TENT, SLEEPING BAG AND STOVE SUGGESTIONS.

Sleeping bag. I'm going to suggest a TWO BAG strategy. I would get one good quality UL down bag, rated to 35-40 degrees or so, something like a Western Mountaineering HighLite. Also a synthetic quilt, also in the 35-40 degree range (Enlightened Equipment Prodigy, maybe?) One or the other *or both* will get you comfortably through all of your climates and conditions.

With this set-up, you'll have a back-up in case one gets wet or damaged. Also, I'm going to guess that you may want to wash them at some point in your journey. Washing and drying a 0-degree down bag on the road will be a daunting exercise; a 40deg synthetic quilt will be much more manageable.

I think you're also going to want some sort of lightweight liner. One that's easily washable and quick-drying. Not really for warmth, but mostly to keep your bags cleaner.

Tent. I would personally choose a smallish 2-person tent, either double-wall or mostly so. I think the REI Quarter Dome is a great suggestion. If I had to choose one tent from among the ones I own to live in for a year, I would choose my MSR Hubba Hubba.

Stove and cookware. I would try to find a contact in SA who can talk to you about what kind of fuels can be found there. For instance, I communicated with 'Cafenet El Sol' in Costa Rica about hiking in Corcovado. You cannot fly with any kind of fuel, so whatever you choose, you're going to have to buy fuel at the destination.

I would start with a 1L lidded pot, small frypan (6-7") and a GSI kettle. You won't find freeze-dried foods on the road, so you'll need to be able to actually cook. You seem focused on sleeping bags but I think the food aspect is going to be the biggest challenge you have.

Tent-> Eureka Timberline

Pack-> Kelty external frame

Sleeping bag-> Frostline DIY bag

Stove-> SVEA 123

Cookset-> Sigg Tourist

OOPS! Wrong century. Never mind…

Water filter is easy. Get a sawyer squeeze, light, portable, gets rid of almost everything, fits any commercial disposable water bottle, will last the whole trip, and it's cheep. The only thing it won't take care of is viruses. If you are worried about those, add some aqua chlorine dioxide tablets (such as aqua mira) or boil.

I like the 2 sleeping bag idea, but after seeing your temperature ranges, I think you'd still be fine with one good synthetic bag plus the warmest liner you can find. Same idea either way, layering for options and maximum washability.

The more I think about the stove, the more I agree that you probably need something that can handle multiple fuels. The MSR Dragonfly, while a bit heavier, is bombproof and will burn just about any flammable liquid, include widely available gasoline and diesel.

As to pots and pans, think about what you'll need. A pot to cook in, and maybe a small frying pan, a cup, a bowl, a spoon and fork and knife (I know! SUL people, but a year is a long time with no fork). The snowpeak titanium stuff is pretty bombproof, sets here:

http://www.rei.com/b/snow-peak/c/cooksets?pagesize=90&ir=category%3Acookware-and-dinnerware&r=category%3Acamping-and-hiking|camp-kitchen|cookware-and-dinnerware|camp-cookware|cooksets%3Bb%3Bfv20%3ATitanium&rx=true

Oh, and I'm still saying get a cheap closed cell sleeping pad…dirt cheap, light, and indestructible.

>> Oh, and I'm still saying get a cheap closed cell sleeping pad…dirt cheap, light, and indestructible.

I agree, if you can manage to sleep comfortably on one. If not, I would still consider a combination of a closed cell form pad plus a lightweight inflatable. Again, good to have a back-up plus a CCF pad is just really handy to have.

This thread leaves me with so many questions but I will restrain myself to only one.

Why is someone planning an 18 month trip to places they have never been with gear they have never used for an activity they have never done (backpacking) and doing it alone? I haven't read every single post (and have not seen the past thread) but I must be really missing something here.

At this point the OP would be better served using google because there is much more that needs to be learned that this thread will not provide. Typing inverted canister stove into the "search box" at REI means there is sooooooo much left to learn. Oh and like I said earlier, backpacking every weekend would help.

I might sound like a bore but I actually really love stuff like this. I'm only 23 and have something similar (but shorter) planned for next year actually. I just love them so much more when I know people will be prepared and safe on their journey. Maybe the OP has more outdoors experience than I understand but I'm just going by what I am reading here.

I am hoping this trip is really far from now. Like 6 months to a year at least.

I'll show myself to the door now… please continue.

And if you just want links, here's a near perfect bag for you, the Marmot Cloudbreak 20 (also comes in a 30 model), about as light as non-down gets:

http://marmot.com/products/details/cloudbreak-20

And here's a tent or two:

http://www.rei.com/product/827809/rei-passage-1-tent

http://www.rei.com/product/845852/marmot-eos-1-tent

http://www.rei.com/product/862421/rei-quarter-dome-1-tent

Oh, I agree. She seems underprepared and underknowledgable. But she'll probably live, and learn a lot in the process.

When I was 27 I got a huge backpack that cost $20 from one of those "sidewalk luggage sales", loaded it with 70 pounds, and spent the next 9 month hitchhiking and hiking and riding trains around the US. I lived. I knew little.

By the time a settled down again, I learned:

-My boots were awesome (Asolo, love and miss those boots!), the only gear I'd buy again the trip.

-Eureka actually makes good, durable tents.

-How to sew. My backpack, as awful as it was, was in better shape when I got home.

-People are kind, and will help you out more than you would expect. A meal here, a place to sleep on the coldest day there.

-The human body adapts. Sleeping outside every night and hiking miles a day with a heavy load, I got in better shape and my senses became much more heightened.

-No place on Earth is colder than the outside of a train car passing through the peaks of the Rocky Mountains in February.

Anyway, I'm not saying don't prepare and that learning beforehand isn't useful, BUT I am saying that people set out to adventure long before the internet existed, that people live and eat just fine in Latin America and will provide help and knowledge we can't foresee, that the best tool is the brain, which will help to adapt and learn, and that some people learn best through experience. And we all learn more from our mistakes than our prepared successes.

Exactly. This is why I recommend Jennifer's recommendation of hostels (which have been great IME) to explore the region.

I am the first person to tell you the danger of international travel is overblown here in the US. That said, it is a LOT different than traveling here in many ways. In my (limited) time in Central and South America, as a large 6'2 male I would still hesitate to travel through the region alone. As a woman I would never consider it. I agree that people are inherently good in my experience. Until you run into a group that aren't.

The "She'll probably live" part is what concerns me. There are certain areas in these regions that are not safe for foreigners and I just hope she has put much more effort into the research of her trip than her gear.

P.S. I am glad you had a great time and would love the opportunity to do something similar in the future.

>>>Anyway, I'm not saying don't prepare and that learning beforehand isn't useful, BUT I am saying that people set out to adventure long before the internet existed, that people live and eat just fine in Latin America and will provide help and knowledge we can't foresee, that the best tool is the brain, which will help to adapt and learn, and that some people learn best through experience. And we all learn more from our mistakes than our prepared successes.

My first trip, EVER, was 1,500 miles by bike around the Northeast. 22 y.o.

I'm 24 now and probably less smart, but I'm having more fun. "Carry less, be more" also applies to forgetting essentials and making due. Even the worst crisis is solvable with a human brain in your kit list.