Revised Northbound Gear List (V2)

[joannaxvx]

Buy pure chocolate powder and mix with... almond or coconut milk? How well does almond milk heat? Not well I wouldn't think....

I would dehydrate garbanzo beans by themselves. Powder them via a mixer and then later you could rehydrate with olive oil. And add whatever hummus seasonings you like. Garlic or or onion powder or celery salt.

Nut milks heat up well. I know powdered soy milk exists somewhere too but I haven't found that yet either. And that sounds like a good idea for the hummus. I was able to turn mine into a powder so it should be good.

[joannaxvx]

fantastic world foods. they make a variety of powdered stuffs. never understood why they don't market to backpackers, maybe ignorance of a market. their tofu scrambler is awesome.

Everything they make looks awesome! I never heard of them before but I used their store locator and they have some near me so I need to check them out. Some of that would be great to find along the trail. Maybe more so in the summer time when that much sodium would be more helpful than harmful =/

[Kc Fiedler]

I read about two pages of this. I'm not going to give you specific advice because your hiking style and my hiking style are night and day. What I can suggest with a lot of certainty, however, is that you need to get some time on the trail learning how to use your gear. Asking things like "Can I get in to my tent if I'm all wet?" tells me that you don't have much experience. Which is fine. But it's going to make it very very difficult to buy gear with any reasonable insight. You will have to try a tent, try different methods for staying dry, figure out how to get in and out without soaking your bag while it's raining, etc. You're going to have to try and fail a few dozen times before this all falls into place.

There are a lot of people here with a lot of valuable knowledge. But a lot of what you really need to know is going to have to be learned the hard way, it seems.

Side note about your diet. Carrying a 80%-90% carb based food supply is going to be heavy and quite possibly bulky. You probably already know this. Good luck!

[TheCheek]

Btw the idea of gear list reviews is for people who know they are inexperienced to get specific advice from those who are as opposed to "look here son, I can tell from reading a few words of yours that you have no idea what to do and are gonna have a hard time. Good luck to you." (tone of previous post)

So anyway, my specific advice having thru hiked already, is that your gear list looks great, you've got all of the essentials, you don't need to be experienced AT ALL to successfully thru hike, and you will be fine. It's easier to figure out modifications as you go than before you go, and there are a lot of outdoor living tips and tricks that you can pick up by talking with the others who are actually hiking out there with you experiencing what the trail has to offer.
I hope your hike is fantastic!


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[DumbAss]

No, I'm not concerned with protein. I'm concerned with getting enough carbs. It's not possible to be protein deficient if you consume a sufficient amount of carbohydrates.

Whenever words like impossible are used I listen carefully because information is always coming from a person who already knows everything. After 30 years as a nutritionist, world champion, 10 time all American and paid consultant I am very interested in learning how the body can produce the amino and mass amino acids it needs from carbs. If you have time please teach me or refer me.

It is fine for you to believe this statement if you choose but it could kill someone. Certainly shorten their life and deter from their quality of life. There are many malleable minds out there. Half of the amino acids (i.e. essential amino acids) required by the human body can not be internally synthesized because we do not have the enzymes needed.

There have been many hikers that have exhibited all sorts of disease symptoms at the end of a thru hike from missing elements of their diet so be careful. At the very least spend as much time studying micronutrient and macronutrient sources and usage, and nutrition in general as you do on gear. If you eat right you can comfortably carry far heavier loads and maintain your brain chemistry balance. In other words have a lot more fun along the way. I do not know of any world class athlete that would say that nutrition plays less than a 50% role in their performance. Most of the current generation of distance hikers have not yet begun to focus on nutrition as much as other athletes have but that is starting to change.

Macro nutrient needs vary from person to person depending on their fitness level, percent of fat to muscle, avg heart rate during exercise (which changes daily depending on prior days work load, prior days diet, prior nights rest, current work load, food consumed during exercise etc etc). If you are eating 4000 calories a day 10% or 100 grams of the right proteins might be enough, again depending on many factors but it probably is not.

