4day/3night late October AT

Not sure which part of the AT, but if you are going to be above 4,000 the 40 degree Kelty might not be enough.

Brad

I have a 15deg BA Ranger down on standby if the weather looks cooler.

I'll be doing 4 days from Roan Mtn to Hampton TN.

Take it from someone who got Hypothermia on Mount Rogers at the end of October. It is not uncommon for the temps to drop exponentially at night in October. I got soaked with sweat towards the end of the day, and as the sun set the temperature plummeted. It went from about 65 to 20 and snowing in a matter of a couple of hours. I had brought a 40 degree bag and when I woke up in the middle of the night it was 22 degrees. I was freezing literally. My Blood Ox level was at 80, and I couldn't feel my toes or fingers, and I was not thinking straight. Hiking partner had to boil water for me multiple times during the night so that I could stay warm. I didn't hike for over a year after that until I had the right gear to take care of myself out on the trail.

Moral of the story is take a 30 degree bag, or you can be like me and take a 20 degree bag after the end of September until the middle of April.

BA Ranger 15 down 1200g 42.40oz

if your going to stay with the 40 degree bag…at least take a silk bag liner…that will at least take your bag down to 35 degrees…maybe lower if your a warm sleeper
you can always wear your down jacket to sleep to give you more warmth if need be and a hot water bottle too
but i would take the warmer bag…if it was me

My experience on the AT in October wasn't quite as dangerous as Jacob's, but similar. Days were likely in the high 60's, but frost formed overnight. I bought a 15 degree bag for the extra security after that trip.

I carry my one liter cooking pot on the outside of my pack and use my steripen in that, then pour the contents into a paltypus water bolttle (2+L). I have also done this using a 1/2 liter pot.

Nalgenes are "heavy".

The Nalgene is a 96oz version of this,
http://www.rei.com/product/626197

Not quite a platy-lite, but much less than the Nalgene Bottle.

Man, I was really hoping to get <10lbs base this trip, but looks like unless I spend big bucks for a UL down quilt and a cuben shelter it won't happen.

Cooking system:
I have a 3oz fancee feast stove and windscreen, but since I cook bfast (I love my coffee, and I painfully left the 6oz french press behind) and dinner, the extra alc fuel weight, washes out the weight savings over butane.

Here are my suggestions:

Clothing(carried)

Drop the extra T-shirt as you already have a Cap 1 camp/sleep shirt (-4.95oz)

Drop the towel as you already have a bandana (-2.19oz)

Cooking

That weight seems like a large 8oz canister. You should be able to switch to a small 4oz
canister for short trips like that. A full small Snow Peak canister is 7.3oz (-4.36oz)

Hydration

I would drop the Steripen and go with Aquamira. Stock packaged Aquamira is 3oz, but can be repackaged in mini dropper bottles for a weight of 1.1oz and is plenty for that length trip. A prefilter isn’t normally needed on that AT but a bandana can be used if need be. (-8.79oz)

I would replace the 2L bladder with 2 32oz Gatorade bottles. Bottles are lighter and easier to use and fill (IMO). Two 1L Gatorade bottles weigh 3.6oz. (-2.27oz)

Sleeping

As others have said, a 40* bag might not be enough, but you have noted your contingency plan. I would just check the weather before you leave (adjusting for elevation) and make a game time decision.

I am not sure what a Pillow Bladder is, but I have found that a sleeping bag stuff sack filled with raingear and extra clothes makes a great pillow (turn it inside out if clothes are wet are dirty, that way it doesn’t get your bag wet in the morning) or you can use your Nalgene soft sided container instead. (-2.54oz)

Packing

Do you really need the string pack? (-1.34oz)

I see your sleeping bag weight includes a stuff sack, so what are the other two sil sacks for? I would leave them at home. (-2.05oz)

I would however add a Trash Compactor pack liner (+2.00oz)

Misc

I would replace the Leatherman with a Gerber micro LST (0.6oz), Spyderco Ladybug (0.6oz or a small Swiss Army Knife (0.7oz) (-4.63oz)
You could probably cut your bear bag cord weight in half by switching to an Arborist Throw Line. (-1.00oz)

I have used Sil bottomed shelters for a long time and have never used a ground cloth or had a hole. Just make sure that you inspect the area quickly before throwing your shelter down. (-2.76oz)

Conclusion

That is a net weight savings of 34.88oz all for little to no cost without any real loss of comfort or functionality.

I hope you have a great trip!

You are probably going to freeze if a cold front blows through. Not worth the risk.

You can lose weight in the cooking department
and in the H20 dept.

Take your food prepped and packed in freezer bags and learn how to cook in freezer bags. My entire 16 oz cook kit with everything except fuel weighs 4oz.

2 1L water bottles from the grocery store and some tablets should be good enough and save 16 oz.

Swap the 40D bag and get a 20dF down quilt like an ultra 20.

They don't make that particular model anymore but I slept in a hammock 14dF weather last winter in heavy johns and was warm all night.

