View Full Version : Noob gear list...
Hi everyone! I've been reading alot on here about EVERYTHING and I thank you all for all the info that's out here! I was wondering if anyone would want to take a peek at my gear list and see if there's something I'm missing or something I could leave out...I know it's what "I" need (or think I need! :) ), and I'm not a noob to camping or the outdoors, but I am a total noob at trying to get 23 pounds worth of stuff into a Gregory Advent pack. ;) I have some back issues, so as light as I can get it( and still carry a tent) is what I'm shooting for from the start...
Here's the list:
* Gregory Advent Pack - 2.5 lbs
* Sleeping bag 1.5 lbs +30deg. ( most of my hiking will be section hikes in the spring-summer-early fall)
* Kelty Tent 5.2 lbs ( I liked the Teton 2, but need something bigger - i'm not tall, but there's...uhhhmmm...alot of me. One reason for starting to hike...gravity is not my friend if you know what i mean. ;) )
* Thermarest pad
* Jetboil stove(single) 18.5oz.(w/ fuel canister)
* 1.5 pounds of grub
* First Need Purifier 1 lb
* clothes - aprox. 2.5 lbs including hats, xtra pair of heavy wool socks, and fleece pants for cold nights at 4000ft.
* misc gear bag ( headlamp, firestarter, matches, flyrod/reel(I'm a hard-core flyfisher, btw and this is what got me into hiking and backpacking)spork, chapstick, etc. )1.5 pounds (max. - maybe not that much actually...)
* medicine bag( I'm getting old....*sigh...) 6 oz.
* sunscreen( half used bottle) 3 oz
* bugspray(also half used) 6 oz
I think that's about 19 pounds. There must be something I'm leaving out, right? THat can't be right, with all the threads I've read about new folks carrying 40 lbs of gear? Maybe it's all those years of lightening up on car camping supplies( i've always liked to take as little as possible for whatever reason)?
OOOH, I almost forgot...felt soled wading boots - a must on the slippery freestone streams on the southeast...they add a whopping 4 pounds!
So that's 24 pounds then - abouts.
Anyone got any advice for making it lighter? Anything I don't need? ANything I'm forgetting?
Thanks so much for any help or smart remarks. ;) LOL
owl
SGT Rock
04-30-2007, 16:51
Hi everyone! I've been reading alot on here about EVERYTHING and I thank you all for all the info that's out here! I was wondering if anyone would want to take a peek at my gear list and see if there's something I'm missing or something I could leave out...I know it's what "I" need (or think I need! :) ), and I'm not a noob to camping or the outdoors, but I am a total noob at trying to get 23 pounds worth of stuff into a Gregory Advent pack. ;) I have some back issues, so as light as I can get it( and still carry a tent) is what I'm shooting for from the start...
Here's the list:
Well if you are trying to get 23 pounds of stuff in that pack, you probably need a bigger pack. And if you are a very big guy, I think the Advent hip belt may not even fit you. Normally I tell people to go lighter, but if you plan to carry this much stuff I think you need to think bigger on the pack.
* Gregory Advent Pack - 2.5 lbs
* Sleeping bag 1.5 lbs +30deg. ( most of my hiking will be section hikes in the spring-summer-early fall)
* Kelty Tent 5.2 lbs ( I liked the Teton 2, but need something bigger - i'm not tall, but there's...uhhhmmm...alot of me. One reason for starting to hike...gravity is not my friend if you know what i mean. ;) )
* Thermarest pad
* Jetboil stove(single) 18.5oz.(w/ fuel canister)
* 1.5 pounds of grub
* First Need Purifier 1 lb
* clothes - aprox. 2.5 lbs including hats, xtra pair of heavy wool socks, and fleece pants for cold nights at 4000ft.
* misc gear bag ( headlamp, firestarter, matches, flyrod/reel(I'm a hard-core flyfisher, btw and this is what got me into hiking and backpacking)spork, chapstick, etc. )1.5 pounds (max. - maybe not that much actually...)
* medicine bag( I'm getting old....*sigh...) 6 oz.
* sunscreen( half used bottle) 3 oz
* bugspray(also half used) 6 oz
I think that's about 19 pounds. There must be something I'm leaving out, right? THat can't be right, with all the threads I've read about new folks carrying 40 lbs of gear? Maybe it's all those years of lightening up on car camping supplies( i've always liked to take as little as possible for whatever reason)?
OOOH, I almost forgot...felt soled wading boots - a must on the slippery freestone streams on the southeast...they add a whopping 4 pounds!
So that's 24 pounds then - abouts.
