Gear Just Keeps Showing Up :D

That quilt looks awesome!

Just sayin'…

Congrats! That's a beautiful set up (and quite an investment!). May it serve you well in you travels for a long time to come.

Excellent start! What else will you be buying? :)

He'll be getting a package with some more goodies either tomorrow or Thursday… ;)

Thanks Everyone!

*I just went back and resized pics+added info.*

Ben-I'll be adding some railriders ecomesh clothing. I might not be taking all this stuff. My incoming down pants might not be necessary. My gear isn't the lightest, but I needed everything to be durable…especially since this will be my first trip outside the U.S.A. I'm a newb when it comes to international travel.

I'm still significantly lighter than I was before, from 35lbs with food and water to anywhere between 19-23lbs with food, 4l of water and a lot of luxury. I'm definitely happy.

I'm excited for my goosefeet gear!!!! I can't wait for those down booties and oversocks! Not sure if the pants will be going with me on this trip, but definitely for my next AT thru-hike.

I had absolutely no money at 19 and was eating nothing but Top Ramen while studying to get my civil engineering degree. That is some sweet gear you have….top of the line components. It would be intersested to hear how well the gear holds up after 6 months of trekking.

Well I think I have about $6 left in my checking account, hahaha. *sigh*. I've been saving for this trip since October 2010 and dreaming about it since before I knew people even hiked in the woods, let alone the Great Wall.

I have/had a pretty successful college boy landscaping company; lifted f-350, exmark, trailers and such and I sold everything but the f-350 to pay for my gear and trip. I knew that I had bad money management skills, so I built a small company worth the amount of money I'd need. It worked! I think I spent somewhere around $2200 on gear and my flight and visa add up to about $1800. Then I have a nice chunk of cash for the trip!

Anyway, I'm pretty excited to see how my gear holds up…maybe hopeful is the better word! I went for a compromise of durability and weight. I'm happy with my initial picks.

Kenny:

Do tell — where in China will you be trekking?

Ben-

After I land In Beijing I'll be headed to Gansu Province, most likely head to Lanzhou then just a little west of Jiayuguan. Then all the fun begins, I'll start in the west and head towards Shanhaiguan and just see what happens. EDIT: I plan at some time to head down to Kunming and visit with friends

*FedEx just dropped my visa off, leave to agencies to completely screw it up. I asked for a single entry, 6 month validity, with at least a 90 day duration of stay. I received a Multiple Entry, 1 year validity, 30 day duration of stay….oh well, looks like I'll be making my way to the first public security office I come by in China.

Here's my Goosefeet down pants, booties and overbooties. I can't remember the fill amount, but I think it's 4.5oz for the pants. The pictures of the pants are of them lofting within 5-10 minutes of receiving the package! anywhere from 5.25-6"+ of loft double layered. Shipping box is 5.5" tall for comparison.

Kenny,
North China (Gansu, Inner Mongolia, Beijing, etc.) can be pretty hot and arid during the period you're looking at. You may find you won't need all your cold/wet weather gear. Consider looking into temp/climate ranges for that part of China before you go (if you haven't already). Do you know someone in Beijing who can store some of your gear if you won't be needing all of it? And for heaven's sake, man, save some of that greenbacks and buy things you'll need _in China_! If you look around, you can find a lot of what you'll need for very few sheckles.

And if you're going to be doing ANY travel off the beaten path in that country (and as you probably know, in a place as heavily populated as China, there aren't too many paths that haven't been beaten…), do make dang certain all your paperwork (visa, passport, backups…) is in perfect order. Nothing sucks more than dealing with PSB guys looking for something to do, like shake down foreigners traveling in places where travelers are not expected to go. I'm sure you're on top of all this, but I'm having flashbacks to some of my own misadventures in the southeast…

Last, do you speak any Chinese?

N

Neil,

I'm well aware that it's gonna get hot hot hot! Haha, I don't have much in the way of wet weather gear, my kilt and jacket weigh less than 5 ounces together. Some of the cold weather gear may not go with me, probably not the down pants, but I'd like to take the booties with me. Really the main piece of gear that's probably overboard is my 20*quilt, but it's really versatile…I have spent a 60* night in it all opened up for ventilation and was very comfortable. Right now I'm buying gear that I won't use immediately for a couple reasons: A. I have money right now B. I'll be thru-hiking the AT again soon C. I'm thinking of moving to the University Of Maine so cold weather gear will help me in the future.

I'm doing my best to make sure I get all my papers in order. My visa just came in and they screwed it up! I ordered a double entry, 6 month validity, at least 90 day duration of stay(figured I'd just cruise up to mongolia and back). On the other hand I received a Multiple entry, 1 year validity, with only 30 days duration of stay! The visa guys were baffled, they said an M entry visa should be 90 days. They're gonna try and fix it, if not I'll have to apply at a public security office for an extension :/.

I know enough Chinese to survive, without a doubt. From August 2011 till first week of March 2012 I studied Chinese in an Immersion program 5 days a week 7 hours a day.

