Equipment Lists (Tentative)

[Totally Different Subject]

Pack:Mountainsmith- Phantom (3.1 lb)
Bag: Western Mountaineering- Alpinlite (1.15 lb)
Pad: Thermarest- Prolite 3 FL (1.4 lb)
Tent: MSR Hubba 1man (3.7 lb)

Poles: Leki Super Makalu (1.5 lb)

Stove: Esbit (3.75 oz)
Fuel: Esbit tabs .5oz. 36 (1.2 lb)
Mess: MSR Blacklite Pot (4 oz)
Lamp: Petzyl Zippka Plus (2.3 oz)
H20 Filter: MSR Miox pin (3.5 oz)
Platypus 2 ltr Hoser (1 oz)

Marmot Precip Rain Jacket (12 oz)
Patagonia Down Sweater (10.5 oz)
Cabelas 80% Silk/ 20% Wool MW top (7 oz)
Cabelas Power Dry HW Top (8 oz)
Patagonia Capilene MW Bottoms (7 oz)
Patagonia MW OTC sock (3 oz)
Patagonia MW MC sock (2 oz)
NorthFace Conv Pants (worn)
Cabelas MW 80Silk/20Wool Baselayer (worn)
Patagonia OTC MW socks (worn)
Merril Trail shoes (worn)

O/R Padded Cell (3.1 oz)
Granite Gear SilNylon SS (3) (1 oz)
Camera (6.7 oz)
Pack Towell (3 oz)
First Aid kit (2 oz)
Spices (3 oz)

I'm going to lump the appropriate maps. I realize the argument is that with the trail markings you don't need maps. However, I enjoy looking at maps and for the additional ounces I will always know of my options. I will eventually buy a silk bag liner. Decided against gaitors. Will take Wingfoots guide. Will take phone (5.4 oz), a book and journal.

Before water and food I should be around 19 lbs. I should be around 26'ish with food and water, day 1. The pack is good weighted down with 35 lbs but its much more comfortable between 25-29.

[tribes]

This is from my TJ:

I thought I would talk about the gear I plan on taking with me on my thru starting in April. I have been hiking pretty regulary for over three years now with some week and two week sections in there. Mostly however I have been taking two to three days and just hitting the trail in NJ-NY-CT and "getting on the trail" and walking. My starting weight will be somewhere around 27-28 lbs with 4 days food. That makes it a bit uncomfortable coming out with more than 5 days food, but in reality I hope to only have to do that on a limited basis. Carry five days of food that is....
Let me start with the big three:

My pack is a Granite Gear Vapor Trail. No surprise here. It is probably the most popular pack to those who can keep weight down The pack is just over two lbs and can hold 3600 cu inches of gear. I find that as long as I am around 25 lbs (give or take a few lbs) it handle very well. I used a Gregory Gpack for 300 or so miles of hiking and love it. It is just not enough to handle my starting load in April because of its very weak hipbelt. I have made a few modifications to my Vapor Trail to include another mesh pocket in the center of the back of the pack for easy to get to things. Also I am going to add a waistbelt pouch for my camera, radio, aqua mira...etc I have a silnylon pack cover that fits this pack that weighs 3 oz.

My tent is going to be a Henry Shires Squall tarptent. It is the older model weighing in @ just two lbs with the piece of body sized tyvek I am using as a groundcloth. It has the extended floor which aloows some bathtubbing action and an untested extended beak that will help keep out the rain during a deluge. I use one trekking pole to set this up and have enjoyed it thus far.

My sleeping bag is a Western Mountaineering Badger SMF. It is a solid 15 degree bag and weighs about 40 oz on my scale with stuff sack. It has a DWR finish to accomodate any condensation my tarptent may provide and it generously cut in the shoulders @ 64 inches so I can move around a bit and not feel really cramped up like an ultralite cut bag that is only 59-60 inches in the shoulders.

Now for the gasps and boos from the peanut gallery. For a sleeping pad, I am using.....an Exped 7 short length down air mattress. I know what you are thinking. Too heavy. But it really is not. I hate thin zrests and ridgerests and sleep awful on them. I had been pretty much carrying a thermarest guidelight 3/4. It was ok, but it weighed about 20 oz. It was 1.5 inches thick and my shoulders and hips would push right through it to the hard ground below. I like to move from side to back when I sleep. The Exped is 2.8 inches thick, warmer(higher r value), more comfortable, and there is no way in hell I am ever going back so do not even try to talk me out of this thing. I figue I could use a zrest cut down to 8 oz or something like that, but I would never sleep well. Oh yeah, the DAM (down air mattress) weighs a hefty 24 oz with pump bag and I consider it a luxury item.

Food Prep and H2O treatment: I will use an alcohol stove made from a pepsi can, a trangia mini pot stand that I have drill two thousand hole in to save weight, a foil windscreen, and a bic lighter for my cooking system. I have a 1.3 evernew Ti pot and an msr light lifter pot grabber. I use an antigravity gear pot cozy to simmer and save fuel with. The cozy allows you to simmer at near boiling temps for 15 minutes or so without fuel. The whole setup mentioned above weighs 11 oz. I will use a 16 oz spring water bottle (different from my drinking water bottles so no mix up occurs) for fuel. AN yes I will put some skull and crossbones on the bottle so no one else makes this mistake. I probably use Aqua Mira as a water treatment. I have a 4 liter Platypus Big Zip I am gonna use for water in camp. I have a 20 oz and a 32 oz gatorade I am going to use for water while hiking. I found 50 oz is usually plenty to get you to another source.

