Gear Page.

We Love Gear!!!

Updated 5-14-2013
 

Gear, What to bring, do I really need this item? What does it weigh, is this item a necessity or a luxury and do I want to carry it for 2000 miles.  Can the item be used for multiple duties?  Is it durable or will I have to baby this piece of equipment.  These are some of the considerations that go into selecting the equipment one carries on a thru hike. The gear list is always evolving, and in my case, now I am fine tuning my base gear and am trying to decide on how to maximize my cold weather gear for the beginning of the hike.  My other concerns with gear is figuring out how much food and water to carry.  Believe it or not, food and water will make up over 50 percent of my total weight carried!!!! Be looking for information on food and nutrition at a later date.

So when I look at gear and weights, I divide my gear into several sections, base weight (backpack, shelter, sleep system), All other gear, and consumables (food, water, fuel). Oh and then there is wearables to consider also. Wearables are weighed but are what you will be wearing or in pockets of what you are wearing.  As I have already stated, this is a balancing act of weight, usability and safety.  So with that, here  is my evolving gear list as of summer 2012.

  I have 2 backpacks as of this moment. The one I am experimenting with right now is a lighweight internal frame backpack, it is not fancy, and cost me nothing as I actually found it at a trail head abandoned by a pseudo hiker who apparently bought a ton of equipment, hiked a few days and decided they did not like hiking and dropped off all their equipment at a trail head with a note that people should take what they could use.  So, I picked up the back pack. Nice!!! So, here is the list of what is in my pack at the present time and we will see what will change or be added over the next few months.

Backpack:  ULA Circuit.  Lightweight, smallish size and comfortable with base weights under 15 pounds and total weight carried of less than 35 pounds.  As it is a smallish pack, I will not be tempted to add unnecessary gear to fill it up. Ha Ha.

Weight at the present moment is 2 lbs 2 ounces and is subject to becoming lighter as I remove accessories.

Retail Price: ~$220.00  I will be using this pack on my hike.  After many miles of use, I love it!!

 

 

 

 

 

Leki Carbon
TI Trekking Poles

15.4 oz of Carbon Fiber Goodness.  Less than 8 ounces each

make for an easy day of swinging trekking poles.The only concern I have for these is if they will shatter when dropped due to the carbon fiber.  I do have a pair of Black Diamond aluminum poles as a backup.

                                                     Cost: 0...a gift.





 

Stove: This is a basic alcohol stove that is light and small.  It has about a 10 minute burn time with 1 oz of fuel so it is more than enough to boil water for dinner or a quick hot drink when needed.

Weight: 2 ounces.

Retail Price: free to make and generally $15-30 dollars to purchase already made. Mine is homemade based on the brasslite design.  Love it!




Snow Peak 700 ml Titanium Mug.

 

Love this mug!!! I generally use the freezer bag method of cooking so there is no cleanup afterwards!

Retail Price: $40.00 Picked mine up at a scratch and dent sale for $5.00!  What a bargain.

Weight with lighter, plastic cup, bandanna used as a dish rag is < 5.75 ounces.

Etoway Silnylon Tarp.

Shelter:  As of this moment my shelter will be a Etowah Silnylon tarp.  Roomy and versatile, seam sealed along the ridgeline, it weighs in at about 15 oz.  However, I may switch out to a cuban fiber tent as adding the bug netting adds 7 oz to the weight. A bivy bag adds another 6 ounces.  Time will tell, however I love the tarp!  Ground cloth is a painters drop cloth and weighs in at 2 oz. Retail price $80.00.  Look on the used market for bargains. oh, and titanium stakes add only 2 oz for 8 stakes. This has been replaced with a Yama Mountain Gear Cirriform DW.  Cuben Fiber baby!!!!




Yama Mountain Gear Cuben Fiber
Tarp with Bug Shelter underneath.

Shelter:  The tarp is being replaced with the Yama Mountain Gear Ciriform DW Cuben Fiber tarp and bug shelter.  The tarp weights in at 7.5 ounces and I will add the Bug Shelter as the hike progresses.  The bug shelter adds 10.1 ounces to the shelter weight.  Add stakes and lines and the total weight with both comes out to less than 20 ounces.

Price $440 without stakes or lighter guylines.
 

Mountain Hardware
Ultra Lamina

Sleeping Bag:  Summer Bag: Got a deal here in a closeout!!  It pays to look at last years models.  With this bag the only change was the color of the bag.  The Mountain Wear Ultra Lamina 32 degree bag should be able to carry me from the middle of VA to possibly Kathadin using a bag liner on the colder days at the end of my hike.  Synthetic materials will keep me warm even if the bag is wet unlike a down bag and at a fairly minor disadvantage in weight over a down bag. to .

Weight 1lb 14 ounces with stuff sack.

Retail Price $220.00 Paid $130.00 during a closeout sale.




Western Mountaineering 10 Degree
Versalite Down Bag.

Sleeping Bag:  Winter:  Western Mountaineering Versalite.  This is an awesome bag!  In fact it is one of my luxury items and it actually decreases the weight of my winter bag.  900 fill goose down and lightweight 10 degree warmth is what I am talking about!!!!
Weight 2lb 2 ounces with stuff sack.
                                                         Price Paid: $200 Gently used from Whiteblaze.net


 


Puffy Jacket:  OR Down Puffy Jacket.  Will be used in the GA-VA section of my hike.  Will be the outside layer of my base layer when needed for cold weather hiking as well as a jacket while in camp.

 

Weight 16 oz. Cost 70.00 Closeout.  I will be replacing this with something else a  bit lighter.

Rain Gear:  Dry Duck Pants.  What can you say, Cheap, decently breathable and can be used as another layer for wind.



OR Helium 2 Rain Jacket

Rain Gear: OR Precip 2:  Built for flash-storm protection, the Helium II™ is 6% lighter and 10% more breathable than its predecessor. An ultra-compressible piece you'll never leave behind, it offers 30% more waterproof protection than the original. The Helium II™ is so light and packs down so small, you'll forget it's stuffed in your pack or clipped to your harness until you throw it on to ward off a sudden mid-route downpour. Compressible to the size of a granola bar and completely waterproof, the Helium II™ doesn't waste space or add more than a feather's-worth of weight

Awesome jacket and one of the lightest rain jackets I could find.

Cost: On sale $100



Trail Runners: New Balance 626 AT:  These are the first pair of trail runners I have broken in.  The soles are problematic for my feet but with Super Feet inserts, they are decent.

Weight 23 oz per pair.  Cost $35.00

Trail Runners:  Vasque Blur SL:  The second set of trail runners I have bought for the hike.  I will be breaking these in over the next 100 miles and see how they do. Now to find one more pair of trail runners that are on sale and I should be good for footwear on the hike.

Weight 25 oz per pair.  Cost Clearance Priced $35.00.
 

Water: The Platypus hydration bag is super light and holds 2 liters of water.  This will be my primary source for carrying water however I will also carry a 1 liter soda bottle that I can fill at the end of the day for additional water at camp for cooking and cleaning.                        

Weight 4 ounces.  Soda Bottle 1 oz.

Price for bag $20.00 Retail.

 

Water treatment.  I am going to chemically treat my H2O instead of carrying a heavy filter system. 

Weight 3.2 ounces.

Price $14.00

So this is a beginning of my equipment list.  As I have time I will add more to this page.

The interesting part will be deciding if I am carrying a phone and camera or using the phones camera, what am I bringing for my ditty bag and first aid kit...lighting....entertainment..and on and on....stay tuned..