Lots of solid advice. I avoid a brolly whenever I can preferring decent waterproofs and also a poncho which can also be used as a tarp if the swim suits. I just pre-tie lengths of para cord to the eyelets, does the job nicely.
I also have a really good rummage through my quiver and rucksack as it's amazing what accumulates through the season
Weights and feeders are normally essential but do you REALLY need all them spares? When was the last time you lost 6 feeders and 6 leads in a session?
Chairs are great but on my local river it's nearly all sloping banks , so for a true roving session a decent unhooking mat can be perfectly comfortable and I think it discourages you from taking root in a swim, it just depends what you have in mind at the end of the walk I guess?
I pre-tie a lot of my rigs and have them on winders so no needs to carry line, spare hooks - it all adds up.
Radios, headtorches, spare headtorches, spare batteries, spare scales, mozzy sprays, phone chargers, spare forceps , - all recently taken out for roving sessions
I also managed to shed 4-5 banksticks which had multiplied over the summer. And a spare net & handle.
If you're roving do you really need 2 rods- again guilty of this but getting better.
I had a good look in my tackle box and again instead of taking 20 x kwiklinks & No 8 swivels and 10 baiting needles, I just took a few essential bits in a small clamshell box.
All seems small but it's the sum of the parts.
If I'm not going very far but still want to be mobile, I can get everything in a Trakker rectangular bucket with the shallow lid for terminal bits and bait , catapult in the main section.
And bait is another big weight, but I would wager most of us take way too much?
But if it's a yomp - definitely a decent rucksack as high on your back as you can - make sure it fits, I've set off before with one that was too narrow across the shoulders and it made the walk really uncomfortable.
I use a quiver but for years when leapfroggin rivers when piking I would just carry rods , net/handle and banksticks - keeping it as balanced as possible - if my gear is even slightly unbalanced i really feel it now on my lower back and hips so as suggested if you can keep your hands free this is the way to do it
you can get cheap carabiners off any site and it's amazing what you can clip onto a rucksack
I think it's worth the effort as when you are lugging around a lot of extra weight it can detract from the fishing - Ive done it so many times, set off like a sherpa , got absolutely knackered and settled on a swim, rather than compromise a bit on gear and fish where I really want to fish.
On a recent trip, my friend cut his session short as he had to make 2 trips with his gear, each one probably 1 mile there and back. It definitely distracted him.
I stayed on, after nothing all day the fish turned on and I had 3 in an hour
Truth is I had way too much gear and was dreading the walk back but I'm a bit younger and a bit fitter than he is but it was still painful.