2011 NOBO Gear List critisism

[Mountain_Goat]

here is my tentative gear list.I'm sure i am missing stuff or over thought this and am taking way more than needed.

any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Gear List:

clothes:

patagonia capilene 2 long sleeve shirt
ems techwick shortsleeve shirt
ALO shortsleeve shirt
fleece pullover
patagonia capilene 3 bottoms
columbia convertible pants
rain pants
rain coat
patagonia down winter coat
marmont declime windshirt
winter gloves
light weight waterproof gloves
short gaitors
la sportive crosslite trail runners
crocs
smartwool socks (2)
ex officio briefs (2)
town clothes (1 set kept in ziplock)

Gear

osprey atmos 65
sea to summit pack liner
gregory pack cover
30 liter stuff sac
20 stuff sac (2)
10 stuff sac
msr hubba tent/foot print
rei halo 10 degree sleeping bag
sea to summit compression sac
cacoon sleeping bag liner
neoair sleeping pad


electronics

I pod w/charger
sunto altimeter watch
Spot locator
cell phone w/charger
batteries
digital camera w/charger

Hygine

pack towel (size??)
Dr.Bronners organic liquid soap 4oz.
sea to summit trek and travel shampoo
TP
toothbrush/toothpaste travel size

first aid

blister first aid kit
nail clippers
advil
Hydrocortisone Cream
band aid assortment
hand sanitizer
Sting Wipes
Poison Ivy Relief Spray
burt's bees lip balm
afterbite
Bens 30 Deet bug spray
sun tan lotion

cookware

msr pocket rocket
fuel canister
rei Titanium Mini Solo Cookset
REI Campware Utensil set

misc.

petzl tikka plus 2 led headlamp
Leatherman Micra Tool
black diamond trekking poles
MSR Miniworks ex water filter
camelBak filter adapter
2 liter water bladder
gatorade 32oz bottles (2)
sea to summit folding bucket
portable aqua
ear plugs
AT data book and trail guide

[warraghiyagey]

here is my tentative gear list.I'm sure i am missing stuff or over thought this and am taking way more than needed.

any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Gear List:

clothes:

patagonia capilene 2 long sleeve shirt
ems techwick shortsleeve shirt
ALO shortsleeve shirt
fleece pullover
patagonia capilene 3 bottoms
columbia convertible pants
rain pants
rain coat
patagonia down winter coat
marmont declime windshirt
winter gloves
light weight waterproof gloves
short gaitors
la sportive crosslite trail runners
crocs
smartwool socks (2)
ex officio briefs (2)
town clothes (1 set kept in ziplock)

Gear

osprey atmos 65
sea to summit pack liner
gregory pack cover
30 liter stuff sac
20 stuff sac (2)
10 stuff sac
msr hubba tent/foot print
rei halo 10 degree sleeping bag
sea to summit compression sac
cacoon sleeping bag liner
neoair sleeping pad


electronics

I pod w/charger
sunto altimeter watch
Spot locator
cell phone w/charger
batteries
digital camera w/charger

Hygine

pack towel (size??)
Dr.Bronners organic liquid soap 4oz.
sea to summit trek and travel shampoo
TP
toothbrush/toothpaste travel size

first aid

blister first aid kit
nail clippers
advil
Hydrocortisone Cream
band aid assortment
hand sanitizer
Sting Wipes
Poison Ivy Relief Spray
burt's bees lip balm
afterbite
Bens 30 Deet bug spray
sun tan lotion

cookware

msr pocket rocket
fuel canister
rei Titanium Mini Solo Cookset
REI Campware Utensil set

misc.

petzl tikka plus 2 led headlamp
Leatherman Micra Tool
black diamond trekking poles
MSR Miniworks ex water filter
camelBak filter adapter
2 liter water bladder
gatorade 32oz bottles (2)
sea to summit folding bucket
portable aqua
ear plugs
AT data book and trail guide

Things you might get rid of/unecessary

Trail Guide
folding bucket
1 gatorade bottle
water filter
leatherman
suntan lotion
about 1/2 the stuff in your 1st aid kit
Soap and shampoo
Batteries - get them when you need them
Town clothes

PS - Glad to see you're not including your combat boots on this trip
Have a great hike

[4shot]

nice list, you have done some homework. maybe a bit of redundancy with fleece, down, rain coat and windshirt (I'd lose this) but you can tweak this stuff as you go. You may have others tell you to shed for aqua mira or to switch to alcohol stove - to me, that is personal preference and you can adjust that as well on the trail easy enough. Briefs - I started with 'em but they added no value but again that's is your decision. Utensil set - you will only need a spoon or spork if your Leatherman has a knife blade. Add some rope (50 ft. or so) for bear-bagging. You have the gear for the trip. Good luck, stay safe and have fun.