Assorted items include my headlamp(2001 petzl tikka still going strong on its second set of batteries), personal kit, first aid, leatherman micra, TP, Purell, earplugs, and Vitamin I which are all in a mesh bag and weigh 14 oz.

Here is my clothing list for hiking most "normal" days / defined as 40F +. I have a pair of nylon running shorts from campmor, a capilene silkweight longsleeve top and a bandana. I have a 3 0z hiking windbreaker from montane I will wear probably all the time until it warms up. I work outside all year long and have essentially been living in this garment. OR high gaiters and montrail javas and merino hiking socks round off the package.

For camp: I have a silk long underwear top that weighs 3 oz. Ny marmot silkweight long underwear bottoms are 6 oz. These will be my baselayer for camping. I will use a MH micro zip pullover @ 9 oz on top of that. I also have a marmot windshirt with a brushed nylon inside that is going to be hard to leave behind @ 11 oz. I also have a pair of montane windpants that will be my only pair of pants besides the silkweight bottoms. A montbell vest may be added @ 5 oz if I decide to. I will use a Precip Anorak for an emergency layer/raingear while hiking @ 9 oz. It will have to be really cold for this thing to come out as I am a furnace while hiking. I will carry an extra pair of hiking socks and a pair for sleeping. I have a pair of wool liner gloves and a balaclava for a hat to sleep/camp in. All said and told my clothes bag is probably pretty heavy, but it will give me a whole lot of layering/drying options to stay comfortable, not just alive. The total weight all of the clothes in my pack is around 3 1/2 lbs. Recently I put on all of my clothesbag items and sat on my deck in a lawchair for almost an hour one night when it was in the twenties and did not feel cold at all. If I was to feel cold on the trail @ night in the twenties while standing around camp, I would do the smart thing and go to bed in my warm dry bag.

I will use all silnylon stuff sacks from campmor(equinox). I think I have four in all. They are much lighter than factory stuff sack made out of heavy nylon. I have seam sealed all of mine to add an slight insurance policy. I will also use a trash compactor bag as a pack liner for my clothes and sleep bag. The down airmatress packs in its own drybag so no worries there.

My poles are lekis and I hope to get 2100 miles out of them but if not I hear they have a good warrantee. They probably have over a 1000 on them so far. Oh yeah, my waldie camp shoess are the only item strapped to my pack.

That is all I can think of right now off of the top of my head, but if I think of anything else will post again soon.

[MoBeach42]

Right - So, I'm not a particularly light weigh hiker. Ok, that's not true, I am very light, but my pack isn't. Please comment and rip to shreds that which is below. I don't have OZ measurements for everything, but I hope it's all detailed enough that you know what it is. My start date is March 12th, and I expect to be loosing both layers and trading out my sleeping bag and maybe even my pack when it gets warmer and I get lighter.

Tonights pack weight was basically: 29.5 LBS w/o FOOD (but including fuel and 1L water). That weight included:

Big Three:
Gregory Palisade
Tarptent Squall
Sierra Designs Spectrum 0°F
Compression Sack
Therm-a-Rest Prolite 3

Cooking/Eating/cleaning:
stuff sack
tooth brush
tooth paste
polar pure
olive oil (5oz)
dr. bronners (2.5oz)
pepper (1oz)
matches
Platypus pour cap
Ti Spork
.8L Ti pot w/ Lid/pan
stove stuff sack
MSR Whisperlite w/ windshield
11oz fuel bottle W/ fuel
fuel pump

Clothes (packed):
REI Pack cover
Marmot Precip Jacket
Marmot Precip Pants
Marmot Softshell
windstopper gloves
wool hat
compression sack containing:
1 pair underwear
2 pair Smartwool
balaclava
glove liners
mid weight Capaline bottoms
EW capaline top
LL Bean fleece

Other:
Leatherman Wave
U-Dig-It Trowel
first aid kit
platypus w/ drink tube
headlamp
1L Nalgene W/ 1L water

Not Included in Weight:
to be added to pack:
Food (duh)
Food Bag
Bearbag/ aux. Line
1 bandana
lighter
camera
extra batteries
whisperlite tool
journal
waldies camp shoes

to be worn:
Convertable pants
LW capaline top
1 pair underwear
1 pair smartwool
bandana
boots
gaiters
Leki Super Malaku poles

[Whistler]

Big Three:
Gregory Palisade
Tarptent Squall
Sierra Designs Spectrum 0°F
Compression Sack
Therm-a-Rest Prolite 3

I think you could probably move comfortably to a 15F or 30F sleeping bag. You could easily save 2-2.5 pounds by swapping to a full-zip down bag. Then you could also be rid of the few oz. for the compression sack, and not need a 2nd bag for summer months.

