View Full Version : Need gear advice on lightening up for AT
I'm a backpacking beginner...I did a handful of weekend trips ~7-8 years ago, and that's about it. It was pretty fun, but as a 5'5" 100lb woman without much muscle, I really struggled with carrying all my junk, even though I tried to pack light. I'd like to get back into it now, and work up to longer trips, but now that I'm older/less durable, I need to be even kinder to my feet, knees and lower back. I figure the only way I'm actually going to enjoy this is if I travel very light. A little help?
I have a Granite Gear Nimbus Latitude Ki pack (~3.5 lbs), which I never really loved (their smallest hip belt was a bit big on me, but it was the best of many poorly fitting options at the time--I'm average height, but NARROW framed!!), a Eureka Spitfire UL tent (claims to be 37 oz, though I never weighed it), and I was fortunate to inherit a 20 degree Western Mountaineering bag (~29 oz?) from a friend. I used one of those 3/4 length foam sleeping pads, a soda can stove with a pot stand/windscreen that a friend built for my pot, and did mostly freezer bag cooking (or no cooking). Does anyone have any suggestions for me on ways to lighten this up? I'm not opposed to replacing gear/learning new skills, but I can't spend a fortune.
I hate the idea of a hammock since I toss and turn a lot when I sleep, and sleep in all positions. Would some kind of tarp be a lighter option for me than my solo tent? I do use treeking poles, if that matters..I know some tarps/tents use them. Are tarps warm enough for the entire NOBO hiking season? Mosquitoes love me, so what do I do about bug netting? I have allergies, so the idea of having an actual floor is appealing, but once I add a floor and netting, I'm basically back in a tent, right...?
Any suggestions for a new backpack? Or other things to think about that would help me carry less? If this has already been asked and answered if you could point me to the link that would be awesome as well. Also, for weight calculating purposes, would a person my size really carry 2 lbs of food per day, or is that more for a male thru-hiker?
bigcranky
08-23-2015, 19:02
Hi, Yoyo,
You could save some weight from the tent and the pack. A Tarptent Notch is about 26 ounces, uses trekking poles to set up, and is reasonably priced. A Zpacks solo tent is under 20 ounces, uses trekking poles, and is, um, somewhat pricey :). Solo tents have gotten light enough that many lightweight hikers have moved away from tarps.
Your bag is fine, and if you like the pad, great -- though now that I am old(er) I prefer a Neoair type pad for sleeping comfort.
The pack is tougher, since fit is so important. You could look at some of the Zpacks or ULA packs -- the Circuit is popular for a good reason (my wife loves hers, and they are able to fit a wide variety of body shapes), and the new Zpacks Arc Haul is good, though maybe too tall -- it is worth talking to both companies on the phone and of course they will take back something that doesn't fit well. In both cases you can get the pack down to 2 pounds or less.
The kitchen setup is nice and light. I doubt you would need anything close to 2 lbs of food per day, except maybe after being on the trail for a couple of months.
Once you've gotten the big stuff out of the way, it's the little things that start to add up. Clothing, emergency gear, technology, "just in case" items. Those are the things that you can purge after you've done some weekend hiking, or after the first couple of weeks on the trail.
Good luck and happy trails. Oh, and welcome! :welcome
Mountain Bluebird
08-23-2015, 20:15
read "Lighten Up!: A Complete Handbook for Light and ultralight backpacking by Mike McClelland. It is a simple and sure guide. It has been my Polaris for planning my 2016 hike.
Consider a Gossamer Gear back also. (click that >>>) Gossamer (http://gossamergear.com/)
A TarpTent might fit your bill also. No poles, your hiking poles are the tent/tarp poles. Gossamer also sells some great carbon fiber poles, but they are expensive. I've got a Notch, (don't use much, as I hammock hang, which you are not interested in)
TarpTent (https://www.tarptent.com/) (<< click that)
You don't mention clothes. Look at lightweight merino wool for some sleeping stuff. 3 pairs of socks (one for sleep, alternate the others for hiking).
I like soda-can stoves and change this up quite a bit. I was impressed with the faster boil time/less fuel by using a Caldera Cone system (http://www.traildesigns.com/). I think this actually added to my cook kit weight, but the speed of the cooking was impressive.
