Gear List

Here is the gear we are using.  The brands/styles I am listing are what we have or are an ideal recommendation. If you search online for the items you will probably find them online at different sites much cheaper than on the brand sites I listed.

>Backpack

This is what is in our backpacks:

>Sleeping Bag – you will want a 0-20 degree bag, a Dri-Down(water resistant down) bag is ideal.
>Sleeping Bag Liner – Whatever the rating is of the liner, for example the one below is 25 degrees, the liner adds 25 degrees of additional temp protection to your bag rating.  So if your bag is rated at 30-40 degrees a 25 degree liner inside your 30- 40 degree bag will give you the protection a 5-15 degree bag alone would give you.  In the warm months we would just sleep in our liners on top of our bags.  In the winter we stay toasty warm.
>Waterproof Sleeping Bag Compression Bag
>Sleeping Pad – Needs to be a closed-cell foam pad or an INSULATED inflatable pad
>Tent  - tent, poles,pegs, footprint (ground cloth, most common and lightest option is a piece of Tyvek sheeting from Home Depot/Lowes), we have a 3-person, but out here on the trail most individuals carry a 2-person with the below the most popular.  This allows you to get you and your pack inside.
>Stove- we have a jet boil, one fuel canister will store inside the stove, a 2nd canister will go in your miscellaneous bag
>Camp Shoes/River Fording – Crocs or Teva type sandals, lightweight no heavy Keen sandals

>Water bottles – we carry each 2 liters of water in a 2 liter Platypus Hydration System and an empty 1 liter Nalgene bottle which we use to collect and treat our water (we use a SteriPen).  The additional 1 liter Nalgene bottle also allows us to carry 3 liters of water on long dry stretches of trail.  If you use the Sawyer water filter instead of the SteriPen to treat your water, you could carry an additional 1 liter bladder instead of a heavier Nalgene bottle for long dry stretches.
    
>Food Bags – We each carry 2 bags, one 8L waterproof bag (hold our meals) and one 5L waterproof bag (holds our snacks)
>Wet Weather Top- we just get these from Walmart, NOT the breathable ones, but the $21 top & bottom set.  We often wear this alone as a windbreaker or over our down coat to layer for cold weather.
>Wet Weather Bottom- we wear these for wind protection and warmth during the colder months and locations, when we started in March-April and in the White Mountains and Maine.  Otherwise we do not carry or use our rain pants in the warm/hot summer months
>Hiking Umbrella - Hendo carries a hiking umbrella and loves it.  During the summer it is too hot
to try and wear a rain coat of any kind, you end up soaking wet from sweat.  Hendo now uses a hiking
umbrella when hiking in the rain.  It feeds through her shoulder strap so she can hike hands-free, it also allows you to eat in the dry.
>Backpack Rain Cover - The Sea to Summit covers work great and actually keep our packs dry
>Head lamp - We have gone through several different headlamps and have finally found and like the the Princeton Tec Sync headlamp.  Most headlamps now have a push-button on/off switch, this design does NOT work well as the button always seems to bet pushed and your headlamp accidentally turned on and batteries run down.  The Princeton Tec Sync has a dial button which does not accidentally turned on.
>Water Purification 
>Bandana, to wipe sweat from your face during the day, can also be used as a bandage/tourniquet, can wrap ankle in case of sprain, comes in handy along the way

>1 carabineer, used to hang food bags at night, hang backpack, retrieve bag or person in case of emergency, etc.

>50 feet paracord, used to hang food bags at night, retrieve bag or person in case of emergency

>Small Trowel, your toilet
>Roll of Toilet Paper, in ziploc bag

>Spoon

>Cell Phone, in Ziploc or waterproof case

>Cell Phone Charger

>Camera, in Ziploc or waterproof case

>7L Waterproof bag to store the below miscellaneous items:
++Stove Fuel- if using your jet boil bring 2 small 3.5 oz canisters or one large 8 oz canister.
++First Aid Items:  1 roll athletic tape, 1 tube neosporin, ziploc bag of motrin, tweezers, toenail clippers, 2-2in gauze pads, hydrocortisone cream, small bottle Gold Bond Powder
++Extra set head lamp batteries
++Extra set of batteries for Steri Pen water purification
++Extra set of batteries for camera
++Matches
++Lighter
++Fire starters
++Toothbrush
++Comb
++Chapstick
++any needed medications

>13L Waterproof Clothing Bag – this one bag is what we keep all of the below listed clothing items in:
++Down Jacket
++Winter Hat – any fleece watch cap will do or lined knit cap will do
++Winter gloves/mittens – we have mittens with fold down finger cover, keeps the hands warmer
++Extra pair of pants

++Extra shirt – long sleeve or short sleeve wicking/synthetic material, during the warmer months we carried an extra t-shirt in the cold months we carried an extra long-sleeve shirt

++Extra pair of wool socks
++Sleep top – in the cold months base layer long underwear, in the warm months a cotton tshirt

++Sleep bottoms -in the cold months base layer long underwear, in the warm months a pair of cotton shorts or boxer briefs

++Sleep Socks - a pair of wool socks


>Clothing to wear

++Columbia PFG Tamiami longsleeve button-up shirt for warm weather, longsleeve base layer shirt for cold months, http://www.columbia.com/mens-pfg-tamiami-ii-long-sleeve-shirt-FM7253.html?cgid=men-shirts-longsleeve&dwvar_FM7253_variationColor=477#start=5

++Pants- we prefer long pants year round to keep off bugs, plants, etc.  Our summer pants are very thin, in cold weather we wore heavier pants.

++Belt

++Wool Socks

++Shoes- trail runners are what we and most everyone out here wears, not boots
++Watch

++Pocket Knife

++Wallet in Ziploc Bag

++Baseball Cap

3 comments:

  1. Super-wide range of durable and 100% waterproof cases, waterproof bag & dry bags. Find great deals on waterproof bag in australia.

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  2. i am really happy to buy this product, it seems great!
    waterproof backpack

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have used a Sea to Summit dry bag for a few years now and I can highly recommend it. It has never let me down.

    ReplyDelete