Need advice from experienced hikers

[paschen56]

Can someone give me a general list of gear I should l have doing a thru-hike?

[scooterdogma]

A good start ...

25534]

[Second Hand]

Paschen -
I'm a section hiker who started hiking about 4 years ago. I compiled gear over time and made many adjustments through trial and error on shorter trips. What works for me certainly won't work for everyone, but I'll tell you what I have now.
I view gear as a compromise between weight, budget and comfort. My trail name is Second Hand because I have acquired most of trail second hand. A lot of people run to REI and spend thousands of $ on gear before realizing backpacking isn't for them. Then they post on Craigslist for good prices and that's where I have gotten a lot of good deals.

My Current list
Big 3
Backpack: Gregory Z45 <Not the lightest thing in the world, but I got a good deal and it's comfortable>
Tent - Easton Kilo 2P w. ground cloth<Very light weight tent w/ a small front vestibule. I've read a lot of bad reviews on this guy, but it works for me and sometimes my wife or dog>
Sleeping bag - Sierra Designs 35 degree down bag. It's about 2.2lbs and handles 3 season temps pretty well.

Other stuff
Sleeping Pad - REI stratus. You blow it up yourself and it's a few inches thick. It weighs less than a pound and is really comfortable, although noisy, so I try not to sleep in shelters w/ other people unless they have ear plugs and don't mind.
Water Filter - Sawyer Squeeze
Stove - Esbit folding stove and cubes. People complain this takes to long, but I can keep myself busy while things cook. It's small, light, easy and cheap.
Metal cooking cup w/ lid - Tin cup,
paper cup for tea - You can eat out of the cooking cup, but it's to hot to drink out of so I bring a paper cup to put tea in.

Odds and Ends
Small "hiker" swiss arm kniff
Petzo head lamp
Medical kit w/ a few Advil and some band aids, alcohol and gauze pads. Don't carry to much for medical, if it needs more attention than a band aid, you'll probably need to get off the trail.
2L platypus water bladder
Small bic lighter

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. People on this site take backpacking very seriously. When a novice starts throwing around words like "yoyo" before they know what it takes to live on the trail for even a week, people get a little up in arms. There are some very knowledgeable people on here and you if you sort through the criticism, you'll get a lot of good information. Hang in there, good luck your adventure, I hope you raise a lot of $ and PM me for my personal info. IF you make it as far as New England, give me a call and I'll treat you and your crew to dinner. <thru-hiker dinners can be very expensive, so expect a buffet!>

[Alligator]

Reboot of this thread, which is now in Straight Forward.

[Last Call]

Good recommendations Second Hand....I would add a 3 pack of Wal-Mart Dry bags, they come in 3 sizes to the pack in blue, yellow & red for about 10 dollars. May about 50' of paracord for hanging clothes / beer hang.

[Last Call]

* Bear hanging.

[Slo-go'en]

The essensuals:

1) sleeping bag
2) sleeping mat
3) shelter system
4) suitable clothes for the season and area
5) rain jacket
6) water container(s)
7) flashlight
8) backpack
9) food
10) guide book
11) TP (tolet paper)

Optional:
1) stove
2) cooking stuff (lighter, pot, spoon, knife, clean up scrubber and the like)
3) Water treatment
4) electronics (phone, camara, MP3 player, tablet and so on)
5) hiking poles
6) all kind of little odds and ends

Specifc items depend on hiking style, time of year, amount of money you have and personal preferances.

You may find this video I did a few years back both educational and entertaining. I have since replaced or changed out some of the items shown, but the number and type has remained about the same. If you poke around the suggested links, there are quite few gear show and tell videos on youtube.


http://youtu.be/yEpfEK6FkAk