Summer AT Thru Hike

[Chris M]

Looking for some feedback on my gear list for my hike starting next month. I'm especially curious to hear from people who live farther up the Atlantic from me (NC/GA) and other thru hikers.

Most of the gear I have used in the past and trust well, with the exception of the Sawyer filter. Details of the trip can be found on my blog at the link, but I will start at Clingman's Dome mid April and finish in Maine in July.

I've used a hammock in the past, so know I sleep well in one, but haven't used an underquilt in the past. In my tests in the backyard so far, it seems much more comfortable than using a pad though.

Any suggestions on things that may make the hike better or possible changes to make to my gear are greatly appreciated.

My list is on my profile or can be found at my blog: http://kringlelight.wordpress.com/2012/03/15/at-thru-hike-gearlist/

[Allen Butts]

Looks like an excellent list Chris. Great to see you're hiking with a lot of MYOG, it helps enlighten some people who hike the AT to go lighter and more efficient. Just about the only thing i can personally think of was that you might want to carry another pair of socks. Also another thing to think about is what you wear when you do laundry in town. So possibly a pair of super light shorts might not be bad. I wish i had some this summer on the CT.

[Seth Brewer]

Looks good overall – I'd ditch the Platy's for some Gatorade bottles. All my Platy's leaked within 2 weeks of buying them – and the gatorade bottles are basically free once you have a tasty beverage!

[Chris M]

Over the last year I have actually started to enjoy the MYOG more than backpacking almost. It is something I have much easier access to, and the challenge of it is really fun. I normally try to share my MYOG in as cheap a way as possible too. So most of my gear costs substantially less than manufactured (not counting time, because it is a hobby as well after all).

As for the recommendations, they are all things I was already tossing around, and some of the things I wanted feedback on, so thanks.

As far as what to wear when doing laundry, if I do the kilt, I may go that route. That can be a bit revealing though. I have some Liberty Ridge wind pants from thru-hiker that I made that come in at 2.5oz. I may bring those instead of the kilt and would be able to wear them while doing laundry without having to worry.

Allen, do you suggest three pairs of socks then?

Seth, I was thinking of doing just that. I normally used one quart sized gatorade bottle and bring a 1L platy as a back up in case I need to care extra water. The plus of using the soft bottles for my water would be that I could use them to easily back flush the sawyer filter. I don't think that would be very easy to do with the hard bottles, but I can test when it arrives to find out.

[Jack G]

I'd swap out the heine pot and insulated bowl for something like an evernew ultralight 900ml pot. With an aluminum foil lid it would be about an ounce lighter and more practical if you want to cook anything. Mountain House gets old real quick and you got a long time out there.

The 0.2 spoon I'd swap for something a little more durable like a LMF or bamboo. A fraction of an ounce and a lot more durable. Sucks to try and eat for three days with a broken spoon until you can get to a town to replace it.

I'd do the same for the potstand. Would be curious to see how you made it out of aluminum foil but on such a long hike I'd upgrade to something more durable probably made out of hardware cloth for about the same weight.

I'd cut the weight by replacing the pack (27 oz.) and camera (19.8) and eliminating the Kindle. I'd also just take a couple of sheets of loose leaf paper and eliminate the 4 oz. journal. Just my 2 cents though. Have a great time!

[tyler marlow]

Nice list, very comfy and with none of the extra crap i started with!

Heres my take,

Im not a hammock camper but I bet you could ditch the UQ completely or maybe go with a Nightlite pad or some piece of CCF, at the very least a 2.5 apex UQ.

Its going to be hot.

I'd also, rather than a Cloud Cape, i would make some kind of real hooded cape like the Integeral designs Sil Cape.

I had no rain gear or wind shirt for big portions of the trail

I'd pick the wind pants over the kilt, because of aforementioned dual use for town and also for occasional warmth.

another option is short running shorts with a liner instead of undies and just leave the wind pants/kilt out altogether.

Keep the kindle, books are great. I carried 3 once.

I used a Heinie pot for a while but real cooked food won out and i used a big heavy GSI pot and it was totally worth it. Wouldnt even cost weight without the bowl

Great list, no matter what you do it'll be good.

we still need to meet up for a hike sometime!

[Chris M]

Thanks for the feed back, I'll try to respond to it.

For now, I'm gonna keep on the heavy camera and kindle. If I'm not using any of it enough, I plan to just mail it home and ditch the weight. I will, however, definitely ditch the majority of the journal and just carry some torn out pages.

My current plan is to mail drop all my food to save on time in towns. I am really pressed for time, because there is a possibility I will need to move as far as Colorado almost as soon as I finish. So I am dehydrating my own meals and have found a good array of things. I'm an odd eater and can eat the same thing for days on end (ate hot dogs four days a week for a year when I worked at a hot dog place) without getting bored. I figured I would take advantage of that and go with the heineken pot. I can look at what money I have to spend and decide on possibly upgrading that though. I already have the same GSI pot, so may go that route if I really want to change along the way.

I am gonna swap out the spoon for my long handled ti spoon though. I was uncertain which way to go on that as well. Just needed a bump one way or the other.

The UQ is brand spankin' new. It is 5oz Apex because I had a synthetic quilt sitting around that I converted into it for general use as my first UQ. I also have a 1/8" thinlight, which may end up my decision. I will be testing the options and decide pretty soon.

I'm not a fan of hoods. My rain gear will be hoodless and my wide conical hat will protect my head. So really, I just want something to help keep my core dry in torrential downpours. I'll keep looking at the options I have here on that.

I'll update the list and repost it with the new thoughts. Thanks so much. I appreciate the ideas.

@Tyler Sorry we haven't met up yet. I have been out of commission for three weeks now. I had my appendix removed the last week of February in a surprise emergency surgery, and was told not to do things like backpacking for three weeks.

[Nathan Pipenberg]

One idea for laundry — when I thru'ed I didn't have any extra clothes except rain pants. I usually just showered in my clothes since they dried out so fast afterwards.

But then again, I fully embraced the hiker trash lifestyle, so that might not be the best option for people who want to look decent in town

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