PDA

View Full Version : My gear thus far...



he.who.forgets
07-18-2014, 18:36
I've almost completed my gear acquisition for my thru-hike. Next up is finding the right pack for me. I'm currently leaning towards the ULA Circuit. I know my tent and pad are on the heavy side but I've been real happy with both (Sierra Designs Vapor Light 2 XL and BA Q-Core long). Here's a photo of most of my stuff plus a link to my gear grams. Thoughts?
2777227773

he.who.forgets
07-18-2014, 18:38
Based on what you see here, is it realistic to think I can keep my base weight at or under 15lb? Only thing left off are extra clothes, first aid, and toiletries.

Ricky&Jack
07-18-2014, 20:04
do boots and trekking poles usually get added in weight?

Traveler
07-19-2014, 09:49
Based on what you see here, is it realistic to think I can keep my base weight at or under 15lb? Only thing left off are extra clothes, first aid, and toiletries.

Base weight from what I call "standard carry" items can be subjective. It really depends how much you want to live without. For example would you want gaiters, camp shoes/sandals that double for water crossings, water container(s) or system of some sort, compass, length of rope to hang food, bear canister (required in some places), camera, journal book, cat hole trowel, sharp single blade knife, redundant fire starting tools (matches, lighter, magnesium fire starter), sunscreen, bug juice, sewing kit, a multi-tool to make repairs or modifications to gear? These items don't necessarily add a lot of weight, but I would consider them standard carry. A first aid kit is also high on my list of standard carry gear, along with a small supply of ibuprofen, aspirin, vitamins, and any medications you need to take.

Then there is another tier of items many feel are standard carry but could be considered luxuries; headphones and cell phone (to play music, contact home, etc), GPS and supply of batteries, solar charger, seasoning for food, soap, eating dish or bowl, harmonica, and reading material/trail maps and books.

The trail will be a better teacher of what gear or tools you may want with you all the time for the full trip over what you shed along the way. Seasons and terrain change will determine clothing, food needs, and comfort gear you may opt to carry for periods of time, for example you may want to have base layer underwear, gloves, and winter weight hat, coat/shell that you may use for the first month or two of walking and be rid of it, replacing it with different gear more appropriate for conditions to come.

Other suggestions/alternatives:

There is a gear store right on the AT in North Georgia at Neel's Gap (Mountain Outfitters) that help a lot of people with gear issues once they have spent a little time with what they brought.

A hearty Bounce Box may be a good investment to keep supplies moving ahead of you along the trail for pick up at local post offices. Conversely, having someone from home ship different gear for different seasons to a post office you select several days in advance may be the better way to make change outs.

Food for thought certainly. Best of luck with the walk in the woods!

he.who.forgets
07-21-2014, 09:57
Base weight from what I call "standard carry" items can be subjective. It really depends how much you want to live without. For example would you want gaiters, camp shoes/sandals that double for water crossings, water container(s) or system of some sort, compass, length of rope to hang food, bear canister (required in some places), camera, journal book, cat hole trowel, sharp single blade knife, redundant fire starting tools (matches, lighter, magnesium fire starter), sunscreen, bug juice, sewing kit, a multi-tool to make repairs or modifications to gear? These items don't necessarily add a lot of weight, but I would consider them standard carry. A first aid kit is also high on my list of standard carry gear, along with a small supply of ibuprofen, aspirin, vitamins, and any medications you need to take.

Then there is another tier of items many feel are standard carry but could be considered luxuries; headphones and cell phone (to play music, contact home, etc), GPS and supply of batteries, solar charger, seasoning for food, soap, eating dish or bowl, harmonica, and reading material/trail maps and books.

The trail will be a better teacher of what gear or tools you may want with you all the time for the full trip over what you shed along the way. Seasons and terrain change will determine clothing, food needs, and comfort gear you may opt to carry for periods of time, for example you may want to have base layer underwear, gloves, and winter weight hat, coat/shell that you may use for the first month or two of walking and be rid of it, replacing it with different gear more appropriate for conditions to come.

Other suggestions/alternatives:

There is a gear store right on the AT in North Georgia at Neel's Gap (Mountain Outfitters) that help a lot of people with gear issues once they have spent a little time with what they brought.

