Tips Needed on Equipment
Hi,
older female, planning NOBO March Thru 2015- would like suggestions on equipment, and anything else
Hi nytemarepa,Originally Posted by nytemarepa
You probably need to list any gear you have at this point, or experience level. Your question is a VERY broad one. The Articles and various forums here on WB offer a wealth of information. Best of luck on your thru!
BA Flycreek I tent, WM Highlight 30 degree bag, Neoair pad, ULA Circuit pack . . . there. Keep your load light and you will improve your odds of making it which aren't good. Probaby 3 of 4 fail.
you might try doing a search here for gear lists. you can find mine on postholer.com 2015 AT.
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Don't forget your walker
"You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace;the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands."
Isaiah 55:12
NeoAir XLite pad.
I personally do not like the Big Agnes Flycreek tents... with the one door at the head. Getting into your tent feels like getting into a sleeping bag. I chose the Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2 as my 1-person tent. It's obviously heavier than the UL1, but the UL2 has two vestibules and plenty of room for 1 (incredibly tight for 2) yet still weights only about 3 pounds.
If you want a canister stove and ONLY want to boil water, the Jetboil is possibly your most (or close enough to the most) efficient stove/pot for boiling water. Should save fuel in the long run. But if you want to do more than just boil water, I would suggest the SnowPeak LiteMax for it's light weight and small size. It's basically the same thing as an MSR pocket rocket... but it weights even less, packs much smaller, and seems more stable.
Sawyer Mini for a water filter. I personally have rigged mine up with a 2L 'dirty water' bag (Evernew Water Carry and a 2L 'clean water' bag (Platypus Hoser) in a gravity feed system. This allows me to walk to the water source with just the 2L dirty water bag and return to camp and setup the gravity filter while I do other camp chores. Others likare to go lighter weight and use a smaller 'dirty water' bag, and take their dirty water bag and clean water bag (or water bottles) to the water source... fill up the smaller (lighter) dirty water bag multiple times.
For what I'd call 2-1/2 season use... I LOVE my Mountain Hardware Ultralamina 32 degree bag. It weights less than 2 pounds... and even though this is a synthetic bag, the specs show it packing smaller than most down bags of equivalent temperature rating. A couple of places have the woman's Ultralamina 32 on sale. As a specific example: Sierra Trading Post has the woman's version of this bag on sale... and if you watch for a 25% off with free shipping code at RetailMeNot, you can get it for only $135 ($240 is full retail).
I am sure you have a great suggestion on which walker to use as you probably have one too!
yes my question is broad, I have gathered much info, and I am condensing my list and focusing on repeated positives on equipment , etc, Thank you for all imput. WB is a wealth of info!!
Thank you!
Backpack- ULA, take you pick http://www.ula-equipment.com
Tent- Tarptent, take your pick http://www.tarptent.com
Or... Choose a hammock- My current favorite is a Wilderness Logics Lite Owl http://www.wildernesslogics.com/LITE-OWL-LITE-OWL.htm
with Hammock Gear under-quilt ad top-quilt http://www.hammockgear.com
Stove- My current favorite is the MSR MicroRocket, Boils, simmers and everything in-between http://www.cascadedesigns.com/msr/st...rocket/product
Sorry, nothing cutting edge or unexpected. I have spent way too much money on a lot of gear. While it is fun to experiment, the above is what is would replace if I lost it all.
I have all these things, except I went with the BA Copper Spur UL1. I'm a small person (5'2") and it's plenty roomy for me. Easy to set up/pack up and love the side door.
I swear by the Jetboil. I use a Zip for backpacking. Yes, you have to light it yourself but the self ignitor on my Flash is erratic on a good day so I don't care. The Zip is lighter weight and smaller and you can boil more than water in it. I use it to make chili, ramen, stew. But mostly to boil water for coffee. Must have my coffee!
