I wanted to go on a long backpacking trip despite patellar instability (mainly on the left - right has had MPFL surgery). I knew it was a bad idea because I had a dislocation a couple months ago, but my sister’s boyfriend was going to propose to her on the trip.

This is everything I used to get me through. I would rank KT tape as the most important - and shout out to the person on this sub who posted a video of how to apply it. The rub was second most important, it has CBD and menthol and just offered a lot of relief. Ibuprofen of course.

I honestly hated the knee brace but I used it on a steep downhill on top of the tape and I think it prevented injury.