PCT thru hike gearlist

[Ryan Faulkner]

there have been quite a few thru hike gearlists poping up here lately, so it got me excited and i made up a mock gearlist for a PCT thru hike I plan to do once im out of hich school. I have bigger, longer, faster plans for after this hike, but ill keep those quiet for now :-)

I have the list on my profile

I of course had limited knowlege when making this, but it seems complete to me. Im going to need to buy a guide book, but theres no rush, I have at least 3 years til I start the hike.

any guidance/ experience would be appreciated

[Ryan Faulkner]

I have changed the tarp to a BMW spinntarp X-PRO
flat tarp has more pitching options.
I dont want every night to be the same dull thing.

btw. I plan to start in early june, and expect about 2.8 months to complete +/-

[kevin davidson]

In 3 years, the gear available would make us drool. <6 oz. eVENT jackets, <9 oz. tarptents, durable 5 oz. 40 L packs, <3 oz. canister stoves that are efficient in low temps. and use refillable canisters ( sorry, the Bushbuddy Ultra will cont. to be banned on certain sections of the PCT :-( .)….

But this is great that you are doing this theoretical excercise and perhaps you will get to use many of the components of your gearlist as dry runs for the real thing.

I'm not going to nit pick your list, it's good. If you don't already have the Cocoon Jacket, I'd opt for a hooded version.

I personally would go lighter on the bag—a Nunatak Arc quilt or a BMW quilt. I also think that the addition of Cocoon Pants w/ the the above bags would be a killer combo (and added insurance on the final (Wash. Cascades) leg. Make sure that Golite bag fits you—-is the 18oz. for a size that will fit you? I'm shocked you're not considering a Montbell bag—weren't you one of their advocates? :-)-.

It will be interesting to see your food list. In many ways , this is the real challenge in deciding what to bring on a long thru-pack.

p.s. did you give up on the MLD Zip pack?

[Ryan Faulkner]

thanks kevin, Im really looking forward to the gear in a few years, this is just a mock list. no way set in stone.

just starting to think about it.

Ive had my cocoon for more than a year now. I might look at the UL 60 balaclava

the feather medium trim fits me perfectly right now, if I grow a few inches I will have to go for longer bag. 20 oz in long for the golite feather.

I have a Nunatak Ghost. Im not the biggest fan of the arc system. Except for in the winter, where i can wear a big down jacket and not compress the loft. but for three season I would prefer a mummy.

The montbell UL alpine #5, has always been on my list of things to buy. I havent quite gotten around to it yett, but I expect it could be a replacement of the golite feather. same weight(except the montbell is 4 inches longer) full length zipper, foot adjuster which i would remove for weight savings, HOOD. and th montbell I think could fit in a BMW small stuff sack instead of a medium. I would probably still put it in a medium, so i would feel more comfortable with the loft compression.

and yes, I love montbell products.

I looked at a trip calculator, and I figured that with my expected time, and about 5days between resupplys, I could afford to have mail drops for ALL of my food. when buying in town, you have no idea the calories, weight, or taste of food your going to get, so ill just stick with bingeing on town days, and not have to worry about buying food for hiking.

I was thinking about getting a ULA Amp pack if thats wht you mean. but I would not have any insulation for under my legs, so if and when I do buy it, it will probably be no more then an extended weekend pack

can anyone tell me some expected temps for different sections of the hike, kevin recomended some cocoon pants for in the cascades. but i dont even have a jacket listed.
I think i have all the insulation listed i will need. except I may add a baselayer pant for the sierras. and definately a jacket/ mabey some pants for in the cascades

[Andrew Richard]

That gear list looks familiar…. I see we have another Andrew Skurka fan here

[Aaron Sorensen]

Hey Ryan,
If you're going to take this list on the PCT, it can really be (nit-picked).

First of all, you have 4 things that go on your head for a 6.5 oz total, or 150% more than the shelter that covers your whole body.

