AT thru list SoBo July start

Just my personal opinion.

I would go with a basic cuben tarp, as light as possible. You will probably be sleeping in shelters 90% of the time, a complex shelter (I feel) is not needed.

Very true. My only objection is that I want my gear to be as versatile as possible and I am working on a budget. If I were to buy a duomid then I could do training hikes thru the winter without concern for moderate snow (I love cold weather hiking and would hate to spend the season sitting it out). That said I will definitely consider your suggestion as i am sure my back and shoulders will appreciate your advice. Now you have me coveting a grace duo cuben tarp, half the weight of the duomid thats CRAZY. Ill just have to see what I can spend when it comes time to leave.

Thoughts on mld grace duo vs. gg cubentwinn tarp? Approximately how much weight will seam sealing the cubentwinn add (grace duo is bonded and does not require seam sealing)? What kind of winds should these tarps handle?

SOBO is definately the way to go, a totally different experience in my opinion than northbounding.

I SOBOed with my dog a little over two years ago starting in mid June

This summer I hiked 3 weeks on the colorado trail with my girlfriend and our best friend and i feel really good about my couples gear list I came up with.

I used a Hexamid Twin with netting which i would HIGHLY recommend for the AT. With your girlfriend you are probably not going to want to stay in shelters even though it wont be crowded. Plus, having your own shelter gives you the flexability to just stop whenever you find a nice campsite with a view.

I dont recommend using a bivy for the two of you, youre going to want a place to stretch out and have room to hang out and relax at night before crashing. Bugs will also be a problem for most of your trip.

As for clothing i would recommend the following:

Lightweight short sleeve baselayer
quick dry shorts/pants whatever you preference, (your girlfriend may want to wear a skirt, mine raves about it)
windshirt
light insulating layer- ex. Pata Nanopuff, Montbell exlight or Down inner, or even light fleece
rain jacket- driducks are cheap and light but not durable

add a pair of long underwear tops and bottoms if you want a change of clothes for bed

Cooking:
I use a grease pot from end2endtrailsupply.com 40 oz capacity 3.7 oz $7 including shipping!
cat can alcohol stove

Sleeping:
Single quilt or individual, your preference
shoot for a 25-30 rating depending on your insulation choice and metabolism

feel free to pm me with any questions, id love to help!

Thanks Tyler for your insights and experience. Ill definitely look into the hexamid.

I like the Ti-tri for its wood burning capabilites though i admit it is kind of heavy. I currently have a titanium wing stove that burns esbits, an aluminium windscreen, a fosters can, and a pot cozy i made out of one of those reflexive dashboard protecters. I dont know what that all weighs but I bet its less than 12oz, might just bring that along and save the dough.

A few questions on the hexamid. What is to prevent the netting from freezing to the ground when the temps drop below freezing? A ground cloth? Is the netting on the bottom durable enough for long term use? Or atleast easy to repair? Is the pitch variable at all? I am leery of the short beak (I know they offer an extended beak but im hesitant to shell out the extra 60 bucks if the problem, if there is one at all, can be fixed by pitching the back higher and the front peak lower or something along those lines.) Is a ground sheet necessary? Polycryo ok? or is tyvek better for puncture resistance.

Previously I had just assumed that anything cuben was way out of my price range but being as it will be a split expense, covers rain and bug protection (the duomid and innernet I was previously considering ran $360ish if i rememember correctly), and going to be home sweet home for up to 6 months. When put that way it almost sounds like a legit investment.

Also thanks for your willingness to help out a beginning backpacker. Ill be sure to make good use of your experience. Im going to think up a list of questions to pm you over the next few days so that way I wont be bugging you every time a question pops into my head.

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After talking to my girlfriend we reached the concensus that a tarp and bivy would probably suit our needs best as it would allow us to stay in shelters with bug protection. The oware bivy is surprisingly liveable (though it currently only has one tie out for the head portion instead of the promised 2, hopefully sending it back to fix that), with plenty of room to lie down and read a book. It is cavernous and actually allows us to sit up and play cards albeit with fabric draped over our heads.

