PDA

View Full Version : Gear List



onicoe
10-02-2006, 20:59
October is here, spiffy sales abound, and i'm feeling ready to finish off this list.
But before i dump a bunch of money into gear, can you give my list a once over? (some weights are badly estimated) (mostly the clothing stuff is badly estimated)

Item Weight (oz)

Clothing –
Convertible Pants (http://www.livetoplay.com/pages/product/product.asp?CMP=KNC-55000&cmpn=55000&item=202025) 8.2 T-Shirt (2) (http://www.uscav.com/Productinfo.aspx?productID=9244&TabID=) 0.76 Wool glommits (along with silk glove liners)
2.8 nylon socks (2) 1 pair wool for sleeping in 3 Knit wool cap (http://www.majorsurplusnsurvival.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=080367&Category_Code=148) 4 polypro neck gaiter
2.5 duogold thermal top (http://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=19227&memberId=12500226) 6 duogold thermal bottom (http://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=19232&memberId=12500226) 6 Long sleeved mid weight top
8.2 Frogg toggs (or some other wind blocking rain gear) 7 Insulated synthetic vest ( or fleece?)
prolly another long sleeved thermal top i have
10 TOTAL 58.46

Kitchen
Light my fire spork 0.35 Peanut butter container (soak food in)
polar pure
2
(http://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?memberId=12500226&productId=13879) 2.9 2 - 1 liter water bottles ?

Esbit fuel tabs 6 Food (5 days x 2lbs per day = 160oz) 0 MSR titan kettle 4.5 Vargo triad stove
2 liter platypus (water carrier)
1.5
(http://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=99397&memberId=12500226) 2 TOTAL 20.75

Hygiene
Bandanna 0.8 container with baking soda (multiple uses) 8 toilet paper
folding travel toothbrush 0.7 Diva cup 0.25 Small Comb 0.5 TOTAL 13.45

Navigation and lights
clear plastic lensiatic compass
Lithium trek led
1.75
4.5 Trail journal (just a mini notepad) 1.75 Pen 0.25 Databook & mapset (maps sent home as i complete)
69.5 TOTAL 77.75



Sleeping Bag/Pack/Shelter

undercover & pad system
13 20 degree rated sleeping bag 36.96 Hennessy expedition asym Hammock w/Snakeskins 44 Pack (gearskin) 22 Pack Cover/Poncho (http://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=9996340&memberId=12500226&storeId=226&catalogId=40000000226&langId=-1) 8.5 TOTAL 124.46

Misc
ID, money, bank card, phone card 1.5 Arakan 3 section trekking poles (2) 23 Generic camper's knife
(blade, awl, can opener, bottle opener) 2

Olympus digicam in case /w extra memory card
3 stuff sacks
(food/cooking, sleeping, clothing/misc)
First Aid Kit
11.46




(http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/#first%20aide%20list) 4.22 Stakes (3) 1 TOTAL 43.18

GRAND TOTAL 338.05
21.13
okay, about the clothing. for some reason my hands get freakishly cold easy so that's why there's the wool gloves and the silk liners. (same with the neck gaiter, that thing kept me freakishly warm last winter!)

got an extra thermal top just because. got that gut feeling i'll be colder than i think i will. it can always be sent home.

got the food soaking jar because that's how i intend to prepare most of my food, but i realize at some point i'll want/need something warm, hence the stove and fuel tabs.

i'm no too sure with the frogg toggs i mainly chose them because of the wind blocking properties. ideally i'm looking for some mildly insulated/wind blocking/rain jacket to work with the rest of my layers...

i feel comfortable with this list. it's been a long work in progress, and i'm sure i forgot something. so, yay, feedback!

oh anything red or blue i don't have yet, i copied this out of my spreadsheet)

onicoe
10-02-2006, 21:01
oh geez.. i'm sorry about the bad formatting. it didnt' look like this while i was typing. :o

Seeker
10-02-2006, 22:13
your windproof top will work fine with the other layers. it doesn't need to be "insulated", as you say. it just needs to block the wind and rain so the other layers can do their job.

