View Full Version : Gear list + a few questions
KnightErrant
03-02-2018, 15:19
I've been putting together my April nobo gear list to have all the items and their weights in front of me, and I'm on the fence about a few items. (A couple of these questions are female specific but not all, so I figured I'd put it in the general forum. Gentlemen, kindly ignore whatever does not apply to you. Thanks all!)
1. Skirt? I like to hike in full-length running tights to avoid chafing and protect against ticks, and I'm debating bringing a short, lightweight skirt to wear over for the pockets and modesty while dropping the leggings to pee. Thoughts?
2. Pack towel? I have one of those little sham-wow things from my swim team days. Worth it?
3. External battery for the phone? My phone is new and lasts several days if I keep it in airplane mode during the day and off at night. Is the extra battery worth the weight to you? If so, how many mAh?
4. Knife? I have a spork thing. I don't enjoy dried meats or hard cheeses so I wasn't thinking to bring one. Do any of you carry them, either for cooking or self-defense?
5. Pepper spray? Worth it for the sense of security? (against two- or four-legged predators) I've never carried anything for self-defense before, but in October while backpacking alone in Spain I had a guy pass me, wait for me in a secluded area, and then try to expose himself to me while soliciting sex, so I'm going into this trip a little wary of creeps.
Thanks for your opinions and advice!
My full gear list is here, and any tips are welcome. https://www.tefltrekker.com/home/2018/3/1/appalachian-trail-gear Cheers!
2. no towel, bandanna is better
3. back-up batt for phone....yes
4. Knife yes...you will need to cut stuff
5. Pepper spray..no. I have been on this web page and other hiker type pages and I have never even once read a story about somebody spraying a bear on the AT. Not once. Read at lest 2 accounts of people spraying themselves.
2. Pack towel? I have one of those little sham-wow things from my swim team days. Worth it?
3. External battery for the phone? My phone is new and lasts several days if I keep it in airplane mode during the day and off at night. Is the extra battery worth the weight to you? If so, how many mAh?
4. Knife? I have a spork thing. I don't enjoy dried meats or hard cheeses so I wasn't thinking to bring one. Do any of you carry them, either for cooking or self-defense?
2 - A small bandana or cloth does come in handy at times. You don't need much.
3 - Something large enough to recharge your phone one time can be helpful. 3-4000 mAH is more than enough.
4 - I'm a big fan of carrying a very simple knife just for occasional use. The dermasafe knives available on Amazon weigh a fraction of an ounce and carry very safely in a plastic shell. You can buy a 5 pack for about $10. If you're rarely using it, the first one will probably last your entire through hike.
Slo-go'en
03-02-2018, 16:55
Yes on everything but the pepper spray.
bigcranky
03-02-2018, 23:35
2. I like a small pack towel as well as a bandana, very useful. i have a small shammy type towel, maybe hand towel size, and I can take a shower with it and completely dry off with just the one towel. Comes in handy more often than I expected.
3. I keep my iPhone on airplane mode about 99% of the time and it easily lasts a week or more. I don't carry a battery. But note that I don't really use the phone except to occasionally take a GPS reading or look for the weather radar. If you always have your phone out, for photos and music and texting and journaling, then the battery might be useful.
4. I do carry a folding knife. I like cheddar cheese, what can I say? (Cabot Seriously Sharp, if you must know, and yes, it does hold up well on the trail)
5. Not sure about pepper spray, being a big guy I haven't had issues. But I can see it as a useful option, and a lightweight peace-of-mind item. Plus when some idiot dude thinks that showing you his junk is some kind of turn-on, you can spray him. Aim low.
DownEaster
03-02-2018, 23:45
The pack towel absorbs better than a bandana. When your shoes are wet (and they will be, frequently) you can stuff the sham-wow inside one for a while to absorb some of the moisture, wring it out, and repeat on the other shoe.
The usefulness of an external battery pack depends on your power use. I've got a phone, 2 headlamps, and bluetooth earbuds that all use USB power, so I get pretty good leverage from my Anker power bank. I don't have to worry about power if I take a lot of pictures, or decide to sit out a miserable wet day in my tent entertaining myself with books and music on my phone.
A knife is a useful tool. I've used one to whittle a couple replacement, beefier, tent stakes for high winds.
You'd probably get better use out of a whistle than out of pepper spray.
MuddyWaters
03-03-2018, 23:10
I've been putting together my April nobo gear list to have all the items and their weights in front of me, and I'm on the fence about a few items. (A couple of these questions are female specific but not all, so I figured I'd put it in the general forum. Gentlemen, kindly ignore whatever does not apply to you. Thanks all!)
