Gear for the JMT?

[Eileen Proctor]

My pack is currently around 32 lbs, but I only weigh 115 lbs so I would love to get it at least a few pounds lighter (without spending a fortune- I've gotten most of my gear used or from REI garage sales or super discounted). Also, I tend to get very cold easily and our permits are for a little earlier in the season (mid June) so I am trying to bring pretty warm gear just in case.

Here's what I have:
Basics:
osprey aether 60 backpack- 5 lbs
mountain hardware 2 person tent- 2.5 lbs
kelty down 20 deg sleep bag- 2 lb 12 oz
thermarest trail scout pad- 14 oz
Subtotal: 11 lb 2 oz

Clothing:
Icebreaker 260 merino base layer
Columbia glacial lightweight fleece
Marmot 700 down jacket
Columbia rain shell
Stoic polyester tights
REI lightweight hiking pants
wool socks
glove liners
mountain hardwear dry mitt
beanie
Subotal: ~ 4 lbs
(plus I'll be wearing tank top, shorts, boots, socks, underwear, etc)

Other:
First aid/hygiene/knife: ~1 lb?
Phone/gps/charger/harmonica: ~1 lb?
Stove(jetboil or microrocket?) Not sure, ~1 lb???
sawyer mini water filter+ extra bladder: 6 oz
Trekking poles?
Subtotal: 3.5ish lbs?

Food: ~7 lbs (for 7 days)
2L water: ~4 lbs
Bear Vault 500: 2 lb 9 oz
Subtotal: 13.5 lbs
Grand total: 32 lbs

Does this sound reasonable? What area should I cut back in? This will be my first long backpacking trip. I know my backpack is the heaviest thing, but is it worth replacing if it fits extremely well and my funds are pretty limited?

Thanks!

[Bob Gross]

"Does this sound reasonable? What area should I cut back in?"

As you have already concluded, your 5-pound backpack is a good place to attack the matter. I know that you want a comfortable backpack, but you don't need a 5-pound model unless you are carrying a substantial load, and you are not. I suspect that you can get close to a 1-pound backpack. Personally, I stay slightly under 1 pound for a backpack, but that may not be for everybody. Part of that depends on how much volume you need inside the backpack.

It looks a little odd to show a butane stove but no cook pots or other kitchen stuff.

You will probably end up figuring the Bear Vault 500 into your base weight of gear, since it is not consumable.

You show a 2-person tent, and that is for one person, I assume. You might be able to cut that down by a pound or more with a tarp shelter.

–B.G.–

[Rod Braithwaite]

I think you might be able to reduce your clothing weight.

One idea to consider is plan to wear most or all of your clothing layers during the coldest parts of your trip.

That would suggest, with your current list: a tank top, under a 260 merino base layer, under a lightweight fleece, under a 700 down jacket, covered by a rain shell.

And since the coldest part of your trip will be during sleeping hours, you'd be wearing all that inside your sleeping bag, along with mitts and beanie.

Rod

[Steven Paris]

First, welcome to BPL!

Please keep in mind that people here will look at your gear list with a very critical eye (and often a very critical voice). Giving advice on a posted gear list is one of the primary ways we help each other. Some people can seem curt or dismissive in their answers, however, but it is worth it to sift through the advice as there is a wealth of information at BPL. Most of us have taken years to hone our gear down to whatever we are comfortable with, with many mistakes that helped us learn what kind of shelter we want, what kind of pack we need and what the lightest gear we can carry that will still keep us safe in the particular place we backpack. Many will have a base weight of 15 lbs on the high end and 5-8 lbs on the low end. If you took your estimated 32 lb total and subtracted the consumables (water and food), you'd be at 21 lb. I'm not convinced that you will actually be that low, given the question marks in your list and possible missing items, like cookware.

The best place to start cutting weight (especially when not buying a lot of new gear) is to buy a scale and weigh absolutely EVERYTHING. You can often cut POUNDS out by simply choosing the lightest gear/clothing option that you already own (simply choosing/substituting 8 items that each weigh 2 ounces less than a heavier option will save you a pound). You might be surprised what some things weigh and being very specific is helpful. Get actual weights, be critical and choose carefully. Repackage food and consumables like medicines, sunscreen, etc. Weigh all stuff sacks, too, and ditch as many as you can. Think about your clothing as a system, so everything layers and you don't carry redundant pieces.