Also, for weight calculating purposes, would a person my size really carry 2 lbs of food per day, or is that more for a male thru-hiker?
Certainly true for men, perhaps some women could speak about this.
As for a tent, a bivy sack was fine until bugs came out, then I used a tarptent.
garlic08
08-23-2015, 22:36
Ditto the Tarptent and Gossamer Gear pack. My TT Contrail cost $200 and GG pack cost $85 on sale, not exactly breaking the bank. Single wall tents certainly are a nice lightweight option for a long distance hiker, but they do have their drawbacks especially with condensation if you camp in low areas and near water.
Many people bring way more food and clothing than they need. Food is easy to monitor as you hike and if you end up with extra, take less next time. Food is not a survival item in the context of an AT hike--it's really OK to run out the day you hike into town.
A good rule for clothing is that you should be able to wear everything you carry at one time as part of a coordinated layering system. With a good clothing system (which does not have to be new and expensive) you can free up a lot of pack space and weight. (I suspect many of the towering backpacks I see are filled with much spare clothing.) Of course, your experience in keeping things clean and dry in harsh conditions is often more important than the stuff you carry.
We tend to pack our fears. If we're afraid of being cold and wet, we'll bring lots of extra clothes. If we're afraid of being hungry, we'll bring lots of extra food. Afraid of the dark? Of things that go "bump" in the night? Of not having cell phone reception or running out of battery power? Of getting lost? Addressing irrational fears, and gaining experience, can go a long way to lightening a pack load.
Thanks everyone, great suggestions. I suspect I could cut the weight down more by looking more at my clothing ad food choices. I don't bring a lot of extra, but the stuff I bring could probably be lighter. I'll definitely check out the book, too.
I've been googling a bit on the tents/tarps, and I'm wondering if it is risky to use a shelter that uses 2 hiking poles (vs only 1) in case one gets lost/broken? I've seen the TarpTent Notch, the Contrail (which seems to have been replaced by the ProTrail?), and the Lightheart Solo mentioned a lot, but I think the first 2 use both poles. Thoughts? Also, would these be bullet-proof enough for the wind/snow/rain I might encounter on the AT during the usual hiking season (ie. not winter) or would I need to rely on shelters in some conditions? Sorry if that's obvious...I'm not very experienced obviously!
oops, I mis-spoke, it looks like the Notch and Lightheart use 2 poles, and the Contrail uses 1.
Flounder940
08-26-2015, 16:58
Any of those tents will serve you well in any weather you encounter on the trail. In regards to worrying about lost or broken poles, you can always find a stick somewhere that will work until you can replace the pole.
My wife is about your size, 107 lbs, but shorter (5'3"). We've taken pains to lighten her load, and she's never needed to carry more than about 23 lbs fully loaded. As she eats through food it gets down to about 16 lbs min. Seems to work for her, over 600 mi of the AT. Since we're a couple I carry the heavy part of the tent (only 2-3 lbs tarp tent) and she carries just the tyvek ground cloth.
If you were solo I would still think you could hike with less than 25 lbs. I know, it doesn't sound like much but it is 25% of your body weight, which is considerable when you put it that way. To lessen the load, weigh every piece and consider lighter options. The big 3 are key: pack, tent, bag.
fastfoxengineering
08-26-2015, 20:12
Haven't posted in a while. But love helping the noobs.
Paying attention to the big three cuts serious weights. However, the small stuff adds up. Most people bring too much stuff.
One must be critical of everything in their thru-hiking pack. Unfortunately, it takes a few hundred miles on the trail to figure out what you personally want in your pack and out of your gear.
Bring what you need to be safe. Leave everything else at home. If you want something, just get it in a trail town.
For example, you don't need much hygiene stuff. A travel sized toothpaste and toothbrush, toilet paper and hand sanitzer. If you miss or need something, youll be able to get it in town soon enough. You'll be surprised what you don't miss or need.
For hydration - two 1L powerade bottles, a 2L platy softbottle, and some aquamira is all you need.
Most people think they "need" something to be safe or "just in case"... That's why most people carry extra water and it's just dead weight. I don't condone running yourself dry however if your always refill and still have full liter, well, assess your strategy.