A hearty Bounce Box may be a good investment to keep supplies moving ahead of you along the trail for pick up at local post offices. Conversely, having someone from home ship different gear for different seasons to a post office you select several days in advance may be the better way to make change outs.

Food for thought certainly. Best of luck with the walk in the woods!
Good point...I have indeed left out items such as camp sandals, rope, journal and AT guide, gaiters & camera (will most likely just use an iPhone). I don't plan on carrying many luxury items. Thanks for the well wishes!

he.who.forgets
07-21-2014, 09:58
do boots and trekking poles usually get added in weight?
I have boots and poles notated as "worn" in my gear grams, so it does not get added to actual pack weight.

JumpMaster Blaster
07-25-2014, 19:38
I didn't see anything to carry water in (except for the Sawyer pouch). May I suggest getting a Smartwater bottle with a sports cap? That way you can a) have something to carry water in, and b) you wont have to carry the Sawyer syringe for backflushing. The sportscap will fit right over the end of your Sawyer mini. Two uses out of one.

JumpMaster Blaster
07-25-2014, 19:53
If you don't want to carry the AT guide, you can do what I did & just take pics of the pages with your phone, but you'd better have a good way of keeping your phone charged. An alternative is downloading Guthook's guide. It won't go into as much detail but you won't miss out on the pertinent things on the trail.

Having said that, I don't think that having some kind of AT guide is a "luxury". They cover way too much info about the towns & services to be left behind. Tear a section out of the book to take with you and put the rest in a bounce box or have someone mail it to you...

50 feet of 550lb paracord only weighs 3.1 ounces. I have yet to be out for more than 2 days and not need it. When it rains, you have something to dry your clothes/gear from. If you decide you want to hang your food, you have it. Extra tie outs/guy lines for your tent. If you REALLY want to count grams, take the internal strands out. It won't be a s strong though. Cordage is king.

Wrap a couple turns of duct tape around your trekking poles. Can be used for blisters & gear repairs. Indispensable.

2015 Lady Thru-Hiker
07-25-2014, 20:01
Love the idea of using the smart water sport spout for back flushing the sawyer. Works perfect!!
I heard that if you use a bounce box and end up not needing to get inside it at a stop that you can bounce it forward without a paying extra to do so. But only if you don't actually open it. Do you know anything about that JMB.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

tammons
07-25-2014, 21:42
Missing a lot of stuff, but I dont count shoes and anything I wear in my base weight.
Dont count hiking poles either.

Personally I would put your gear on a diet and try to hit 12# base.

Check out Loner2012AT's gear. Its a budget SUL Hammock setup but just substitute a few things.
He did the entire AT with a budget 9# base weight or there abouts. He is on here. I think snake eater or something like that.
He has 120+ videos of his entire hike on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nVoX6mlmdI

I would not use that pack although he made it.
That pack is really tiny and the pockets are not big enough for water bottles.

You can strip out a Golite Jam II to 19 oz by just removing the mesh bladder pocket but you really dont want to carry that over 22-25#. You can get one for about $50-70 used.

I would sell your heavy stuff Shop and find a used lighter bag, a used lighter tent and a lighter pad.
You want to be at or under 6# for your big 4. Keep everything else at 6# and you are good to go.

Get a driducks top and use that as rainwear and a wind jacket.

I just picked up a WM megalight bag for basically half price over at BPL.

If sell your heavy stuff and you go to a 4oz cook set, a used western mountaineering megalight 30dF bag, regular neoair xlite, small CCF 1/8 pad, and a big sky one person Mirage tent or something of that wort you would lighten your load by almost 3.5# and lighten your wallet too.

88BlueGT
07-31-2014, 10:38
Not sure what you are willing to cut for weight but you could definitely shave a ton by switching to a different sleeping pad.

Odd Man Out
07-31-2014, 12:39
I have not done a thru hike, but some of your gear is similar to what I have used on a section hike, so can comment on a few things.

I have Keen Voyageurs, which are pretty much the same as your Targhees, but better ventilated. You could consider those as replacements when needed, especially for summer months. I like them a lot, but I found the little points of the black rubber sole that come up the side all came unglued. I just had them re-glued at a shoe repair place. Not sure if it would have gotten worse to the point they were unusable on a long hike or not. Keep an eye one that.