Thanks!

Kenny.

You may want to join the Orientalist run by Peter Neville Hadley. I recommend his books as well. Visa problems are a major topic. By the way lightweight or almost any any Goretex product in China is usually fake and if not VERY $$$.
http://members.shaw.ca/pnhpublic/China.html

Sweetness!!!! I'm heading there for a scanty 3 weeks on the 5th, maybe I'll see you on the plane. I'll look for a 19 year old with an exceptionally small pack. You headed straight for the best part, Gansu is where the grasslands meet the Himalayas meet the jungle meets the desert with the Yellow river right down the middle. It's my favorite province, and most of the surrounding ones are nice too. The only difficulty is that there are too many Chinese people… I'm definitely jealous.

Note: The time you are visiting is in fact the wet season. Expect periods of heavy downpour in all but the driest deserts, and maybe those too at less frequent intervals. They may only last a half hour and be followed by arid air, but everything will get very wet in that brief period. As you can probably guess the climate changes dramatically in short distances with the huge variability in geography so the weather could literally be anything. But Inner Mongolia and at least eastern Gansu receive virtually all of their precipitation from April through September, and especially June and July. The rest of the country does too, to various degrees. Spoken as an Inner Mongolia resident of 1 year, with a decent amount of travel in the surrounding 1000+ miles.

Sounds like a awesome trip! I spent a few months in China in 2006 & 2007.
+1 on getting your visa straigthened out before you go. You'll pay more for any changes or extensions in China.

Not so sure about "just popping into Mongolia.." to do a multiple entry back to China. You'll need to research the border entry points for foreigners to come and go like that, otherwise you may spend a longer time in Mongolia than you think waiting to be allowed back into China without having to get a new visa, which you'd have to do in Ulaanbater. (When I was there, a common problem was for people on the Trans-Mongolian to get turned back to UB for a new visa.) Not all of the border crossings can deal with "complicated" issues and the easy thing for them to do is just deny you entry.

+1 also on the weather research, China is similar in the size as Canada, so depending on where you are when, you'll experience some extremes during that time from monsoon to drought.

Also, your kit is amazing, but like you said, you may not need it all for your trip, especially if your itiniary includes time in urban areas or all remote trekking in rural areas.

When I traveled north to south, i carried as little as possible. I had a good rain jacket and just went to the local market to buy a cheap fleece when I needed it for extra warmth. Nothing too expensive that I couldn't just pass it on to another traveler when I no longer needed it. Be careful of taking so much expensive gear – you'll have to keep an extra eye on it.

Knock-offs abound, so i would not buy anything "technical" there, but fleece is fleece and anything you find will be okay.

Definitely not trying to be "debbie-downer," but the more you know before you get there will make your trip more enjoyable without having too much stuff or spending too much time taking care of admin chores.

Have fun! and if you can go to Tibet, I highly recommend it!

I really appreciate the advice getting thrown my way. While I've read most of it searching through google, it's awesome to hear from hikers! You guys have been fantastic, and on top of this thread I've got quite a few e-mails full of advice.

About the visa- I'm hoping that I only have to shoot in and out of the country once…the guy at the visa company is doing his best to get me 90 day duration of stay on my visa. I'm sending the company back my passport and one of the guys is gonna try on his own time, pretty cool buy me. 90 days would be awesome since I'd head up to Mongolia for about a week and then come back down and finish the rest of my trip.

As far as protecting my gear goes, I plan to carry my pack in front of me in cities, never leave anything outside of my tent, and always…always keep my pack on me. That's why I made sure my pack could be a carry on before I bought it, unfortunately things like my trekking poles will have to be checked baggage.

Thanks All,

Kenny.

edit: P.s. Tibet will most likely be my last stop after I complete my wall Trek. Should hopefully be a climactic ending.

Kenny,

If the only thing you need to airline check are trekking poles, you may even consider leaving yours at home and getting a pair when you fiirst land in Beijing. It's a very big place and there are reasonable gear shops with proper gear and of course the local market for knock-offs that would last through your 6 month stay. Just a thought.

One other small security item you may carry is a small travel combo lock to lock your gear when you stay in a hostel, which you will invariable do a few times as you travel through some cities. The hosteling/backpacker path in China is well established and Hosteling International (HI) is everywhere and they are very efficient at planning overland travel for you if you need it. Again, it saves time for you when you're in urban areas between treks. If you need a lot of hostel stays along your way, an HI membership may be worth it.

Again, if you post more about your itinerary we can gladly help you with hostel or train/bus recommendations.

If you take a heavy guidebook like LP, just be careful going through customs, because sometimes Chinese officials will confiscate it as they believe it may portray China in a bad light.

Good Luck, Kenny!
And, by all means, be sure to post a Trip Report when you get back. I, for one, would be extremely interested to hear of your travels in Mongolia – a place I hope to go one day soon.
Be safe!
N