1. Skirt? I like to hike in full-length running tights to avoid chafing and protect against ticks, and I'm debating bringing a short, lightweight skirt to wear over for the pockets and modesty while dropping the leggings to pee. Thoughts?
2. Pack towel? I have one of those little sham-wow things from my swim team days. Worth it?
3. External battery for the phone? My phone is new and lasts several days if I keep it in airplane mode during the day and off at night. Is the extra battery worth the weight to you? If so, how many mAh?
4. Knife? I have a spork thing. I don't enjoy dried meats or hard cheeses so I wasn't thinking to bring one. Do any of you carry them, either for cooking or self-defense?
5. Pepper spray? Worth it for the sense of security? (against two- or four-legged predators) I've never carried anything for self-defense before, but in October while backpacking alone in Spain I had a guy pass me, wait for me in a secluded area, and then try to expose himself to me while soliciting sex, so I'm going into this trip a little wary of creeps.
Thanks for your opinions and advice!
My full gear list is here, and any tips are welcome. https://www.tefltrekker.com/home/2018/3/1/appalachian-trail-gear Cheers!
1. You won't wear leggings except coldest days. Bring running shorts. Wear over them , or skirt.
Don't worry about modesty. We see yoga pants.....in church....at store....everywhere.
2. Towel....if you like. If it's really small. Really small. You don't need large.
3. Batt ok. Phone lasts long time when .....off. a 4000 will recharge me once +, that's enough between towns for sure. I carry a 6000 sometimes for a week, it's plenty for me even with sporadic gps use.
4. I carry tiny 0.28 oz derma safe knife. I used it to open mountain house that didn't tear once, about 2000 miles ago.....
5. Bring the little mace if it makes you feel better and in control. You don't need it. But if you feel better, it's good . You can throw away any time...
HI Sibley. Pics of Ouzad Falls and Casablanca were enjoyed. It's so good to see a young woman enjoying herself not afraid of traveling to Spain and Morocco. Have to look further at your Camino Fisterra trip. It's amazing what you've done already.
With those trips under your belt your ready to tackle an AT NOBO. I'm stoked for you.
If in short order you don't start receiving replies from women you should consider listing your thread also in the Female Forum. Im fairly certain all replies have been from males so far.
Everything you asked has alternative approaches. There's no one right way for all people all the time to gear up or approach each hike.
1) lots of woman hikers do skirts, they offer many benefits
My immediate thought is if you want to do tights under the skirt go with 3/4 length ones not full length and make them of a design that has side or other venting options of a fabric and wt appropriate for quickly warming weather
If I was a woman I'd ping some of the noted LD/thru hikers through their sites asking how they would layer a skirt in context of what gear you already anticipate using and the details of your hike. These woman are usually busy but are usually very supportive of aspiring new young female hikers.
2) depends on what else you anticipate carrying. Many LD female hikers I know carry pee rags.
3)depends how much you wind up utilizing your electronics. Most mid 20 US woman would want or need some external battery source.
4)bring a small pocket knife. It can be used for more than food.
5) pepper spray for either creeps or bears can be handled or avoided in other ways most of all is good common female sense
Why not just spandex shorts instead of leggings?
As small as can be
Also small. I carried a 10k miliamp charger that gave me three full charges and was never without power. Your phone will last for days in airplane mode.
I only used my knife to cut cheese and open packages. I liked having it, though. The lightest one you can find will work. Unless you have a fixed blade and know how to fight with it carrying for self defense isn’t exactly practical. And probably not necessary.
I wouldn’t bring it; just be smart. It’s big and heavy and not necessary
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Otherwise your gear list looks great; you’ve done your research and will be a step ahead of a lot of the people you’ll meet early on
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KnightErrant
03-04-2018, 15:45
Thanks for all your responses! @Dogwood, I appreciate your encouragement and the fact that you took the time to read through a few adventures on my travel blog. Your feedback made my day. :)
Regarding the leggings, I am fairly set on using them vs. shorts due to ticks as I mentioned, and also the perk of not flaunting my unshaved legs. :D I've worn that type of quick-drying, moisture-wicking legging for 500 miles in dry Spain and 200 miles in humid Virginia, both trips in July, and felt like that was a good option for me. As I said, the part I'm debating is the skirt, not because I feel like the leggings themselves are immodest, but because I feel very exposed while peeing off trail. So I'm considering the skirt for that (and bc it has good pockets) at least until the leaves and the undergrowth come in and provide a bit more cover. (I live conveniently close to the trail in southwest VA, so it will be easy to switch out some items at home in late May when I'm passing through.)
