Let’s Talk AT Gear!
The closer I get to starting my AT thru hike, the more I get asked about what gear I’m taking for this or that. I love gear talk so I can go on and on about what goes in my pack and why. I run through a lot of important kit here, but my comprehensive AT thru hiker gear list can be found here.
Why I’m not Ultralight
Since my base weight (pack weight w/o food & water) will be around 20 lbs I’m far from ultralight. This is for a few reasons. Cost is of course the greatest enemy in lightweighting my gear. I set an ambitiously low gear budget when I first starting planning for the hike. I wasn’t quite able to meet that goal but it still set an ethos for gear shopping. Another reason is that in most cases I’ve been updating gear rather than starting from scratch. This has brought a TON of compromise. My gear can be split into 3 categories.
Seasoned, Savvy, Strategic
Seasoned is how I’m referring to items I’ve chosen not to update for the thru hike. Some of that gear can even be traced back to the car camping days of my childhood. Savvy is by far my favorite category, that’s what I’m calling awesome deals I got on new pieces of gear. Its also the largest category. Strategic pieces of gear include items I couldn’t get a wonderful deal on, but decided to purchase anyway because they need to work right or I will have a bad time.
The Big Three
Pack: Osprey Aether 70 (Extra Savvy)
I want a more comfortable and newer option than my old pack (Jansport External Frame), but like I said earlier I’m not ultralight and I’m ok with that. So I started looking at traditional internal frame packs. After a bit of searching and waiting I got a sweeeeet deal on this Osprey pack from the REI gear return area (~75% off!). A bit larger than I need in volume but the price is right so I’m rolling with it.
Tent: Alps Mountaineering Lynx 1p (Savvy)
This choice is pretty simple. My familiar travelling companion, my old tent that accompanied me on many adventures in boy scouts was far too heavy for a long trip. My one stipulation for the replacement was that it had to be freestanding or semi-freestanding since I’m not quite on board with trekking pole tents yet. I landed with the sturdy and very budget friendly Lynx one man tent. If there is anywhere in my gear I can drop some weight, this would be it since it does come in at almost 4 lbs.
Quilt: REI Co-op Magma 30 Down Trail Quilt (Strategic)
I’ve always used a traditional sleeping bag, but with some convincing from my hiking partner I decided to swap to a quilt. And boy am I glad I did! Budget and what reviewers thought of the temp rating drove this choice. Buying a new piece of down gear was never going to be cheap, so this comes in as the most expensive gear purchase I’ve made for the trail. But let me tell ya, I can already tell it will be worth it! After a few test nights on my new sleep system I know that I’ll be warmer than my old setup while cutting 1.5 lbs off my total weight!
Sleep System
Pad: Sea to Summit Ultralight SI Pad (Seasoned)
Paired with my Magma 30 Quilt this pad can take me down to (and past) 30° easily! Its also very comfortable and one of the lighter inflatable pads I could find. I was given this one by a friend as they were upgrading to a new pad, but even with some love and wear its in really good shape.
Pillow: Sea to Summit Aeros Ultralight Pillow (Strategic)
I know quite a few people choose to forgo a pillow in favor of using a stuff stack with extra clothes, but my tent is going to be my home for 5ish months, so sacrificing a pillow on the altar of weight reduction seemed ridiculous. And since the super comfortable Aeros Ultralight Pillow comes in at just 2.1 oz it wouldn’t even truly make a big difference.
Liner: Nemo Tracer Blaze (Savvy)
Since my quilt is comfort rated to 30° I knew I would likely want a liner. Liners help add some warmth and keep the rest of your gear more clean. I want to be able to handle temps in the mid and upper teens in relative comfort in case of cold snaps in the smokies. While looking for a liner I noticed that Sea to Summit seems to dominate the liner world right now, but I couldn’t find much on sale. So I ended up going with a very on sale Nemo Tracer Blaze, which is made of the same fabric as the warmer options Sea to Summit offers. So far I’m a fan! I would estimate it brings the comfort rating of my system down at least 5°, which is pretty good for the price. If I was trying to lower my weight I would likely choose to eliminate the liner altogether and get a lower temp quilt, but prices soar with every degree.
Clothing
Base Layers: Uniqlo HeatTech T-shirt and Tights, REI Trail-made Hiking Pants (Savvy)
While I would love to have a good set of wool base layering, my budget made synthetic a much better choice. My roommate told me about some pretty cool layers made by Uniqlo that excel at heat retention while remaining very light. I managed to pick up a set on sale and am very pleased with them. I have wanted to get a pair of synthetic hiking pants for a while and recently managed to snag a pair of REI Trail-made pants (80% off!). So far very happy with them! With these pants, tights, and rain pants I feel very confident I can layer for temperature from brutally cold to downright balmy.
