been a while, planning a backpacking trip, need some gear….

[Matt McEwen]

Hello.  I’ve mainly been car camping or packing in not more than a couple of miles for the last few years because of young kids.  I’m recently divorced and I want to treat myself to a backpacking trip late this summer.

My current gear consists of

Granite gear Vapor Trail pack – several years old – love this pack, but I’ve never been out for more than a couple of nights with it.  I’m wondering how long I could go out for with it. thoughts?

bag – marmot – never summer 15 degree or never winter 30 degree – not the best down bags I know but its what I have

pad – big agnes air core 24x66x2.5

water treatment – drops – thoughts?

cook set – titanium pot/lid, titanium long handled spoon

stove – aluminum beer bottle alcohol type, corrugated aluminum wind screen

So, I need a tent and some new foot wear.  I’m thinking a lightweight synthetic/mesh shoe or boot.  For a tent I’m looking at the Tarptent ‘Notch”, but I am definitely open to suggestions

I worry about the alcohol stove in colder conditions….30-40 degrees.  May just need to load it a little heavy for extra warm up time? thoughts?

I’m looking at maybe going to Colorado or Washington state in mid September.  Nothing too wild.  I’ll probably stay go to a national park, Mt. Ranier or Rocky Mountain.  I’m open to suggestions on that too.  I don’t want to bee too high.  I’m not prepared for that.  I’m fine with mid to lower elevations.  I just want to get out there and have an adventure.  Course I could stay local and spend a week on the Appalachian Trail, but I want to do it up, you know.

Any thoughts on the current gear I am using and what I need for the type of trip I am planning is much appreciated.

Matt

 

 

 

[Link .]

Is your pack 59 liters ? If so, wow that is plenty big a lot bigger than I normally carry. Here is a LINK to a whole bunch of info links I have posted for people including how to do it cheap. I see it have been almost 7 years since you have posted so welcome back, also keep an eye out for bargains in the gear swap section.

[Matt McEwen]

3600 ci.  That sounds right.  Yes I think once I get a tarp tent or similar I should have more than enough space for a good long trip.

 

Will poke around a bit thanks

[David Thomas]

The pack looks fine for now.  Big, but you can snug it up closer to your back.  2 lbs 5 oz isn’t great but is pretty good and you can fine tune the rest of your gear and later select a smaller, lighter pack later.

Get a BRS-3000T canister stove off of eBay or GearBest for $11.  Because everyone should have a canister stove as an option when you don’t want to play with alcohol.  Nothing is lighter (25g) or smaller (about two mini Bics in volume).

Use the sleeping bags you have but start using them as quilts to see if that works for you (I prefer it).  If so, quilts are lighter and more compact than comparable sleeping bags.

Chemical treatment (drops or tablets) is an light, easy and cheap way to get started.  After a few trips and better sense of when/where/how long you’ll be going, you could consider the sawyer filter or a Steripen.  Even then, I bring a few tablets as back-up.

The Notch is a reasonable option.  Pretty light.  Not as expensive as some others.

Trail running shoes that fit you well and give you plenty of room in the toe box could be the biggest improvement to your comfort and miles if you haven’t done that before.  Try several different brands in a size that doesn’t let your toes touch anything while standing on a  30-degree ramp (real outdoors stores have such a ramp for trying on shoes) and that doesn’t slip at the heel as you walk around the store.  Typically, one company’s idea of a man’s foot will be closer to yours and many of their models will fit you similarly.  I grab the shoe in the toe and the heel and see how much I can twist it along its long axis.  I can wear anything for 10-15 miles a day, but over 20-30-40 miles, I need a shoe that resists twisting over rocks and roots.  After that, I want as light and as much cushioning as I can get.

[Matt McEwen]

Ok so turns out my pack is a meridian vapor.  Looks identical though. Maybe a little smaller.

So how do the quilts work. You jst use it as a blanket and your pad keeps your back side warm correct? So how do i use my sleeping bag as a quilt.  Can i modify my sleeping bag to be a quilt at some point if i like it? Like literally cut it and then hem?

ill check out the gear mentioned and the links.  Thanks.

[David Thomas]

A quilt has no bottom to it.  And no zipper.  Often it has a foot box.  Some have small straps or loops to secure it a little more to your sleeping pad.  I don’t use those, myself.  Some Big Agnes ones have slip-in pockets for your sleeping pad.