That said I am still, as ever, open to suggestions and insights, and am prone to changing my mind. Not to mention lusting after fancy gear. Im just worried that the bivy might be hard to sell if I decide to go with an expensive cuben fiber shelter because it is kind of a specialty item (being for 2 people and all). Though the hex is downright reasonable when you consider what you get for the price and its weight versus a 7.7oz cuben tarp paired with an 11oz bivy. It seems pretty unbeatable, though I really like the versatility of the tarp and bivy setup.

Thanks for the tip I will be redirecting my hexamid questions through the proper channels, and on closer inspection of the zpacks site just noticed that many of them have been answered already… oops. Sorry guys.

The headnet will probably not be necessary once you get outside on Maine. I SOBOed and slept in a hammock, and carried no bug protection at all. I only had one night, in Maine, where the bugs were a nuisance the entire time. I began in Maine in July so ymmv. But for a sobo thru, bugs are generally not much of an issue. I think that you can ditch the bivy net altogether and wear the headnet while sleeping if it is ever an issue.

For a pillow, consider just using some of your extra clothing as opposed to carrying anything. I used a fleece pullover as my pillow. If you must have a more sturdy pillow, they sell stuff sacks with fleece inner lining. Maybe get one of those for your quilt, and while you're sleeping pull it inside out and put the clothing in there.

My first aid kit consisted of just the following: ibuprofen and antibacterial ointment. I carried a roll of gauze for a short while when I had a wound that needed daily redressing. Otherwise, I relied on a bandana. Thats it! There are 2 types of injuries: those that require you to get help regardless of your first aid kit, and those that will likely take care of themselves. There is not much inbetween, in my experience. On the AT you are never more than a day or 2 hike in either direction from a road.

I think the dr bonners is unnecessary. I began my thru with some dr bonners but soon got rid of it. You will be bathing at hostels where soap is generally available. And not to mention: even though dr bonners is biodegradable and technically 'safe' for the environment, it still violates leave no trace ethics to use it in a stream. Just sayin…

Excellent idea using a headnet for sleep, infact thats exactly what I do when I go on group trips or take a friend out and let them use my Superlight bivy under a 10 by 12 tarp as opposed to my poncho tarp that I take when i go solo, however that would be a really tough sell to my girlfriend who HATES bugs (hence the july start, hoping to avoid or atleast minimize exposure to blackflies). Ill definitely float the idea and work on it though, nixing 11oz is really appealing. I expect she'll warm up to hiking as light as possible when the miles add up. But from what Ive heard, and definitely correct me if im wrong, blackfly hatch times can vary from year to year and still be a persistent problem even late into July.

Also, I think the bivys added warmth and wind resistance might go missed if i nix it as our bag will only be rated to 30* (though I think with 2 sleepers generating warmth it might go a bit lower than that, especially since I took my JRB High sierra sniveller down to 20* comfortably with only a long john top and bottom and a light merino goodwill sweater and hat, but im a warm sleeper while my girlfriend is not)

As for the pillow, Ill look into the fleece lined stuffsack, or nix a pillow altogether (alteast for me). Before getting the JRB grahm flexair pillows I just used my shoes just as comfortably even though they were often wet from hiking in the snow and crossing streams and quite funky.

Thanks for the heads up on leave no trace practices. I had just anticipated filling then platy and hanging it from a tree as a makeshift shower.

Also whats up with the Ugg boots guy?

Just an update and to prove im not as pigheaded or as closeminded to suggestions as I may appear, Im going with a cuben tarp instead of the duomid.

Also a word on Oware's customer service. I filled out a request contact form on their site, explaned the situation (only one tie out on the head portion instead of the advertised 2) and in less than 10 minutes got an email promising to fix it and cover the shipping expense. Must say Im very pleased with the service as well as the product itself.