what's gonna be on yer feets?

might consider a pencil instead of a pen... a pen runs/washes out when wet, hard to write with when cold. a pencil is simple and reliable. just my preference.

if your hands get cold easily, don't even bother with gloves... go straight to mittens... you can take a mitten off, quickly do whatever task, and put them back on. another alternative if you insist on gloves is to get a pair of loose wool ones, and then wear an insulated mitten shell over them.

neck gaiter's performance is no surprise... if you keep your neck warm, you generall stay warm. the only other part of the body that looses heat that fast is the head (hence the invention of the hat).

didn't see any reference to cord, if you planned on bear-bagging anything.

repair kit?

lighter/matches?

that's all i can think of right now.

hammock engineer
10-02-2006, 23:18
A side note on the camera. If you don't akready have the memory cards, look into a 4 gb card. I got one for my trip this month and can hold 1300 7.1mp pics. Works for me and no need to worry about loosing a second card. Just my perference.

onicoe
10-02-2006, 23:31
haha, shoes.. i told ya i forgot something.

awh man i just missed out on a cheap pair of frogg toggs on ebay too. but thanks seeker for the info.

they're the gloves with the fingers that are cut off and have a mitten flap. because i like using my hands and it's easy to flap on/off with the mitten flap and still keeps you warm.

i forgot but repair kit was lumped with the first aid kit. keeping all the helping stuff together. and i got some waterproof matches as well as a tiny emergency firestarter thing.

bear-bagging. i had stuff written down but then i took it off. i'm still debating that whole to or not too argument. i'll prolly take some cord with me either way. can never have enough rope.

how expensive is a 4gb memory card? all i got on me is the standard one a camera comes with plus a 1 gb card. if anything else i was gonna swipe another from my brother or try to be prudent with pictures until i come across some sort of kiosk to clear the card at. (print pictures/burn cd/ & mail home)

hammock engineer
10-02-2006, 23:37
newegg.com usually has good times. I got min for $60 after rebate. I figured it would be easy and cheaper in the end. Plus I like the idea of being able to look back over all of my pics over the course of my trip. I think it would be nice to look at pics of the start of my trip on the days before I finish.

I am still going to try to send copies back home when I can. That way if something happens with my camera, I won't loose all my pics.

ScottP
10-03-2006, 04:35
Skip the convertible pants and get a skirt. skip the t-shirt, you already have a thermal top and a MWT top. You can trade out both of those for a tank top once things heat up. I'd add another pair of nylon socks. Which specific insulated vest? I'd actually go with down. If you don't deal well with the cold, make sure you have a nice one...Montbell is good, as is western mountaineering.
Polar Pur...sure you like iodine that much? Skip the folding travel toothbrush and just cut down a normal one. I would go with a beefier headlamp. peanut butter jar?
hammocks are the most overrated thru-hike gear ever, in my opinion. they rock for summer trips when there are a ton of bugs, but not for the beginning of a thru. I would start out with a silnylon 10 oz. tarp and trade that out for the hammock once the bugs come out. Gearskins seem nifty, but maybe a bit overpriced. Plus, I'd rather have a bombpoof pack to armor all my lightweight backpacking gear than expose my tarp, or whatever, to scrapes, etc. If you can trim some weight off your pack (10 lbish base weight) , I would check out the granit gear virga. If you don't want to, maybe the Granite Gear vapor trail. If you have a rain jacket, you don't also need a poncho. Does your rainjacket have a hood? make sure to get a size too big so that your rainjacket doesn't compress the loft of your insulation. (I wouldn't be comfortable standing in the rain with a down vest, even with a rainjacket over it, but when the jacket is used as a windbreaker)