[Spokes]

Looks like a great start Mountain Goat. I agree with 4shot, trim the redundant items and ditch the briefs. You'll see lots of thru's using AquaMira and Alchy stoves. You decide what works best.

Compare your list with this tried and true one from Winton Porter (ignor the pop-up) then tweak it to fit your hiking style. Oh, and have him do a pack shakedown when you get to Neels Gap. You'll be glad you did.

Cheers!

[rusty075]

You won't need the bug spray for the start - you can pick that up a couple months in once they start coming out. But I'd vote for keeping the sunscreen. There's no leaves on the trees and even though it's cool it's pretty easy to burn your ears and nose. Carry just an ounce or two of it though: you won't have much exposed skin to be putting it on, and you'll pretty quickly build up enough of a tan where you won't need it anymore.

There's some redundancies in there that could be pared down, ie both the pack liner and the pack cover, and the fleece and the down jacket. One or the other of each is fine.

And you can leave the shampoo home...you'll never use it on the trail.

[Blissful]

All you need is one short sleeve shirt to start
No town clothes
I'd leave waterproof gloves and gaiters at home, but that's me
hat?
You have a ton of electronics and chargers. They will all weigh a bunch
All you need is aqua mira for water
skip the bucket
I'd leave soaps at home
Hydrocortisone is enough for itching, leave poison ivy stuff and insect relief stuff at home. I wouldn't worry about sunscreen but that's up to you (I didn't get burned but some do) . Bug spray could be used as early as March if there's a warm spell, so I'd bring it (we had mosquitoes in March in the Smokies)
Skip nail clippers, a small jackknife will have scissors on it - (leatherman can be heavy)
all you need is one lexan spoon
data book is fine, don't need a trail guide per say - maps?

[Mountain Wildman]

I concur with Blissful on the poison ivy and insect stuff, But it's up to you.
I would delete the Fleece pullover, you have a down coat already.
Delete the Marmot Driclime, you have a rain coat.
Delete the 30 liter sac and one 20 liter sac, Unless you really want them, 30 is pretty large and with two 20's you've already exceeded your pack capacity.
You shouldn't need the MSR Footprint, I would think the tent has a pretty durable bottom already.
And all you really need is the Dr. Bronners, other soaps or shampoo is a luxury if you really want to carry it, Dr. B's does it all.
Pretty thorough list though, But maybe a little too much.
Enjoy your hike, I plan on a 2011 NOBO also, Maybe I'll see you out there!!

[BrianLe]

Electronics: I suggest you drop the SPOT unless someone at home is forcing you to be so-tethered. For context, I *am* bringing such a unit on the CDT next year, but for the AT I think it borders on the silly --- there's just so many people on that trail. Maybe if you're going way the outside normal thru-hiking time frame, but even so ...

Consider whether your cell phone has a camera and if that is "good enough" to save another item. It's what I did anyway. Not the best of pictures, but for pictures of people and stationary scenery scenes they don't come out all that bad, really.

If you do end up carrying three separate devices that require charging, consider getting one of those iGo chargers with different tips for devices. Catch there is wanting to recharge multiple devices at once. As an aside, at times you might find it difficult to find plug space for three chargers at once, I would try to get it down to no more than two "recharge in town" devices if possible. Consider, for example, an old-school MP3 player that uses a single AAA battery; I really like this approach.

I wouldn't bother with poison ivy relief spray. If you end up going crazy, get off trail and get some then. On two long trails I've yet to get poison ivy or poison oak, FWIW.

Sun tan lotion: get a really small tube. Many find that they're just not using it at all, lots of tree cover, or at least once spring gets firmly in control over winter.

"REI Campware utensil set" --- a style thing, but I've personally never wanted more than a spoon.

Travel shampoo --- I'd ditch it. Get in touch with your inner hobo. Dr. Bronners too, as most hostels and motels have soap you can use. For toothpaste, consider repackaging a little tooth powder; a really small (Backpackinglight.com) mini plastic container of that stuff lasts me an entire thru-hike, the larger size of it that I bought has lasted me two thru-hikes so far and will surely do more than one more.