Typically, leaving items at home turns into an inconvienece rather than a safety issue when on the trail. For example, if you didn't bring something as neccessary as a toothbrush. Well your not gonna die, your just gonna have a gross mouth for a few days.
This applies to most gear. So in all honesty, I condone bringing less and sucking it up the first week or two. Pick it up as you go.
Nowadays, it relatively easy to keep a less than 12lb baseweight on the AT without dirtbagging every piece of gear or sacrificing more comfort than most are willing to give up with a little thought, research, and experience.
Sseriously, leave it at home and try living simply on the trail. It actually makes your hike easier.
CarlZ993
08-26-2015, 20:53
Before you get too far into your gear buying spree, I'd buy a digital scale that weighs stuff down to a tenth of an ounce. Weigh the stuff that you have now. Enter that info in an on-line program at www.geargrams.com. Once you enter your stuff in the gear library, you can create gear lists by simply clicking & dragging items from your gear library to your new list. It will automatically total your gear list by category as well as separate gear worn & consumables carried (in addition to 'Base Pack Weight').
You can also read some after thru-hike gear reviews on Trail Journals or Postholer.com. You can see what hikers used, what they wished they had used, & what they wished they hadn't used.
If you shop at the local outfitter, take your scale & weigh prospective items. It is lighter that what you already have? Is it better? You won't be able to do that with some of the online cottage-industry retailers that make some of the cutting-edge ultra-light backpacking gear.
I don't know what your gear budget is. Cuben Fiber tents (like the Zpack Hexamid Solo Plus that I carried) are pricey but crazy light. A slightly heavier - but cheaper - alternative are tarp tents made w/ silnylon. I've owned several tarp tents from Henry Shire (www.tarptent.com) & have been pleased w/ them. For an AT hike, I'd opt for a tent system that would exclude mosquitoes. My tent required one hiking pole to set up. On my hike, I did snap two hiking poles (in ME). Fortunately, I always had at least one working pole. Worse case scenario, you crash at a shelter for a few nights until your can replace your pole section (or entire pole).
Lightweight backpacks. It is hard to beat the quality & customer service of ULA-Equipment packs. Their packs aren't uber-light like packs made of Cuben Fiber (i.e. Zpacks; which I also own). But they are light & well made. My Circuit pack was 2.5 lbs. My Zpacks Arc Blast (cuben fiber) weighs 18.4 oz. Unless your pack volume is really small, the Zpacks could be a snug fit if you start NoBo when it is cold (more cold-weather clothing).
Sleeping Bag/Pad - You scored on the Western Mountaineering bag. 20 deg might be adequate at the start... or it might be a little lacking. The minimum temp that I was aware of on my AT hike was around 15 deg (on March 25th; YMMV). A higher R-value for your sleeping pad might be something to consider. With using a 3/4 length pad, you might consider a full length or possibly adding a foam sit pad for your feet.
A cook pot in the 0.7 - 1L size should suffice for your hike. Titanium pots are the lightest. I'm partial to the 0.9L Evernew Pot (uncoated). Buy or make a pot cozy for whatever pot you use & you will lessen the amount of fuel you'll need to cook w/. Soda can alcohol stoves work fine. I used a cat food alcohol stove & was please w/ it (even if it was slower than those JetBoil stoves that I was envious of).
Food weight - For a smaller woman, 2 lbs/day of food may or may not be right. Try to keep your food resupplies more frequent so you food weight doesn't get too exorbitant.
There are some formulas you can input your body weight (in Kilograms) and the number of hours in different exertion categories to determine your precise caloric expenditure (resting, very light, light, moderate, & heavy exertion; each category has a multiple of the Resting Energy Expenditure or REE; for example, heavy exertion expends seven times more calories per hour than resting). Assuming you are 18-29 yrs old female, your REE is 1164 calories. On a hypothetical trail day, you rest/sleep 9 hrs/day, very light activity 3 hrs/day, light activity 3 hrs/day, moderate activity 2 hrs/day, & heavy activity 7 hrs/day (actually hiking w/ pack). Your average physical activity quotient is 3.27 (adding up the quotients of each category & then divided that number by the 24 hrs/day). Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) would be 1164 calories (REE) times 3.27 for a total of 3,807 calories/day. [Source formulas from NOLS Backcountry Nutrition book]. Typically, you run a caloric deficit on the trail & pig out in town to catch up.