When are you starting? If you have a down jacket, will you also need a 20 deg. sleeping bag? You'll want to pare down that First aid/repair kit, baking soda? 40 oz. is a bit heavy for a 20 deg, but not horribly so.
I would skip the mapset and bounce box the bulk of your data book, keeping only the few hundred miles ahead of you. You could also just bounce box the maps and the data book. and save yourself 4 lbs of paper.
You'll want to start with a bear bag cord. Bear bagging is essential when you are camping around idiots (or any place that idiots frequent), as you surely will unless you stealth on a daily basis for the first 500 miles of the trip.
Stakes...they make lightweight stakes as well, around .2-.3 oz, if you want. I'd still keep at least a pair of beefier Y stakes in case the soil is loose. I'd also put a bit of red reflective tape or something on them so that you won't lose them.
Anyways, if paring down weight is a goal of yours, you are in good position to get rid of a bunch of stuff.

onicoe
10-03-2006, 09:49
the formatting screwed up when i posted, the first aid/repair kit is the 4.22 oz and the stakes add up to 1 oz.

you don't know about the wonders of baking soda? it can be used for almost anything. i buy and use premade (natural) baking soda toothpaste. but to brush your teeth just dab the brush into the baking soda and scrub away. make a paste out of baking soda and apply to your skin for almost any skin problem: poison ivy, bug bites, even sun burn. you got to be careful that the poison ivy isn't weeping though or it'll spread. and once the paste hardens you'll be tempted to peel it off but don't. also it's a natural cleaner (scrubbing agent) on it's own or combined with vinegar. seriously, google baking soda uses. everyone should keep baking soda and vinegar in their houses. it can also be used to exfoliate your skin if you're feeling all yuck and to wash your hair. (it'll soak up the natural oils)

ah the poncho thing, i thought that was neat when i was contemplating things but i'm going with the froggtoggs and just a normal packcover.

i was thinking about starting early-mid march, but i'm not taking a down jacket. i'm confused to where that came from?

the toothbrush is the coolest thing i've ever found. if you go to Target it was in their dollar bins in the travel stuff section. it's a full size toothbrush that fold in half into itself. and it weighs less than an oz. it's no what you normally think of with travel toothbrushes.

a gear skin seems the most practical to me. put everything into their specific stuffsacks, line them up, strap them in. i wasn't finding myself too happy when looking at all the other packs available. but the pack will be the last thing bought, because i want to be very sure i want what i'm getting.

thanks for the tip on getting a size larger jacket.

empty pb jar = foodsoaking! i can make lentils and couscous overnight {:

polar pure will last me the whole trip, it's practical and i've drunk worse things than iodine laden water.

now headlamps seem overrated to me. i've always used a regular flashlight when i went camping. i'd feel weird without one.

i don't know what vest i'm getting. i'm still searching for one.

Seeker
10-03-2006, 11:02
they're the gloves with the fingers that are cut off and have a mitten flap. because i like using my hands and it's easy to flap on/off with the mitten flap and still keeps you warm.

tried those. i found they still separated each finger at the base, which reduced my circulation. of course, ymmv... and with a mid march start, you shouldn't hit anything much below freezing... this (http://www.thru-hiker.com/temporal.asp?zip=30572&startMonth=3&startDay=15&endMonth=4&endDay=31&Submit=Get+the+graph%21) average temp chart shows average lows in the high 30s, but of course the 'extreme' temps can go lower.

Just Jeff
10-03-2006, 11:23
Peanut butter container (soak food in)

I'm such an idiot. I've been thinking of bringing a food soaker but couldn't find one I liked. And I just threw away a plastic peanut butter jar two days ago. Thanks for posting it - I'll save the next one. What size do you use?

onicoe
10-03-2006, 12:11
i have a store brand 28 oz container. i marked up the sides with permanent marker in 1/2 c intervals and found that the cap will hold 1/3 c of food. it easily makes 2 cups worth of food plus there's room to toss in any extras.

it's a good deal. :)

Just Jeff
10-03-2006, 12:21
Does it retain the peanut butter smell/taste for long?

ScottP
10-03-2006, 12:25
A ziplock works perfectly well as a food soaker--I used one to make tabouli on my thru.

Good headlamp=saftey item. Out of food? Ill? Injured? Cold? Sleeping bag so wet you can't stay warm at night? Your only viable option is to hike out to saftey--good headlamp=easier nighthiking.

jlb2012
10-03-2006, 12:48
headlamp - I prefer it just to have both hands free to do things like cook or setup camp - I suppose it is OK if you hold the flash light with your mouth or a strap but the headlamp is easier IMO

Just Jeff
10-03-2006, 13:51
A ziplock works perfectly well as a food soaker--I used one to make tabouli on my thru.

