Gear List- Long Trail 3+ Days

[Nathan L]

Hi all,

After 4 years I think I have my gear list down to exactly where I want it, but I wanted some more experienced people to look at it.

https://www.lighterpack.com/r/g3lvql

This is a 3 day list, but after 3 days all that is added is 1 – 1.5 lbs. of food per day (after 5 days will be closer to 1.5 lbs.).

I have not exactly finalized the packing yet, but you can see I have quite a few Cuban fiber bags, they will probably be packed up in fewer bags than seen on my list.

Just really looking for any areas I can improve upon, I want to do a 7 – 14 day hike next summer on the Long Trail here in Vermont.

Also, just wanted to state, I have a full puffy jacket, I hate vests (no clue why, but I do) something about my arms being covered :)

Thanks in advance!

[Jeremy W]

Just with a quick scan of your gearlist you can lose a few things. You almost certainly won’t need the baselayers for a summer trip and you definitely wouldn’t need two tops. You also don’t need that much water capacity. I’m assuming the weight is wrong on the gallon ziplocks but you certainly don’t need that many. I wouldn’t bring both a rain jacket and a wind jacket. I wouldn’t bother with soap or bath wipes. Even if you wash up you’re just putting your sweaty clothes back on. I’d keep the hand sanitizer as it can come in handy when the esbit tabs get difficult to light.

The best advice I can give is to just go out and see what gear you use and eliminate stuff you don’t need. I started off with a circuit on the AT trimmed down to an arc blast for the PCT and ended up using a quickstep for most of the CDT. The more experience you get the easier you can adapt your gearlist to what YOU find comfortable.

[Nathan L]

Thanks Jeremy for the reply,

Sorry I didn’t respond sooner, the subscribe email got stuck in spam folder.

I need to update this list again because I just got vacation approved to thru-hike (or as far as I can go) for 15 days from June 24 – July 9, 2018.

I generally do not carry 3 layers for warmth on trips and I guess it depends on the forecast, although sometimes it gets colder on the ridgelines, I generally subtract 20 deg. when planning for multiple nights. It is hard to forecast 2 weeks out.  In the 4 years I have been backpacking I don’t think I have used all layers at one time.

I have tested most the equipment., I don’t carry soap normally because I eat out of a bag and just boil water in my water in my pot, but with a 2 week trip I am not sure if soap would come in handy or not?  I was thinking about bringing bath wipes simply so I could wipe down before I get in my sleeping bag at night, maybe other people don’t do this?

Do you just use the rain jacket as a windbreaker and leave the windbreaker at home?

I should be able to update my list to 14 days soon.  I see a lot of people carry camp shoes as well, and I have been debating whether to carry a pair or not.

On the 2 week trip I will carry 5 – 7 days of food and get resupplied in the middle and towards the end of the trip.

The most I have backpacked at one time in a couple days due to work, so some items, as you have pointed out could be left at home.

[Zac]

Thanks for posting your list! Me personally can’t see anything that hasn’t been mentioned. I’m actually going through lists that were posted and comparing them to mine to see what I can get rid of and get ideas from more experienced people. That being said I had to look up toothpaste dots…and I’m going to make them and try them out.

[Link .]

Zac, if you go to your thread with your gear list and look at the links Ken T gives to my links on articles and videos on how to save weight it has all that information there including the toothpaste dots or toothpaste tablets you can buy and where to get all these things, it also includes peoples gear lists, at least check out Mike Clelland’s videos.

[Nathan L]

I was going to make my own toothpaste dots, but I found some on Amazon while I was buying some other stuff so I just added them to my order to see how they are.  They worked pretty good, but making your own is easy enough from what I have seen.

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