Last Minute Suggestions/Critics NEEDED by Jan. 29

[ClassicMagger]

Hey:

I'm heading out on the 30th from Springer. Just looking for some suggestions and other critics on gear etc. I've just started making my quadruple check list and THINK I have everything on there besides food and just looking to see what everyone thinks. Take-aways add-on's etc. etc.

Thanks everybody and here it is:

-Kevin

Gear:


Backpack: Arcteryx Bora 80
-Pack Cover
Tent: MSR Hubba Hubba HP
-MSR Hubba Hubba Footprint
Sleeping Bag: Mont-Bell Super Stretch Burrow #1 +15
-Liner: Silk Travel Liner
-Sleeping Pad: Therma-Rest Backpacker Lite Matress
Stove: MSR Pocket Rocket
Cooking Items:
-Snowpeak 1400 Titanium
-MSR Titan Kettle
-Titanium Spork
Water Sterilization: Steripen


Random Items:
-1 Bucktool (Leatherman)
-1 Knife (used mostly for kitchen)
-Tent/Bag Patch Kit
-Ursack Minor
-60 Feet Ripcord
-Compass
-Flashlight
-Headlamp
-100 Ounce Insulated Camel-Bak
-1 Nalgene Bottle
-1 Thru-Hikers' Companion


Clothing:


Jackets:
-Mont-bell Flatiron Parka
-Mont-bell Ultra-Light 800 Down Inner Jacket
Pants:
-Patagonia Guide Pant
-Kavu (town pants)
Long-Underwear:
-1 Light Weight Short Sleeve Top
-1 Medium Weight Long Sleeve Top
-1 Heavy Weight Long Sleeve Top
-2 Medium Weight Pants
-1 Heavy Weight Pant
Other Clothes:
-1 Set Gortex Rain gear (pants and jacket)
-2 T-Shirts
-1 Fleece Hat
-1 Pair Boots


Luxury Items:


Camera: Nikon Coolpix L15

[ClassicMagger]

Oh, and yeah I've got 3 pairs of socks, 1 Super Heavy, 2 Medium Weight, and 5 Sock liners... Also, a pair of crocs for camp shoes.

Thanks again,

-Kevin

[gipcgirl]

Oh, and yeah I've got 3 pairs of socks, 1 Super Heavy, 2 Medium Weight, and 5 Sock liners... Also, a pair of crocs for camp shoes.

Thanks again,

-Kevin

How much does that all weigh?
Seems to me it may be HEAVY
happy hiker
gipcgirl

[Maddog]

you probably dont need the flashlight AND the headlamp...go with the headlamp. you also dont need a knife if the bucktool has a blade. but as always...HYOH! good luck! see you on the trail! MADDOG

[Praha4]

oh boy you will be humpin' a lot of weight! my guess is you are easily carrying over 40 - 50 lbs there... you've got a 3L bladder, then throw in food... town pants? too many 'nice to have' things

those uphills in north GA will eat you alive unless you shed some weight

[jesse]

You live in Chattanooga, I assume you have tested your gear and clothing down to single digits temperature(or at least into the teens). How did you fair? If you haven't tested it, you will find out soon enough. All the free advice from others is worth what you pay for.

[BrianLe]

first aid kit?
consider opsak for use inside Ursack Minor
any stuff sacks at all?
spare batteries for steripen or headlamp, or just figure on replacing before dead?
toothbrush?
a microbiner can be useful for bearbagging
I suggest a couple of 30-gallon sized light plastic yard waste bags
hand sanitizer?
Do you use toilet paper, or rocks, leaves, twigs, pine cones, snow etc?
I suggest some duct tape or similar
patch kit included with air mattress?
I find a pencil stub and a little paper to be worth carrying
I suggest some sort of small super-absorbant towel; MSR makes these, there are other options
What do you clean your cook pot with?
Do you carry anything to pre-filter particulates/scum/etc out of water?

It does seem like a lot of clothing weight/bulk, yet there are no mittens (or even gloves) listed

It would indeed be interesting to know what your final base weight is.

[jrwiesz]

I'm assuming an attempt at a thru. But, even a section, I would include the following.