Mine weighs 21oz for a long. I think the new ones weigh 23-24oz or something like that.
I would add a GG thin pad.
Replace the BA pad with a Neoair short.

All that should carry you down to 20dF, safer and save you over a pound.

Didnt see any rain gear bottoms.
If its cold you do not want to get wet.
Maybe throw in some driduck bottoms or a skirt or if its bad you could just hunker down somewhere but driducks bottoms add another layer.

Only a 4 day hike, so take the lightest eq you need to stay fed, hydrated, dry, warm and safe and leave everything else at home.

Looks like a good list though.

I agree with the upper post. You can also get rid of the Blue Micro Towel, The Leatherman Juice, and the Pillow Bladder. The Juice is way to heavy for it's value. A small pair of scissors way less or use a cut down exacto knife. The exacto knife cut down ways less than an ounce and you can carry spare blades.

Could some of your stuff sacks go?

Great list though.

Here are my suggestions:

Clothing(carried)

Drop the extra T-shirt as you already have a Cap 1 camp/sleep shirt (-4.95oz)
DONE, ALSO FOUND A LIGHT MERINO SHIRT AT THE TS LAST WEEK, PROB REPLACE THE LESS VERSATILE CAP1.
Drop the towel as you already have a bandana (-2.19oz)
MIGHT REPLACE WITH A 2ND BANDANA, I LIKE TO HAVE A BLADDER SHOWER AFTER A HARD DAY. VERY REFRESHING.
Cooking

That weight seems like a large 8oz canister. You should be able to switch to a small 4oz
canister for short trips like that. A full small Snow Peak canister is 7.3oz (-4.36oz)
I'LL CONSIDER IT, PROBLEM IS I ALREADY HAVE THE BIGGER ONE, BUT ITS NOT LIKE MILK AND WILL GO BAD.
Hydration

I would drop the Steripen and go with Aquamira. Stock packaged Aquamira is 3oz, but can be repackaged in mini dropper bottles for a weight of 1.1oz and is plenty for that length trip. A prefilter isn’t normally needed on that AT but a bandana can be used if need be. (-8.79oz)
OK
I would replace the 2L bladder with 2 32oz Gatorade bottles. Bottles are lighter and easier to use and fill (IMO). Two 1L Gatorade bottles weigh 3.6oz. (-2.27oz)
HOW ABOUT I KEEP THE BLADDER AND DUMP THE NALGENE CANTEEN AND USE 1 BOTTLE. LIKE HAVING GATRORADE WITH MEALS (THE REASON I DONT USE A PLATY) AND DRINKING AS I WALK.

Sleeping

As others have said, a 40* bag might not be enough, but you have noted your contingency plan. I would just check the weather before you leave (adjusting for elevation) and make a game time decision.
OK

I am not sure what a Pillow Bladder is, but I have found that a sleeping bag stuff sack filled with raingear and extra clothes makes a great pillow (turn it inside out if clothes are wet are dirty, that way it doesn’t get your bag wet in the morning) or you can use your Nalgene soft sided container instead. (-2.54oz)
THE PILLOW BLADDER IS JUST THE BLADDER FROM A BLOWUP TRAVEL PILLOW, SAVING 1/2 THE WEIGHT THERE. I'M A SIDESLEEPER & HAVE HAVE NEVER FOUND A CLOTHES BAG PILLOW VERY COMFORTABLE.

Packing

Do you really need the string pack? (-1.34oz)
FOOD BAG, MAY SEE ABOUT REPLACING ALL THE SACKS WITH THE 4 PC SET FROM HYPERLITE
http://www.hyperlitemountaingear.com/products/accessories/cuben-fiber-stuff-sack-set.html

I see your sleeping bag weight includes a stuff sack, so what are the other two sil sacks for? I would leave them at home. (-2.05oz)

I would however add a Trash Compactor pack liner (+2.00oz)

Misc

I would replace the Leatherman with a Gerber micro LST (0.6oz), Spyderco Ladybug (0.6oz or a small Swiss Army Knife (0.7oz) (-4.63oz)
I HAVE A SMALLER MULTITOOL I CAN BRING SIMILAR TO THIS ONE.
http://www.amazon.com/Gerber-Legendary-Blades-22-41347-Little/dp/B002ZPMAII/ref=sr_1_41?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1282760005&sr=1-41
i CARRY A TOOL VS A KNIFE AS IT SERVES AS MY POT GRABBER ALSO. I WAS BRINGING THE LARGER ONE TO CUT CHEESE, BUT I'LL MAKE DUE WITH THE SMALLER ONE.

You could probably cut your bear bag cord weight in half by switching to an Arborist Throw Line. (-1.00oz)
I'LL TRY DUMPING THE PLASTIC REEL IT CAME ON.

I have used Sil bottomed shelters for a long time and have never used a ground cloth or had a hole. Just make sure that you inspect the area quickly before throwing your shelter down. (-2.76oz)
ITS MOSTLY A SITPAD FOR BREAKS AND A PROTECTER FOR MY SLEEP PAD IN SHELTERS.
Conclusion

That is a net weight savings of 34.88oz all for little to no cost without any real loss of comfort or functionality.