I'll definitely keep all the advice about the towel, battery, and knife in mind. I'm leaning yes on the battery and knife but no on the towel, or at least my towel, since it's about 24" by 36." Might replace with something smaller or a bandanna, or else just plan to use my buff for drying things.
Interesting thing about the pepper spray question: I posted the same question and list on the AT Women's facebook group and almost every woman said yes, and almost every guy here said no. Just goes to show how differently we tend to perceive our environments. When I section hiked Shenandoah in 2016 I saw 5 bears and lots of strangers and felt perfectly safe the whole time, but I was pretty shaken after my run-in with the creep in Spain this past fall. I know that hiking trails are statistically very very safe, which is reflected in the fact that I've had just one experience in 800 miles total backpacking where I felt uncomfortably vulnerable. However, that leads me to believe that statistically speaking, on a 2200 mile trail, it's reasonable to expect 2-3 uncomfortable encounters. Would such encounters require a weapon of self-defense? Probably not, especially since I'm starting in the tail end of the bubble and there will be lots of good people around looking out for each other. But I still find myself on the fence about the pepper spray.
Thank you for the kind words. You've done some unusual traveling compounded by being a young woman. I think that awesome. Its refreshing. Great noticing anyone challenging their comfort zones with prudence.
Those travels made you better able to read people and situations and how to avoid female problematic ones. Apply that to your AT hike. Several excellent threads here on WB from a female perspective. But, you'll find some great advice from men as well. The women on WB are highly supportive of other woman.
Tick borne diseases are a real threat on an AT thru. That doesn't mean we have to be afraid. Its better to be knowledgable - solution minded - and apply it to being safe - more aware. Same for the two legged variety of creepy things. That's probably repeating what you're already aware of but reassuring you. Many articles including here on WB have covered both these topics from a female and male perspective.
Not going to regurgitate all that has already been written other than: treat the outer surface of your leggings/skirt/shirt/socks/and undergarments for tick prevention. Washing in or spraying on permethrin or, alternatively as I use, essential oils in an alcohol/witch hazel/ or almond oil carrier base. It smells better hiding more of the LD hiker funk, can have some skeeter repellency, and depending on the base offer moisturizing. I make this myself. Some permethrin treatments last much longer than others or the essential oil mixture for ticks...as far as I observe.
If you decide on the pepper spray I strongly encourage you not to rely on it as your sole means of avoiding negative black bear or creep encounters. Do practice spraying it directly at a small face size target - the eyes - from various distances before the need might ever arise on trail; it should be kept quick at hand, or it can be useless to carry. This is something you should do with anything you decide to carry on the AT; pre-hike familiarize yourself with your kit while beginning to establish your AT NOBO individually specific rhythm and approach. This is not an in the basement or living room exercise. Do it outside.
There are many strong unafraid knowledgable female LD hikers who have blogs and/or on Facebook/Twitter/trail Journals: a few that immediately come to mind I'd rec are Liz Thomas, Heather Anderson, Jennifer Pharr Davis, Erin Saver, Sage Clegg, Felicia Hermosillo, Jackie McDonnell. I like the wanderings and musings of Ashley Hill also.
ggreaves
03-04-2018, 21:00
one small thing... whatever knife you decide to use, it should be a fixed blade with a sheath, or if it's a folding knife, it should lock open. It's really easy to injure yourself with a folding knife that doesn't lock open. Have a great hike!
It’s funny...not funny ha-ha, but that carrying bear/mace against creeps. As a woman who hunts, backpacks, and camps solo, only time I carry bear spray is for potential encounters with someone who may harm me. And I’m not talking bears...even though I’ve had two black bear encounters.
My NOBO attempt isn’t until next year, and had considered bringing my bear spray, but have been talked out of bringing it by everyone on hiking sites. I know I’ll have anxiety for the first few days, but just hope there’s nothing to worry about.
If you don’t already have one, please carry a signal. Where you can get to it immediately.
https://www.moreprepared.com/orange-storm-whistle?utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=feed&gclid=CjwKCAiAz-7UBRBAEiwAVrz-9eVPLQmazIOLQkhb5p142nu6Fh7cvZ7ncsKCY_awiVfW3a-_3M9WkRoCWvIQAvD_BwE
All the best to you!
Wayne
Should be:
Signal Whistle. Sorry.
Wayne
nsherry61
03-04-2018, 21:55
one small thing... whatever knife you decide to use, it should be a fixed blade with a sheath, or if it's a folding knife, it should lock open. It's really easy to injure yourself with a folding knife that doesn't lock open. Have a great hike!