You forgot to list toiletries. ie. TP, soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, Q-tips, etc.
Bandana
Mitts/gloves
Boxer briefs
Shorts
Ear plugs
First Aid
Maps
Fleece top/pants? Get rid of some of the long underwear sets.
Spare batteries

I think you have too many layers of clothes[3 sets+, and raingear], but HYOH.
There is probably more, but I don't have all night.

Just some suggestions. Enjoy your hike.

[grayfox]

Kevin, It's cold out there but more clothes is not always better. Make sure your boots are not too tight when you wear your heavy socks. Add a light foam pad under your thermarest-hope it is full length. Add gloves or mittens. Keep one set of clothes absolutely dry and use them at night. Have fun and stay safe.

[SGT Rock]

Hey:

I'm heading out on the 30th from Springer. Just looking for some suggestions and other critics on gear etc. I've just started making my quadruple check list and THINK I have everything on there besides food and just looking to see what everyone thinks. Take-aways add-on's etc. etc.

Thanks everybody and here it is:

-Kevin

Gear:


Backpack: Arcteryx Bora 80
-Pack Cover
Tent: MSR Hubba Hubba HP
-MSR Hubba Hubba Footprint
Sleeping Bag: Mont-Bell Super Stretch Burrow #1 +15
-Liner: Silk Travel Liner

I tried the liner thing. I didn't like it.

-Sleeping Pad: Therma-Rest Backpacker Lite Matress
Stove: MSR Pocket Rocket
Cooking Items:
-Snowpeak 1400 Titanium
-MSR Titan Kettle
-Titanium Spork
Water Sterilization: Steripen

I'd just bring the 1400

Random Items:
-1 Bucktool (Leatherman)
-1 Knife (used mostly for kitchen)

I'd only bring one knife

-Tent/Bag Patch Kit
-Ursack Minor

I found these to be way too small. I'd get a lighter and larger sil-nylon sack.

-60 Feet Ripcord
-Compass
-Flashlight
-Headlamp

I'd only bring the headlamp.

-100 Ounce Insulated Camel-Bak
-1 Nalgene Bottle
-1 Thru-Hikers' Companion

I wouldn't use any hose system in Feb, tubes freeze up. Maybe for camp water.

Clothing:


Jackets:
-Mont-bell Flatiron Parka
-Mont-bell Ultra-Light 800 Down Inner Jacket
Pants:
-Patagonia Guide Pant
-Kavu (town pants)
Long-Underwear:
-1 Light Weight Short Sleeve Top
-1 Medium Weight Long Sleeve Top
-1 Heavy Weight Long Sleeve Top
-2 Medium Weight Pants
-1 Heavy Weight Pant
Other Clothes:
-1 Set Gortex Rain gear (pants and jacket)
-2 T-Shirts
-1 Fleece Hat
-1 Pair Boots

That is a lot of clothing. I'd cut down on some of that, something like:
Gortex rain gear good
1 T-shirt to wear
1 pair pants to wear
1 Long Sleeve medium weight top
1 Medium weight pants
1 heavy weight pants
800 inner down jacket - GOOD!
1 pair boots
2 pair socks for hiking
1 pair socks medium for camp
1 heavy pair socks for VERY cold camping
Fleece Hat - Good
I'd also add:
Gloves
Mittens
neck gaiter or balaclava

Camp shoes good.

Luxury Items:


Camera: Nikon Coolpix L15

Oh, and yeah I've got 3 pairs of socks, 1 Super Heavy, 2 Medium Weight, and 5 Sock liners... Also, a pair of crocs for camp shoes.

Thanks again,

-Kevin

Other thoughts:
Maps
First aid kit
fire starting stuff like matches and/or lighter
pack towel
hand cleaner
pen and paper for journals and notes
TP
Lip balm and sun block (winter can chap you bad)
Watch
poles?


Hope that helps.

[BrianLe]

About the Ursack Minor, Sgt Rock said:

"I found these to be way too small. I'd get a lighter and larger sil-nylon sack."

