money and packing

[Early Bird]

I have 2 very different questions.

while on a thru hike,how much cash do you keep on you vs,credit/debit cards??i heard travelers checks are better than cash to carry..any suggestions?

when packing for a thru hike,how many stuff sacs do you carry and what sort of items do you put in them?if you are stuff sac organized,do you still need a pack liner?

[max patch]

I always left town with $100 on me to ensure that when I reached the next town I had available cash without looking for an atm machine.

Travelers checks are not necessary - and are not always accepted at some small stores. Don't bother with them.

Also carry credit and debit cards. You can always get extra cash without any fees when you pay with debit card at large grocery stores.

[10-K]

Don't forget 5 rolls of quarters for poker games at shelters. :)

[climber2377]

i have a few stuff sacs and a few plastic baggies to keep stuff in. i also have a pack cover. i think dry is important and wet sucks. i put everything from clothes to food to books and pretty much anything i carry inside some sort of "keep me dry" gear be it a plastic bag, my hiney pot with top or a stuff sac. thats me and i m sure everyone is different. i see it like having "pockets" in my pack

[Appalachian Tater]

A plastic bag makes a great waterproof liner, get a contractor bag or a compactor bag. Pack covers aren't as reliable.

I put everything in lightweight waterproof stuffsacks, OR Hydrolite
1. sleeping bag
2. clothes (cover with bandana and use as pillow)
3. dinner food
4. breakfast/lunch/snacks food (yes I carry two food bags)
5. miscellaneous stuff
6. hygiene

I also carry my cooking pot and related items, water pump, dirty clothes, etc. in gallon heavy duty Glad freezer bags and use smaller freezer bags to separate individual items in the stuff sacks such as a grab & go bag for toilet paper, baby butt wipes, and alcohol gel or food items or my guidebook. I keep the day's guidebook pages in another freezer bag in my back pants pocket so they are available and safe from sweat or rain.

Overall I probably overdo the stuff sacks and freezer bags but it really helps me find things and keep everything dry and be able to pack and unpack quickly and I don't carry many luxury items such as electronics.

[ridgerunninrat81]

The debit card is the way to go. Atms are in every town. The only down side is the bank fees. However it is much better than carrying a lot off cash.

[Mountain Wildman]

I am new to backpacking but I agree with climber2377.
Dry is Good.
I am using Double Zip Ziploc bags for small items, The Ziplocs will go into Dry bags like Sea to Summit Ultra-sil.
All other gear will go into Dry bags as well, Clothes, Gear, You name it.
All of the Dry bags will go into a Pack Liner, Either Ultra-Sil Pack Liner or Garbage Compactor bag as a liner.
My Sleeping Bag will be in it's stuff sack and then into a Dry bag.
Same for Sleeping pad.
Over kill? Probably, But every single piece of my gear will be dry no matter how much rain or how many days of rain.
A lot harder to become Hypothermic with dry clothes.

[Appalachian Tater]

You can use a credit card in most grocery stores and at most hotels and restaurants and at post offices. You can get money back at large grocery stores, chain drug stores, and sometimes the post office. Another way to get cash is to share a hotel room and pay for it with your credit card and get the others to pay you cash.

$100-200 is plenty to carry if you have a credit card and a debit card or both. You want enough to get through a town stop spending cash only and no ATM or other way to get cash.

[garlic08]

I'm at the other end of the stuff sack continuum. I just stuff everything I need to keep dry (sleeping bag and clothing) into my trash compactor bag, everything else goes outside the plastic. My gear fits better into my pack without stuff sacks.

Once I helped an organization-freak friend reorganize his pack, and we removed 36 stuff sacks that weighed about four pounds and took up a lot of room by themselves.

Ditto the above about the cash. ATM fees are nuts--there's a concurrent thread going about that now.

[10-K]

Just an aside, before I start out this spring I'm going to get a new ATM and credit card issued.

I've been carrying mine for a while and it would be a total bummer to have problems with the magnetic strip on the back somewhere up the trail.....