Anyone got any advice for making it lighter? Anything I don't need? ANything I'm forgetting?
Thanks so much for any help or smart remarks. ;) LOL
owl
Sgt..
Thanks! I may have overstated my size inadvert...inad...well, you know..accidentally! :) I'm not 300 pounds or anything. The only other pack that really feels close to right that I've tried( and in my price range) is a North Face pack, and it weighs in at a whopping 5.1 pounds! Just that pack and my wading boots would give me a 10 pound "base" minus the normal "base" stuff. :) The Advent, although smaller, actually makes the gear feel lighter(because of the design maybe?) than the larger North Face pack. Am I correct in thinking that the only way people get down to a 15 pound pack is with an ultralight tarp, no bag, some esbit for fuel and a match on a string for a headlamp? :D
Thanks,
owl
PS - ( btw - where's the edit feature? hmm...)
PS - there's more than enough strap left on the belt, and it comes closer to resting where it should than any other pack I've tried, other than a $265 one, which I can't afford anyway. :(
just FYi....I can just see folks now singing..." Fat man in a little pack....fat man in a little pack..." haha
Appalachian Tater
04-30-2007, 19:43
If you want to reduce weight, look at a lighter tent or a tarp tent. Is the tent you have now bulky? That would be another reason to change it out.
People go from 23 to 40 pounds by carrying two liters of water and ten pounds of food.
SGT Rock
04-30-2007, 19:49
Sgt..
Thanks! I may have overstated my size inadvert...inad...well, you know..accidentally! :) I'm not 300 pounds or anything. The only other pack that really feels close to right that I've tried( and in my price range) is a North Face pack, and it weighs in at a whopping 5.1 pounds! Just that pack and my wading boots would give me a 10 pound "base" minus the normal "base" stuff. :) The Advent, although smaller, actually makes the gear feel lighter(because of the design maybe?) than the larger North Face pack. Am I correct in thinking that the only way people get down to a 15 pound pack is with an ultralight tarp, no bag, some esbit for fuel and a match on a string for a headlamp? :D
Thanks,
owl
OK, got it.
Well my concern is with a pack like that I wouldn't want to take it to more than about 30 pounds total including food and water. If you are going to go that high you need to re-think your pack.
As to your other part, naw, you can make a 15-17 pound base and still have a tent and gas stove. BUT you probably want to change that tent out - 5+ pounds for a solo tent is a bit high.
My recommendation:
Tent: 2-3 pounds
Pad: 1 pound
Sleeping bag: 1.5 pounds
Pack 2-3 pounds
This makes your big 4. At that weight you get 8.5 pounds. Add in some clothing and rain gear for the temps you need and keep them below 4 pounds, 1.5 pounds for all your kitchen stuff, 1 pound for navigation and light, 1 pound for hygiene and first aid, and 1 pound for miscellaneous stuff and luxury items and you end up at about 16.5 pound base. Now add in 2 pounds for water, 1 pound for fuel, 1/2 pound for other possible consumables, and then 2 pounds per day and you can carry enough food for 5 days if you can stay inside those 30 pound parameters.
Skidsteer
04-30-2007, 19:58
Rethink the wading boots.
I bet you can come up with something lighter that'll work as well if you put your mind to it.
SGT Rock
04-30-2007, 20:05
Rethink the wading boots.
I bet you can come up with something lighter that'll work as well if you put your mind to it.
Good call. I didn't read/register that part. I hike in the SE almost exclusively these days and wouldn't want something like that :eek:
Skidsteer
04-30-2007, 20:12
Good call. I didn't read/register that part. I hike in the SE almost exclusively these days and wouldn't want something like that :eek:
Yeah, if I'm gonna carry something that weighs 4 pounds by itself I better be able to sleep in it. With company.
Without the 4 pound felt-soled boots, it gets dangerous. Something I can't afford in the backcountry. Felt-soled wading boots are to the freestone fisherman what Payton Manning is to the Colts. :) I'm sure some of you have done stream crossings with tennis shoes - rubber soles and slick, rounded rocks don't mix. They do make sandels and some lighter boots, but I do alot of rough fishing - climbing waterfalls and bushwhacking around the ones you can't climb. I thought about just using my wading boots as hiking boots, but you wear the felt out fast that way.
All that said - I have learned even more in these few posts. Thanks so much for the help. After reading Sarge's advice, I went to the local outfitter and got something that I think is a bit in-between the two packs I'm already testing. The much-talked about Vapor. It's bigger than the Advent Pro, but doesn't weigh as much as the 5 pound North Face. I'm about to load it up and wear it around the yard/house for a while to see how it compares when it's actually loaded and on my back.
