Best Gear Advice on a Budget

[Birthright]

Has anyone ever hiked the AT without gear?

I have an entire closet full of gear. I have tried all kinds and when I want to change it out; I just buy another item and throw the used gear on top of the pile. I probably have enough gear to supply a band of 12 men with all the gear needed to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail.

Is anyone else out there a gear junkie? Tell me about it. I might have to open a display room in my house for all the hiking gear that I have purchased. LOL.

I am ready for change. I would like to hike the AT without gear! Has anyone accomplished this goal and if so, what is the best alternative to carrying gear? Don't answer that question with - a credit card! LOL. I have already had it cross my mind. :cool:

[gpburdelljr]

Grandma Gatewood hiked with about the least amount of things possible. From a Wikipedia article:

“. she took little in the way of outdoor gear – no tent or sleeping bag, just a shower curtain to keep the rain off. She wore canvas Keds (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keds_(shoes)) shoes on her misshapen feet and carried a small notebook, some clothes and food in a homemade denim bag slung over one shoulder. When she couldn't find shelter, she slept on piles of leaves. On cold nights, she heated large flat stones to use as a warm bed. When she ran out of food, she ate berries and other edible forest plants she recognized…..”

[petedelisio]

When she couldn't find shelter she used the shower curtain shelter,, aka tarp/grounds sheet. That she carried with her.

What is your definition of no gear OP?

[JNI64]

You could go Grandma Gatewood style and eat nothing but tuna and corn pasta for a real challenge.

[One Half]

I love all the Grandma Gatewood comments. I read a book about her and today's trail is VERY different, both in it's route and the people who live in the US. She stayed many nights at people's homes and got lots of meals from the people she met along the way. Today we might refer to her as "the master Yogi" she was so good at getting help. And the trail magic she encountered was 100x what it is today even with all the hiker feeds.

[kevperro]

When I hiked the northern half in the 90s there was a thru-hiker named "Marlboro Man" who had all of his gear he had earned by smoking who knows how many cartons of cigarettes and earning Marlboro branded gear in the process. He had less funding than anyone I'd met, eating handouts and surviving on margarine and peanut butter for calories. One of the cool things about doing a thru-hike is the characters you meet in the process. He was hilarious too.... the entertainment of the shelter.

[JNI64]

I once heard of a female hiker trail named "quickie " ,
Hey I said just heard of didn't meet :)
She wasn't carrying much gear .

[DuctTape]

When I hiked the northern half in the 90s there was a thru-hiker named "Marlboro Man"
The Marlboro Man was featured in the old movie called "2000 Miles to Maine," so there's documented footage out there of this guy, memorialized for eternity.

A similar character called "Slowpoke" in 2001 was your typical vagrant-type. Most of his gear was given, found, and courtesy of hiker boxes, so yes, it's possible to hike the trail without gear (or at to least start it as such).

[kevperro]

The Marlboro Man was featured in the old movie called "2000 Miles to Maine," so there's documented footage out there of this guy, memorialized for eternity.

A similar character called "Slowpoke" in 2001 was your typical vagrant-type. Most of his gear was given, found, and courtesy of hiker boxes, so yes, it's possible to hike the trail without gear (or at to least start it as such).


Ha! That is great. I'll have to look up the movie. He was from West Virginia if I remember correctly. The famous character back then was this guy who hiked up and down the trail on a regular basis. He had some had some mental health challenges but hiking seemed to help. Man.... cannot remember his name but back then everyone knew him. He was funded though and had normal gear. When I met him he evaluated all my gear and determined that I'd make it. LOL.. I didn't have the heart to tell him that I wasn't planning on hiking the entire trail.

[DuctTape]

Sounds like Ward Leonard

[HotCrotch]

Nobody has complained about us beating a dead thread, so here are my two cents. The best way I know of to do this is a fully supported hike, fast but not necessarily a FKT attempt, where a spouse, family member, or very good friend meets the hiker at road crossings with food, water, first aid, and a RV to sleep in.

[Traveler]

There have been a number of people who have hiked the AT without much if any gear (with possible exception of provisions for carrying water), but this requires a partner to pick you up at a trail head for the night and drop you off to continue the next day. This requires some deep planning in many of the sections that have limited road crossings and access trails, however it can be done. I would imagine it is difficult though even with the daily ride to town I would imagine this would be a difficult hike without any gear to carry food, rain gear, warming equipment, etc.

