Item dependencies

A camp stove without a gas canister is a paperweight. A coffee percolator without ground coffee is a sad morning. Dependencies are how you tell GearCache “this item doesn’t really work without these other items” — so when one of them lands on a checklist, the others get a gentle nudge.

The problem this solves#

You remembered the stove. You forgot the canister. It’s a familiar pattern — packing lists capture things but not what those things need to function. Dependencies fix that without you having to memorise relationships every time you make a new checklist.

Defining a dependency#

Open an item and tap Dependencies. Search for or pick another item — that’s it. Save, and you’ve created a “this item depends on that item” relationship.

A few things to know:

• An item can depend on as many others as it needs. Stoves usually need at least two (canister + lighter).
• An item can be depended on by many others — a single lighter is a dependency of every stove, lantern, and fire-starter in your kit.
• Dependencies are defined once at the item level and apply to every checklist. You don’t have to re-declare them per trip.
• Circular dependencies are prevented automatically — A can depend on B, and B can depend on C, but C can’t loop back to A.

What happens on a checklist#

When you add an item with dependencies to a trip checklist, GearCache prompts:

“Gas canister is required by Camp stove — add it too?”

You can confirm to add the dependency to the checklist, or dismiss to skip it. The prompt fires once per dependency at the moment you add the parent item; it doesn’t badger you about it later.

If a dependency item is already on the checklist, the prompt is skipped — no double-asking.

Suggestions, not enforcement#

Dependencies are suggestions. GearCache will never refuse to let you add an item without its dependencies, and will never auto-add anything you didn’t agree to. There are real cases where you don’t need them:

• The stove is a backup; you’re using the percolator on the campfire.
• You already have the canister at the destination; no need to add it to the “still to pack” list.
• Someone else in the party is bringing the lighter.

In all those cases, dismiss the prompt. The dependency relationship stays defined for next time.

A few real examples#

The relationships in your inventory will be specific to your gear. Some that earn their keep across most setups:

Parent	Depends on
Camp stove	Gas canister, Lighter
Coffee percolator	Ground coffee, Camp stove
Inflatable mattress	Air pump
Lantern	Spare batteries (or fuel)
First aid kit	Snake bandage (re-add after use)
Recovery kit	Snatch strap, Shackles

Note that dependencies can chain: adding the percolator prompts you for ground coffee and the stove, which then prompts you for the canister and lighter. One tap can pull in a whole subsystem.

What to learn next#

• Checklists & smart packing — see dependencies in the context of the full checklist flow.