People's Republic of Walk, by Ink

[new PRW post]

[Those bored to death by geartalk, skip this post!]

Taking a cue from McBride's post on Whiteblaze, I thought I would write up the list of gear I took along on my WV->ME '09 hike and juxtapose it with things I'm carrying on my GA->WV '10 hike.

Which starts in three weeks, by the way.

So here goes:

Pack

• Gregory Baltoro 70. Comfortable, user friendly pack. BUT: It leaned to the side on my back, had too much room, and then the mainstay broke away from the pack in New Hampshire. I finished the trail [Gorham, NH to Katahdin] with a loaner Gregory Palisade 80. After the hike I returned the Baltoro to REI and swapped it for the pack that I'll be using this spring, the Osprey Atmos 65. The Atmos 65 seemed to be the pack of choice among thru-hikers.
• No pack cover, used my shell jacket as a cover after I realized my pack was water permeable and then bought a L Osprey pack cover in Port Clinton. Not having a pack cover is not an option.

Shelter

• Wal-Mart tarp. I didn't feel comfortable sleeping in it during a buggy buggy summer [or in rain], so I hiker-boxed it in Port Clinton and bought a proper tent, the Big Agnes Seedhouse SL2, along with the footprint. Big Agnes vied with MSR as the tent brand of choice on the trail, and I saw many Seedhouses. The outfitter in Port Clinton arranged for the tent to be waiting for me in Delaware Water Gap. The tent arrived just in time: Before the mosquito alley that is New Jersey through Massachusetts. The tent is bulky and still a bit heavy [around 3 pounds] but the independence of being able to sleep wherever you can clear a 5'x10' space and escape snorers, bugs etc. makes having the tent more than worth it.

Sleeping

• Kelty Light Year +20, three-season down bag with 650 fill goose down., 2 lbs. 6 ounces. Waay too hot in the summer - I used it as a mattress during June/July - but comfortable enough later in the trip. The down is spread a bit thin in places.
• Sleeping bag liner. I picked up a Sea to Summit silk sleeping bag liner at Cabela's in Hamburg and it was a lifesaver in coping with the summer heat. I would sleep in this on top of my sleeping bag on top of my sleeping pad.
• Thermarest Ridge Rest sleeping pad, size R-Men's. I found this comfortable enough from the get-go. It's very light, indestructible and fits well in the loops at the bottom of any pack.

Kitchen

• Set of aluminum camp pans from unknown brand [gift]. Having more than one pan proved redundant since, in the woods, people eat out of whatever pots they cook with; sent all but one home. The remaining one's handle broke down in Vermont. I replaced it with a GSI Pinnacle Soloist pot in Manchester Center, VT. The new pot made me feel much better, more professional maybe, about cooking in the woods.
• Plastic camp cup. Got rid of it when I switched to the GSI pot, which came with its own cup/bowl that included a layer of insulation.
• Spork. Broke on some peanut butter in Maine. Replaced it with a metal spoon that Pine Ellis gave to me. I'll be getting a new Spork.
• Stove. I used the Primus Classic Trail Stove the whole trip. It's not the fastest-cooking stove out there but it was stable and failproof. Eight ounces and pocket-sized.
• Fuel. By the end of the trail I was using big 8 ounce canisters of butane+propane and replacing them before they ran completely out. The 4 ounce canisters, because the canisters serve as the base for the stove and pot, make the setup too unstable, and they run out too abruptly.
• I packed a bandana or a tiny pack towel to wipe the pot after each use. I used a slip of newspaper to line the bottom of the teflon pot for when I packed the canister in there with the bowl.
• Lighter. I replaced this once I think.

Tech

• Garmin eTrex Legend HCx handheld GPS device. I found myself spending too much time stopping on the trail to study the map on this. Although it helped in gauging the distance/time/ETA to the next destination point, it proved redundant because of the Thru-Hiker Companion's level of detail. After a while, I learned to gauge my time and distance quite accurately just from timing myself over and over again. I also frankly felt uncomfortable with an expensive gadget in my pack. I sent it home in Pennsylvania or earlier.
• Wristwatch. I started with one from Target, not sure which brand. A spring shot out of the band somewhere around Massachusetts and after that the watch dangled awkwardly. But having a watch that told me what day and date it was, had an alarm and an indiglo night light was crucial. I picked up a slightly better watch, a Timex Expedition, from Target for this spring.
• Phone. Started with a three-year-old Samsung basic phone+camera. It got rain-damaged in Vermont and never worked again. Lost contacts, pictures, etc. Ashley sent her old phone, which happened to be the exact same model, to me in New Hampshire. Unfortunately the battery was much weaker and I generally had to hike with the phone off and keep calls quite short. This past weekend I bought an HTC Eris Droid smartphone, with 3G, GPS, Wi-Fi, 8GB of memory for music etc., and I just ordered a battery that more than doubles its battery life to go with it. I'm stoked about hiking with this thing. Verizon seems to be the way to go with service on the trail.
• Tunes. I started with none and regretted it all the time. I bought a Sony Walkman radio with a belt clip in Bennington Vermont. Having it was very good, although I listened to more than a fair amount of Glenn Beck, country music, Taylor Swift and ESPN football talk because that's all there was in some spots. Also, I ran through several sets of earbuds because they kept falling out. I'll be using some Sony active style earbuds with loop hangers this time. I'll also have music on my phone, and I'm debating whether to also bring my 8GB iPod Nano.
• Camera. I started with the Canon Powershot digital Elph, 7.1 Megapixels. It held the 2,000 or so shots I took on the trip. After rain damage in Vermont, however, it never regained its ability to take auto-focus pictures, flash or show a display on its viewing screen - it was all manual, no flash photography. This spring I'm taking my new camera [Christmas gift], a Canon Powershot SD1200 IS Digitatl Elph 10 Megapixels. It has an 8 GB memory card that holds 4,000 photos or 1 hour of video. So that's a big upgrade. I'll be protecting it with plastic bags better this time.
• Chargers. I pulled my camera and phone chargers out of my bounce box in Boiling Springs and kept them with me the rest of the trip. Having chargers on hand is a MUST.
• USB. Ditto camera charger.
• Flashlight. I started with a $1 Wal-Mart flashlight, thinking I could skimp on light, but found out quickly why thru-hikers buy headlamps - night hiking and using both hands while cooking or reading at night. I bought a Black Diamond Gizmo in Boiling Springs, Pa. and used it daily after that.
• Batteries. I'll be keeping probably 5 or 6 spare AAA or AA batteries as backups for my radio and headlamp...

[Continued at my blog, PRW]