Below is what I am taking on my upcoming thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). It is common for bloggers to post their gear list before beginning a big hike, but I’ve noticed they are often not very detailed. I wanted to show the nitty gritty, down to my toilet paper and tube of chapstick.
Except for food, this list represents every single item that will be in my pack or on my body. Nothing more, nothing less. (Conveniently, I can use this post as my packing list). I think this gives a more realistic picture of the minutia-level planning that goes into preparing for a thru-hike. Each and every item has been carefully considered, weighed, and tested.
50 ft Ultralight 1.3 mm Z-Line Cord with mini carabiner
0.9 oz
Pot rag
Thin cloth
0.3 oz
Clothes
Worn Clothes
Item
Description
Weight
Hiking shirt
REI Sahara Long Sleeve shirt
7.2 oz
Shorts
RBX 5″ running shorts
4.4 oz
Sports bra
Jockey Seamfree Mid Impact Sports Bra
1.8 oz
Underwear
Exofficio
2.5 oz
Socks – 1st pair
DarnTough Run UL crew
1.7 oz
Hiking Shoes
Topo Athletic Ultraventure 3
19.5 oz
Custom orthotics
inside shoes
2.3 oz
Sunglasses
Generic, with Croakies strap
1.0 oz
Sun Hat
REI Sahara Hat
3.1 oz
Packed Clothes
Item
Description
Weight
Fleece – cold weather only
Decathalon Quechua MH100 Hiking Fleece
9.1 oz
Sleep Top – cold weather only
Under Armor Base 2.0
6.4 oz
Sleep Top – warm weather only
Lightweight T-shirt
2.8 oz
Sleep Bottoms
Patagonia Capilene midweight
5.3 oz
Underwear – 2nd pair
Exofficio
2.5 oz
Socks – 2nd pair
DarnTough Crew Lightweight Athletic
2.0 oz
Socks – 3rd pair
Injinji toe socks
1.5 oz
Outerwear
Item
Description
Weight
Synthetic Down Jacket
Enlightened Equipment Torrid Jacket
8.3 oz
Warm Hat
Army issue black fleece hat
1.1 oz
Raincoat
Frogg Toggs Ultra-Lite top
6.0 oz
Rain/Wind pants
North Face
5.3 oz
Gloves
Klim 2.0 Liners
2.1 oz
Buff – Halfsize
Bandana/headband
0.5 oz
Bug Heat Net (not pictured)
0.6 oz
Electronics
Item
Description
Weight
Phone
iPhone 14 in UAG case
7.4 oz
Satellite Messaging Device
Garmin InReach mini 2
3.8 oz
Kindle
Paperwhite
6.7 oz
Headlamp
NiteCore 25 (with shockcord headband mod)
1.3 oz
Headphones
Apple corded earbuds
0.5 oz
Powerbank
Anker 6,500 mAh
4.4 oz
2 Micro USB cords
For charging powerbank, Kindle, and headlamp
0.7 oz
USB-C cord
For charging InReach
0.5 oz
Lightning cord
For charging iPhone
0.5 oz
Wall charger plug
with 2 USB ports
1.0 oz
Toiletries
Item
Description
Weight
First Aid Kit
1 oz Dr. Bronners soap, Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Benadryl, Anti-diarrheal, Caffeine pills, Melatonin, Water purification tablets, Neosporin, Alcohol wipes, Vaseline, Leuko Tape
4.0 oz
Massage Ball
Body Back Foot Star
1.5 oz
Toothbrush
Travel toothbrush in case
0.4 oz
Toothpaste
travel-size tube
1.0 oz
Earplugs
Foam disposable
0.1 oz
Chapstick
0.3 oz
Sunscreen
SPF 70 in 1 oz tube
1.3 oz
P Style
for peeing standing up
0.6 oz
Potty Kit
Quart ziplock bag: The Deuce trowel, toilet paper, wipes, hand sanitizer
5.0 oz
Menstrual cup
Diva Cup
0.5 oz
Stuff Sack
Roll top
1.1 oz
Miscellaneous
Item
Description
Weight
Gear repair kit
2 extra O rings for Sawyer filter, Gear tape and patches, sleeping pad repair kit, dental floss (heavy duty thread), mini sewing thread spool, match book
2.1 oz
Knife
mini Swiss Army knife
0.9 oz
Trail wallet
DCF zipper wallet with ID, 1 credit card, 1 debit card, some cash
nifty app that scans the horizon and names the surrounding peaks
0.0 oz
Total Base Weight
The base weight is the weight of the pack without food or water. Per convention, I also haven’t included the weight of constantly worn items and consumables such as toilet paper, fuel, and sunscreen.
