Putting My Life in a Backpack: Gearing Up for the AT

From 2016-17 truTV hosted a mockumentary series titled Jon Glaser Loves Gear– featuring comedian and Parks and Rec supporting actor, Jon Glaser as he embarked on random adventures focused around reviewing various pieces of gear for each episode’s theme i.e. camping, cycling, dogs… With each episode would generally feature Glaser outfitted in a huge amount of completely unnecessary high-performance gear. In the comedic nature of the series, Glaser would later find himself in some outlandish situation caused by his overzealousness. At the end of each opening scene, Glaser would grab a microphone and scream “GEARRRR”-cuing the intro theme. As I’ve been dialing in my gear for my upcoming thru-hike and putting some serious mileage on my debit card- Jon Glaser Loves Gear and the show’s intro scene has recurrently popped into my head with the arrival of each package at the door or as I’ve come home with multiple REI bags. 

The AT will be an adventure no doubt, but buying my gear has been a journey itself. Originally, I planned on using much of my previous backpacking gear and arrogantly thought that all I needed was a smaller tent, quilt, in-reach, and new shoes. As I scoured reddit, talked with past thru-hikers, and watched countless YouTube videos- I had finally made my list and I realized this was going to be a longer process than I originally thought. Yes, I could have easily used my current backpacking setup but decided that I wanted to make the jump to ultralight. Thinking back to past weekend trips and the relief of taking off a 35-40lb pack when finally reaching camp and the dread of swinging it over my shoulders the next morning was not something I wanted to endure for 5-6 months. Plus, I knew myself well enough that I would probably be making major changes while on trail if I chose to begin with my original gear. After taking the advice of Poet from Shaw’s Hiker Hostel in Monson, ME: “Buy once, cry once”, I decided to do my best to dial in my base weight as much as I could before hitting the trail. 

Ok thanks for reading all that, here’s what most of you are really here for…

The Big Stuff: 

• Tent: Hyperlite Mid 1(plus a polycro groundsheet, guylines from my old Big Agnes tent and MSR Mini Groundhog stakes). Not the lightest DCF tent, but has some extra livability features worth the weight trade-off.
• Quilt: Enlightened Equipment Revelation 10 degree: Pretty standard quilt on the AT from what I’ve heard. May switch out to a 40 degree once I’m past the Smokies.
• Sleeping Pad: NEMO Tensor 3 season: Light, warm and comfortable- one of the few pieces of gear I’m not upgrading.
• Pack: Nashville Packs Cutaway 30L(with contractor bag liner): Running vest style ultralight pack- super comfortable, lots of pockets, no annoying hip belts.
• Trekking Poles: LEKI Khumbu trekking poles: First time using trekking poles, excited to see what all the hype is about. 

Kitchen

• Filter: Sawyer squeeze filter and Smartwater bottle: Again, pretty standard for the AT.
• Cookware: Titanium pot, bowl, and spork: pot is 600mL, will double as my cup since I’ll only be boiling water in it.
• Stove: MSR Pocket Rocket & mini lighter: Light, plain and simple
• Flip Fuel: Something new I’m trying out, heard they help save some cash on resupplies.

Clothes

• Hiking clothes: Synthetic shirt, running shorts, fleece mid-layer, long sleeve and sweatpants.
• Camp clothes: Synthetic shirt, running shorts, wool socks.
• Socks: 2 pairs of Smartwools(may get weird with it and try out a pair of toe socks- we’ll see).
• Buff: Love em.
• Sunglasses: Thanks Kasey!
• Rain Gear: LL. Bean Gore-Tex jacket and REI rain pants: The thru-hiking community is divided on rain gear- personally I don’t mind being wet and understand that nothing will keep you completely dry, but this goes into my “packing your fears category” as I’m more concerned about cold AND rain- I’m thinking about these more as insulating layers if anything. Plus, they double as wind layers and an added luxury of keeping me dry-ish at camp.
• Winter Gear: LL Bean down jacket, hat and gloves, synthetic base layers.

Footwear

• Shoes: Hoka Speed Goat 6- low drop, high cushion and popular enough I should be able to find them easily in town when it’s time to replace them.
• Sandals: Bedrocks Cairn Evo 3d Pro- I love hiking in sandals and also wanted a camp shoe, these are doing double duty, heard great things about Bedrocks and am planning on using them on less technical days to let my feet breathe.
• REI gaiters: Hoping they’ll help a little with mud, dust and dirt- never used them before, gonna give them a try.

Electronics

• Garmin InReach Mini-2: More standard AT gear.
• Headlamp: Petzl Bindi- light and simple, I can see when its dark.
• Charging Cords: Various.
• Watch: Coros Pace 2- my running watch. May track my hike on it, not sure yet.
• Power Bank: Anker 337 26k- Yes, it’s big and heavy but durable and will be able to charge everything in between resupplies.

Hygiene

• First Aid Kit: Cuts, scrapes and mainly blisters.
• Travel toothpaste, toothbrush, floss and retainer
• Trowel, toilet paper and hand sanitizer
• Biodegradable Soap: Try to keep away noro.
• Sunscreen
• Ear plugs
• Bodyglide

Luxury items/random things

• Sit Pad: NEMO Chipper- SUPER excited to bring this one, days of sitting on pointy rocks and wet ground are (hopefully) behind me.
• Earbuds: I like music.
• Wallet: Osprey Ultralight.
• Mini Swiss Army knife
• Bear Hang Cord
• Matches: In waterproof container.
• Food Bag: Sea to summit 8L dry sack.
• Organization: Ziploc bags.
• Bandanna: Rag for tent condensation and whatever else I’ll need it for 

Base weight 

• Winter: 13.09lbs https://lighterpack.com/r/5grmyw

• Summer: 11.62lbs https://lighterpack.com/r/gs9an5