View Full Version : Gear list 2013 SOBO, Thoughts?
Hey guys and gals! Planning on going SOBO this year in June. I am a fairly active camper/backpacker and try to get out a couple of times a month at least for short trips. Longest trip so far was 6 days on the AT in the Smokies and I loved it. This is what I am planning to take, so far my stuff is pretty compact and light.The only things I don't have are a puffy jacket(thinking Montbell) and the quilt(wanted to see if you guys though 30f or 20f). Thanks in advance for your comments!
http://www.geargrams.com/list?id=10465
Hosaphone
01-14-2013, 00:49
Looks pretty good.
Not sure how dedicated to burning wood you are, but here's a BushBuddy tip: you can pour alcohol just right in the bottom and use it as an alcohol stove. Make some little pot supports out of aluminum foil folded over to let a bit more air in. It's not very efficient, but combined with a reflectix cozy you can cook meals with ~.5oz of alcohol. If you have a rainy spell, you can carry a couple ounces of alcohol either to cook with or as a firestarter.
I don't see a knife on that list. If you're planning to use wood when it's wet out, you will really need to either carry some firestarters, or a knife and know how to use it. The #2/0 Mora knife is a great option at 2oz, or you could carry like 20 vaseline cotton balls for the same amount of weight. I suppose you could also carry around a freezer bag full of birch bark and ration it out carefully.
Woops. Looks like I forgot my sawyer sqeeze filter and my petzl headlamp.
Hosaphone: So far wood burning has been good to me. I do plan to carry a few esbit tablets as backup. I can place those on the inside of the BB on a piece of foil and they work good.
Hosaphone
01-14-2013, 01:26
Just realized I sold you that BushBuddy :p Hope it serves you well.
My wife and I started out our 2011 SOBO thru hike with a four dog Bushcooker III but after 4 days of solid rain in the 100 mile wilderness ditched it and made an alcohol stove to use for the rest of it. The main problem was it wasn't convenient to use because you can't cook in a shelter when it is raining. I should of started out with alcohol or esbit for back up but couldn't justify all the weight for the complete system.
On the sleeping quilt; I went with a Katabatic Palisades 30*F and this was my absolute favorite piece of gear. 30 degrees is a good temp rating unless you are a cold sleeper. For the end of the trip (December in the Smokies) I added a down hood and we ditched the tarp shelter and bought gore tex bivys. This kept us warm down to 18*F
Final note on Sawyer Sqeeze Filter. I used this for most of the trip only switching out at the end tosave my hand from getting cold filtering. The Sqeeze pouches do not last. But a one Liter pop bottle works ok, you just have to burp the bottle as you are filtering.
The planning is half the fun!
-Jay