I used the Sawyer Mini and found the 16 oz squeeze bag that came with it to be annoyingly small. Consider getting one or two Evernew 1 L bladders. The threads are the same as the Sawyer and they have a good reputation for durability. They can be difficult to find. If you find them in stock, buy a few. I carried two for storage (I had some dry stretches on this hike and at time needed to carry 3.5 L of water). Next time I'll probably leave the Sawyer bag at home and use one Evernew for dirty water and the second for storage/backup.

I have the same poles. Love them. My knee went a bit gimpy on my hike earlier this month so I really leaned on them hard. No problems.

For a dish scrubber, I use the plastic net bag from a bag of onions. No weight. No cost.

I also have the same socks. Can't beat em.

If you are looking to cut weight, look a your tent/pad/footprint (91 oz). I have a 16 oz inflatable pad and 24 oz tent that work fine for me. I don't have a footprint, but carry a very thin CCF pad (only weighs a couple oz), which I put under the inflatable pad for protection (no need for footprint), gives a little extra insulation, can be used alone (in case the inflatable pad punctures), can be used to sit on in camp, and folds up to give some padding in the pack. Nice lightweight, multi use, versatile option to consider.

As for the pack, I have an Elemental Horizons Kalais pack. I really like it. I have not used a ULA Circuit, but from what I've heard, they are very similar. You could check it out if interested.

RED-DOG
07-31-2014, 12:43
do boots and trekking poles usually get added in weight?
Yes, base weight is everything EXCEPT consumables= FOOD, WATER, FUEL.

RED-DOG
07-31-2014, 12:45
Your gear looks great as long as you keep your overall weight below 30lbs you will be doing alot better than most.

shakey_snake
08-10-2014, 00:26
Yes, base weight is everything EXCEPT consumables= FOOD, WATER, FUEL.

For most people base pack weight excludes worn/carried items. Heck, it used to be en vogue for SUL hikers to store a handful of small essentials items in pants or shorts with cargo pockets so that it could be considered "carried weight" and "wouldn't count towards their base weight". Obviously, that's silly, but the classifications still remains the same.

baseweight+consumables = initial pack weight

baseweight+consumables+worn/carried items = skin out weight

Honuben
08-10-2014, 06:16
15 lbs may be doable but it looks like you may be missing a few items. I didn't see a start date or direction but ill assume Nobo. It looks like you are missing pants or shorts or both (convertible pants and/or nylon shorts) but the worn one wont be counted toward that base. If leaving early in season i would bring rain pants for wind/snow protection but that is my preference and others feel differently about rain pants. Also missing was underwear and spare unless the plan is to go free willy the entire hike. Then also missing was just the small stuff like toothbrush/paste, duct tape, first aid, extra line, and stakes. All the small stuff adds up and before you know it you could have another lb on your back.

handlebar
08-10-2014, 13:47
Love the idea of using the smart water sport spout for back flushing the sawyer. Works perfect!!
I heard that if you use a bounce box and end up not needing to get inside it at a stop that you can bounce it forward without a paying extra to do so. But only if you don't actually open it. Do you know anything about that JMB.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That is true --- at least if you address it to yourself c/o General a Delivery, City,State Zip. You ask the PO counter to forward it to the next point. I've even been able to have my bounce bucket forwarded to a local motel that takes packages a couple of times. Not sure if they forward package that was delivered to you c/o a local non-general delivery address. Ask your local PO.

handlebar
08-10-2014, 13:48
Suggest you take your gear out for a shakedown cruise on the Florida Trail in late fall.

he.who.forgets
08-10-2014, 21:33
Suggest you take your gear out for a shakedown cruise on the Florida Trail in late fall.

I actually just got back from a 3 day trip on the AT from Hot Springs to Davenport Gap. All my gear performed very well. Had a great time and learned a lot. Can't wait to get back out there. And I am actually planning a couple shakedowns either on the FT or on Cumberland Island later this year when the weather cools down. Thanks for everyone's input!

q-tip
08-11-2014, 11:51
I have a number of pretty extensive gear spreadsheets for Lt. Wt., summer l/w, and U/L. If interested send me a PM and I will forward,....