Gear List for married couple

[Tilly]

FWIW:

Shared:

Tent/groundcloth
Cookpot & Stove
Water Filter
Water bag
Cell phone & Charger
Camera
Guide Book
Toothpaste & Floss
Tweezers/nail clippers
Knife
Matches/Lighter

[TheCheek]

Shared sleeping bag by zipping in a sweety pie.
First decision is whether you are ever going to be separated during the hike. If you say no, then you really can save a lot as other peeps pointed out.

[gumball]

My husband and I hike each with the supplies we would need if we become separated, because it has happened--not overnight, but unexpectedly. I do not carry a full tent, he does (a tarptent)--but I carry a tarp that I am handy at fixing as an overnight shelter, if need be. We still manage to keep our weight around 30-32 lbs, although he will sometimes decide to carry a book and goes a little heavier. We decided long ago that it was more prudent for the other to have a back up than for one of us to be without.

Just how we do it! Have fun. gum

[Pickles&Shakespeare]

PicklesandShakespeare, it sounds like you'll stay together so you do have an opportunity to cut some weight. My wife and I hiked the trail together and didn't duplicate gear. We kept track of each other along the way so we didn't get separated too far. If you hike that way I'd recommend you lay out all of your gear and split the load making sure you don't duplicate unnecessary weight. If your hiking style is to hike separately and link up in the evening, you have a much better chance of needing emergency food and shelter individually so you will need to duplicate some things.

There are few things as wonderful as hiking the AT, but remember this. A thru hike is never as easy or romantic as when you're planning it in the comfort of your own home.

Enjoy your hikes!

Our plan is stay together the entire time. We have very similar hiking styles. We definitely do not want to have duplicate items. However, I do like the idea of one person having some sort of shelter just in case.

[TFOS]

IMO it's a good idea to carry both a light tent and a tarp anyway. It's nice to have a tarp to string up for some quick shade, for a little extra protection from sun and rain, and to give you a dry place to set up your tent in a downpour. Keep the both lightweight, and you each carry one. In the event of separation, you both have shelter. We also plan not to separate at all, but that's the way we're doing it, in any case.

[Happy Feet]

My husband and I have done several thru hikes and we most certainly share our gear and save weight.

tent/groundcloth/stakes
water filter/aqua mira
cooking pot/pop can stove/lighter/fuel
food (I carry lunches (snacks), he carries breakfast and dinners)
first aid kit
personal hygiene items
sleeping bag or summer blanket (we each carry our own pad)
misc. shared gear

We each carry our own sleeping pads, clothes, and personal items. We equitably split the shared gear - he carries 60% and I carry 40%. We agree that if one of us cannot continue that the other can continue on their own if they choose to, and we would deal with the situation of gear and support if and when the situation became a reality. Fortunately we have not had to deal with that on any of our long hikes. We have never been separated from each other, other than choosing to hike alone for a while, but we almost always hike together by choice. We are good hiking partners - very compatible on the trail and off.

[gravityman]

About splitting the weight, I think 60/40 is about right. We never calculated it very precisely. We kept putting things in my pack until a)I couldn't keep up any more or b) she couldn't stand listening to my complaining any more

We always joked about doing it as a percentage of our body weight (total weight including fuel and water) / (her weight + my weight) * her weight = what she carries, but who wants to make it that ridged?

I also have to say that the person who said that they BOTH had to agree on a zero and they had one entire extra zero day that they could each declare - you might want to rethink such a ridged structure. Listen to the other person, and decide together on zeros, not on veto rights for zeros. Thru hiking is very hard mentally and sometimes you just need a day off, often more than you expect and it's not unusually for one of the two to feel good to continue on. In fact I would say that hiking days both need to agree on otherwise it's a zero

You'll figure out what works for both of you on the trail though...

Tom

[wystiria]

I have to say - we are considerably lighter hiking together and sharing gear. Not sure where people get the idea that couples don't save weight. Regardless the one thing we share that seems to be only mention a few times is our sleeping set up.

I recently made a 2 person down backpacking quilt. it has shaved 2+lbs off our kit. does it mean we have to be together? yep! but of all the hikes we have done (3 weeks was our longest) we have never been seperated. we do carry enough ER gear to survive if we were but we always stay togehter.

other wise we share all the other items:
tent
water filtration
stove/fuel
pot
first aid kit
camera
map/guide
bug spray/SPF
bear rope
etc.