New Hike, New Gear

In the past, my severe budget limited what gear I could afford. I used walmart trekking poles, wore a lot of cotton layers, and had heavy gear that wasn’t too durable. There’s nothing wrong with saving money, but it was obvious that text equipment I used was making my hikes much less enjoyable, maybe even unsafe.

When I finally decided to do a thru hike, I resolved to get better quality gear.

Big Five

• Big Agnes Fly Creek UL1
  • Though many hikers prefer the UL2, I find the one person model to be plenty big enough for me and my gear.
• Tyvek Ground Cloth
• Osprey Exos 28
  • A huge improvement to the heavy 40l pack I used to use, the Exos 28 is super light and comfortable. However, it’s a bit smaller than I expected.
• Teton Trailhead 20
  • One of the very few things I kept the same was my sleeping bag. For only $40, it’s a 2lb 9oz synthetic bag that I’ve used in all weather.
• Thermarest NeoAir XLite-Regular
  • Replacing my  Thermarest Ridgerest, the NeoAir XLite saves a few ounces, is more compact, and much more comfortable.

 

Cookware

• Toaks Titanium 900ml 125mm diameter pot
• Toaks Titanium 375ml cup
• Soda Can Alcohol Stove
• Snowpeak Titanium Spork
• Esbit Folding Stove
  • Though originally designed as a solid fuel stove, I’ll be using it as a pot stand.
• Nalgene 8oz Fuel Bottle

 

Clothing

• Mountain Hardware 9″ Shorts
• Reebok Moisture Wicking T-shirt x2
  • One will be my every day shirt, and the other for camp.
• Patagonia Capilene Midwieght Crew
• McKinley Kapaa Thermore Insulated Jacket
• Asic Gel Venture 5 Trailrunners
  • I’ve put over a thousand miles on a pair of Venture 4s, but since I couldn’t find any more of them, I went with the newer model.
• Superfeet Green Insoles
• Frogs Toggs UL Jacket and Pants
• Navy Watch Cap
• Boonie hat
• Sun Glasses
• Darn Tuff socks
• Mesh Gym Shorts
• Packtowl

 

Electronics

• Canon Elph 180
  • This will be my first standalone camera, so hopefully I can get some better pictures of the trail than I’ve been able to do with my phone.
• Memory cards
• JOBY GorillaPod
  • At only 2oz, this super compact tripod is exactly what I needed. Plus, how cool is a flexible tripod?
• Power cords
• USB wall adapter
• Ravpower 13k mAh battery pack 6oz
• Sanza Fuze
• Headphones
• Petzl Tikkina Headlamp 3oz

 

Miscellaneous

• Blackdiamond Cork Trekking poles 1lb
• Duct tape on trekking pole
• Electrical tape on trekking pole
• 2016 AWOL Guide book 8oz
• Sawyer Squeeze
  • I used to use the Sawyer mini, but when you are dehydrated on a hot day, it seemed to take forever to filter just a few drops.
• Smart Water Bottle
  • For those of you who haven’t heard yet, you can use a smart water bottle instead of the Sawyer filter bags. They are much cheaper and easier to replace.
• Sheffield Pocket Knife
  • I picked up this awesome little folder for only $5 years ago and it’s never failed me yet.
• Cut Down Colman Trowel
• TP
• Reflective paracord
• 40l Dry sack
  • It will be packed empty unless it looks like rain and will also be used to hand my food at night.
• Anti-diarrhea medicine
  • This is probably tied with foot care as the most important things to take on a hike.
• Hand sanitizer
• Chap stick
• Nail clippers
• Needle for blisters
• Alcohol swabs
• Cut down tooth brush

Fully loaded with 5days of food, my pack now only weighs 21bs. That’s a huge improvement to the 38lbs for 3 days that I had when I first began hiking. I’m sure when this hike is over, I’ll be wondering how I thought 21lbs was light. But for now, I’m extremely happy with the progress I’ve made.