Warm Weather
Cold Weather
Sierra
13 lbs, 9.9 oz
14 lbs, 6.6 oz
18 lbs, 9.1 oz
The additional pack weight will vary greatly. Depending on how much food, water, and snow gear I’m carrying, my pack could range anywhere from 14 pounds to 40 pounds.
I’m looking forward to putting the gear into action!
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I am a thirty-something musician, soldier, gender bender, backpacker, and avid hobbyist. I’m taking a two-year “mini-retirement” from my career as French horn player for the U.S. Army Bands to thru-hike. In 2023 I accomplished my lifelong dream of thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail, and in 2024 I plan to thru-hike the Pacific Crest Trail. You can read more of my adventures at www.mini-retirement.com
Comments11
Dee Nerem : Mar 17th
I love how you broke each section down. For a newbie like me that was very helpful. I am doing a lash in Sept. and some of your items I purchased for my hike. Good luck. I look forward to following along. Dee
Thanks! I have considered that, but decided to stick with the Kindle as a luxury item. I prefer the look and feel of the actual Kindle device over reading on the phone. To me it feels more like reading a real book. Even though it is still technically a screen, it feels more like unplugged non-screen time, which I value in the woods. The other consideration is that the Kindle battery is amazing, lasting for weeks at a time. If I read on my phone, I think I’d need a bigger battery bank to keep my phone charge, so that helps offset some of the extra weight of the Paperwhite.
When i like the California PCT in 1978 the only electronic gear i carried was a small flash Lite. i had a small journal to record my experiences, a pen, and cloured pencils to draw the trail. I also had my beloved harmonica for music. It lays besides me as i text this message. I also carried a stout climbing rope which proved invaluable when a fording melt swollen creeks in the high Sierra. Best hiking Kirby, i enjoy your posts. I srarted my hike at Campo on April 8th, 1978.
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Comments 11
I love how you broke each section down. For a newbie like me that was very helpful. I am doing a lash in Sept. and some of your items I purchased for my hike. Good luck. I look forward to following along. Dee
Thanks Dee, I’m glad it was helpful! Best of luck on your LASH. I’m sure it will be incredible!
Kirby, dont know if you ever tried it but you could use Kindle app on smartphone & not carry papperwhite.
Thanks! I have considered that, but decided to stick with the Kindle as a luxury item. I prefer the look and feel of the actual Kindle device over reading on the phone. To me it feels more like reading a real book. Even though it is still technically a screen, it feels more like unplugged non-screen time, which I value in the woods. The other consideration is that the Kindle battery is amazing, lasting for weeks at a time. If I read on my phone, I think I’d need a bigger battery bank to keep my phone charge, so that helps offset some of the extra weight of the Paperwhite.
When i like the California PCT in 1978 the only electronic gear i carried was a small flash Lite. i had a small journal to record my experiences, a pen, and cloured pencils to draw the trail. I also had my beloved harmonica for music. It lays besides me as i text this message. I also carried a stout climbing rope which proved invaluable when a fording melt swollen creeks in the high Sierra. Best hiking Kirby, i enjoy your posts. I srarted my hike at Campo on April 8th, 1978.
Thank you! That’s so cool that you still have the harmonica! I bet you have a lot of great memories.
Well done! Thanx for tge very specific specs. Carry on!
Thanks Ted!
Impressive html work with this one! Also, nice looking kit. I’m a big fan of that Gorilla pack.
Thank you! I love the Gorilla too. It served me very well on the AT last year. I got a fresh one for the PCT 🙂