Again, I thank you all for everything you've contributed to this site. It makes it so much easier to quickly learn what not to do, and what works (in general) and doesn't work. I may be able to talk myself into a tarptent or something lighter, but I'll have to wait for Christmas to talk my wife into buying me more camping/hiking gear I think. ;)
thanks to you all. Happy hiking!
PS - If anyone ever wants advice on how to catch trout in the Blue Ridge, I'll be glad to help you out with something I actually know somethin' about! :)
SGT Rock
04-30-2007, 21:25
Well here is something to contemplate: there is about 500 miles of trail between Springer and Damascus, about 1000 miles of trails between Springer and Harpers Ferry. If you added all the feet of water you have to cross it probably is less than 0.1 miles. Think about that. You are planning to wear 4 pound waders over 999.9 miles to deal with less than 1/10th of one percent of the trail.
Take off your shoes or boots and wade barefoot. Make your feet happy for the rest of the time ;)
bigcranky
04-30-2007, 21:48
The Advent Pro is a nice little pack for adventure racing and day-hiking. But, it doesn't have any sort of suspension system that will transfer load weight to your hips (except some compression straps). In my own experience, frameless rucksacks like this are good to maybe 20-22 pounds, total. Beyond that they start to get pretty rough on my shoulders.
It's quite possible to get a long distance hiking load into an Advent Pro. But, it has to be an ultralight load -- and a 5+ pound tent is going to be a hard fit in a UL load. In general, hikers who use frameless 2000 cubic inch silnylon packs are carrying a silnylon tarp (or a Tarptent (http://www.tarptent.com)), an alcohol stove, a light down sleeping bag or quilt, a closed-cell-foam pad, and minimal clothing and other equipment.
Even without your fishing gear, you may be very surprised at the final weight of your equipment. The little stuff adds up fast. Once you add in a liter of water and 3 days of food, you can be pushing 35 pounds and up pretty quickly. Get a decent digital scale and weigh everything. (I got mine for $35 at a local kitchen store. I use it mostly in the kitchen, but it also does a nice job weighing my gear.)
(Side note on fishing gear: there are some hikers out there who went ultralight so they could carry a ton of of camera gear, fishing gear, etc. It's perfectly acceptable to bring the waders -- just be aware of what they add to your load, and take that into consideration when you decide on a pack.)
If you can get it to work, great. But when you load up, make sure you have everything, then go for a nice walk in the mountains to see how it carries. Let us know how it turns out. You might find you need one of the two or three pound packs that have a decent suspension to carry a little more gear.
SGT Rock
04-30-2007, 21:50
Invent sil-nylon ultralight waders ;)
Nightwalker
04-30-2007, 22:00
Well here is something to contemplate: there is about 500 miles of trail between Springer and Damascus, about 1000 miles of trails between Springer and Harpers Ferry. If you added all the feet of water you have to cross it probably is less than 0.1 miles. Think about that. You are planning to wear 4 pound waders over 999.9 miles to deal with less than 1/10th of one percent of the trail.
Take off your shoes or boots and wade barefoot. Make your feet happy for the rest of the time ;)
In Maine I took a set of Tevas for fording and camp shoes. Not heavy, way comfortable, and you could even hike in 'em.
Still and all, that was probably overkill, but I wasn't gonna do a lot of river fords barefooted, and I don't like Crocs. Maybe some flip-flops next time?
swingerofbirches
04-30-2007, 22:04
What if you put the felt (which, I think, is the big part of the waders for saftey in fly fishing) on the soles of your camp shoes (like crocs or whatever)? Or get some of those aquasox and put the felt on them.
Thanks guys. I have to chuckle a bit though. I'm not sure the concept is fully understood....and not that you probably care, but I'm bord, so what the hay. :)
we're not talking "waders". Waders(pants for wading) aren't necessary after about mid-march for the hardy souls that flyfish and "wet-wade" in shorts and ( here comes the 4 pounds) wading boots. they're just like hiking boots, but with an industrial grade felt sole. I once had a friend that tried to duplicate the felt sole, but it's a really thick, highly compressed felt that sometimes can last for tow eyars or so before wearing out. There are no " waders" and you def. wouldn't actually wear them while hiking! :) Unless you were trying for that dork-from-outer-space look, which, thankfully - I already have! LOL
They do make replacement felt also, and yes, you could use aquaseal and glue it to the bottom of whatever you wanted....but you'd have bruised toes, ankles and heels at the end of a 2 mile trip up a high gradient stream. I appreciate all the ideas, but the wading boots really are a must-have item, and anything lighter( than the lightest pair they make - which I don't have but might look into!) just wouldn't cut it for where I fish. The crossings are usually at the easy to wade spots. But I'm not going to hike in the boots, or carry waders. :) Sorry if I kinda wasa too general in my description of what I was carrying.
