Looking for advice on what clothing/gear to pack (mainly clothing)

[Brian321]

Ok so I plan on attempting a thru on the pct this year. I already have most of the gear I need from when I did the AT a few years ago. I have a couple concerns/questions before doing the pct.

1. What type of clothing should I bring? On the AT I started towards the end of February, I brought 2 base layers, a down jacket, 2 pairs of smart wool socks, a short sleeve shirt, zip-off pants, and gloves. Now ive read that you need a long sleeve shirt and a sun hat, are those absolutely necessary?

2. Would you bring a long sleeve shirt and a short sleeve or just one or the other?

3. Do I need to bring smart wool socks or will those be to hot? What socks do you guys recommend?

4. I also read you need to carry more water on the pct, what do you guys use? I currently have a camelback 3L bladder. Should I buy another bladder or just use bottles? ( I used the bladder and a 1L nalgene on the AT)

5. I plan on going stoveless, is that a problem on the pct?

6. Is a Eureka spitfire acceptable for the pct?

Thanks!

[Spirit Walker]

You will be out in the sun most of the time. Whether that means shorts and a t-shirt or long pants and long sleeves is up to you and your tolerance for sun and heat. Also mosquitoes. I brought a long sleeved shirt and convertible pants. I found them too hot a lot of the time, so I wore shorts and a t-shirt most of the time, but when I was in the snow and when mosquitoes were especially bad, the supplex pants and shirt were very welcome. You also go through a lot of poison oak, which some people are very allergic to.

You definitely need a sun hat and good sun glasses. You spend a lot of time in the desert, with few trees. At altitude, with thin atmosphere and sun reflecting off the snow, you can get really badly burned. I had issues with the sun one day when I was in the Sierras and took off my dark glasses because of the shadows in the sun cups and I ended up having to spend two days in bed with cold cloths over my eyes because they had gotten burnt by the reflected light. Not quite snow blindness, but very painful.

It's a good idea to have the capacity to carry about a gallon and a half of water. Given the expected increase in thruhikers, you really can't count on water caches having any water when you get there. There are a couple of very long dry stretches in California and Oregon.

I carried long underwear through the Sierras, then shipped them north to Washington. We got snowed on the day before Forester Pass in 2000. You may get some cold wet days even in southern California, though you may be lucky and not see any rain or snow until Washington. In 2009 we had some really cold weather in southern California. At the hiker feed at Walker Pass, everybody was bundled up and shivering.

A lot of folks go stoveless. If you have a food system that works for you, why change it?

[Sasquatch!]

You need six liters of water carrying capacity in SoCal. Maybe more.

Aim for covering your whole body from the Sun. Unless you don't mind weird tans that persist for months, rapidly aging your skin, and skin cancer.


Heres my clothing list:

3 pair injinji liner socks
Dirtygirl Gaiters
2 patagonia long sleeve shirts
Smartwool micro 150 bottom grey
Random gym shorts
Montbel Ex Light Down Jacket
Zpacks Cuben rain jacket
Zpacks Cuben rain pants
Zpacks Cuben rain gloves
OR Sunrunner hat
Patagonia Sungloves
Patagonia Sunmask
Sunglasses
Beko Nose Sun guard


I don't **** around with the Sun. Not with my pale ass.

[Sirsnappy09]

Definitely need the long sleeve shirt and a hat for the sun. It will cook you fast. Also. As mentioned large water
capacity.

[BrianLe]

I started the AT in late Feb too, and hiked for a month from Springer last year as well with an early March start. In both cases, the early-start AT experience was overall colder than a sort of "normal" NOBO start on the PCT was.

I definitely would bring wool socks, at least going into the Sierras. A light down jacket would be a good choice for in-camp. A very light shell or windshirt is great for on-trail.

Long sleeve shirt and hat, "are they necessary": everyone is different. I favor the "cover up with light, quick-drying loose clothing" approach. I like wearing sun gloves, and a hat that covers me well. Lots of sun on that trail, and you're in it all day. It's not like the "long green tunnel", or rather it can be, but not until a lot further north. But the shorts and t-shirt approach works for others; I have no experience with it.

Stoveless is IMO an excellent choice for the first 700 miles or so of the PCT. You might or might not like it in terms of efficiently packing food in a bear canister going into the Sierras, but otherwise it's a fine choice overall. Note that time between resupply is a little more stretched out on average, however. So if your stoveless success is based on how often you can eat "town food" of some sort along the AT, then you might get tired of it on the PCT. Not too tough to either bounce a light alcohol stove or have someone mail one to you, however, if you want one later on.

[Brian321]

Thank you all for the helpful replies! I have been busy getting ready for the trail and getting the proper gear. Which leads me to another question, are sun gloves necessary? Willy hands get burnt without them? Also I plan on taking a long sleeve shirt, would you also pack a short sleeve as well or just roll up the LS?

Thanks again!

[garlic08]

I agree with all the others about clothing. And water capacity. I went stoveless and it worked great for me.

Hands usually have pretty tough skin but some with a sun allergy will cover them. That's not a bad idea if your hands get sun burned. It will depend a little on whether you use trekking poles, which tend to orient your hands directly to the sun all day when you're hiking NOBO.

I never used a short sleeve shirt.

I don't think anyone's addressed the tent. My personal feeling is that tent would be overkill for about 95% of the PCT. Tarptents are pretty popular on that trail. Some don't pitch a tent at all except for a few nights in the Sierra (bugs) and the Washington Cascades (rain).

[Sasquatch!]

This year I tried going without wearing tights to cover my legs and after a day my calves were fried. So, back to wearing long underwear.

[Sasquatch!]

If I could get over all the weird ants, spiders, ticks, scorpions, and other **** I'd love to cowboy most of the time. Cowboying is so much more efficient time wise. But, bugs.