Big 3 Gear List

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#1

I would appreciate your comments on my first attempt at gear choices for my '05 thru-hike of the AT. I’ll be buying gear after the holidays and trying it out on backpacking trips with my Sierra Club next spring. I’ve done a lot of research and have paid attention to critiques of gear both here and at the WomenHikers and WhiteBlaze websites. I want to go as light as possible, without sacrificing too much comfort. Please tell me what you think. I’d greatly appreciate your sage advice. Thanks, Barbara

Backpack:
Granite Gear Vapor Trail
Backpacker Mag’s Choice 2003,ultralite,
3600 cu in w/lg ext collar, carries loads up to 30 lbs,
good padding on should straps, sternum strap, hipbelt, loadlifter straps,
has narrow profile, hugs back well,
2 stretch side pockets for water bottles
2 lbs, $145

Pack Cover:
Dancing Light Gear
waterproof silnylon
3 oz, $20

Tent:
Mountain Hardware Waypoint 1
single wall w/several vents to aid w/condensation problems,
19 sq ft, w/5 sq ft vestibule, 7.5 ft long, 3 ft wide, 33 inches high,
includes fly, pole, Y pegs, stuff sack
2 lbs, 8 oz, $195

Sleeping Bag:
Western Mountaineering Ultra-light
20 degree, 5 inches of loft, 850 fill down,
w/waterproof stuff sack
1 lb, 11 oz, $280

Silk Sleeping Bag Liner:
Summit
adds 10 degrees to bag, can use by itself when too warm for bag
5 oz, $55

Pad:
Thermarest Ultralight
self-inflating, 3/4 length
18 oz, $60

Total weight: 8 lbs
Total cost: $760

Barbara

#2

Very very nice. Add a titanium pot, an LED headlamp, cut the handle off your tooth brush and you’re good to go. Me like. Use what you have a lot so it will be second nature on the trail.

Bushwhack

#3

I normally don’t like to comment on gear as everyone does their research and normally has some preferences but since you asked…

In general, I like the choices, but I would go with a 30 deg bag at approx 1lb 5 oz. If you want to carry the silk liner, carry it until it gets too warm for it then send it home. In my opinion a 20 deg bag is too much (weight and warmth) for the summer on the AT.

Exchange the thermarest for a ridgerest or zrest which you cut down to fit from the top of your head to a little below the bottom of your butt and narrow it so you can lie on your back and still have your arms/shoulders on it. My cut down ridge rest was about 6 oz, my newest cut down zrest is about 8 oz but I haven’t finished working on it completely.

I’m not sure how the tent is set up (or what Y stakes are) but if the stakes are Aluminum or steel you can replace them with Titanium and save at least a couple of ounces there.

My homemade silnylon pack cover started to leak after about 1/2 the trail this summer and I exchanged it for a much heavier but more waterproof gor-tex equivalent model. It was really wet in 2003 so you might be able to get by with a silnylon one if it’s drier.

Also, in my opinion almost all gear used on a thru-hike is trashed after the hike. It smells nasty and is just plain worn out – if it lasts the whole trail even. If you expect this then you can decide whether it is more important to protect the gear or have a lighter pack (this is mainly in reference to the sleeping back liner). I started March 31 in 2003 so my comments are based on that type of start date. If you’re planning on starting in Jan, Feb, early March you might need warmer weather gear at the start.

Good luck!

Highlanger II

#4

Jettison the tent in favor of a tarp and bug bivy and save a pound while gaining space. Great bag, I loved mine the whole time I was in it! Have fun on your hike. It is the best!

yo-yo

#5

Sounds like a good list. I wish I had done more research when I first started buying stuff. I would have saved approx. $700 instead of replacing nearly everthing later on due to weight. I’d recommend looking at the Henry Shires Tarptent since the Virga w/floor will save you around a pound. If you are starting before April 1st, I’d go ahead a get the 20 deg bag. I nearly froze on Springer on March 31st in a 20 deg bag when the temp got down to around 16 deg. As Bushwhack said, get a Titanium pot like the .9L or 1.3L Evernew (REI has them), a LED headlamp like the Black Diamond ION or maybe one a bit brighter, and a Alcohol Stove like a Brasslite or equivalent and your well on your way.