My new Ursack Minor seems to have slightly more capacity than my standard Ursack (despite being listed at the same 650 c.i. capacity). A standard Ursack was pretty much always fine for me on the PCT, so I was a little surprised to read the above, given that resupply is easier on the AT.

And for me at least, 2.7 oz for a food bag won't be too much if indeed it turns out to be sufficiently rodent-proof (users of this new product are in essence doing final "beta testing" on the product, so ... TBD).

[Blissful]

Many areas where you can cut gear and weight. Guarantee you'll be cutting them by Neel Gap (and cursing your pack weight). You are going very heavy for a hike like this.

Pack - boy, way too heavy for this kind of hike, if I'm reading 9 lbs (!). I started with a heavy one too, at close to 7 lbs. I understand. I thought it fit like a dream. Not for a hike like this. Day in and day out. And my back and shoulders were killing me by Neel Gap. I had leg issues for many weeks. I toughed it out and didn't upgrade to a lighter pack until VA. But lost four lbs of pack weight with the switch to a Gregory Jade, and it was heaven on my back and legs! You might consider it on the trail at Walasi Yi if you have the funds and get a lighter pack.

Same with tent. We took that tent for 2 people on the 2nd half of the hike. I love that tent, but again, its the weight issue, esp for one person. If its just you and you want a 2 man, consider a tarptent en route for only a little over 2 lbs. Henry Shires will mail it to you pronto (he's great).

I also switched to trailrunners in VA when I cut pack weight. I would not in your case until you drop pack weight, but trail runners are great.

Switch to aqua mira for water
leave patch kit at home (duct tape works in a flash)
Agree - you've got way too many clothes. Cut in half. Listen to Sgt Rock, he went that time of year. And his other suggestions for items left out

I took a sleeping bag liner I liked mine and used it until May. Its a personal choice, but its so light, I'd go with it for now. Esp as your bag is only 15. You've got a good sleeping bag.

[SGT Rock]

About the Ursack Minor, Sgt Rock said:


My new Ursack Minor seems to have slightly more capacity than my standard Ursack (despite being listed at the same 650 c.i. capacity). A standard Ursack was pretty much always fine for me on the PCT, so I was a little surprised to read the above, given that resupply is easier on the AT.

And for me at least, 2.7 oz for a food bag won't be too much if indeed it turns out to be sufficiently rodent-proof (users of this new product are in essence doing final "beta testing" on the product, so ... TBD).

I may have the wrong version of the Ursac in my head. But when I looked at volumes (I never owned one to be totally fair) the volume was way under what I need. I eat a lot and wore out two food bags in 800 miles. I currently have a huge homemade sack I carry.

I've also found the Ursack to be a little overkill on the AT. I have no experience with the PCT.

[BrianLe]

"I've also found the Ursack to be a little overkill on the AT. I have no experience with the PCT."

Some consider it overkill on the PCT too; I carried it after the Sierras and liked it; easy-to-use peace of mind, a balancing act between hanging food (which few thru's do) and just sleeping with it.

But what we're talking about here is a new product, the Ursack Minor --- a lot lighter, not meant to be bear proof, just rodent proof.

Volume: for reference, a standard Garcia bear can is 615 c.i., current full size model of BearVault is 700 c.i., and all Ursack variants (including Ursack Minor) are listed at 650 c.i. To convert c.i. to liters, multiply by 0.0164, i.e., the Ursacks are about 10.7 liter bags.

[SGT Rock]

My food bag is about 10" x 21" so the volume is 5*5x25*3.14 which is about 1650 ci or about 27 liters. I eat a lot and generally re-supply ever 3-4 days. The longest section I went without re-supply was 5. At that point I was packing stuff outside my food bag to get it in my pack. I was dreading the 100 mile wilderness.

Mags hiked through here last year on the BMT and has a food bag about the same size and is a triple crowner, do I assumed PCT and CDT hikers find they need a lot of volume two. The only person I ever saw that hiked long distances and had a small food bag was Baltimore Jack - he only eats one meal a day while hiking though so I don't think he represents a normal human.

Anyway, with Ursacks I would need 2.5 to carry my food.