As for gear. Drop one of the t shirts and add a military ECWCS level 1 silk weight polartec base layer. Wicks like crazy, dries super fast, cheap and very versatile as a layering piece or on its own.

[Kc Fiedler]

There have been many hikers that have exhibited all sorts of disease symptoms at the end of a thru hike from missing elements of their diet so be careful..

Hey DumbAss, you seem like you want to put forth a pretty reputable public image. Could you help out the hiking community by citing these cases of disease symptoms and letting us know exactly what elements of their diet were missing which caused the symptoms?

Edit for spelling.

[rafe]

What's a good tent? Should I choose a different one?

I still have my Eureka Solitaire from 1990 and it served me very well, within limits. Space is tight, but it's light and double-walled; I was never wet, in any conditions. Had to park the pack outdoors, though. The tiny footprint can be advantage in stealth situations.

For a long while it was the lightest double-walled tent you could buy. There may be better choices now. Been using a Shires Tarptent Rainbow since 2007. It's lighter, with much more headroom and floor space. On the downside it's single-walled so you have to deal with condensation. Big Agnes Seedhouse is another I'd look at.

[DumbAss]

Hey DumbAss, you seem like you want to put forth a pretty reputable public image. Could you help out the hiking community by citing these cases of disease symptoms and letting us know exactly what elements of their diet were missing which caused the symptoms?

Edit for spelling.

A member asked me to respond to that statement. My only concern is that my point have enough credibility to make people think. No one here knows me so my image is irrelevant. The previous point is quite dangerous. I would much rather you research both points and decide for yourself. Awareness of diet will improve everyones lives.

My statement to the person who asked me to respond was that it would do no good but I would post to possibly help another reader. I will not waste my time giving free advice again.

Last weekend I met a researcher at an AT crossroad that was asking about norovirus. Wilderness diarrhea is a vitamin deficiency, Lime and others are more easily acquired when the immune system is weakened from dietary deficiency. do the rest of the research yourself.

[Last Call]

I have found limes to be an excellent source of vitamin C. HYOH.

[Kc Fiedler]

A member asked me to respond to that statement. My only concern is that my point have enough credibility to make people think. No one here knows me so my image is irrelevant. The previous point is quite dangerous. I would much rather you research both points and decide for yourself. Awareness of diet will improve everyones lives.

My statement to the person who asked me to respond was that it would do no good but I would post to possibly help another reader. I will not waste my time giving free advice again.

Last weekend I met a researcher at an AT crossroad that was asking about norovirus. Wilderness diarrhea is a vitamin deficiency, Lime and others are more easily acquired when the immune system is weakened from dietary deficiency. do the rest of the research yourself.

Thanks for contributing.

[dudeijuststarted]

Out of curiosity, what's your total clothing weight? I'm in FL and unable to really test things out. Here's what I've got:

- 1 pair Ijinji toe liners
- 2 pair DT socks (regular)
- Minus 33 Merino briefs (camp)
- Exofficio briefs
- 2 UA Coldgear base tops (not fleece lined)
- 1 UA Coldgear base bottoms (hike - not fleece lined)
- 1 fleece baselayer bottoms (camp)
- 1 Woolrich Barnstormer Merino sweater
- 1 Outdoor Research down jacket
- 1 REI rain shell jacket
- 1 Army/Navy wool watch cap (camp)
- 1 NorthFace Polartec cap (hike - so i'm not constantly venting my head)
- 1 Reebok dryfit tshirt
- 1 Sierra designs wind pants
- - 1 Columbia Ballistic III fleece wind shell jacket - this thing is heavy and bulky, but it looks like a great wind killer. I don't know what to expect up there with a start date of 3/22. Do I take this thing and drop it, or swap it out for more, lighter and less bulky layers?

Still hunting down:
- Wool mittens
- Scarf?
- Camp shoes (probably go with crocs)

Ideas on what I can drop/replace?

[kunzman]

You will want to change out your tent stakes on the Eureka. They are steel and quite heavy and that tent takes quite a few for it to work. It takes at least 8, but I think 8 more if you want to stake out the fly away from the main body of it. If you are short and not to large around the middle, it's a great tent for the price. My son uses it for camping.