That being said, my observation of weight loss on female AT hikers was considerably less than male hikers. Men tended to drop weight like a rock. I hiked w/ two different guys that both lost 40 lbs during their hike. I lost around 12-15. I guess I can nurse my calories better than some of the younger guys.
Best of luck in your planning & your future thru-hike.
Hi I am 5'6 and at 122. I would definitely look at lightening your pack either Zpack or ULA. Some outfitters have them as well as calling. The thing I like about these packs (not advertising) is you can interchange the belt such has a small backpack with an XS belt. I would no matter what pack you choose, look for this kind of feature for the best fit. It can be pure misery even if you lighten up, if the pack does do not fit well.
For food I do about 1.5 to 1.75 a day depending on how cold it is. I carry coconut or olive oil with me to raise my calorie counts in the morning and evening. Coconut oil is hard to find in little towns but I prefer it as it is solid below 70 degrees and I prefer the taste. Have fun.
One simple approach?
30lbs MAX all in, food, water, etc, etc
In the past I brought too much food, too many clothes, things that I wound up not using (compass), less is more. To me that is part of what backpacking is all about, LESS
So...........
I don't cook anymore, there are LOT of great no-cook foods. Come on, we are talking a few days at a time then pizza and burgers
Less clothes, thin, light layers work great
Spend what money you can on MUCH lighter gear........if this is your chosen hobby invest here, backpacking is much less expensive than most hobbies.
What you save in weight carry in extra snickers bars, they go fast and are consistently excellent.
Heliotrope
08-26-2015, 23:04
I'm a backpacking beginner...I did a handful of weekend trips ~7-8 years ago, and that's about it. It was pretty fun, but as a 5'5" 100lb woman without much muscle, I really struggled with carrying all my junk, even though I tried to pack light. I'd like to get back into it now, and work up to longer trips, but now that I'm older/less durable, I need to be even kinder to my feet, knees and lower back. I figure the only way I'm actually going to enjoy this is if I travel very light. A little help?
I have a Granite Gear Nimbus Latitude Ki pack (~3.5 lbs), which I never really loved (their smallest hip belt was a bit big on me, but it was the best of many poorly fitting options at the time--I'm average height, but NARROW framed!!), a Eureka Spitfire UL tent (claims to be 37 oz, though I never weighed it), and I was fortunate to inherit a 20 degree Western Mountaineering bag (~29 oz?) from a friend. I used one of those 3/4 length foam sleeping pads, a soda can stove with a pot stand/windscreen that a friend built for my pot, and did mostly freezer bag cooking (or no cooking). Does anyone have any suggestions for me on ways to lighten this up? I'm not opposed to replacing gear/learning new skills, but I can't spend a fortune.
I hate the idea of a hammock since I toss and turn a lot when I sleep, and sleep in all positions. Would some kind of tarp be a lighter option for me than my solo tent? I do use treeking poles, if that matters..I know some tarps/tents use them. Are tarps warm enough for the entire NOBO hiking season? Mosquitoes love me, so what do I do about bug netting? I have allergies, so the idea of having an actual floor is appealing, but once I add a floor and netting, I'm basically back in a tent, right...?
Any suggestions for a new backpack? Or other things to think about that would help me carry less? If this has already been asked and answered if you could point me to the link that would be awesome as well. Also, for weight calculating purposes, would a person my size really carry 2 lbs of food per day, or is that more for a male thru-hiker?
Lots of great advice here. I would consider some strength training moves like squats, walking lunges and dead lifts for developing more power in steep ascents/descents, as well as building your core and postural muscles. Consider high calorie dense food and maybe 1 lb per day.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Odd Man Out
08-27-2015, 00:05
In addition to the ULA packs, you could consider a Kalais by Elemental Horizons. I really like mine. Also for cooking pots, aluminum is much less dense and expensive than titanium.
I have a number of spreadsheets with U/L, LT. WT, AND SUMMER, and food lists with weights and cost. . Total wight range 13-15 lbs. . If interested send me a pm with your email and I will forward.