Originally Posted by
Dogwood
Again, not dishing Lukes Ultralight just that particular jacket might not adequately serve you as a true WP hard shell on an AT thru early on. Might not be all that big a deal in the summer when it rains in warm weather but for mid March to about early May when AT TIMES it might be COLD/cooler and wet/sleety/slushy and it wets out that could be a game changer. Don't forget there's often a hood on rain jackets. So, you have a Tilleys, beanie/baclava , AND that hood to play with for different conditions.
That's glove/mitt shells. Sounds like you have the wool liners already.
I'm thinking, the same thing about the kilt rainpants switch just like you said when you said. But, again you have to find what's right FOR YOU not me tell you what's right for you. This is all just different ways to see things. Again, this is about you calling your own shots on a thru-hike. No one's here to tell you what you must do or what's right for your thru-hike. Notice the mental shift adjustment from maybe what you are used to? It's important that not only YOU recognize but YOU also make the adjustments. To thru-hike you have to be good at self management!
Here's what you have for the waist to ankles for combinations for the start: smartwool long johns, TNF convertibles(pants/shorts combo), running shorts, smartwool boxer briefs and kilt or rainpants WITHOUT THE SECOND SW boxer briefs. Under any scenario I can imagine I can never imagine you wearing all I just listed on your bottom half at once. Which leaves at least one piece of apparel that you'll work on keeping dry and relatively clean for wearing in camp. Seems like you have the separate camp clothing covered WITHOUT the second SW boxer briefs. You'll have regular opps to go into town to keep what you have laundered. Also, snap some stainless steel or brass safety pins to the outside of your pack that you can hang clothing on to dry so you always have a decently clean and dry second set of clothes. You can do the same with socks.
Remember though. This is not the military way of doing things. You have the choice to constantly evolve and make alterations to your kit. As conditions change YOU are now personally responsible for changing up your kit if or when you see fit. What you start out with as a kit will change as your hike and you evolve. Thru-hiking like much in life is an evolutionary process. Here though, you can consciously shape how you evolve to a great extent! HYOH.
Don't sweat every detail of your hike though. You don't need to know everything(even if that was possible). You'll learn much as you proceed on your thru-hike IF you observe, learn, have a good time, and adapt as you go. The hiking community can be very helpful.