2017 Bob Marshall Open Gear List

Not seeing any links there Mike….

Will post my gearlist this afternoon.

Not seeing jpegs on either of my computers but I’ll check your profile later.

Got it Mike.  Looks solid, actually very close to what I’m carrying.

I’m at a ~14# base with snowshoes and bear spray, about 9.5# without.  Heaviest pack weight should be about 23-24# at start.

Let’s see if I can link my google doc, don’t know how to upload a PDF here.

BMWO 2017 Gearlist

I  might swap out my Summerlite with a 20 degree bag depending on forecasts and make a few other little changes as we get closer.

Weird…this computer shows your jpegs.  Anyhow.

Envious of the Apex pullover, they look nice.

I need to include the plastic bags for my feet.  I’m also still on the fence about sewing a synthetic quilt…we’ll see what happens in the coming month or two.

Interesting on the kid’s snowshoes.  I don’t know much about what to expect in terms of snow conditions out there…my assumption is mixed sloppy and frozen stuff….corn, slush, crust, etc.  Assuming I won’t need too much flotation?

Jeez.  Interesting indeed.  Sort of wish I had some smaller race shoes, mine are 25″.  But at 6’2″ 212 and size 13 I guess 25 isn’t that big.  I was just hoping I wouldn’t also need tails but I figured powder is long gone by Memorial Day.

It’s 87 degrees and sunny here right now.  I’m giving you home court advantage on this one.

SOME COMMENTS:
– I drilled holes in my MSR Shifts and yours are still 1.5oz lighter…not fair.
– Bringing a pillow is too soft :)
– Even in the spring sloppiness, I like down quilts. For 2-3 nights and with a dry sack, I don’t think it’s hard to keep it dry. Jackets are another story.
– I used Hydropel in 2012 but gave up on it, as it didn’t seem to really last that longer compared to the duration of the event.
– Shop towels for TP is clever.
– Really need that ground cloth?
– I like the meat bags. I think plastic works just as well as the Rocky Gore-Tex socks.
– Kind of a shame to put AquaTabs is that wonderful fresh snowmelt water.
– Spray 1/2 of that bear spray onto an unsuspecting neighbour to shed a few oz.

CRAIG: The snow is usually quite firm in late May. If it stays cold maybe not, but normally there’s enough freeze-thaw cycles that it really firms up. Biggest danger is usually just when the snowpack warms up a lot and gets soft enough to enable post-holing. It’s usually bulletproof in the mornings. There was some powder in 2012 but I didn’t need snowshoes at all in 2013 and 2015. Might be different this year.

MY GEAR
I’m undecided on a lot of gear for this 2017 because I want to try some new ideas. I’ve got two new ideas that aren’t necessarily good ideas (quite likely not) but will be interesting:

1. Not bringing enough food
2. Ditching the shelter and pad

Other than needing a few calories to start the day, I find I can hold a pretty good pace while hungry (via fat burning) if the terrain is flat. So I really only need food for climbs. I’m considering trying something radical like packing 3000 calories. In the past I’ve always packed 7-9k and often lost my appetite so I didn’t even eat that. With 3k I’d have to think carefully about when I eat each bar.

My strategy of a quilt + mid + pad has been working great for years – it’s a bomber setup – but it’s almost not a challenge and plus I don’t really sleep that well anyways (solo and quite stimulated). So I’m thinking about not stopping for a regular nightly sleep. Instead, I might only bring the quilt and then stop for a 1-2 hour snooze if (1) I’m tired and (2) it’s not raining. If it rains the whole time then I’ll just keep walking. Also probably a bad idea, but something I know I can pull off without putting myself in danger.

Gear list looks like this:

I’ll look into getting some shop towels. It’s true that semi-wet TP is a challenge to use.

I have a hunch that I’ll actually sleep better curling up in a mid-afternoon sun beam, than my historical strategy of snoozing from midnight to 4am. The challenge is figuring out a route that puts easy sections during the dark, so I’m not navigating places like Larch Hill at 2am.

My rain gear is pretty good and my synthetic jacket is pretty warm, so even in the rain I might be able to drift off for 30 minutes under a tree without a quilt. And there’s always curling up with the quilt on a ranger cabin porch. I’m planning to make a hasty pad with my pack, snowshoes, rain gear and maybe a few spruce boughs.

The jacket is awesome. It’s Apex (4oz I’m pretty sure), hooded, full zip for just 8oz. Just a one-off jacket not on the market. I can stay warm around camp at 20-25F. Perhaps not as good in the rain as fleece, but it cuts 4oz and is a lot warmer than my previous 100wt fleece.