Something that stands out to me: your food at 7 lbs for 7 days. Make sure you are carrying enough food; 1-lb-per-day seems low, unless you are only doing a 7-day portion of the JMT. If you will be out for multiple weeks (almost assuredly if you are doing the whole trail), then you should consider more food as your hunger will increase.

[Jennifer Mitol]

As Steve mentioned, WEIGH EVERYTHING. Don't bring redundant things (260-weight wool top, fleece, AND puffy?) Substitute when you can for things you already have, and use your limited funds to replace a few of these SUPER heavy things you have (can be done very cheaply).

Basics:
osprey aether 60 backpack- 5 lbs – an absolute must to ditch this and go lighter. You can get a really nice pack for not much money on gear swap.

mountain hardware 2 person tent- 2.5 lbs – do you need a 2-person?

kelty down 20 deg sleep bag- 2 lb 12 oz – also another place to save a whole bunch of weight. My 15-ish degree quilt from enlightened equipment weighs 19 oz and it's really, really comfy and toasty. I'm a cold sleeper, too.

thermarest trail scout pad- 14 oz
Subtotal: 11 lb 2 oz

Clothing:
Icebreaker 260 merino base layer
Columbia glacial lightweight fleece
Marmot 700 down jacket
– do not at all need all three of these. no need for both the fleece and the puffy; personally i'd ditch the fleece in the sierra and just take the puffy.

Columbia rain shell – this is probably REALLY heavy actually. go super cheap and get a frog toggs rain top for $20. It will mostly live in your pack anyway, maybe to be used as a wind shell in camp, but generally speaking you don't need a bomber rain shell in the sierra.

Stoic polyester tights
REI lightweight hiking pants
– you have tights, hiking pants, AND shorts? just take either the hiking pants, or the shorts and tights. My personally preference is the shorts and tights combo – very versatile.

wool socks
glove liners
mountain hardwear dry mitt
– why glove liners AND dry mitts?? you'll be just fine with the glove liners.

beanie
Subotal: ~ 4 lbs
(plus I'll be wearing tank top, shorts, boots, socks, underwear, etc)
— I'll bet a cuben shelter that all that stuff above weighs WAY more than 4 pounds.

Other:
First aid/hygiene/knife: ~1 lb?
Phone/gps/charger/harmonica: ~1 lb?
Stove(jetboil or microrocket?) Not sure, ~1 lb???
sawyer mini water filter+ extra bladder: 6 oz
Trekking poles?

So…some of this will cost some money, but I think even putting want-to-buy ads on gear swap and looking at geartrade.com you should be able to outfit yourself much lighter at not too much money. Where's Link when you need her – there's a good post from Mike Clelland (maybe?) about how to go light on the cheap.

Good luck!

[Link .]

Here is some general info to help you, not specific to the JMT
Mike Clelland(NOLs instructor and author, his books are very good),he has some great free videos on lightening up be sure to watch(his clothing system,the entire contents of his pack,water treatment and part 1 and 2 on the dinky stuff for ideas),this is an article he wrote The fastest way to backpack weight loss ,this is pmags Lightweight Backpacking 101 and The Frugal Backpacker – The $300 Gear Challenge .These are some other articles and videos for you to check out

Backpacking for Cheap: Gear for the Gearless

Backpacking Checklist (Gear List): 3-Season, 3-Day

Lightweight Backpacking 101: An Introductory Manual for Lightening Your Load Today (1st Edition – August 2001)

Cheap Ultralight Gear List

Oregon Field Guide: Ultralight Hiking

Lightweight Testimony: Lighter, Farther, Faster
Jamie Shortt talks about his progression and shows his gear list for each stage, Lightweight Testimony: My Journey into Lightweight Backpacking
CleverHiker Light weight Basics
CleverHiker Trail Skills

Andrew Skurka has a very good website with trips and gear lists for you to check out, here is a talk he gave at google
Ultimate Hiking Gear & Skills Clinic
His book is worth checking out also
The Ultimate Hiker’s Gear Guide: Tools & Techniques to Hit the Trail

[John Almond]

A lot of good advice here.

