>>45262Lots. Unfortunately a lot of us here learned our outdoors skills from our parents at a young age, or from the Scouts or other youth group, so it's hard to explain from step one. Read through the links in the sticky, buy a book on the matter, when you have specific questions, ask them here, another hiking forum, or a friend or relative with experience.
If you're strictly day-hiking: driving to a trailhead, hiking out and hiking back on the same day, then all you really need is water, food, appropriate clothing, rain gear, a compass and a map, and the knowledge of how to use them. If the trail is really well marked, you don't even really need the compass and the map. Just don't leave the trail and go back the same way you went out.