Cooking/Eating/cleaning:
MSR Whisperlite w/ windshield
11oz fuel bottle W/ fuel
fuel pump

As has been mentioned many times, a switch to some form of simple alcohol stove could probably save you a pound or so, and probably some dollars, too.

Clothes (packed):
REI Pack cover
Marmot Precip Jacket
Marmot Precip Pants
Marmot Softshell
windstopper gloves
wool hat
compression sack containing:
1 pair underwear
2 pair Smartwool
balaclava
glove liners
mid weight Capaline bottoms
EW capaline top
LL Bean fleece

I think you could probably live without the softshell and save a pound or so. Probably too hot for hiking and of little use in camp. I wouldn't bring a change of underwear, but that's me. I also would do without the glove liners. I would take either the EW Capilene or the LL fleece, but not both.

Other:
Leatherman Wave
U-Dig-It Trowel
first aid kit
platypus w/ drink tube
headlamp
1L Nalgene W/ 1L water

The Leatherman is a beast. You could easily save 7 ounces with a move to a small Swiss-style knife. I would ditch the trowel and replace the hard-sided Nalgene with a soft-sided one. I'm not sure of the headlamp you're using, but an LED model in the 1-3oz range should suffice.

Just some thoughts.
-Mark

[SalParadise]

Tonights pack weight was basically: 29.5 LBS w/o FOOD (but including fuel and 1L water).

I see your nearing the high side of heavy. I had about that weight and was praying for death around week three. But I guess it's all about what you can tolerate.

Is that Prolite a full-length?

You could probably ditch a good bit of the extra clothing, including either the balaclava or hat (but only one). You've got a lot of extra clothes you don't need to take. You'll be warm enough at night with your zero-degree bag, and after ten minutes of hiking you'll be sweating in any temperature. Two hiking shirts, a top and bottom underlayer, shorts, pants and good jacket should be enough. But then Whistler's also right that you could save a good amount of weight with a less-extreme bag, then just bring an extra underlayer. And the gloveliners can go.

You could ditch the cookpan and just go with the pot.

I agree with Whistler again, that big Leatherman is overkill. A small scissors was all I ever really needed. A knife will work, too, but I found it too hard to trim my moustache with it.

Save the trowel, use a stick.

A first aid kit is debatable, and has been much debated on this site.

What's the difference between your foodbag and your bearbag? You can just hang up your foodbag.

Hope it helps.

[hopefulhiker]

Gear List

Some of the weights are just estimates scale not precise enough. It looks like I'll be wearing carrying a base weight of 25 lb. with cell phone. The disposables add another 30 oz or about 2lb so it brings it to 27. Not exactly ultra light but I'm hoping the external frame will help.

Winter List:
Luxurylite pack 35oz
front pack 5 oz
pack cover 4 oz
WM ponderosa sleeping bag 41 oz,
nylon overbag 5 oz
pillow 4 oz
Big Agnes mummy insul air mattress 21oz
Henry Shire Virga tarptent w. 4 titanium stakes 28 oz


pepsi/cat stove w/ wind shield; 1 oz
snow peak cup w/foil lid 3 oz
extra stakes 2 oz
platypus w/ hose 2 oz
purification tablets or chlorine w test strips/ 1 oz
lexon spoon; plastic mixing bowl;soda bottles for oil,water;cozy;zip locks 7 oz
Leki makalu poles 16 oz
Vasque sundowner boots w/ kevlar laces 54 oz
compression shorts 3 oz
duofold sleeveless t shirt 2 oz
nylon shorts 5 oz
patagonia silk weight layer long undershirt 4 oz
marmot dri clime shirt 10oz
Frog Toggs rain pants&jacket 21 oz
nylon long pants 10 oz
patagonia expediton weight underwear 10oz
patagonia pullover sweater 10 oz
(2) Thorlo light hiker socks one pair long, one short 5 oz,
dress socks 1oz
Windstopper gloves 4 oz
Baclava 3 oz
Eagle Creek wallet 2oz

2 led lights, 1 oz
swiss army knife(midnight manager 2 oz
50 ft of parachute cord 4 oz
Equinox silnylon bag, bear bag and other trash compactor/ 6 oz
cut down pack towel 6 oz

1st Mapdana 2 oz
data book and section map in ziplock 3 oz
compass whistle thermometer 1 oz
emergency blanket 1 oz
repair kit, personal hygiene, vitamins ect 5 oz
Crank cellphone charger 3 oz
Cellphone 7 oz




Disposables/Questionables.... in order of first to drop......

Thermorest chess/backgammon or leather wallet chess set 5 oz
Walkman weather radio/ 1 AAA lithium battery 4 oz
Head lamp w 3 lithium batteries 5 oz
Spydoco 3.5 inch blade sheath knife 4 oz
CannonDigital Camera w/case & charger 12 oz.. drop for disposable.
When it warms up:

Possibly switch to G4 backpack 17 oz
Trying out the Hennesy Hammock 37 oz
Nunatek BCB 20 oz
Silk shirt 3 oz
Nike hiking boots 32 oz