I will second getting a ~$20 gram-accurate scale from your local Wal Mart equivalent. A lot of what you currently have listed are guesses; truly knowing what stuff weighs is the first step to choosing lighter alternatives.

And on a second note: assuming that you're averaging 100 kcal/oz for food (which is what most folks do for easy to eat RTE and dehydrated foods), you'll be carrying ~1.75 lbs/person/day at 3,000 kcal. Assume that this is about what most folks need on an "average" hiking day, not a "strenuous" one.

Hope it helps!

[Eileen Proctor]

Wow, thanks for all the responses! I'm going to keep reading through all this information a little more closely and look at all these links still, but just to clarify a couple questions-

I'm not actually planning on bringing any cookware besides the cup that the stove comes in and a plastic spork. I haven't actually bought a stove yet because I've always borrowed my sister's jetboil but I've found that just the cup it comes with works perfectly for everything. I'm not positive on the weight but I believe the micro rocket stove itself weighs 3 ounces, the cup for cooking weighs maybe a couple ounces at most, so most of the weight will be however much fuel I bring (which I admit I'm not sure the weight of yet) Any opinions on jetboil vs micro rocket? It looks like the micro rocket weighs a lot less but will need more fuel for the longer boiling time?

Let's see, what else… I should definitely get a proper scale. I have however weighed the clothes and they are very close to 4 lbs. They're all pretty lightweight and they're women's extra small so that helps. My scale only does half pounds but it is accurate and it rounds up so you can estimate larger weights by adding and removing small things until it rounds up. It sounds like I should leave out at least the fleece though, and maybe the pants too? Just the tights should be warm enough? I know just my thin little glove liners won't be, because my hands get painfully numb when it's barely even cold out in coastal areas, and the sierras will be much colder. I'm a total wuss when it comes to being cold, so for me personally, being warm is critical to me and my enjoyment of this trip. When others are fine in half as many layers I'm often shivering, miserable and can't sleep, so warmth is my top priority as far as extra comfort items go. If there's any area I'd like to splurge a couple extra ounces in, it's definitely my warmth.

The tent is actually a 2 person 5 lb tent that I'm splitting with my boyfriend, so it's 2.5 lbs each. If he bails I'll actually borrow a one person tent instead that's considerably lighter.

The pound a day of food will definitely be tested a lot more before I go but so far, even on my most strenuous trips where I'm REALLY pushing myself to my limits, I've never eaten more than that. The dehydrated backpacking meals are so light and have so many calories compared to my size that I can't imagine ever eating that much. Every trip I've been on I've never managed to eat more than half of the food that I bring and I end up packing the other half back out. So even if I ate twice as much as expected, I should still have enough. But I will definitely test this out a lot more in the next 3 months as I do some longer trips.

I'll get a better scale soon and get all my missing gear together and then I'll get a more accurate list going (I'm new at this, bear with me haha) I'll definitely look into lighter backpacks though and look for them at the REI garage sale that's coming up! Thanks for all the good information, I'll keep sorting through it!

[Kenneth Keating]

If starting in mid-June, even with this being a drought year, they’ll be plenty of water. There’s a few lengths where water is sparse, but they’re really not that far, so 1 liter should be fine. Dropping a liter will save 2.2 pounds. Review the maps as hiking and you’ll be able to determine how much water to carry.

For the JMT, IMHO, it best to try to be as light as possible. Last year I saw way too many carrying too much and it looked like a death march. You don’t want to be in that situation, it didn’t look fun. If money is tight, another approach is purchasing equipment here on Gear Swap, using it, then selling it back on Gear Swap after the trip for almost the same price.

[Greg Mihalik]

"Every trip I've been on I've never managed to eat more than half of the food that I bring and I end up packing the other half back out. So even if I ate twice as much as expected, I should still have enough. But I will definitely test this out a lot more in the next 3 months as I do some longer trips."

Testing is essential. Most of us eat less for the first three to four days of a trip. But after working through "the start-up cushion" appetites tend to increase dramatically.

So on a 7 day trip you might bring back half of the food from days 3 thru 4. Measure what you take, and what you consume during the latter part of your training trips.

"Also, I tend to get very cold easily..", which could be a function of low caloric intake.

Even if you don't feel like eating, it is somewhat essential. Part of training is dialing in an eating and drinking routine that suppports life/happiness for the duration of the hike.

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