Sawyer mini is awesome. I bought a 34oz Platypus bag as an extra water container as well. Has worked out well. I also use Aqua iodine drops if I'm not sure about the water supply.
For my sleeping bag I have a 30 degree synthetic Eureka Silver City sleeping bag that I use for above freezing, although it will get the job done if temps are around the freezing mark and I layer up. When the colder weather sets in I have my 15 degree Marmot Pinnacle down bag, which has already seen freezing temps and does great. Both weigh just over 2lbs.
Of course every one has a budget to spend. Sometimes its O.K. to blow your budget in one category and then try to recoup in another. Many people craft items most people obtains things that are already made. I am going to blow your budget in every item category because it is fun to do. My recommendations are not representative of things I will eventually be bringing along though. I hope to make good choices between price and quality with functionality always in mine shooting for specific item weights in each category.
Learn the term base weight. I think that is everything you will be carrying, but not wearing or holding, except your food and water which is not counted in base weight. Ask for base weight recommendations on this forum. Most people strive for ultra-light. I think some people are striving for super ultra-light. I think if I do well I will approach the ultra-light category. I may be a little bit heavier but at my experience level I am certainly not shopping for super ultra-light items.
The big (3) things are: backpack, tent, and sleeping system. Shoot for something 3 pounds or less in each category.
I like the ULA backpack suggestions.
Tents - Depends on the budget - Keep your weight goal in mind when you are making this decision. Decide whether you need a size 1, 1+, or a 2 in terms of people capacity. Fabrics choose SilNylon for your budget or impress your friends with Cuben Fiber. Also known as CTF3 Cuben Fiber is the sail cloth material that won the 1992 Americas cup. You can really pick up some weight savings with this material. So go big size 2 in a CTF3 fabric tent as its very close in weight to a SilNylon size 1 person tent. Who do I like in a CTF3 .75 fabric tents? ZPacks Hexamid Duplex. I recommend the .75 heavier quality CTF3 fabric tent with its heavier quality 1.0 heaviest quality CTF3 fabric tent floor. They are happy to sell you a CTF3 .50 quality fabricated tents as well. Point .5 would be super ultra-light so I would not choose .50 CTF3 at my experience level, thats all i am saying.
If you choose a tent that requires you to multipurpose your trekking poles for support. Then I recommend Leki Carbon Fiber telescopic poles with the strongest twist type locks. Wind on the tent can produce a lot of down force so go with twist locks in favor of choosing Leki poles with the snap locks. I would also steer away from bungie corded collapsing trekking poles if they were going to be multi purposed into my tenting system.
I'm not currently recommending hammocks. I am studying them a lot however.
Cooking system. This is a craft or home made category for many people. I believe alcohol stoves are popular. You can spend days researching stove systems. I like the Evernew Appalachian Titanium Trail set. I would also pick up a slightly larger in volume titanium pot with a broader or squat pot base large enough to keep the flame on the bottom of the pot and not flickering so much up the sides while you are cooking. You don't want to waste BTUs going up the sides of your pot if you can help it. Still going crazy with your cook set? Go to the building supply store, buy some Reflectix and some Duct tape. Manufacture or craft some insulating koozies for your pots. I see a lot of these projects on YouTube. Research cat can stoves and Reflectix Koozies.
Sleep system - Women sleep colder than men. I recommend a 20 degree bag and also the Thermarest NeoAir Xtherm sleeping pad. Sleeping bag insulation or stuffing I would go with down insulation. Outer shell material for your bag? There is so much science in shell material fabric I just won't go into it here. Recommendations: Hummingbird Nano 20 or Western Mountaineering Alpenlite. Wow that's a real toss up.
Rain Gear: Fourth most important item and can easily be your most expensive items depending what choices you make. Any thing from Arcteryx and you did good. You spent a million dollars but at least I will be impressed with the technology behind your rain gear.
