PCT – NOBO

Do you feel like there is any redundancy with the camera/phone/kindle? The S5 takes surprisingly great photos,and could be used for light reading before you fall asleep. That would be two less things to charge in town also. Nearly a pound there

Are you more fond of canister over alcohol? Have you considered soaking? First aid kit seem a tad heavy?

– You should be able to find out before you start if you'll be able to use an alcohol stove because of fire bans. If you can't, just don't bring it. Get it mailed to you when there aren't fire restrictions.

– You could ditch the Kindle and carry a vastly bigger phone battery for the weight, then read on your phone. You could also go with a single port charger then.

– You could ditch the fleece hat and just use the wool buff as your warm hat. (I think I already said this last time you posted, so you've probably made up your mind)

David and Eli-

Yes to all your points.

I picture this list as my maximum, and everything earns its right to stay in my bag at each mail drop. 13lb vs 11lbs is 1 day of food/1L of water, so I'm not stressing that last pound.

I'm hoping that the kindle earns its weight by letting me look at guides and read longer. I'm a pretty serious photographer,cellphone shots on this trip is a non-starter, at least to start.

I am only cooking dinner. I vastly prefer canister over alcohol, and it is lighter on longer resupplies (thruhiker.com has a chart). BUT. I don't want to carry extra canisters if they are hard to come by. So I can instead get a Heet gas and use that in a pinch. Ideally I commit to a system and send one home.

2 hats, 2 buffs, and a hooded jacket is overkill, but they are light. If they spend too much time in the bag they get mailed back.

I have this battery and like it. One of the best features of the battery is it has a 2.5A input, which leads to much faster charging times. If you haven't already, you should consider getting a higher amp usb plug to actually take advantage of that. I have this guy: http://www.scosche.com/revolt-usb-wall-charger-with-folding-prongs but I'm sure you could find a dual port one if you like.

IIan – thanks, there was a thread on here about battery packs and that one stood out to me.

I'm thinking that a single high-amp output is fine, since the battery has pass-through charging. Meaning that I can charge the battery and 2 devices at once. I can test this with my stock samsung charger and adjust (the dual high output ones are expensive, heavy and bulky)

I'm a pretty serious photographer,cellphone shots on this trip is a non-starter, at least to start.

If you were shooting a full frame DSLR with fast prime lenses in RAW format I could see your point.

But you list a Canon S110 (which is a fine point n shoot) and I honestly doubt you'll notice a substantial increase in image quality from the Canon over the S5. To get better IQ than that you'd have to go mirror-less 4/3rds or full on DSLR.

The functionality of a dedicated camera with manual mode and exposure dials, vs a cellphone that is not powered up- means I'm more likely to take shots vs walk past them.

The S series has a fast good lens, a largest in class sensor, and raw format. In challenging light it blows away a cellphone, but that's a discussion for another forum.

California is a tinder box right now, alcohol stoves are easy to screw up. Plus, I had no trouble finding canister fuel when I needed it and the canisters are surprisingly efficient.

If you haven't already made the quilt, Enlightened Equipment's Enigma or Revelation at 30F is 17oz and $235. So that saves 6 ounces and is slightly colder-rated. Since you pay something for your materials, it is fair, in my mind to consider how much your time is worth. But you leave soon and they take 4-6 weeks to ship. Sometimes they have some in stock for immediate shipment.

Do you need something on the Leatherman? At 1.76 ounces, you could swap it with a $5 ex-TSA'd SAK Classic at .74 ounces and save an ounce.

1.64 ounces on a compass is a lot. There's a good trail to follow the whole way – that just leaves not getting turned around in the fog or clouds on a summit and heading off the right direction each morning. A button compass does that just fine.

First aid, survival, and repair kit at 12 ounces (I know, it's a place holder), is high. I tend to take MORE kinds of tape, but LESS of each than many people. Also, I like some serious needles and a variety of threads. Other than that, "survival" and "first aid" is mostly in my head. I would say you should have back-up on the Mini Bic but that can be another Mini Bic tucked away in your emergency kit. I do include a few NSAIDs, something to make me poop, something to stop diarrhea, and Benadryl. But only a few of each. I'd bum more or get more in town, if needed.

That aluminum mug is your pot? Got a lid for it? You should. It could just be a plastic lid scavenged from the recycling bin. Or include a square of heavy-duty aluminum foil in each resupply box (also handy for filling the bladder from a trickle or shallow puddle). When you're letting something seep in a cozy (which can be your clothes), you want to cut evaporative heat loss AND you don't want that humidity getting into your clothes/cozy.

I'd skip the fork – you have a spoon. If you need to poke something, grab a stick.

I have both listed (1.7oz each) but I decided I'm starting with the canister stove.

If fuel becomes a major issue I can have the alky sent. I'm not inexperienced, though I do understand that things happen outside of one's control when fire is involved.

Thru-hiker has a great chart, which basically just makes it about fuel availability http://thru-hiker.com/articles/stoveweight_vs_time_14days.php (2% difference between canister and catstove)

I carried a canister stove (Optimus Crux) the whole way, and would do it again. I don't think the weight savings are important, especially on longer (5-6 day) resupply periods. I was always happy to have a very reliable stove, and one that simmered very well (saves lots of fuel to be able to turn it to a simmer once the boil starts). And that I could cook safely in my vestibule in the rain (I had lots of rain).

If you mail canisters in resupplies, just make sure to properly label your package (I think it's "ORM-D" and ground only). Make sure to check on the regs!

David– All points taken, the lid and spork points are incorporated. To elaborate on the other items:

Quilt is made over a year ago. I "rated" at 32f because I've had chilled nights below that. I added 8" to the length, and better closure (had none before). The original quilt spec was equivalent to an EE 20f, so with it being longer and with better closure I should be fine. It now has a full pound of 900fp in it, closer to a 0f. Making my own quilt "payed" me $15/hour vs EE, and I enjoyed the work.

The leatherman is the knife I own. The compass is the compass I own, its a suunto baseplate without frills. Its definitely more compass than I need, but the one I own and rely on.

First aide/survival/repair has been pretty carefully vetted (read: I'm respectfully not looking for further discussion here). I've taken a NOLS class and know why each item is there. That said, I will re-pack it again to be sure:

*Chunk of guaze, gloves, a few bandaides, steristrip, transparent bandage, roll of athletic tape, things for blisters and pills.
*TP/ few hand wipes (post-poop cleanliness)
*Few wraps of duct-tape, 2 zipties, needle/thread.
*A minibic and an esbit tab.
*An emergency bivy, 5oz. This will generate a cacophony of scoffs. If I don't use it once in these 2,700 miles I will retire it from my 3-season setup.