I'm relatively new to backpacking and brand new to lightweight backpacking. I did a decent amount of backpacking with my dad until 7th or 8th grade when I decided to focus more on team sports. Since college, I've stuck to day hikes because I was somewhat intimidated by the cost of getting new gear and the learning curve. However, I finally decided to take the plunge and have been planning a 2 month AT section hike with my wife that I'll start in a couple of weeks. Reading through threads on these forums has been a huge help and I signed up for an annual membership.
My gear for that trip is pretty much set. However, I plan on making this a regular hobby going forward and would appreciate thoughts on what I could add to my gear collection so I have things to put on my birthday/Christmas/etc wishlists. Looking for ideas not just to replace what's in my current kit, but good ideas to make my kit more versatile for different types of trips. I'm moving to Australia soon, so will have opportunities for trips in many types of environments.
Shelter and sleeping
Tarptent Double Rainbow – 42 oz
Enlightened Revolution 20F quilt – 22 oz
Thermarest Prolite Reg – 16 oz
Pack and organization
ULA Circuit – 38.6 oz
Sea to Summit 35L dry sack (food bag for 2) – 1.6 oz
Sea to Summit 8L dry sack (for clothes) – 0.8 oz
Worn clothing
Icebreaker 150 LS – 5.5oz
Mountain Hardware Mesa convertible pants – 16 oz
Icebreaker Hike Lite mini socks – 2.13 oz
Exofficio underwear – 3 oz
Merrill Moab Ventilator lowcut shoes – 31 oz
Black Diamond Trail Back alum poles – 20 oz
Plain ol baseball cap – 3 oz
Clothes in bag
Patagonia Capilene bottoms – 7.5 oz
Nike drifit tshirt – 5 oz
GoLite Demaree Canyon down jacket – 14 oz
Icebreaker Hike Lite Mini socks – 2.13 oz
Icebreaker Hike Lite Mid crew socks (sleeping) – 2.75 oz
Exofficio underwear – 3 oz
Marmot Aegis rain jacket – 13.4 oz
Loki All n One balaclava – 2 oz
REI pack towel – 0.75 oz
GoLite thinsulate gloves – 3 oz
Cooking (my wife carries much of this since I have the tent)
Supercat stove – 1 oz
Homemade windscreen – 1 oz
Alcohol – 9 oz
Snowpeak Ti Cook n Save 2L pot – 8.6 oz (seems heavy, but we couldn't find another option we liked for a pot big enough to cook for both of us)
Sea to Summit Delta Bowl – 2.8 oz
Chinese soup spoon – 0.75 oz (I love the volume these things hold)
3 Platypus 1L softbottles – 2.7 oz
AquaMira drops – 3 oz
Matches in a ziploc – 0.4 oz
Misc
Mt Laurel ECO Line bear bag set (50' line, carabiner, cuben fiber rock sack) – 1.4oz
Petzl Tactikka Plus headlamp – 2.5 oz
Leatherman Micra – 1.75 oz
Toothbrush – 0.5 oz
Toothpaste – 1 oz
Nikon Coolpix AW 100 and charger – 10 oz
Dr. Bronner's – 5 oz
Depending on how much shared stuff my wife carries and other miscellaneous extras like TP, my base weight is between 13 and 14.5 lbs.
Other gear I'm not bringing on this trip but could be used for other trips:
Icebreaker Pursuit 260 LS – 9 oz
Generic microfleece – 9 oz
