If you could get any gear you wanted, regardless of expense, and only wanted the best,lightest,most useful, what would you get? Spare no expense!!!
(ulterior motive hehe).
AnimalMom
Fun Gear Question
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#3
I like the Zipka, a LED flashlight. Lightweight and useful.
An MP3 player with FM/AM radio that uses a removable chip that retains its memory would be nice too. But I have not found a lightweight one yet.
Mr. Boo
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#6
I’ll change the question, Suppose you had unlimited money, i.e. you had plenty of money for the trip so no worries about that.
I’m asking you your opinions on the very best gear regardless of cost if you were planning the trip.
Sherpa was funny though.
Like best tent, bag, pack, shoes, gloves, clothes, raingear, stove etc.
AnimalMom
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#8
I’d take an unlimited supply of dehydrated water. We can send a man to the moon why can’t we do some research and find a way to dehydrate H2O? 
Jim
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#9
I thought about what is the best equipment if I were to trek with the finest gear and I tend to believe that I did travel at least in part with the best equipment but those things I would like to carry would be…
A moonbowgear.com’s Gourmet with an inch an a half thermarest, my Wanderlust Nomad Lite, an LED flashlight, a sierra designs 15 degree 3-D Wild Bill for winter and 40 degree EMS bag for summer. Duofold shirts for great wicking. An EMS primaloft sweater. Frog Toggs for raingear. Dragonfly stove for winter. Pepsi can stove for summer. Smart Wool socks. Good shoes. Good watch with altitude capability that was accurate. A good lightweight digital camera that can dial up and download photos. Good Leki hiking poles with shock absorbers.
Mr. Boo
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#10
Too answer your question again I will Tell you what I carry. I will give you my list one because I thru-hiked with most of this gear and I have collected most of my gear over time and money has been of little object.
Item 1) 3/4 thermarest
2) Rabb bag (30 degree sleeping bag)
3) whisperlite (w/ shaker jet)
4) Osprey pack (heavy on back and wallet but worth it)
5) wanderlust nomad tent (I am just switching to this tent)
6)Mountain hardwear hydration bag (use the woven bag not the plastic. ever plastic bag I knew of got a leak.
This is what I consider the major items of concern and weight and money in my pack. I don’t think I missed any items but i may have. If you have any specific questions about gear e-mail me. I can give you my opinion. But remember with opinion everyone has one…
PROFILE
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#11
SGT. Rock’s got it. Time and money for a trip would be the best! As a partial gearhead when not hiking, this may sound hypocrtical, but don’t worry too much about the gear. I like what Mark Twight’s remark that gear only gets in the way… It’s the better gear that gets in the way least. Don’t lose sight of the bigger picture.
That said… The new bag from da Nunatak boys looks sweet!
Sweeper
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#12
I love my Nunatak Blanket!
And if I haven’t said it enough, thanks Sweeper for turning me on to Nunatak.
SGT Rock
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#13
Hey, since this subject was brought up, I found Smart Wool style treking socks for $9.99 for 3 pairs at Costco . It is in the Texas store for sure.
These socks usually run 10 to 12 dollars a pair at an outfitter. Ouch!
If someone wants the best, but does not want to pay the price, call on your local Costco and if they don’t have them, they can order them from the Grapevine, TX, store. At least I think it is Grapevine, maybe Southlake. This area is so mixed up I can’t tell what community is that I am unless I ask. That will teach me to move to Texas!
Mr. Boo
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#14
If you need to replace the tip of your hiking pole you should be using poles that are likely to be carried by most outfitters so you don’t have to buy new poles. This is true of other gear items as well (tent poles, packs, stoves, flash light bulbs, etc.).
We had good experience with Dana Design (needed a smaller hip belt - they sent us one), Sierra Desgn (they replaced a stressed pole), Leki (they sent a new pole tip) and MSR (they sent a new wind screen).
Team GAK
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#15
Outfitters after Harpers were few and far and had nothing. Visa…fixes everything on the trail. And they DON’T take Discover of American Depress. What was funny was the at Bear, Mt., NY, they don’t know what travelers cheques are!
Bushwhack
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#16
Did not cost me a dime to have my tips replaced!
My Leki hiking poles have a lifetime warranty. My tips wore down by CT and the outfitter in Kent replaced them on the spot. Not only them, but the bottom segement of my poles which had been bent a few times. Talk about great service!
So, keep the number of your equipment manufacturer handy and call them so the outfitter in a few towns will have the replacement parts on hand that you might need.
One of the many ways that outfitters and companies support thru-hikers.
Mr. Boo
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#17
Now, hiking poles, sheesh; they were falling apart since VA, but I made it to Mass. just fixing them at hardware stores. (I’d had them a while prior to hike, so was not too worried about getting a deal from the company like a free pair cha-ching. Also, there’s that weird affinity you get for gear on the trail. Like I was dedicated to get my injured walking companions to Big K. Well I failed, I’ll never forget you my friends! Oh poles down in the field! Rest in Pieces, I’ll come back to the hostel for you someday! Sorry. But anyway, about gear, improvise, find that you can fix things yourself (nice confidence builder), self-reliance. One of the best lessons the trail teaches. And if you can’t fix it, than it’s a good example of gear getting way too techno. Thoreau says it best: Simplify, simplify. The gear I loved was the $5 tube tent tarp I could patch with duct tape, the frogg toggs too. The boots sewn to their soles with dental floss to milk 300 more miles out of them. When I blew holes in the umbro shorts, yep, more needle and dental floss… Pack too, hehe, look like a freak, but half the fun!
Sweeper
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#18
We got the same cool service in Kent also. They took the tips off a pair of demos. Much better on rock. We didn’t fair so well on getting boots fixed. Vasque said get lost but L.L. Bean sent Monty pair after pair when the toes blew through. Gregory fixed my pack for free…after three months…and sent it back to Hot Springs…see THRU hiking means I’m not at home. They did lone me a Shasta, though. Hey Sweeps?, ever hike with an 8# pack? I packed over sixty pounds of mail drop and junk food back to the trail in that thing only to have Raindog dump the Cheeze Poofs! Goof ball. That’s okay, Dookie Bandit cleaned them up.
Bushwack
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#19
8# pack ehh? Nah. Cheeze Poofs? Now that’s filler. 1 pound of that may fill 4500 cu. inch pack. I loved those SOBOs I met, using such “air” food to fill up packs that did not fit right unless totally full. Crazy Sobos. BTW, did Grimace and Pinball make it, anyone, anyone?
Gregory is a good company IMO, or more like so I’ve heard. Don’t get me wrong, if you’ve got a warranty, use it! Lord knows the ghetto hikers need help. But in doing the gear thang, look for simple, make simple… Life’s simple. The more you can do it yourself, the less time you need to tap fingers in town, and go searchin’ for outfitters and whatnot, more time hikin’.
Example, ye olde soda can stove. Busted? “repair services” are located at the nearest trash can or qwikkie mart. 5 minutes, use your knife make a new stove. No moving parts on those stoves anyway so very few things can go wrong. Making your own gear too is fun and will get you comfortable with sewing and how everything works which is good to know on the trail.
Sweeper