All My Gear

The Search For Perfection

The gear used on a long distance hike is important, but probably no more so than proper training, a good attitude and state of mind, and general planning and preparation.  Unfortunately, I’m a newbie and probably spent far too much time researching equipment, attempting to find perfection, when there are often many alternatives with similar qualities.  Nevertheless, the job is done, the time is wasted, but the results are in and shown below.

The Big Three

1. My Big Agnes Tiger Wall 2 Tent with the footprint, comes in at 2.5 pounds. Tents come considerably lighter, but not roomier.  Since I plan to be hiking up to 150 days, I wanted a spacious tent that isn’t going to have sticky condensation issues.  Big Agnes is a 2 person, double walled tent.  I’m very happy with it.
2. I love the Zpacks company and purchased many items from them, including my Arcblast pack.  It’s made with waterproof Dyneema fabric and super light.
3. My sleep system consisting of the Thermarest Hyperion 20 degree bag and Thermarest Neoair sleep pad come in at just over 2 pounds.

The Rest

A few comments on the products I think are understated:

• You can purchase an $80 puffy jacket from Decathlon that is equivalent to $400 jackets at other manufacturers.
• I love my silk sleeping bag liner.  It adds a couple of R-value on cold nights, and keeps my bag free of my daily dirt and stink.
• I also love my merino wool neck buff.  When hiking in 30-40 degree weather, it helps keep me comfortable with only a 5 ounce fleece.  It can cover my head in place of a beanie, and acts as a pillow at night when wrapped around some clothes.
• I’m a bit paranoid about my body odor, but don’t want to carry the weight of a deodorant stick.  Instead, I squeezed some gel into a small plastic bag that I’ll dip into each day.  Same for foot powder.

 

The list below shows the weight of each item.  To calculate my total base weight, I made a reduction for those items I’ll typically be wearing.  All told, I come in around 15 pounds.

Tom’s Gear List			Redux for
	Lbs	Ozs.	Wearing
Big Four
Backpack – Zpacks Arcblast	1	6
Accessories(pouches, etc.)		2
Tent (Big Agnes Tigerwall 2)	2	0
Footprint – Big Agnes		6
Stakes		4
Sleeping Bag – Thermarest Hyp 20	1	9
Sleep Pad – Neoair		11
Clothes
Shoes – Brooks Cascadia
Shorts – 2 pair generic nylon		10	5
Hiking shirt – Merino Wool		6	6
Fleece – KUIU Peloton 97 Fleece		5	5
Puffy coat – Decathlon 23F		10
Socks (3) Smartwool		6	2
Sun Hat		2	2
Bandana
Gaiters – Dirty Girl		1	1
Towel		3
Neck buff – Merino Wool		1
Eye Glasses		1
Sunglasses		1
Reading glasses (w/ contacts)		1
Contact lenses – 30 days		5
Wallet – Zpacks minimalist		1
Sleeping
Base Bottom – REI Merino Wool		6
Base Top – REI Merino		6
Camp shoes – Homemade		2
Waterproof socks		2
Socks – Smartwool		2
Hot hands (1 Emergency)		1
Sleep liner – Tioga Silk Liner		4
Pump – Flextail Tiny		4
Rain Gear
Rain pants – Montbell Tachyon		2
Rain coat – Montbell Versalite		7
Warm gloves – Zpacks possum		1
Rain gloves – Zpacks		2
Rain kilt – Zpacks DCF		2
Umbrella – Zpacks		7
Pack Cover – Zpacks		1
Poncho – cheap disposable		1
Cooking
Cooking System – Jetboil Stash		8
Fuel		7	7
Spoon		0
Cup – Sea to Summit collapsing		3
Lighter 2		1
Bear Kit – Zpacks		3
Cosmetics
Trowel – tentlab		1
TP		1
Sunscreen – Badger stick		1
Ear plugs		0
Toothbrush		0
Toothpaste		1
Floss		0
Rubber tip		1
Soap – Dr. Bonners		2
Sanitizer		2
Moist Towelettes		3
Deodorant		0
Lib balm/vaseline		1
Body glide		1
Foot powder		1
First Aid
Medical Tape
Stretch Tape
Antiseptic wipes
Ibuprofen
Pepto Bismall
Benadryl
Imodium
Needle
Band Aids
Tenacious tape
Mosquito net
Total First Aid		4
Water
Water Filter – Katadyn BeFree		2
Water container – Smartwater		1
Aqua mira purification drops		3
Electronics
Power Bank – Anker 10k		5
Phone
Head lamp – Nitecore		2
Cords		2
Ear Buds		2
Other
Poles – Zpacks		14	14
Sit Pad – Zpacks		1
Multi-Tool Knife – Zpacks		1
Whistle – Zpacks		0
Compass/thermometer – Zpacks		1
Pens 2		1
Compress Bags and sacks		2
	Lbs	Ozs.	Wearing
	4	219	42
Base Weight	15.1