Nooga

#6

Looks like a nice list to me. I would agree with BW and Nooga in the extra auggestions. I’m very happy with my MSR Ti-Kettle. It’s a pot it’s a mug, it’s everything you need for 3 oz (replacing the lid with aluminum foil). Also, make an alcohol stove… they work very well and weigh .8 oz with stand. Denatured alcohol/HEET is found nearly everwhere near the trail and in hostels. I use the Squall Tarptent and have fellen in love with it’s simplicity and weight. It’s never failed me even in the Smokies 10* with snow. WM makes some of the best bags IMO… it’s a wise choice. That bag should work well if you’re starting in the middle of March-April. Grap an old Petzl Tikka headlamp off Ebay for $10 and you’ll be set.

guru

#7

Great Choices!

You’ll like the Dancing Light Gear raincover. I loved mine.

I’d go with the 20 degree bag. I had a 15 and appreciated it. It will really depend on when you start. I started March 23 and was sun burnt on my first day and then was sleeping in 15 degree weather by the end of my first week. I loved that bag during the snow in the smokies and the cold fall air in Maine. When I got it back after the summer it felt like the most luxurious thing to me. Plus women tend to be colder.

The tent–you’ll figure out whether you are a tent or shelter dweller. For me it depended on the rain, the crowd and the area. I went back and forth. I had the waypoint 2 person. Condensation is a big issue with the tent. A friend of mine had the 1 and said it was difficult to avoid getting the sleeping bag wet from the condensation. I’d bring my sleeping bag with to the store and try out the tent with my sleeping bag. The condensation problem gets old fast. Also, Mtn Hardware is coming out with a new tent that should be available by Feb or March that is supposed to take care of the condensation issues that the waypoint has. It basically has more Mesh. I really enjoyed my tent overall. Just beware of condensation.

For cooking alcohol stove and the MSR kettle is a great way to go for the single hiker.

Blip

#8

congrates on the 8#'s I have heard pros and cons, but know that the 10# mark is hard to beat some times, when you weigh comfort and safety vs load support and pack comfort. The more you train and use this set up, you will know it will work, but will you be satisfied with it. Time and experience will tell. I dropped my pack that weighed 5.75 lbs to a pack that weighs 1.25#s then added an extra pound of hammock weight, for same reason. I want comfort and am willing to carry the pound.

the biggest asset you have, in my limited experience is a pack that forces you to stay at 25-30#s. very doable and makes everything from feet, shoulders and head (oh the mental angle) so much nicer. My speculation is less damage to yer traveling shoes, less likely to have problems that someone carrying 40 or 50 pounds might have. You will figure it out too, half the fun is playing with the gear and getting out there for shakedown hikes and outtings.

burn

#9

I agree that a thru hike trashes gear. But, I also have a Sleeping Bag: Western Mountaineering Ultra-light 20 degree, 5 inches of loft, 850 fill down, w/waterproof stuff sack 1 lb, 11 oz, $280 but the difference is that I bought the water resistant outer bag: slightly heavier but good insurance in a rainy year like 2003. I did not use a liner but went to bed every night with a clean pair of sock liners and my light weight thermals to keep my expensive bag clean. My WM bag has gone through two hikes and was perfect. If weather was hot I just used it unzipped. Since I was so careful to keep it clean I did not have to wash it until I got home and it now has 5000 miles on it and is as good as new. I gave up my thermarest for a zrest but did not trim it because I wanted to keep the outside of my bag clean, too.
I saved a pound on my backpack with a GVP gear pack that uses the zrest for support.
I like a tent so I can zip out insects.

My gear is at http://www.trailjournals.com/gear.cfm?trailname=1329
Good luck.

GottaWalk

#10

Hey Barbara–What’s this WomenHiekrs website you referred to? couldn’t find it–My wife would be interested in that–could you provide the link? Thanks!

Kyle

Kyle & Lisa