[BrianLe]

I suppose it depends also on the type of food a person is carrying. My recollection on the PCT was of walking out of trail towns with my Ursack very full, and perhaps a bit of food outside it to start --- a couple of foilwrapped slices of pizza (yum), a can of pringles in the external mesh, but really most of it fitting into the Ursack.

I guess it's another YMMV thing; perhaps on the AT this year I'll find myself carrying a second food bag. Well, after the first month, anyway, after I have my BMI down to something closer to thru-hiker norm! :-)

[SGT Rock]

Well that is why I wore out two food bags - stuffing them up with food. To be fair the first bag probably had 1000 miles of abuse on it before I ever started.

I started at ~165 and about 15% body fat and got down about 150 and starving to death on the trail. I ate all the time and made sure I got fats and protein and not just a bunch of carbs. I started working out after I got off the trail because I wanted to get into law enforcement and wanted to have more mass in case of wrestling with drunks, so if I started today I would start at 180 with about 20% body fat (all those donuts - just kidding).

[Snowleopard]

It'll be a great adventure, have fun.

Put everything into your pack, carry it on a local walk, weigh it, see if it all fits. If your boots aren't broken in, start walking in them preferably with pack, but don't give yourself blisters.

Put all your clothes on. Can you wear all the layers without it being too tight?

Your sleeping bag and mattress are heavy. Don't count on the liner to add much warmth, maybe a couple of degrees. If it gets to single digits, which I understand it does sometimes, bag and mattress are marginal. See how much of your clothes you can wear inside the bag without compressing the insulation of bag or clothes. If you can't fit in with the down jacket, put it over your bag. Put the rest of your clothes underneath you for more insulation from the ground.

Bring plastic bags, ziplocs and trash bags. If your feet get cold, put bread bags or plastic bags over a liner sock; the bags will be a vapor barrier. Use a trash bag (contractor bags are good) or trash compactor bag as a liner for your pack to keep sleeping bag and clothes dry. Try real hard to keep stuff dry.

Add liner gloves (polypro) and wool mittens.

Weigh all the little stuff, at the post office if you don't have a good scale. Dump anything that's heavy.

Keep the steripen (my opinion) and put lithium batteries in it (better in the cold).

If you have problems with your stove, put the canister inside your jacket to warm it up. Don't get it hot (BOOM).

Add waterproof matches and bic lighter.

[Appalachian Tater]

You're getting a lot of good advice here from some experienced hikers. You have a lot of duplicate items and excess clothing as they have pointed out. Go through ***ruthlessly**** and eliminate anything you don't absolutely need, it's much better to do it before you start than after carrying the junk for days.

Anything you find you do need that you don't have you can make do without until you get to Neels Gap.

Your pack itself sounds pretty heavy and you should consider replacing it now because the odds are you will replace it at Neels Gap at full retail if you don't.

Assume that at some point it will rain for days on end without a break and plan accordingly as far as keeping your stuff dry and being able to avoid hypothermia. You can get hypothermic easily if you are wet and not only at low temperatures.

Definitely get a heavy duty bag for a pack liner and some kind of waterproof bag or stuff sack for your sleeping bag and dry clothes. You definitely don't need the Ursack but you do need a waterproof protection of some sort for your food if you hang it. Learn the PCT method of bearbagging.

Basically you are going to be getting up very early in the morning and climbing up and down mountains all day with intermittent snacks. Then you will get into camp, cook, eat, hang out for a little while, go to sleep, wake up, get dressed, eat something, start climbing, repeat. You will be climbing up and down all day and you are not going to want to carry any extra weight. People even dump stuff they DO need because they don't want to carry it.

Also there are no leaves starting that early so you need some sunscreen or a hat to protect your face.

Enjoy your hike!

[mountain squid]

Some observations:

hiking poles
duct tape
whistle
if no cell phone, important phone #s
needle for draining blisters
leave insulated part of CamelBak at home
will you ever wear all that clothing at the same time? if not, might be too much
only carry parts of Companion needed at time, mail the rest as needed

And, of course, don't forget ID/atm/credit cards.

See you on the trail,
mt squid