Before and After : Gear

imported
#1

Hi to all,
I’m just curious as to what gear thru-hikers start out with compared to what they ended with.

Thanks,
A.B.

A.B.

#2

I have long felt that a wrap up of what gear a thru hiker ended up with (and why) was far more valuable to those of us planning a hike than what they originally thought about taking. Come on thru hikers- give us a minute of your time when you have settled in! Its a good way to relive your hike.

CamelJohn

#3

All righty then;
We started out with all our weekend and short trip gear figuring we’d just tear it up anyway so why not. We had some older L.L. Bean 1st Gen Gortex, three layer, weighs a ton. I brought my 6#'s worth of Nikon glass lens and an FE2 body. A stainless non-stick pot…which alway stuck. A six pound four season tent. Way to many clothes-no telling temps etc. The only gear we finished with that we started with was our watches, trekking poles, my pack and the water filter…and Wingnut’s book, headlamps, pack covers. I still have the same lighter I hiked with and it still has a little gas left.
At Neels we swapped out the LLBeans for Marmot Precips, got a Canyonlands in NY, a titanium pot somehwere I forget, 1 t-shirt, one shorts, two undies, two sox. Pack weight for winter before; 43# with five days of food. Winter weight after new gear 32#. Weight with out food for two; 13.
You’re just not sure what will work for you until you try it and carrying weight longer than a week is far different than short trips. Everything gets heavier after a while.

Bushwhack

#4

I started out prepping for my 1st trail with hand-me-down antique gear including boots, exterior frame pack, huge loud stove, mummy bag, gaiters, four-man dome tent, and just about everything else that I no longer carry. In fact a lexan spoon is the only thing I use from that old set-up.

Then my pops handed down Ray Jardine’s book. From that point I changed everything, and now gear is no longer a concern. Moreover, I often forget I am carrying it. I started the AT with Ray’s set-up (almost everything), and other than my stove, have not looked back (but after attending three weeks of his camps, I no longer need a stove at all to cook my meals).

Unless, like many backpackers, you are completely addicted to being a good consumer and buying whatever the stores will convince you to buy, your best investment would be to check out his book. He teaches how to make your gear part of you, while how to make you a part of the natural world that so many are distant from. There are other routes to the end of moving past the gear obsession, but in my opinion you can save much time and energy that you could rather be spending doing something more important by listening to his sound experience and ingenuity. Fishing around on this website can be useful, but in all I would start with a more solid resource where you can be sure of the expertise.

I also have gone from boots to sneakers to sandals. My feet feel outstanding.

1060 miles down on the West Coast Trail

To answer your query more directly, which is now a step backward, I hung on to a very expensive and small high-powered canister stove on the entire AT, but since then have shelved it for a homemade can stove.

Tha Wookie

#5

Ever since reading rays book Ive been waiting for a ufo to land in my backyard. personally, I wouldnt reccomend rays book to anyone.

Bloody Cactus

#6

Hey Wookie,
What is the name of “Ray’s book” and can I likely get it on Amazon?
Bum

damascus bum

#7

The book is Beyond Backpacking. Before listening to Bloody Cactus, ask him what his “experience” with distance hiking is. I do not know Wookie personally, but, he is a very experienced hiker, having completed multiple thru hikes. SPECIFICALLY, A SUCCESSFUL DISTANCE HIKER! Choose advice accordingly.
Ray’s methodology allows you to reach a base weight of sub ten pounds, allowing you to “forget” about your pack. I highly recommend Ray’s book. I pretty much adhere to his principles, though I use my own discretion in choices for gear. Ounces add up to pounds, so cull all extraneous ounces.
Ray’s methods for weight culling work, plain and simple. Distance backpacking can be a different beast than shorter trips and what is appropriate for the distance hiker may seem minimalist to other types of hikers( I am not trying to sound elitist here but distance hiking is just different from shorter trips). Some of Ray’s philosophical leanings aren’t for everyone, yet if you actually get out in the woods, for an extended period of time, unfettered by all the Madison Ave. hype, you may indeed find some of Ray’s wilder ideas are not all that wild.

ps. I used the same gear I started with, the singular exception being switching to a hammock in Glasgow Va. All my gear was “RAY WAY” type things. ie tarp, breeze pack, closed cell light pad ect. My start weight complete, minus what I was wearing, was 23 1/2 pounds. This was with four days of food, cold weather gear and a litre of water. Most thrus have one gear pattern in common, the longer they walk the lighter they try to get their packs, so Ray is essentially espousing the doctrine that all sucessful distance hikers learn, carry only what you really need and learn to need less. Instead utilize the best piece of gear in your arsenal…your mind!! One last thing, the only way to know for certain what will work, for each individual, is to hike and expeiment with gear in differing conditions. Peace out and happy hiking.

Yo-YO

#8

I can jump in here…Ray’s book is called “Beyond Backpacking.” You can likely find it on Amazon–I got a copy at my local outfitter. Ray Jardine is controversial in that he has a significantly different approach to hiking and equipment than most of us have been exposed to. Fundamentally, he makes some excellent points about gear and weight. But it’s buyer beware with used cars and advice that might put you at risk on the Trail. Being safe in the woods requires a touch of common sense, no matter what equipment you do or don’t carry, and the experience to know when to use it. Ray thinks hiking poles are a gimmmick. Doh!
See you on the trail!:cheers :cheers

Tyger

#9

Posted by Tyger : “But it’s buyer beware with used cars and advice that might put you at risk on the Trail.” Are you inferring that ultralight hiking tecniques put you at risk on the trail?

Yo-YO

#10

When I see go-liters showing up at Springer with no stove to boil water then bumming hot water water from hikers, that ultralight technique puts you at risk. Jardine is all about big miles and moving fast thru the woods not about doing low and slow miles.

wolf

#11

I started and finished with my Mountainsmith Ghost pack, Bibler tent, Gaz stove, Stainless Steel 1qt. pot, fleece ski cap, precip rain pants, and my 30d. down sleeping bag.

margie

#12

Yo-YO: This is off topic and I’m not inclined to parse syntax, no offense implied. People with no experience can be dangerous to themselves and put those who need to go rescue them when they go into the woods underequipped at risk. No inferrences intended. Experts in woodcraft can stay alive for days out there with a knife and some camper’s cord. It’s all relative. Ultralight techinques don’t put me at risk, but might endanger someone else. Wolf makes the point well. Hike your hike!
Cheers.

Tyger

#13

Im not gonna have a ray way argument. Buy the book, read it. If you cant see for yourself the bizzarro ray in there, the cult mormonish things… well… whatever.

any good ideas he had (a long time ago) are now well published on the net. info on tarps, hammocks etc.

his chapters on food were hilarious.

anyways.

Bloody Cactus