I hope you have a great trip!

You are probably going to freeze if a cold front blows through. Not worth the risk.

You can lose weight in the cooking department
and in the H20 dept.

Take your food prepped and packed in freezer bags and learn how to cook in freezer bags. My entire 16 oz cook kit with everything except fuel weighs 4oz.
ALREADY PART OF MY SOP.

2 1L water bottles from the grocery store and some tablets should be good enough and save 16 oz.

Swap the 40D bag and get a 20dF down quilt like an ultra 20.
IN MY LONGTERM PLANS, BUT WONT HAVE FOR THIS TRIP.

They don't make that particular model anymore but I slept in a hammock 14dF weather last winter in heavy johns and was warm all night.

Mine weighs 21oz for a long. I think the new ones weigh 23-24oz or something like that.
I would add a GG thin pad.
Replace the BA pad with a Neoair short.
ALSO IN LT PLAN.
All that should carry you down to 20dF, safer and save you over a pound.

Didnt see any rain gear bottoms.
If its cold you do not want to get wet.
Maybe throw in some driduck bottoms or a skirt or if its bad you could just hunker down somewhere but driducks bottoms add another layer.
I HAVE A HEAVIER SET OF RAINGEAR. (SD HURRICANE JACKET AND SOME GENERIC PU COATED RAINPANTS) MAY REPLACE W/ LIGHTER STUFF LATER. HOWEVER, THE FULL SET WILL LIKELY RAISE MY WT BY A LB, OVER JUST THE SD MICROLIGHT.

Only a 4 day hike, so take the lightest eq you need to stay fed, hydrated, dry, warm and safe and leave everything else at home.

Looks like a good list though.
THANKS

A full set of driducks is like 10oz. Not durable by any means but then again its a 4 day trip. They cost like $13 on sale.

That said your rain jacket is a good one and its light.

A 4 oz cookset is almost free if you ever decide to build one.

That's a short country time lemonade container on the back right. The pot is a cut down fosters can with a heiniken can top with some silicone tape wrapped around it. I dont use the 2 face to face containers on the left.

Think I am going to go back to boiling water with wood with a few esbit tabs as a backup.

http://s195.photobucket.com/albums/z300/tammons3/Hiking%20gear/?action=view&current=cook4.jpg&newest=1

I think you have a solid gear list with the exception of concern about warmth. I agree with the comments above though and would nix most of the items they've mentioned in order to drop some unnecessary ounces.

I'm not sure of your pants size but I have a pair of dry ducks rain pants in size M, never used that I'd be happy to send you for cheap. I think they weigh 3.2 oz. PM me if you are interested.

Definitely cut down on the hydration kit – 1 lb savings there for sure. One 2.4 L Platy + one 1 L Platy + 32 tablets weighs 3 oz total.

You could possibly sell your two sleeping bags and make enough money for one Golite quilt if wanted to make that happen. If you go camping in the cold winter months though it might not be an option for you to sell your 15 deg bag.

Also, you could save 6-8 ounces with a Montbell ex-light or UL down jacket. That's a bit more of a costly weight reduction but could be worth the half a pound to you in the end over a bunch of trips.

A closed cell foam pad would save you a good bit of weight and doesn't cost much but I certainly understand if you don't sleep as well on a closed cell mattress as a side sleeper.

That's a beautiful section of trail. Have a great trip!

Another option for extending a golite ultra 20 quilt is to make a 2.5 oz Climashield over quilt. That should extend it down to 5dF and also serve as a summer quilt.

Have yet to build mine.

I already have some DWR 1 oz wally world ripstop nylon I got for $1.50 per yd, so I am good to go except the $30 worth of climashield.

It would also help keep condensation out of the down
when below freezing.

I figure for me it will weigh about 14 oz. For a small person it would be 12 oz.

That would make my winter 5dF quilt setup about 2# 3oz.

I agree that you should sell the two bags and get a lighter down bag rated for 30 degrees or less… and obviously not all manufacturers are conservative with their rating.

The average low in Elizabethton, TN for Oct 25th is 38f. Thats only 2100ft elevation! You can also see that in 2006, it dipped to 24 degrees there.

Also consider bringing a closed cell mattress to add to your BA Aircore (this is the un-insulated version I take it). A bad sleep can ruin a trip.

I just noticed that you were doing the Roan Highlands section, which is a great section by the way, however it can get quite cold up there so I would bet on the 15* bag. Also I didn't pick up that your BA pad was the uninsulated one, and it is a good thing Steve did because you will need something more than that in October. On a budget consider the Thermarest Ridgerest or Ridgerest Solar.

I do have the BA Hinman sleeping pad that came w/ the BA Ranger bag. Unless its REALLY cold I normally don't bother with it.

BA Hinman Mummy pad 872g 30.81oz