Insulating Layers: DSG pullover and REI 650 Down Jacket (Seasoned & Savvy)
I’ve been using an old lightweight synthetic DSG pullover for years and have found it to be very trusty and comfortable. Combined with a new puffy that came at the great discount of free (a Christmas Gift!), I plan to stay nice and cozy on trail.
Rain Gear: Frogg Toggs Pants and REI Rainier Jacket (Savvy)
I managed to snag a great deal on the Rainier and so far I love it! Will double as a wind protection layer for me as well. I decided to stick with Frogg Toggs for rain pants since I think I will only want rain pants on the first part of the trail (while temps can potentially still be low) and might ditch them when I ditch some other cold weather gear. Spending money on nice rain pants didn’t seem smart knowing I might not keep them and Frogg Toggs have a great reputation among hikers. These are some critical layers given the high frequency of rain on the trail! I’m also carrying an REI pack cover in combo with these.
Shoes: Topo Traverse (Savvy)
Shoes were easily my most researched piece of gear. I can talk running shoes all day long, many have figured this out the hard way. I’ve been attempting to adapt my idea of a good trail runner to the added component of carrying a pack. I’ve previously spent most of my trail miles in the Saucony Peregrine and Xodus. However, I was skeptical of how well they would do in backpacking rather than quickly ripping technical trails. My friend Michael Loutz is a trail shoe reviewer for Believe in the Run (go check him out!) and I started to poke his brain about the shoe choice. Enter Topo Athletic. Once I started digging into Topo the wide toe box, Vibram outsoles, and quick water drainage of the Traverse sold me. I’ve logged around 25 miles in my pair and I’m super pumped to see how they perform on trail!
I’m rounding off these clothing choices with 3 pairs of wool socks (Darn Tough and Farm to Feet), some light running shorts, a wool blend beanie, and wool blend gloves. I know many don’t feel the need to carry more than 2 pairs of socks, but I think I’ll spend more time with my feet dry this way. Dry feet are happy feet!
Misc.
Here’s a few of the more unconventional things I will be carrying.
Kanpas Elite Competition Compass (Seasoned)
Nowadays it seems like most people rely on the white blazes and the FarOut App to figure out where they are going. However, given the massive damage to southern sections of the trail from Hurricane Helene I’m bringing some backup navigation. I’m pretty comfortable with map and compass nav overland so I’m not too worried about getting lost in the blowdown sections. The Kanpas Elite has a thumb strap and a quick set needle which means you can set a bearing without stopping.
Sawyer Mini Water Filter (Seasoned)
Now… I know what some are thinking. Yes Sawyers are super popular. However, the full size Sawyer Squeeze is much more popular among thru hikers than the mini. Quite a few people have had issues with low flow rates and clogging on the mini. Mine currently works fine, but I’m gonna keep my eye on it and might upgrade to the Squeeze if it gives me issues on trail. If it ain’t broke save money.
Big Changes
I hope this post has satisfied your curiosity and given you a little look under the hood at what goes into a trip like this. I also have an announcement in this post. My goal for start date has changed! Instead of leaving mid-March I plan to start the trail in April. This is for a variety of reasons, but at this stage Riley and I are committed to a date and almost ready to hit the trail! If all goes as planned next post will be from the mountains of North Georgia! Thanks for tagging along!
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Comments 11
Looking forward to following your trek…who doesn’t love discussing gear! Sounds like you have a good handle on your gear choices and I hope you follow up with how they work out for you on trail…
Thanks Amasue! I’m sure I’ll have plenty to talk about as I find all of the problems I’ve created with these choices
Love this list, Collin! And love the three S’s, I think it’s a great way for people to be mindful with their gear. I’ll definitely be using it from now on. See you out there!
Thanks Cam! Cya on trail!
I like how you have been intentional with your gear choices. Some of my choices were based on serious markdowns due to discontinued items.
I also had that Lynx 1P tent for a long time and it’s functional. But I predict you will change that out due to weight at some point. Keep an eye out for used tents…
I’m glad to hear good reports on the Lynx Quiet Man. It seemed like a solid option and I’ve tested it some but I haven’t seen many opinions on it
Nice list Collin, and I like the way you broke it down into those three “s “ categories. The compass seems like a great idea! I look forward to reading more about your hike. Good luck out there!
Thanks Jenn! Good luck on your hike as well!
Ayyy, same quilt! Maybe we will run into each other on the trail since we’re both starting in March!
Ayyy, could possibly still happen but I’m starting in April now!
Great gear list Collin! Great example of how bloggers can talk gear 🙂 You’re set up for success. Looking forward to your blogs