All that said......last night I tried on a little 2.3 pound Vapor.....and it was plenty big, fit me like a glove and is going to be a great [pack for me. And it's all thanks to Sarge and the rest of you. I woudn't have kept looking if it wasn't for your help. Thanks so much! I'll bother you all more later i'm sure. ;) LOL
How about adding some earplugs.... When I was a total noob hiker the deep woods at night would give me the willies....All of those cracks and creek noises made me convinced that Cujo, a rabid Ben (you know from Grizzly Adams), Bubba, or Jason Vorhees himself was about to jump on my tent. I discovered that putting some earplugs in calmed my nerves quit a bit. After a few days out on the trail I didn't need em...But then I ran into the hikers that snoar like jet planes...and the earplugs became invaluable once again. :) Good luck Owl!
nutlub! Thanks! Although, i have something to confess....."I" am the jet plane snore-machine of which you speak! :) But I will def. bring some when my friends are going with me. I hadn't thought of that and I'll surely win some points with my fishin' buddies! :)
hopefulhiker
05-01-2007, 21:35
You have to add water to this weight too.. I would not carry those waders.. just use poles... I would carry an alcohol stove.. I was pretty heavy myself and have since gained weight... I look at it as even more of a reason to go light weight... After I lost about forty pounds on the thru hike I rewarded myself by carrying some extra luxury junk.. I would categorize the heavy tent and the waders as luxury items... Take a tarp and go barefoot....
You do not live far from Neels Gap. The outfitter there will do a free "non-intrusive" inspection of your pack. They deal daily with thru-hikers who are about 3 days or so into their hike. They claim to take an average of 12 1/2 lbs. out of each pack. I met one young man who sent home 14 lbs. of gear, mostly clothes, after using their help. They also sell a variety of gear much of which you will only find on the internet, for example ULA packs, several models of Granite Gear packs, Etowah products, Railriders shirts and pants. Veteran thru-hikers work there.
BTW Law of averages finds that for some of the streams you have to cross, it will be raining. Your feet will already be wet. You'll just want to wade on through. I crossed most of the waters in the 100 mile Wilderness wearing Waldies (Crocs). Water flows out the holes cutting down on resistence. In the heavier currents, face upstream and the force of water keeps the footwear in place. Wlaking on a rocky beach in Crocs, I found them laking in sideways support, but that was never a problem crossing streams.
i think we might be missing something on the waders... i'm guesssing they're for fly-fishing while backpacking, not for 'just crossing creeks'. crossing's easy. spending 4 hours in an appalachian stream bare-legged sucks. i've seen fly-fisherman in the smokies who'd hiked 5 miles up the same trail i was on, but in the water... (crazy, but they love it, and aren't we all...)
in some cases, money=lightness. that said, look hard at your sleeping bag, tent, sleeping pad/thermarest, stove, and water purification.
a down bag should be lighter than it's synthetic brother.
you can find a 2 man tent lighter than what you already have.
if your back is cranky, like mine, there may be no lighter substitute for the thermarest if you have to sleep on the ground. but at least look at the whole hammock thing and do the math, both cost and weight. yes, there's a learning curve, and you'll need something for bottom insulation. but if you 'have' to have a thermarest for comfort, the hammock/underquilt combo will beat the weight of a tent/thermarest weight-wise. my hammock cost about what a decent 2 man tent would cost, and the underquilt has paid for itself in the form of "what is the price of a good night's sleep, factored over the years i've had it?" but for $6, you can get a simple blue foam pad to sleep on, which will do just fine for under-insulation until you saved up for the quilt.
you could sub an alcohol stove for the jetboil. there are a lot of factors (convenience, speed, fuel weight) that should go into that decision. personally, i'm not in a hurry, don't find it inconvenient, and don't go out long enough for the 'extra' fuel weight to matter. ymmv.
if you're ok with it, look at Aqua Mira drops vs a filter. saves about a pound. some people can't stand 'chunks' in their water. others say there's an aftertaste with AM. others don't like to wait 20 minutes for their water. i use it for the same reasons as the alcohol stove... i'm not in a hurry, don't find it inconvenient, and am not picky about the 'chunks' (leaves, sticks, general murkiness) in my water.
only other thing that jumps out of the list as missing is some bear-bag cord and rain gear.
yes, definitely rain gear.
Some take an umbrella. The Raines "skinny mini" is 5.1 oz.