I was thinking about soaking dried beans at lunchtime and putting them in my pack to soak as I hike until dinner. Not comfortable doing that with a ziplock.

jlb2012
10-03-2006, 14:03
what sort of plastic is in the peanut butter jars? Is it suitable for pouring boiling water in to the jar?

ScottP
10-03-2006, 14:44
double-zipper freezer bags

hopefulhiker
10-03-2006, 15:25
Check out SgtRock's coffee cup.. It is a cut down country time powdered lemonade container, the top can be used as a dipper and the whole thing can be used with a cozy to cook with.. I used this system last year.

virtualfrog
10-03-2006, 15:42
I was thinking about soaking dried beans at lunchtime and putting them in my pack to soak as I hike until dinner. Not comfortable doing that with a ziplock.

Just keep an extra ziplock around, and double bag it. I haven't had any troubles w/ that yet.

virtualfrog
10-03-2006, 15:45
what sort of plastic is in the peanut butter jars? Is it suitable for pouring boiling water in to the jar?

Don't use Skippy jars...I had one, and shrunk it considerably this weekend doing just that. My friend's Shur-fine (NE store brand) once held up considerably better, but still shrank a bit. Simmering water is fine, however. My search continues for the perfect jar...

Also, after a dishwasher cycle, no PB smell.

Creek Dancer
10-03-2006, 15:56
Check out SgtRock's coffee cup.. It is a cut down country time powdered lemonade container, the top can be used as a dipper and the whole thing can be used with a cozy to cook with.. I used this system last year.

I am not familiar with this method. Are you saying put the cozy around the bottom of the container and then pour your hot water into the container?

Ewker
10-03-2006, 16:37
I am not familiar with this method. Are you saying put the cozy around the bottom of the container and then pour your hot water into the container?


here you go CD

http://hikinghq.net/gear/lemonade_bowl.html

hopefulhiker
10-03-2006, 16:52
I started out with a poly pro cover custom made with a draw string. I lost that one at Harpers Ferry. I also just used a fleece cap as a cozy, sometimes the cap would get food on it, As it got colder again my wife made me a cozy out of duct tape and bubble wrap, in two pieces one for the bottom and one to cover the top. This worked well and was light too..

hopefulhiker
10-03-2006, 16:54
Also there are several sites devoted to Cozy cooking. Yes you do put your dehydrated food in there and then dump the water in and let it "cook" for several minutes. It saves fuel. Also when you want to wash it you can put some water and soap in there and shake it up. Its like a little dishwasher.. This keeps your pot clean...

onicoe
10-03-2006, 20:22
what sort of plastic is in the peanut butter jars? Is it suitable for pouring boiling water in to the jar?

boiling water makes things easier, but you don't have to use it to rehydrate food. and like someone else mentioned, even mildly warm water will work. it's just a matter of how impatient you are about soaking food.


also, to answer jeff, there wasn't any smell to the container after i cleaned it. but that could also be because i soaked it in hot water and vinegar to remove the label.

LIhikers
10-04-2006, 07:43
onicoe........one thing you might want to consider adding to your clothing list. That would be seperate clothes to sleep in. There's nothing quite as enjoyable as beeing able to take off the sweaty, dirty, clothes you've been hiking in day after day and put on some dry, cleaner, clothes to sleep in. That's a real luxury in my book that makes my sleeping clothes worth their weight in gold.

Just Jeff
10-04-2006, 10:38
Or just having dry clothes to sleep in when your hiking clothes are wet from rain or moist from sweat. Even damp clothing can chill you. Of course, if it's warm enough you can just sleep them dry - but if it's cold it may be a problem.

onicoe
10-04-2006, 22:36
the thermal underwear (top & bottom) are what i'm planning to sleep in. i'll prolly switch out to a tee and shorts or something else during the warmer months.