Annapurna Base Camp Trek Gears

Before getting on the track of Annapurna Base Camp, lies a series of preparations. Gears are the part where we invested our time and money the most. We hiked with our sneakers before and never been on a multi-day trek. ABC trail gave us the first experience of a truly rugged train in high altitude.

Annapurna Base Camp trail, October 26, 2026

In Bangladesh, we do not have a lot of options to shop for gears, for example, trekking boots. In this blog, we cover what are the gears you should take with you, and how to find them.

Table of Contents

1. Gears List
2. All about Trekking Boots
3. All about Rucksack
4. Gear Pricing

Gears List

The must-have gears are

1. Waterproof trekking boots
2. Daypack (w/ porter)/trekking bag
3. Baseball cap/hat
4. Sunglasses
5. Sunscreen
6. Waterproof windbreaker
7. Rain coat and rain cover for bag OR a poncho that covers both you and bag
8. Waterproof gloves
9. Trekking poles (for balance, very useful for walking on the snow)

Trekking Boots

Our trekking boots had been our best friends throughout the hike. The things you should be looking for in your trekking boots which will support you on the ABC trail—

1. Mid-ankle support
2. Waterproof
3. Breathable

In the trail we saw many people wearing boots from Columbia, Merrell Moab, Quechua etc.

How to find trekking boots

Inside Bangladesh

In Dhaka we visited the brand outlets of Adidas, Puma, Bata, Apex and found only 2/3 hiking boots with low ankle support and not waterproof, but ABC trail requires mid-ankle and waterproof. In Woodland, Polica Plaza, we found only one such boot - Aquas 4467, which is waterproof and with mid-ankle support. The price was around BDT 10,500. It was a men’s leather boots, Samudro tried it and found it okay, but not convinced. We heard that DCC markets in Gulshan have some trekking boots but haven’t got to explore them. I would say the option is very limited.

Outside Bangladesh

One option is you buy the gears from Thamel, after reaching Kathmandu. Another is - if you live/visit somewhere where trekking gears are available, then you can try them on and purchase. Decathlon is one such place for trying all trekking gears at one place.

Order from abroad

This is the deal we took. We relied on brands which are very popular and have tons of reviews on YouTube. Then watched some reviews, chatted with ChatGPT to help compare and shortlisted some boots.

How to order boots from abroad

We messaged Products from USA & UK facebook page and shared the eBay website link for the boots. They gave us pricing for the boots. After making an advance payment, they bought the boots for us instantly. Then after about a month, the boots reached Dhaka and were delivered to our doorstep, in perfect condition! With PFU2, I didn’t need to worry at all about when they will buy the boots, will the boots be in stock by then etc. PFU2 was extremely professional to us!

Our Experience with Merrel Moab 3 mid GTX

We selected Merrell Moab 3 mid GTX. The men’s version for him and women’s for me. GTX is the waterproof technology used in these boots. About size, we followed the brand’s website which instructed us to choose 1 size larger for this particular boot. Indeed the recommended size fits us perfectly! It costs us $190 for each pair. The boots had been excellent, to illustrate

I stepped badly many times during the trek and completed the trek without any injury

We had to do many water crossing, not once our boots got wet even though we often dipped our boots in water levelled higher than the heels.

Excellent breathability, we didn’t worry about the feet, period.

One other quality I love in fabrics and footwear is - stink resistance. After all day trekking, my socks got sweaty and stinky, but the boots were like new!

My feet were dry and warm while trekking during snowfall. We trekked on ice, fell on ice, sometimes our feet got dipped into the ice. Each time there is a feeling of cold, but soon I felt that the ice did not enter inside the boot, its heavy cushion prevented the ice from going inside and movement helped the snow to get released outside the boots. This was the most miraculous “technologia” moment!

Lastly, my cleaning experience was great too. Since the last two days we trekked inside snow and mud, the boots got grimy. Thanks to the camouflage type color, they did not look dirty. After coming back home, I cleaned the outsole with water and brush and gently brushed the dried grimes from the boot body. I let the boot dry for 2 days. And finally filled the boots with shoe-trees and kept it inside its box. That’s all—it looks great now.

Rucksack

This is another important gear - because climbing up is more difficult with a rucksack, so you need one which is light and can distribute weight.

We recommend that you carry light - just essentials. You can travel to Nepal with more things, just leave the items you will not need on the trails at your hotel before making the journey to trek.

In ABC trek, you can also hire a porter. A porter usually carried up to 12.5 kg load for one person. They give you a large duffel bag to put the loads. You can take a porter, or carry yourself or do a fusion like us—carry some and give some to the porter.

How to choose your rucksack

If you are carrying everything yourself, you can choose a backpack for 50L or more.

If you are sharing with a porter, then a daypack would do (lighter), or if you want to invest in a bigger pack, you can do that. Mind it, it’s a bit heavier than a daypack. Choose the backpack size that matches your physique. This guide helped me choose my size.

Where to find in Dhaka

We found only one shop, Peak69, that sells hiking and camping gears (but not boots) in Aziz Super market, Shahbagh. We found some Naturehike bags there. And bought one Naturehike 70L pack for him, it gave good service.

How to order from abroad

As there was no suitable bag for my size in Peak69 at that time, I had to order one from abroad. I chose Osprey Kyte 48, which gave me neat service. Again I ordered through PFU2 and they instantly bought my bag directly from the Osprey website.

Gear Pricing

Giving a summary of the gears we purchased, their pricing and where they can be found

Boots - Men’s Merrell Moab 3 mid GTX - ordered from USA via PFU2 - $190 in website and took us ~ BDT 33,000 with shipping and all

Boots - Women’s Merrell Moab 3 mid GTX - ordered from USA via PFU2 - $190 in website and took us ~ BDT 33,000 with shipping and all

Hiking pack - Naturehike Discovery 70L - bought from store Peak69, Dhaka - BDT 11,000

Hiking pack - Osprey Kyte 48L - ordered from USA via PFUS - $220 in website and took us ~BDT 33,000 with shipping and all

Winbreaker - SaRa lifestyle, Dhaka - ~ BDT 2,000 (very good quality and price)

Poncho - Peak 69, Dhaka - ~ BDT 2,000

Feel free to drop a comment about any questions!