looking for some advice

[ragdy-andy]

so i'm planing on starting the hike the first week of april with my best friend.
i'm trying to figure out what i'm going to take with me and i wanted to hear if there was any edvice.
i'm thinking of taking a poncho and gaiters for the rain. what do you guys think about that insted of a rain jaket and pants.
also i wanted to hear what you guys had to say about stoves, i like the MSR simmerlite but it only burns white gas...
aloso what kind water purefier have people been using.
thanks

[sparky2000]

Everything your going to ask is on the personal level. I prefer the poncho as it is also a tarp, pack cover, wind shield and what ever. Others hate to manage a poncho in the wind. For cooking I prefer a small fire. No fuel or furnace to stow. Most prefer the cat alcohol stoves. They are light and the fuel is easy to locate along the trail towns.

[budforester]

Yes, Sparky said it right. This is largely opinion and personal preference. There has been much valuable discussion on these points (search the articles and archives). Maybe you found an excuse to do lotsa camping and experimenting to work out your own system... it has to work for you.

[CaseyB]

to Whiteblaze. I don't know anybody named Ed

[STMan]

so i'm planing on starting the hike the first week of april with my best friend.
i'm trying to figure out what i'm going to take with me and i wanted to hear if there was any edvice.
i'm thinking of taking a poncho and gaiters for the rain. what do you guys think about that insted of a rain jaket and pants.
also i wanted to hear what you guys had to say about stoves, i like the MSR simmerlite but it only burns white gas...
aloso what kind water purefier have people been using.
thanks

I just got off the trail two days ago. I would recommend a poncho and rain pants or gaiters, but by April it should be warm enough to dry out your boots, and socks if they get wet. As for the stove, I definitely recommend one, the smallest and lightest one you can find that uses multiple types of fuel. My trail mate, Flipper made one of his own out of two pop cans, some wire and a throw away baking pan. I was light and worked great. By the way, if you need help at the Springer end, Atlanta area pick-up (North Spring Marta), a place to stay and shuttle see www.hikerhostel.com (Josh and Leigh Saint) and about 100 to 200 miles up the trail see Ron Havens, at the Franklin Budget Inn.

[STMan]

I just got off the trail two days ago. I would recommend a poncho and rain pants or gaiters, but by April it should be warm enough to dry out your boots, and socks if they get wet. As for the stove, I definitely recommend one, the smallest and lightest one you can find that uses multiple types of fuel. My trail mate, Flipper made one of his own out of two pop cans, some wire and a throw away baking pan. I was light and worked great. By the way, if you need help at the Springer end, Atlanta area pick-up (North Spring Marta), a place to stay and shuttle see www.hikerhostel.com (Josh and Leigh Saint) and about 100 to 200 miles up the trail see Ron Havens, at the Franklin Budget Inn.

P.S. I forgot to mention that Flipper got his stove design somewhere on the internet, but I am not sure where. It was small enough to fit right inside his 1 pint cooking tin.

[_terrapin_]

Simmerlite isn't a bad stove at all, if you're comfortable with it. Lotta folks are using canister stoves these days (eg. MSR Pocket Rocket.) Somewhat less bother, and a bit lighter. IMO, you'll be fine with a poncho and gaiters. But you'll get wet, anyway. It's inevitable, regardless...

[Tinker]

Gaiters do not work too well with ponchos. The rain will blow onto your legs and run down inside the gaiters. Gaiters are good for keeping little bits of debris out of your socks and boots. They're also good in snow. Your bare legs will act like wicks. Rain chaps are advisable if you want to keep your legs dry. You could use gaiters with the chaps, as long as the chaps cover the gaiters.
I'll second the Pocket Rocket as a stove for a fairly short trip. I used Esbit fuel tabs and a titanium Esbit stove from Backpacking Light on my Georgia trip to keep weight down. All you can do with Esbit is boil water, though.

[WILLIAM HAYES]

I use a brasslite turbo alcohol stove and a steri pen I prefer rain pants and rain jacket=marmot full zip pants and Intergral Designs Event rain jacket it breathes better than any rain jacket that I have owned for a review go to Backpacking lite and check it out
Hillbilly

[Blissful]

Welcome to White Blaze

MSR pocket rocket is great except in wind. I liked it. Canisters are pretty easy to get. And what we couldn't get, we mailed to ourselves. But I've heard white gas is pretty much available also.

We used Aqua Mira and did fine, but it gets to be pricey (thee were two of us though). I'm thinking of the Steri pen myself for the future.

[ScottP]

Make sure that you and your friend have separate gear setups so that you can split up and get back together at will.

Gear, and pretty much everything else about thru-hiking is personal preference. The best advice is to listen to everyone's personal preference, and experient as much as you are able to until you find your own style.

I just wrote an article about thru-hiking in a style that is similar to mine: http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...986#post543986


Make sure to get plenty of different perspectives!

[ragdy-andy]

thanks for all of the edvice.
i guess with some of the things it's going to be a learning as i go kind of thing

[Blissful]

i guess with some of the things it's going to be a learning as i go kind of thing

You got that right!! But there are outfitters along the way to make adjustments. And towns galore.

Have a great time.