Almost SUL gear list from the AZT this year

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

I hiked the AZT and this was my non-minimalist list: https://lighterpack.com/r/v21xxx. 7.23lbs/3.28kg.

I started March 19 of this year. I went home for a month in the middle to wait for snow to melt and finished June 5. I had gear and town clothes for a thru-hike of 800 miles starting end of winter. I experienced frost the first half and rain both halves.

I made a gear change between the two halves. In the beginning I carried a bivy sack and the heavier Pa’lante pack. I wanted to try out the bivy and I really liked it for cowboying. In the second half I sent the bivy sack home because it rained frequently. I used the Nashville pack instead. I wanted to try the Nashville pack and I really liked the big pocket you can reach into while wearing. I prefer the Pa’lante bottom pocket to Nashville’s. I can’t reach into the Nashville bottom pocket because of how it rests against my back, and it is small.

I had a lot of layers and was always comfortable. Zero suffering. I honestly don’t know why anyone thinks you can’t be comfortable and light.

I cold soaked food and sent boxes from home. The metal cup was for scooping water when food was soaking in the jar. It nests perfectly on the outside of the jar. Glad I had it.

The emergency poncho was something I found on Amazon. It has sleeves and thicker plastic than the usual kind. It held up. It usually rained at night and several times if it rained during the day I could stand under a tree for a few minutes and wait. I only needed the poncho twice.

The best thing ever is the Timmermade jacket. It keeps me warmer than any other jacket I have and it’s very light.

[Sam Haraldson]

I think a seven-ish pound gearlist for hiking just about anywhere that it gets even remotely cold is pretty dang good.  But the real gold is this on your gearlist: “Town clothes / sue me”!

[Monte Masterson]

Excellent UL pack weight  Getting under 5 lbs is impossible when facing below freezing temperatures…at least if you still want to remain safe and comfortable.

All of your big 4 items are definitely SUL. ZPacks bags/quilts are pretty much unbeatable in terms of warmth to weight ratio. And the ccf foam only sleeping pad is spartan, but if you’re comfortable with it you can obviously take advantage of its multi-use qualities, like using it for sitting around camp and adding pack structure. Of course no worries about leakage and a failed (flat) air mat.

What kind of bivy did you use? Did it have bug netting covering the head?  With your sewing skills I’d think you might consider making a net tent for the Pocket Tarp that could also be set up by itself cowboy style. It would weigh just a couple ounces more than the bivy but you’d have and lots more space along with a waterproof floor for the tarp. The SMD Serenity net tent fits a Pocket Tarp perfectly but it’s heavy at 11 oz. You could make a copy with uberlight floor material along with .50 netting and come in around 8 oz. Just a thought. You’d lose the added warmth a bivy provides though.

 

[Dan]

Looks like you really have your gear dialed in. Congrats on a successful and enjoyable through-hike.

[todd]

You rocked this one!  Do you sometimes (still) use the Sea to Summit Nano net?

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

I have used the Nano net only once and I didn’t like it. It tangles up as it brushes against your clothes and it sags and doesn’t hang well because it is off-center and a Pocket tarp is centered. I have made a net using tulle netting instead. I did not bring the net on the AZT because I wanted to try out the bivy. I realized later that I can probably set up my floorless hexamid net free of my Pocket tarp. I might have to add a little reinforcement patch at the peak first.

The bivy I had was an old Equinox bivy like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Equinox-Ultralite-Mummy-Bivi-Sleeping/dp/B001OPJVN2 I modified it by sewing a half-moon shaped bit of noseeum into the face area, along with adding a zipper. The problem with this bivy is my hips are too big when I lie on my side and my body caused the bivy to compress my sleeping bag which made me freeze. So I modified it again by cutting an opening down the center and adding a sheet of noseeum. Almost the whole top is noseeum now. There are loops to tie the bivy at the top zipper and near the bottom edge of the noseeum, which is what that bright yellow blob of unused line is. I really liked the bivy. It was a lot warmer inside than without, even when I woke up covered in frost.

[Axel J]

I noticed the Senchi Hood and Timmermade puffy. Is that the hooded pullover hoodie or just a head piece and did you wear it under the Timmermade?

[Thom]

I changed the nano net center point to work with pocket tarp

thom

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

I think I put the word “hood” next to my Senchi because I was tallying up all the items that have hoods. It’s a regular Senchi.

Moving the center of the Nano is a good idea. I found the Nano to be kind of fragile. Mine sprang a huge hole in it that I don’t even remember causing and I only used it on one trip.

[AK Granola]

I would be very uncomfortable with your setup, but that’s ok – works for you! And it’s good to consider what I could do without, always.

[JVD]

Thanks for the inspiration. 2 questions: What is the Sharpie for?

And a bit off-topic, but … your favorite cold-soak meals?

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

The Sharpie is for hitchhiking signs or addressing packages at the post office. Came in real handy because the North Kaibab trail was closed. I did a down and up overnighter and then hitched to the other side.

I made all my own food and packaged it with a vacuum sealer.

Cold soak meals on this trip:

• Oats – Oats, dates, pepitas, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds, protein powder, collagen powder, peanut butter.
• Chicken cous-cous – Dehydrated Costco chicken, cous-cous, pine nuts, sundried tomatoes, Italian spices (or a little of the seasoning that comes with the pine nut flavor cous-cous in a box), add olive oil at the time it is eaten. This was pretty good.
• Mexican – Dehydrated pinto beans, store-bought dehydrated refried beans, dehydrated frozen corn/black bean/red bell pepper mixture, dehydrated feta cheese (cheddar cheese messes up the dehydrator), taco seasoning, add hot sauce at the time it is eaten. I didn’t like this one very much. I didn’t like the taco seasoning and it stains my jar.
• Spam misubi bowl – Dehydrated cooked sushi rice, dehydrated seasoned kombu rice topping, add Spam single, egg flavored furikake rice topping and sesame oil at the time it is eaten. This was the best one.

I also sent myself Ivan bars, That’s It bars, protein cookies and bought Oreos and other stuff like that at local stores.

[JVD]

Thanks for both answers. The sign gets right to the point. :-) And the misubi bowl sounds tasty and different from my usual cold soaks.

[Author]

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