[Appalachian Tater]

It's also not a bad idea to let your credit card company know that you will be traveling up the east coast so they don't put a hold on your credit card when somebody starts charging $500 worth of equipment in Georgia.

Also keep your credit card, ID and money on your person and never leave it in your pack to prevent theft or loss.

[Blissful]

And have a 2nd debit card ready that can be mailed to you if you are gone for a while

As far a double bagging essentials, I found the Reyuolds oven bags very effective as a 2nd bag and weigh nothing.

[Miner]

While on a thru hike,how much cash do you keep on you vs,credit/debit cards?? It depends on the next resupply point; does it have atms, are there places that don't take credit cards (this is less an issue on the AT as it was on the PCT). But having some cash really helps. I had to use some to bribe a guy into driving me after trying to hitch for a really long time. I think $100 is a good amount for the most part.

i heard travelers checks are better than cash to carry..any suggestions? Travelers checks are the old way to travel back before ATMs were everywhere. Many places no longer take them and even the places that do, their employees don't know what to do with them.

when packing for a thru hike,how many stuff sacs do you carry and what sort of items do you put in them?if you are stuff sac organized,do you still need a pack liner? I use several to orgainze my gear. I use one for clothing that I don't normally use to fill in gaps in my pack. I have one with tolietries. And 1 more for misc. items that I rarely use such as 1st aid kit, extra batteries, etc. I use a large one for food (2 if the resupply is more then 5days). I still will use a pack liner if the weather looks bad, otherwise I use it as the stuff sack for my sleeping bag (its a trash compactor bag).

[GGS2]

Don't forget 5 rolls of quarters for poker games at shelters. :)
And remember to carry an anvil also. To repair the horse shoes you will carry for luck in the poker games.

[Dogwood]

It's also not a bad idea to let your credit card company know that you will be traveling up the east coast so they don't put a hold on your credit card when somebody starts charging $500 worth of equipment in Georgia.
Also keep your credit card, ID and money on your person and never leave it in your pack to prevent theft or loss. - Appalacian Tater

Ditto!

And have a 2nd debit card ready that can be mailed to you if you are gone for a while... Blissful

Ditto!

I suppose you mean an AT thru-hike? On the AT, resuppy opps and towns are virtually always less then 7 days away. Plenty of reliable enough accesss to cash, if that's what you need. No need to carry anything more than $150 and a credit/debit card and perhaps a ph calling card.

[Doctari]

I always left town with $100 on me to ensure that when I reached the next town I had available cash without looking for an atm machine.

Travelers checks are not necessary - and are not always accepted at some small stores. Don't bother with them.

Also carry credit and debit cards. You can always get extra cash without any fees when you pay with debit card at large grocery stores.

My wife's & my last trip* we took Traveler's checks, MANY places did NOT know what they were. Including large chain stores (in Charlotte NC, a BIG town, with LOTS of tourists). She even went to a bank in SC less than 15 miles from a large amusement park & the Charlotte Speedway & had the teller refuse to cash an "Out of state check" It was an American Express Traveller's check. Thankfully, the bank manager knew what they were & fixed the problem. But we both spent several hours total teaching clerks & etc how to do a TC & what they were.
Next trip it's cash & prepaid Credit cards for us. Traveler's checks may be safe, but our recent experience says they are rapidly becoming outdated, especially if a bank teller was unfamiliar with them.


*Me on the AT in NC/TN/VA, she visiting a friend in SC.

[fiddlehead]

Cash: up to you. I like a little more than most, maybe $300-400
Stuff sacks: one for tent, one for sleeping bag, one for my cookit, one for all my clothes that i'm not wearing, one for my food.
I also have a small ditty bag http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg201/fiddleheadpa/zzzditty.jpg
that holds everything else: toothpaste and brush, spoon, knife, aspirin, duct tape, p-38, pen or sharpie, firestarter, lighter, dental floss and needle.
No need to complicate your hike with tons of bags to put everything in, you'll be spending way too much of your time packing and unpacking.
Put the stuff in your pack with the things you need most (food) on top.
Keep it simple if you can.