change the name, description, tags, locations and the public, photo sharing and sub pack options.

Open the pack, tap the ••• menu and choose Duplicate Pack. Give the copy a new name. All of the pack’s items are copied over, so it’s a quick way to start a similar trip.

Open the pack, tap the ••• menu and choose Archive Pack. Archived packs are hidden from My Packs but not deleted.

To bring one back, go to Settings → Archived packs and tap Unarchive Pack.

Open the pack, tap the ••• menu and choose Delete. This can’t be undone. The gear stays in your Gear Locker. If you might want the pack later, archive it instead.

Go to Settings → Pack order and choose Heaviest first, Lightest first or Alphabetical.

To group items under their category headings, turn on Group gear by category in Settings or in the pack’s ••• menu.

Yes. On the My Packs tab, press and hold a pack to see its weight by category without opening it.

Yes. Open the pack, tap the ••• menu and choose Export CSV. You can then save or send the file.

Free accounts can have up to 5 packs. Pro removes the limit.

A sub pack is a reusable kit, like your kitchen set or first aid kit, that you can add to other packs as one item.

To make one, create a pack and turn on Sub pack. Then, in any other pack, tap + and switch to Sub packs to add it.

Container packing lets you show where things are packed, such as which stuff sack or pocket an item is in, and nest containers inside each other.

To turn it on, go to Settings → Packing mode and choose Container based packing.

1. Make sure Packing mode is set to Container based packing in Settings.
2. In a pack, tap the item you want to use as a container (like a stuff sack) and turn on Container.
3. Press and hold another item and drag it onto the container.

To take an item out, drag it to Move to Root. You can also choose a packed location when you tap an item, and split quantities across more than one container.

Each pack has a Trip To-Do card in its summary. Tap Add to-do to add tasks like “buy fuel” or “check permits”, and tap a task to check it off. You can rename or delete tasks too.

Free accounts can add up to 5 tasks per trip. Pro removes the limit.

When you create or edit a pack, add a trailhead or destination under Locations. You can add more than one. The pack’s Pack Locations card shows them on a map.

Add calories to your food items in the Gear Locker. When those items are in a pack, the Calories card adds them up and compares them to your daily target.

To set your daily target, go to Settings → Default calories. There are starting points for hiking/backpacking and mountaineering.

1. Add food to your pack, with the gear type set to Meal or Snack.
2. In the pack’s Calories card, tap the calendar button to open the meal planner.
3. Add days, then add your meals and snacks to each day. You can add sections like breakfast or dinner.

The planner shows calories for each day so you can see if you’re bringing enough.

AI Shakedown reviews your pack like an experienced guide would. It gives suggestions in three areas: weight savings, trail-specific risks, and missing essentials.

Open a pack, find the Packing Suggestions card and tap AI Shakedown. For better advice, describe the trip in the pack’s description (where you’re going, how long, the weather, and whether you’re solo).

Pro members get a monthly AI allowance, shown at the top of Settings. Always double-check the suggestions before heading out.

Open the pack, tap the ••• menu and choose Share. The pack needs to be public to share it, so the app will offer to make it public first. You’ll then get a link you can send to anyone.

You need a username to share packs.

Public packs show up in Find Packs and on your profile, where other users can view and like them. Turn on Share photos if you also want your gear photos to show.

You can turn Public on or off at any time by editing the pack.

In a pack’s weight summary card, tap the share button. The app makes an image of your pack’s weight breakdown that you can post or send.

A gear collage is a picture made from the photos of all the gear in a pack. Open the pack, tap the ••• menu and choose Gear Collage. Tap Shuffle layout to try new arrangements, Save layout to keep one, and Share collage to send it.

You can add people to a pack so you all see the same list and pack together in real time.

1. Open the pack, tap the ••• menu and choose Add User.
2. Share the invite code or let them scan the QR code.
3. They go to Settings → Join pack and enter the code or scan it.

Each person adds their own gear, and everyone sees who brought what.

Ask the pack owner for an invite code. Then go to Settings → Join pack and type in the code, or tap Scan QR Code.

Free accounts can join a pack shared by one other person. Joining a pack that already has more members needs Pro.