Hiking Shoes: Class A, Class B, Class C, Class D. The class system is now old school or obscure. Most people don't know what class of shoes they are hiking in anymore. The professional mountaineering industry and the military still makes references to the class system. The recommendation for the Appalachian Trail (using my personal data analytics engine) it goes really MongoDB in favor of selecting a Class B shoe. That's synonymous to a tennis shoe with good support, it might have a Gortex waterproof liner, and with a tread pattern that offers good purchase. You can go high top or low top its your choice. Except the fact that your feet are going to get wet (mud puddle hopping) and hope you choose something that dies out quickly. My recommendation is a Belleville MCB 950 (Mountain Combat Boot) if your looking for a true Class C boot that is. Its a four season shoe a comes in sizes for all sizes of people. The Belleville MCB 990 is for hot weather. Anyways you can buy these boots new or used and/or pay wholesale or retail. Easy EBAY and Youtube.
Headlamp. Go for battery life. I like the Petzl Myo RXP in the civilian headlamp market, but if you live stateside, and want something IPX rated for water resistance then shop Nitecore HC90 headlamps instead. Most top ten Internet searches will rank the Black Diamond Icon as the way to go for men. I think headlamps are in store shopping item. Buy what feels right. Some posters report a headlamp is not necessary at least during the summertime. I feel a light flashlight or headlamp is a necessity personally.
Multi-Tool Knife ( Leatherman Sidekick)
Surgical scissors (Leatherman Raptor) - You will use these shears a lot. I might actually get these and I probably will pass on the multi-tool.
Grab a compass too. Easy purchase decision and should not be a budget blower.
Bear Spray - That's a toss up. Its legal, its not legal, its not needed, its needed. White bears yes, brown bears yes, black bears no. I'll probably get some smack just for mentioning it. I am keeping this one a secret as to whether or not I am bringing it or not.
Clothing system. Requires a crazy amount of research to get this category right or at least for me anyways. Clothing layering systems is a science in an of itself. Many people really go spartan in this category. I am really spending a lot of time thinking this one through. No recommendations here for now.
These are just some things to consider. Please remember I won't actually be spending that kind of money is most of the categories recommended up above.
Thank you for that thorough post. I found it very helpful.
Reading about gear from reviews and forums is helpful, but you just need to get it and use it before really settling on what is *your* perfect tent/bag/stove/pack, etc. Using this stuff in the real world may cause you to make adjustments before you feel happy with your gear.
I've seen too many people spend a fortune on gear that later admitted they wish they had bought x instead of y. The good news is that gear is easy to sell slightly used, and quality gear maintains its price if well cared for, so you can switch out purchases you later regret.
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"What is a weed? A plant who's virtues have not yet been discovered" ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Everything on here looks great so far, especially looking for slightly used but well maintained gear to start.
Last summer I hiked about 220 miles on the Long Trail in Vermont. I found that one of the first things I wanted to do when I got into camp each evening was get out of my sweaty bra and put on a dry shirt. I started out with a camp bra, but quickly ditched it for weight savings. I regularly went braless around camp. Majority of the time I was completely comfortable and didn't mind being a lil bit nippley around other people at camp. However, there were a few times at camp and in town where I would have liked to have a little bit more modesty.
For my backpacking excursions this summer, I am planning on bringing a camp shirt with a built in bra, for just a little more support and modesty. I plan on bringing an older version of the Nike dry fit airborne 2 racerback tank, simply because I already own it, not for any specific weight/functionality purposes. I would look for something similar if I was going to buy something new. As with all gear/clothing choices, you have to figure out what works best for you/what you are comfortable with. Hope this helps you figure out how to keep the ladies happy!
Target has a cami, that provides modesty.
They have one model with support, one without. I have the without, because it is the most comfortable.
It is available in black, brown, white, and some other colors at times. I even wear it with an open shirt.
Check out this blog: http://trailtosummit.com/ lots of female specific trail advice including gear and whatnot
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