Clothing, sleeping bag: can't comment without knowing when you plan to start, a basic piece of info IMO for folks requesting a gear review. I do appreciate you stating NOBO, but without the starting date it doesn't help that much.
I will say that I recommend that you go with mittens rather than gloves --- just more efficient warmth for weight.

I suggest that your town clothes be also sort of backup clothes that do double duty. Clothing is one are in particular that folks tend to carry too much of, IMO.

[Dromedary]

Sock liners are nice. I found that out hiking on the AT this year. My first hike in 18 years. I ended up using alot of duct tape for hot spots on my feet. So next year I am bringing sock liners HOPEFULLY to prevent hot spots and blisters.

[ec.hiker]

I always have though something alot of people leave out is a couple of pills in there first aide kit Ibuprofin beanndryl and maybe even some painkillers oh ya and antacids thats just me thought.. THose patagonia undies are high dollar are they really worth it at 40 bucks a pait I have never tried them

[walkin' wally]

I'm sort of in the same situation as Mountain Goat. Why delete the town clothes? I mean for something to wear while doing laundry? Just askin.

[Mountain Wildman]

I'm sort of in the same situation as Mountain Goat. Why delete the town clothes? I mean for something to wear while doing laundry? Just askin.

I am using my Rain pants and extra T-shirt as town clothes, Otherwise, I agree, Need something to wear while doing laundry. Right?

[Spokes]

Most thru's just wear their rain gear while doing laundry, others improvise as evidence by this sign in the Hot Springs, NC laundromat. Respect the trail towns.....

[Buzz Saw]

I noticed two items on the list that people are saying not to bring one is poison ivy relief. If you go to www.perkshotpharmacy.com they make a seasonal remedy for poison ivy. My wife and son have been using it for years. The other is soap, well I've discovered a antibacterial cloth that cleans without soap, just water and at 30 grams you don't have to stink all the time. I've been using mine for a couple of weeks and seems to do the job. To find out more e-mail the gal I purchased mine from at [email protected].

[BrianLe]

"Why delete the town clothes? I mean for something to wear while doing laundry?"

I think the point (for me at least) is to minimize clothing carried specific for "in town use", and make it do double duty as backup clothing for on the trail. Different people handle this a little differently, perhaps others can suggest specifics that work for them. My town-specific clothing for a thru-hike is typically a very light quick-drying (non-cotton) t-shirt and a pair of running shorts. The shirt is, of course, a backup shirt should I ever need one in the woods; I like a smartwool shirt for this use, as it doesn't smell (particularly good for the rare case I have to actually use it in on trail).
The shorts double as a second pair of underwear if needed, and they have a large enough pocket that I can put my wallet in them for walking around in town. In colder weather if I have cap 1 long johns I can layer those under the shorts. They also function as a swim suit at need.

That's it for "town clothes", other than hopefully keeping a pair of liner socks clean enough to use in town without too much disgust. What kills people is carrying around a spare large shirt, spare long pants, spare footwear (!), anything of really significant weight and bulk.

In terms of wearing raingear while washing clothes, while I've definitely seen it done, I'm not a fan. Often in trail towns I'm trying to multi-task; if using a laundromat I might pop into a grocery store or outfitter while my clothes are washing. Or maybe I hand-washed my clothes and they're drying somewhere, same thing. One hiking partner would always volunteer to babysit clothes in the laundromat as he had a rain kilt that he wasn't fond of prancing around town in. Since I use rain chaps, it's even worse (don't go there ...). Bottom line is that I like the freedom of having very light dual use clothing that I can wear around town as I often spend quite a bit of town-time wearing them.

[rusty075]

I carried a pair of convertible pants, like the OP is planning, and a pair of nylon swim trunks. The swim trunks were for laundry day and the occasional hotel/campground swimming pool dip. (trail swimming was just done in the convertibles - it's like free laundry!) No real need for a "town shirt" that I found. If the weather was cold my t-shirt was probably still clean (enough), and if it was hot my long-sleeve shirt probably was. "Clean" laundry becomes a pretty vague term on the trail. Even after you've washed the clothes and yourself, you still smell like a hiker.

[Smile]

I agree, no town clothes. Mail some ahead if you're using a drop box if you need to meet people or visit someone who might be offended by hikersmell.