Open the pack, tap the ••• menu and choose Leave Pack. Your gear is removed from that pack, but stays in your Gear Locker.

Go to the Find Gear tab and search by item name, brand or keyword. If you’d rather explore, tap Browse by item type.

Open any result to see its details, save it to your Gear Locker, add it to your wish list, or look it up online.

Open a community item and tap See weight ranking. It shows where that item falls among all community gear of the same type, from lightest to heaviest.

When browsing by item type, tap a bar in the weight chart to see only the items in that weight range.

Go to the Find Packs tab and pick a trip type, like Backpacking or Pacific Crest Trail. Public packs with that tag are shown, most liked first.

Open a pack to see its gear and summary. Tap the thumbs up to like it, or tap the owner’s name to see their profile.

Go to Settings → Your profile. Your profile shows your public packs and trip locations. Tap Edit links to add your website, blog, YouTube, X or Bluesky, and use Share profile to send it to others.

When you find gear you want in Find Gear, open it and tap Add to wishlist (or Add to favorites). To see your list, go to Settings → Wish list, or open the Wish List card in your Gear Locker summary.

When you buy something on your wish list, open it and tap Add to locker.

Go to Settings → Weight format and choose lbs and oz, lbs, oz, kg and g, kg, or g. All weights in the app use this setting.

Go to Settings → Currency and pick yours. It’s used for gear costs and the cost summary.

Go to Settings → Gear view and choose Standard, Small images, Photo grid, or Compact (no images).

Go to Settings and turn on Dark mode.

Go to Settings → Default pack categories. You can add your own categories, which you can then pick when adding gear.

It keeps the summary cards showing at the top of your packs and Gear Locker instead of hiding them. Turn it on or off in Settings, or in the ••• menu on each screen.

Go to Settings → Import CSV and choose your CSV file. The file’s first row should have these column names:

Item Name, Manufacturer, Item Type, Pack Category, Item Weight, Weight Unit, Community Share, Temperature Rating, Temperature Format, Item Volume, Volume Format, Calories, R Value

Tip: export your Gear Locker first to get a file with the right columns, then fill it in.

Coming from another app or your own spreadsheet? Rename or rearrange your columns to match the list above, save as CSV, then import it.

Go to Settings → Export gear locker as CSV. You can save the file or send it to yourself. It opens in any spreadsheet app.

• Unlimited packs (free: 5)
• Unlimited Gear Locker items (free: 200)
• Unlimited trip to-dos (free: 5 per trip)
• Gear photos
• Gear Locker folders
• Gear collages
• Sub packs and container packing
• Meal planning
• AI Pack Shakedown
• Live shared packing with other people

In the phone or tablet app, tap Unlock DFTS Pro at the top of Settings, or choose Pro upgrade from the ••• menu. You can pick an annual subscription or a lifetime membership.

Pro can’t be bought in the web app, but once you upgrade in the app, Pro works on the web too.

Open the Pro upgrade screen. It shows how many of your 5 free packs and 200 free Gear Locker items you’ve used.

Subscriptions are managed by the App Store or Google Play, not inside the app.

• iPhone or iPad: open the Settings app, tap your name, then Subscriptions.
• Android: open Google Play, tap your profile picture, then Payments & subscriptions → Subscriptions.

You can sign in with Google, Apple (on Apple devices) or email. If you sign up with email, check your inbox for a verification link before you continue. Use the same sign-in method on every device to see the same data.

Your username is shown on your public packs and your profile. You pick it the first time you use the app, and you need one to share packs.

Tap the ••• menu on My Packs or Gear Locker, then tap Log out.

Go to Settings → Delete account. You’ll be asked to sign in again to confirm. This permanently deletes your account and all your data, and it can’t be undone. Export your Gear Locker first if you want to keep a copy.

Deleting your account doesn’t cancel a Pro subscription. Cancel that in the App Store or Google Play.

Can’t get into the app? Email [email protected] from the address on your account and we’ll delete your data for you. See the Privacy Policy for more.

Email us at [email protected], or ask the community on Discord or Reddit. In the app, you can also go to Settings → Help & FAQ and use the contact options at the bottom.

When reporting a bug, say what device you’re on, what you tapped, what you expected and what happened instead. A screenshot helps a lot.