[Kittyslayer]

Just hire a Sherpa to carry all your gear.

49800

[Birthright]

I had that idea a long time ago. If you ever tried to hire someone for gear carry, you will realize that it is very hard to find someone.

[scope]

What's the fun of having no gear? We buy gear because of what we could do with it, kinda like SUVs, so why not take it and use it if we're actually going to do the activity its meant for?

[Leo L.]

Hiking with (close to) no gear, would mean to try to get all you need straight from nature.
Nature nowadays could never provide all this for the number of hikers being out there.

[Odd Man Out]

On an AT hike in central VA about 10 years ago, I stopped at a parking area at a road crossing for lunch at noon the day after a torrential downpour the previous night. There was a guy there (don't recall his name or trail name) who had all his "gear" laid out in the sun to dry. We chatted while I ate my lunch. He said everything got wet in the rain since he cowboy camps on a blue tarp with a thin pad and Walmart sleeping bag. He didn't have a tent, so when it rains, he just wraps the tarp around him, and in the previous storm, that didn't work. He had no stove or fuel, but cooked in an aluminum pot over a fire every night. His shoes and clothes looked to be vintage resale shop merch. His high-top, heavy leather boots were still soaked even after a morning in the sun. He drank unfiltered water from steams using a bottle he pulled out of a dumpster. Otherwise he had nothing in the way of gear that I could see. He said he was hiking the trail with no money. His strategy was to write to a friend every week, telling them he was hiking the AT and ran out of food, asking if they would send food to the next PO up the trail. He had made it that far with this strategy and said he figured he had enough friends he could make to Harpers Ferry without having to beg from the same friend twice. After that, he wasn't sure what he was going to do. He was a writer and would compose short stories in a notebook while walking. He read one to me while I downed my PB&J on Tortilla. As a writer, he was quite talented, although his style was VERY dark. At the time he was quite low as he had just run out of food and failed to get a hitch into town to pick up his next food box. It was a remote road crossing with little traffic and his appearance probably didn't do any favors when it came to flagging down a ride. He said because it was Saturday, the PO closed at noon so he was going to have to fast until Monday AM. He said he didn't mind going without food (which I believed as he was quite thin) but really missed coffee more than food. I then gave him the good news that it was actually Friday, so he still had a chance to get his food drop. He seemed genuinely happy to hear that. As I packed up to head on out, I gave him a handful of my extra Starbucks Via pouches which he accepted enthusiastically. I suspected I was being Yogied, but it was the least I could do in payment for the lunchtime entertainment.

Perhaps someone else here met him?
Perhaps someone else here is him?

[Astro]

I was a few days behind you that summer in 2015, and believe I ran into him while stopping for water at the shelter between the VA Triple Crown and Daleville.

[petedelisio]

Very many have, even for much longer than a day hike.
That aside, to complete a thru hike in 2 years or less; your gonna need "gear".

Before and during grandma Gatewood time "Keds" were a fairly popular sporting and outdoor/hiking footwear.
Using whatever you could find around the house for a tarp or makeshift poncho is as old as or older than civilization.
That aside, what type of gear do you not want to use?
Define no gear.


L

[Odd Man Out]

I was a few days behind you that summer in 2014, and believe I ran into him while stopping for water at the shelter between the VA Triple Crown and Daleville.
I met him mid day where the trail crosses VA 621 (Upper Craig's Creek Rd), between Niday Spring Shelter and the Audie Murphy Monument. He was an interesting character.

The next day I met a guy who got drunk and threw a temper tantrum when he got thrown out of 4 Pines Hostel. Perhaps you ran into him too, assuming it wasn't you. ;-)

[High-Milage Hiker]

Learning how to hike from the ground up helped me a lot. I started with footware, orthotics, socks, then built myself up one piece at a time. It's not just about gear, it's an evolution of mind, body and spirit. Buy stuff with lifetime warranties and great return policies to assist with this evolution (REI is an option). A comfortable pack and good fitting shoes are so important to me, without which I just can't hike.

But if anyone's hankering for my 2 cents, a supportive external frame pack with lightweight-ish gear is (for me) the best of both worlds cost wise. I don't skimp on a comfotable plllow though, which was eventually a DIYer. That seems to be the key to a good night's sleep, and is supported by research.

Base weight is recommended to be 20% or lesss of your total body weight. The great Andrew Skurka is the benchmark for any thru-hike.