Yes, to test-drive the quilt concept, leave a sleeping pad unzipped, on top of you.  Your sleeping pad provides the insulation under you normally, anyway (synthetic fill and especially down compresses under your weight).

I like how light the quilt is on me.  I like that it doesn’t get wrapped around my legs.  One downside is that, yes, before you learn to unconsciously reposition yourself, an arm / leg / butt cheek can get exposed and you’ll have to recover it. OTOH, in a sleeping bag, I’ll sometimes rouse to deal with the tight bag or being too warm, etc and have to rouse more to deal with a zipper or twisted bag than semi-consciously wiggling a bit more into or out of the quilt.

Yes, if you find you prefer quilts, you could cut your sleeping pad down and resew it (or have someone resew it).  If you re-use all the down in less area, you’ll under with a somewhat over-packed quilt, which some people order as an option on their quilts.  Removing the zipper and baffle is some of the savings.  When trimming it down, I’d suggest temporarily closing the cut with package sealing tape and taking a few inches at a time so you don’t go too far.    You could even secure 2-4 inches back against the main body so if you have “gone too far”, it is reversible.

Side sleepers and big people need more width in their quilt.  I found the more I used quilts, the better a narrow one worked, because I’d unconsciously stay under it better and reposition myself without fully waking.

[Link .]

. HERE is one way to attach a quilt to your sleeping pad, you don’t have to attach you quilt but it depends on the person and the weather and each quilt is different on how you attach it depending on who made it, I suggest you start watching the Mike Clelland videos on my links, but you will find a lot of very good info in the other links also.

[Greg Deitrick]

For water treatment the Sawyer Squeeze filter with the Sawyer cleaning coupling makes the most sense to me.  I use one 1.25 quart  and one 16 or 20 oz re-purposed Diet Coke bottles.  The large bottle is for unfiltered water; the smaller for filtered water and backflushing with the cleaning coupling.

The Squeeze version with just the 16 oz bag, straw and backflush syringe isn’t very expensive and can sometimes can be found discounted.  Walmart has products in quart size bottles.

I found adventurealan.com a helpful reference also.

[Link .]

The new Katadyn Beefree filter has been getting very good reviews  HERE and a better flow rate than the Sawyer for $25

[Link .]

Katydyn and sawyer mini VIDEO , looks promising

[Matt McEwen]

The befree filter is on the wishlist as is the brs-300t.  Ill stick with drops and my alcohol stove for now.

Last night i took the plunge and ordered the mountainsmith lightweight mountain shelter. Every review i found was very positive.  Ill probably get a bug bivy at some point for Ga camping whe the bugs are bad.

got new base layers, new poles, socks, and a wind shirt also.  In a couple of weeks ill get a new pair of trail runners or light boots and i should be close to all set.

Need to settle on a place to go.  Really want to hit washington or northern Ca but potential rain has me nervous.  I dont want to test new gear in potentially wet conditions.  Maybe the rockies? Minnesota?   So many choices…

 

[Greg Deitrick]

In Minnesota there is a trail along Lake Superior from Duluth to I think the Canadian border.  Back in the day I did some scuba diving in the lake just north of Split Rock Lighthouse.  The whole north shore is very pretty.  I recall lots of mosquitoes in & around the Twin Cities and would expect similar throughout most of the state (Land of 10,000 mosquito-breeding lakes) but maybe they aren’t so bad right off the lake.  Along the south shore biting black flies can be a problem.  Fronkey at hammockforums I think frequents this trail.

I also just ordered a floorless shelter.  I’m considering taping together a bivy out of polycryo (Duck brand window film, ordered from Walmart) for the bottoms/sides and noseeum netting for the top.  My plan is to try my gear in the back yard when a storm comes through.

[windsor ak]

The long trail in Northern Minnesota is the Superior Hiking Trail. There are a few other trails in Minnesota but not much that is long distance.

shta.org

Shugemery has lots of trip reports about this trail on his YouTube channel.

By September the mosquitos start to subside.

Living in Minnesota it’s my go to trail but my preference is to head West to the Rockies even if it means having to drive across North Dakota, South Dakota, or Nebraska.

[Author]

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