[kidben]

I've been viewing the forums for awhile now but seeing a fellow vegan aspiring thru-hiker finally prompted me to register (I would've done it soon enough) so I could offer some advice. First off, nice choices on the socks. I'm going with the same approach and I like to think it'll work out well. As far as clothing, I'd suggest having a separate set that will be solely for camp use/sleeping in and therefore always dry. I'm sorta in the same boat as you about the hats and balaclava so maybe someone else can provide some insight? For food, tortillas seem like an easy way to get a ton of carbs. Maybe hot sauce for flavoring? I'm bringing mixes of different seasonings to change up the taste of the same old stuff (think Mexican spices, Italian, Indian, etc.). And nutritional yeast!

Hey glad to hear from a fellow vegan! I threw in a third pair of socks and I'm only taking one pair of sock liners instead of two. We'll see how that goes. I'm just going to take a beanie cap for cold weather and a rainproof cycling style cap for warm weather. Tortillas are a decent idea! I got some "near east couscous" which comes in three vegan flavors(little seasoning packets), and it's extremely easy and quick to cook. Happy hiking!

[kidben]

I've decided to go with the MSR Hubba 1 person tent! Seems like a high value tent! I tried it out twice and got light rain one night and light snow another night. I was completely dry! I'm 5'10" and can sit completely upright without my head touching. It is a freestanding tent. There are two small mesh pockets inside to store gear like glasses, headlamp, phone, etc for easy access. I also got the Hubba footprint and it fit's into the tent's sack easily. It comes with some lightweight aluminum stakes. The vestibule is a very nice size that allows me to keep my Opsrey Atmos 65 pack dry. The tent weighs 3 lb. 6 oz (including tent, poles, 6 stakes, rainfly, footprint, and stuff sack) I bought the tent new on amazon for $229.97. I payed $39.95 for the footprint for a combined total of $269.92.

I'm flying to Atlanta on March 16th and will be on Springer by that afternoon. I'm not doing the approach trail. Hope to see you all out there!

[kidben]

Out of curiosity, what's your total clothing weight? I'm in FL and unable to really test things out. Here's what I've got:

- 1 pair Ijinji toe liners
- 2 pair DT socks (regular)
- Minus 33 Merino briefs (camp)
- Exofficio briefs
- 2 UA Coldgear base tops (not fleece lined)
- 1 UA Coldgear base bottoms (hike - not fleece lined)
- 1 fleece baselayer bottoms (camp)
- 1 Woolrich Barnstormer Merino sweater
- 1 Outdoor Research down jacket
- 1 REI rain shell jacket
- 1 Army/Navy wool watch cap (camp)
- 1 NorthFace Polartec cap (hike - so i'm not constantly venting my head)
- 1 Reebok dryfit tshirt
- 1 Sierra designs wind pants
- - 1 Columbia Ballistic III fleece wind shell jacket - this thing is heavy and bulky, but it looks like a great wind killer. I don't know what to expect up there with a start date of 3/22. Do I take this thing and drop it, or swap it out for more, lighter and less bulky layers?

Still hunting down:
- Wool mittens
- Scarf?
- Camp shoes (probably go with crocs)

Ideas on what I can drop/replace?

Clothes List:

1 pair Injinji sock liners
1 pair regular Darn Tough Socks
1 pair thick Darn Tough Socks
1 pair Patagonia Merino Socks
1 pair Exofficio briefs
1 synthetic base layer bottoms
1 mountain hard wear zip off pants
1 synthetic t shirt
1 synthetic base layer top
1 polar fleece
1 synthetic patagonia jacket
1 north face rain jacket
1 pair synthetic Sugoi gloves
1 north face beanie
1 Shower Pass Waterproof Cycling Cap

Total Weight: 5 lb. 9.5oz (including 10L Sealline Sack)

Oh, I forgot to include the weight of some cheap flip flops I'll be bringing for camp shoes. They weigh an additional 9.5 oz (not included in the previous total weight listed above.)

Of course it won't way this much in my pack because I'll be wearing a lot of the clothes.