I find my Golite Reed pants work only twice as good as a trash bag unless you're in temps cool enough to not sweat. If you take a better wicking lite bottom thermal layer that will work with the wind pant, you will have a better and warmer and lighter system than the Golite pants.

The Montbell wind pants and jacket are 5.7 oz.
The Thru-hiker pants and shirt I made with the Momentum are 2 oz for pants and 2.2 for the jacket or 4.2 oz.

O.K., that's it. Actually your list looks very good.

[Ryan Faulkner]

Thanks Aaron,
ive been messing with my spreadsheet a bit, and have already ditched the Reed pants. I usually only wear windpants anyway, but i hear it rains quite a bit in washington, so I, have added my Golite C-thru UL tights, and cocoon jacket for the washington leg.

I only counted 3 things on my head. hat, windshirt hood, rain jacket hood. This isint that bad considering I have a hoodless bag, and i dont always wear the rain jacket to bed.

and about the windgear, im not the biggest DIYer, except we it comes to stoves and i cant resist. plus, I love the full zip and hood on the montbell parka.

[Ryan Faulkner]

Yeah, my list dose resemble Andy's.

one reason is because I like his style, have tried it, and it works.

another is because I like the way he set up his spreadsheet, so I copied it.

If you take a good look, alot of the gear choices are different, simply beause he is sponsered, but I admit, I have taken alot of ideas from him.

***Just posted updated gearlist on profile***

[Stuart Burke]

Ryan,

It was interesting to see your gear list because I have done the same thing but I have no idea when I will do the hike.

A couple of comments:

Do you hike in wind pants and tights in cold rainy conditions? If you do how does it work? I find that in temps down to 50 I hike in shorts regardless of the weather but I am not sure what I would do in cold rain that lasted for days at a time. Although if you are done with your hike by september 1st you will probably avoid most of the rain in Washington.

If it were my list I would bring few more platypus containers because I like the ability to carry at least a days worth of water.

I also like the idea of oreos as trail food. They would taste really good towards the end of the day. Although I wonder how they would hold up in the heat of the Mojave.

I would also choose a ULA conduit over a jam. Overall very nice list.

[Ryan Faulkner]

Thats good to hear about the rain in washington, i will probably start in early June and finish in august. ~75-85 days

I dont usually put on the windpants if it is warm enough, or just drizzleing. but if it is cold or raining hard I will put on the wind pants and baselayer (cold) this system wont keep you the driest from the outside, but is breatheable from the inside. and once the storm lets up, it will dry quickly

in the rain you are going to get wet either way
rainpants= hot and sweaty from the inside
windpants= water will seep through from the outside.

but the montbell polkatex finish is more water resistant than others, so it is a great choice for this application.

I have found this to be the most comfortable system for summer rain. In the shoulder seasons and winter, I add a rain pant. or bring my poncho tarp. Im thinking about buying the new montbell versalite pants (6.4oz) wich are more breathable than the golite reed pants, for winter fastpacking

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I have been eating oreos on the trail forever, no problems so far

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I havent really looked at the conduit before now, looks like a great pack. I love the JAM tho, mabey I can convince my dad to get one so I can check it out :P

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anybody know average temps for the different sections of the hike in the summer?
this would really help

[Adam Rothermich]

Hi Ryan,
I was wondering if you had checked out the ULA Rain Wrap. It seems like it would be much more more breathable than rain/wind pants and would be much easier to put on so you might use it more often. Its also really light. It might not be as suitable for winter hiking but for hard summer rain I would think it would be hard to beat. It might also be easy to adapt for the shoulder season too. You might want to take a look at it.

Adam

[Chris Jackson]

> anybody know average temps for the different sections of the > hike in the summer? this would really help

The Western Regional Climate Center is a great resource for the western states.
Lots of historical information on temperature, precipitation, snowpack. Here is a clickable map for climate information in Washington.

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