AT Summer List Suggestions

If your trips are strictly east coast summer, I'd go with either the Marmot windshirt (+ a pack liner or cover) or the Packa but wouldn't bring both.

I'd leave the tyvek groundsheet at home and put the z-lite under my bivy to protect it.

If I had convertible pants and a long sleeved top (hiking shirt or windshirt), I'd use those as my bug protection if necessary and leave the deet behind.

YMMV. Good luck.

You could lose some weight with lighter containers/smaller quantities of your various toiletries. A couple of BPL mini-dropper bottles could save you probably 5 oz. on the DEET and sanitizer. You really only need a little baking soda; I carry things like that in a ziploc jewelry bag. Total weight is about 15-20 grams. So there's another 2-2.5 ounces. Can you lose a little weight from your FA kit? What about the rain hat? There's probably 12 oz. or so you could lose, but it's a pretty light list!

jake that list looks just about perfect for that time of year in VA. nicely done

Thank You, I'm always trying to cut ounces. And the future Mrs. has decided she wants to go UL as well, so looks like it is back to buying gear.

perfect. you pass your "gently used" stuff to her and get some spanking new equipment! not what you want to hear, but you may want some sort of insulation beyond the marmot windshirt. it can get kind of chilly in the mountains regardless of season, especially if you're hiking in the rain all day. i guess you can always pile into your sleeping bag…

I live about 35 minutes from Damascus, and you are right about it still being chilly some nights during the summer up. I have a Patagonia Down Jacket I got last year, but it is way to much for summer. I've been thinking about a Western Mountaineering Flash Vest for the summer, but haven't pulled the trigger on it yet.

The future Mrs. Will not sleep alone on the trail, so I do not think matching bivy and tarp is going to work for her. I'm thinking we'll start her off with something along these lines.

ULA Ohm
Share a Tarptent Squall 2
Give her my Prolite 3 Short
Western Mountaineering Summerlite 6'0 bag.

Kitchen

Trapper Mug
SS Starlyte Stove
Titanium spork
Alcohol Bottle
Mini Bic
MSR Towel smallest size with the strap removed

We'll share water filter, but I'll make sure she carries Micropur tabs atleast. Map + Compass, and we'll piece together the rest of her gear.

It'll be nice to get out on the trail together again, my 1 year old makes it kind of hard to do often, but every once in awhile the granparents want her for a week, and we hit the trails.

I see a few things that might be worth a second look. I do most of my hiking in TN/NC/GA, and SW-VA.

I might be concerned that the bivy would be too hot on hot and humid summer nights. Obviously you don’t have to sleep in it unless it is raining, but then you don’t have any protection from bugs, so you might consider something like a MLD Serenity Shelter or Alpinlite Bug Tent.

I would be surprised if the Ti spoon really weighs that much but if it does you can get a lot of Ti, Polycarbonate, or Lexan spoons that weigh under 0.4oz.

That seems like a lot for a bear bag and line. You might look at the 0.85oz Z-packs Blast Food Bag and get 50 feet of Zing-It arborist throw line (mine weighs 1.05oz in a small stuff sack). That would cut your bear bag weight by two-thirds.

5 liters of water storage is a lot. I never use more than two one liter bottles, so you might be able to shave a little weight there.

You could probably get that FAK down to two or three ounces pretty easy.

I don’t use baking soda for toothpaste, so I am not sure how much you use, but you might be able to repackage and save a little weight, or maybe not.

CVS Pharmacy sells a travel toothbrush that weighs 0.5oz. It’s the kind that comes apart and the brush slides into the handle.

Repackage the Deet and Purell into mini dropper bottles. That should make them about 0.55oz each.

You might replace that knife with something lighter like the Gerber UL LST or Spyderco Ladybug, They both weigh 0.6oz.

A mini bic is only 0.4oz.

Are you using the Marmot Windshirt as raingear and insulation? Aside from the fact that I am sure that you realize that the Windshirt isn’t waterproof, if it is the Driclime, which I am assuming it is for the weight, I would think that the lining would take forever to dry out once it got wet. I think you might be better served with two garments here. I suggest either:

A.) A regular windshirt (Montaine Smock, etc.) and a light puffy jacket (Montbell Thermawrap, UL Down Jacket, etc)

B.) A Dri-Ducks Rain jacket and a light puffy jacket

C.) A poncho tarp or cape (SMD Gatewood Cape, Golite Poncho Tarp, etc) and a light puffy jacket. (This also can replace your MLD Monk Tarp)