Wow. Really. I've been carrying a knife for probably 50 of my 56 years and have never chosen to use a lock-blade or fixed blade knife for safety. . . especially for backpacking. What kind of foolish things do you do with your knife while backpacking that requires a rigid, instead of a simple folding, knife?
That's not to say that I haven't been stupid and folded my knife onto one of my fingers, I have, on a couple occasions over the last 50 years, but good god, I've gotten in more car accidents than I have cut myself by folding my knife and I still drive cars.
I heard this quote today on YouTube, regarding a hiker getting a pack shakedown. He had a big enough knife, fixed blade...to which the guy from Mountain Crossings said: the bigger the knife, the bigger the fear.
nsherry61
03-04-2018, 22:10
. . . the bigger the knife, the bigger the fear.
So, I guess I've grown over the years from using my dad's hunting knife with an 8" fixed blade to my current knife which is a Victorinox Commander with maybe a 1" blade. Or maybe I'm only 1/8th the man I used to be. Whatever. Maybe I'm now old weak and love carrying less useless gear.
ggreaves
03-04-2018, 22:20
Wow. Really. I've been carrying a knife for probably 50 of my 56 years and have never chosen to use a lock-blade or fixed blade knife for safety.
That's awesome. You must be very proud. want a cookie?
What kind of foolish things do you do with your knife while backpacking that requires a rigid, instead of a simple folding, knife?
Any poking or possibly trying to carve a hole in a piece of wood or maybe trying to stab or slash at someone who is trying to assault you after exposing himself could cause the blade to collapse. The OP did mention self defense as a potential use. But don't let that get in the way of calling someone who doesn't run their life the way you do foolish by all means.
That's not to say that I haven't been stupid and folded my knife onto one of my fingers...
Ah... so it does happen. Even to you. Good thing you weren't 2 days walk from the next town with a deep cut that got infected.
...I've gotten in more car accidents than I have cut myself by folding my knife and I still drive cars.
I'm 51 and haven't had a car accident yet and, unlike you, I learn from my mistakes.
Anyway, it's no big deal. Just an added piece of safety advice that someone can folow or ignore. Any downsides you can think of why carrying a locking or fixed blade knife is a bad idea?
Anyone that would give you any grief about hairy legs probably won’t make it further than Virginia.
Embrace the no shave life; quite a few others do. No one cares.
I’m curious if all the ladies that said bring the spray have actually thru hiked.
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bigcranky
03-05-2018, 07:55
So, I guess I've grown over the years from using my dad's hunting knife with an 8" fixed blade to my current knife which is a Victorinox Commander with maybe a 1" blade. Or maybe I'm only 1/8th the man I used to be. Whatever. Maybe I'm now old weak and love carrying less useless gear.
My partner and I hiked the GA section sobo during spring break a few years ago. (Okay, maybe ten years ago, time flies.) We were tenting near one of the shelters with a bunch of nobo aspiring thru-hikers, and talk turned to "what gear do you carry" and, of course, "bear defense." Several hikers pulled out large knives they said they would use to defend against a marauding bear. I took out my tiny Swiss Army Knife, the kind you see on a keychain. One of the other hikers looked at it and said, "when the bear comes, you can give him a pedicure." :)
I am a woman hiker, though only small section and day hiker thus far. I have been on the AT and a few other trails around the southeast and I can tell you your best defense against a bear problem is education of black bear tendencies and good ole common sense. Know what to look for, like bear scat and activity signs, and read log books at shelters, even if you don't actually stay in the shelter, if there is any activity going on nearby, someone will write about it. Educate, pay attention and adjust accordingly and you should be fine.
Regarding trail scuz, kind of the same deal. Watch and listen and go with whatever you gut tells you. If you are ever uncomfortable around someone, find company and tell them how you are feeling and would they mind if you tag along with them for a bit. Even better if its another man or a couple. All that said, there's a great big chance you won't ever feel the least bit fearful of anyone. This forum, as well as all social media outlets, is a tell-all venue and in the few years I've been lurking here, I have heard very little noise relating to sketchy guys on the trail. There have been men and women alike, that said they felt ill at ease around someone, and just slowed down or cranked it up a notch to put distance between them. I doubt you'd do anything other than accidentally hurt yourself with pepper spray on the AT. THAT SAID... if you need that to sleep sound on the trail, take it. Like others have said, it's easy enough to drop off when/if you are ready.
handlebar
03-05-2018, 18:42
Skirt? I'm a guy and like hiking with a kilt that goes down to my knees. Lots of ventilation. One advantage is that I can put on/take off underwear or long tights discreetly. (Used long underwear under kilt only about 3 times in 15,000 miles.) I started the AT with zip off pants and found I never wore the bottoms, so switched to a kilt in Hot Springs.
Pack towel? I keep a smallish pack towel about 15" x 15" in my tent stuff sack to use for wiping off condensation and/or rain on my single wall tent, as a wash cloth to wipe down with cold water to get salt off my skin or with a few drops of soap to deal with critical areas, and as a towel. This is my method of on-the-trail hygiene rather than baby wipes. I have a bandana knotted and safety pinned to my pack strap for wiping off sweat, etc. Also wore one on my head after I sent the hat home once the leaves on the trail came out and it became a long, green tunnel.
External battery? Depends on how long your phone lasts in airplane mode and how critical those functions are to you. Do you store trail beta on it? I do as attachments to email to myself. Do you use it as your camera? I now do to save the weight of a separate point and shoot. Are you planning to use a smartphone app for trail beta? Would a dead battery b e an inconvenience to you or a major concern (On the AT, you'd be missing beta about next water source or campsite/shelter so not really a problem). How much time are you planning in towns? On the AT I spent plenty of time in towns for recharging. Now I try to only spend an overnight in town about every 2 weeks, so I now carry a spare battery (very small---sorry don't know the rating). I suggest you try your phone on airplane mode to see how long the battery lasts. I also use the notepad app on my phone to compose and store my trail journals instead of a paper journal. When I have internet connectivity, I cut-and-paste into the Trail Journals web site.
Knife? I carry the smallest swiss army knife, the one with about an 1-1/2 blade, a tweezers, a tooth pick, and a small scissors. Comes in very handy. Weighs little.
Pepper spray? If it makes you feel more comfortable, take the smallest self defense pepper spray and keep it within reach. You won't need it for bears on the AT if you follow reasonable bear precautions. (Different story in highly frequented western US national parks and forests---Glacier, Yellowstone, Bob Marshall Wilderness, Wind River Wilderness---where I would recommend carrying bear spray in a holster on your pack.)
Didn't see toilet paper in your gear list. Hope you aren't using baby wipes in lieu of toilet paper. Baby wipes really don't decompose very quickly.
KnightErrant
03-11-2018, 10:02
I haven't been online for a week but checked back today and read through these responses I hadn't seen. Thanks for the input everyone!
Re: toilet paper, don't worry, I just forgot to include that in my gear list! I'll have to weigh a 5-day supply and see how much that adds to my total. I try to follow LNT pretty religiously, so I'll definitely be packing out all the wipes and stuff.
Re: whistle, good thought! I'm pretty sure my pack strap has a little one attached that I've never used. I'll test it out and consider adding a proper loud one. Going Nobo in April, I doubt I'd be able to get out of hearing range of other people if I wanted to!
Going to try to get down to my nearest REI next weekend for their garage sale and I'll see about lightweight knives and tiny pack towels. After that I'm planning a 100 mile shakedown/section here in Virginia prior to heading down to Georgia (that I may or may not leapfrog over when I reach it hiking nobo). I'll tweak things and leave an update about any changes then.
Thanks again!
Anyone that would give you any grief about hairy legs probably won’t make it further than Virginia.
Embrace the no shave life; quite a few others do. No one cares...
Don't promote illegal behavior. It clearly states in the AT Backpacking Penal Code Title 3 subsection J:3c "all women must have neatly shaved legs when publicly displayed."
WB legal "experts" will agree. Rainman? Dan Roper?
RevDrDan
03-12-2018, 00:30
Have you thought about a solar charger? It might be lighter and won't have to be charged when you get to town? Also you may want to check out a kilt. Snap up the onesie when in camp. If something helps you feel safe forget what everyone else says! It is your hike! You will find a hiking companion who you are compatible with and if you split or they split then you will find someone else. You are alone only as much as you want to be alone on the AT. It will be a great experience.
RevDrDan Section hiker finished 2007 www.smithfieldbaptist.org
Solar chargers don’t work well on the AT
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evyck da fleet
03-12-2018, 14:21
1) skirt or shorts come in handy when it’s warm and you don’t feel like full on tights
2) I carried a small towel for wiping of the tent and before packing it after rain and a bandanna for me
3) my multi tool has a small knife. I used it s few times to cut things for meals but mostly carried it for gear repairs/to cut duck tape.
4) if it makes you feel better bring no it (assuming only a few ounces). You can always leave it in a hiker box if you decide it’s unnecessary.