Minor Gear Questions for 2 Week Long Trail Trip

[Nathan L]

In the past I have been only able to go on a 2 – 3 day backpacking trips due to my work schedule.  This summer I was able to take off 2 weeks to do a longer distance backpacking hike on the 273 mile Long Trail from June 24 – July 9.  I will be resupplied every 6 – 7 days.

I have always had some minor questions that I really never had to ask before due to the short nature of my trips.  Hopefully some of you will be able to give me some insight/advice.

1. Camp Shoes-  I have never carried separate shoes for camp,  but for longer hikes would you want to?  If so what are some light-weight options?
2. Camp Clothes/Layered Clothes-  I have always brought at least a puffy jacket and 1 other base layer and leggings (Smartwool 250g wool).  I also have brought a midlayer in the past.  For my trip the temperature will be highs of 70’s to 80’s and lows of probably 50+ F.  Temperature can drop 10 -15 deg. F while at higher elevations.  I am pretty sure I am going to carry too many clothes.  What do you guys normally bring for camp clothes/layered clothes for warmth (based on summer temps)?  I just figured I could wear my base layer shirt/leggings for camp clothes.

3.  I had somebody suggest ditch the wind jacket and just use your rain jacket as a wind jacket.  This was a good suggestion. I will be using Luke’s Micro10 rain jacket and pants, this should do as a wind jacket right?

4.  Clothing- How much extra clothing do you bring?  On my trips I always brought 1 extra pair of socks for 3 days I never brought a separate hiking shirt or underwear. Should I bring 1 extra hiking shirt, 1 pair of extra socks and 1 extra pair of underwear?

5. Soap- I have had a few people suggest to leave the soap and bath wipes at home.  They do take up space and weight and can agree and wonder is it needed?  Soap would only be for washing clothes and hands sometimes.  Does anybody else carry soap to wash clothes?  At camp I could get a 1 gallon bag put water in it and wash my socks, underwear or something else and hang it to dry.  Am I overthinking this?

6. Bath wipes- Does anybody carry bath wipes to wipe themselves down before they hop into their sleeping bag?  I used bath wipes in the past on a 4 day trip out west and it helped…some…but not great.

I had posted my gear list in the gear list section and some of the advice was, ditch the soap, don’t worry about bath wipes, bring less than 1.5 L of water, ditch some of the layered clothing (in fact ditch the base layers altogether) and don’t bring both rain jacket and wind jacket.  All this advice is incorporated above.  They gave me good advice and now I am trying to figure out if I can ditch the stuff based on other peoples opinions too.

Sorry for all the questions, these are relatively minor but they have been nagging me for a while.

[Lester Moore]

You’re upcoming trip sounds like a lot of fun and a good length trip too. What are your general objectives for the trip? What’s your target base weight (LW, UL?). Are you into hiking most of the day and spending little down time in camp, or do you prefer lots of down time?

Below are my thoughts based on mostly hiking in the West the last 30 years, but growing up back East in Pennsylvania hiking, hunting and backpacking before college. Of course, YMMV, especially depending on your objectives.

1. Camp shoes. Don’t need’em, but if you spend lots of time in camp, you might splurge here. I usually split the difference and carry a 0.5 oz pair of disposable tyvek booties – they last a few weeks and provide minimal by tolerable protection if spending little time in camp.
2. Long pants and a down vest under your rain gear should be fine for those warm temps, unless you’re cold easily.
3. I like a dedicated wind jacket, but in the wooded East in summer, probably not as useful as out West above treeline.
4. I never carry “extra” clothing. If the socks smell, I wash them in a stream and wear them till they dry. An extra pair lets you dry while hiking, but not required. Same goes with undies.
5. Soap – IMHO important for hygiene (after pooping) for your hands.
6. Rinse your face, pits and hair in a stream before bed using your hands – works perfectly.

[Greg Mihalik]

3. A wind shirt, with hood, will be greatly appreciated if bugs are bad. Unless Lukes Micro10 has some serious magic, it (and any other rain shell) is going to be a bit warm to hike in.

5. I’ve never hiked the Long Trail, but 20 mile days in the Winds, Sierra, Colorado, or Arizona leave me filthy. I’m black from my toes to my knees.  While dinner is rehydrating I take a head-to-toe sponge bath with a liter of water and soap in a micro-dropper bottle in about 10 minutes. Soap makes it happen. You will feel better, smell better, and your sleeping bag will fare better.

YMMV

[Nathan L]

@satori

I plan on getting up in the morning, rehydrating food, pack up my camp, get some coffee and hit the trail and hike until dusk approaches and stop in time to setup camp and eat.  If people are around talk for a little bit then go to bed.  I do not plan currently have a plan for scheduled stops for camp yet.  I feel that setting up camp at 4:00 pm in the afternoon when I have 3 hours of hiking I can still do is not the best thing, unless I just want to stop.  In order to finish the Long Trail I have to sustain 20 miles per day for 14 days, which I probably won’t be able to do, the north part of trail gets pretty difficult.  Right now I am shooting for 10 – 12 lbs base weight.  I am currently at 13 lbs. and trying to drop a bit.

@satori

1. I guess I will have to seriously consider if I want to bring camp shoes as long as my plan holds firm to spend as little time as possible in camp.
2. Sometimes I get cold easily, especially if the wind it blowing, but in camp maybe just a puffy jacket will do.  What are your thoughts on bringing seperate clothes to sleep in?
3. Most of the southern half of the Long Trail is below treeline, the northern half is peaks and some ridgelines but still pretty below the treeline, as @greg23 pointed out, rain jackets get warm really fast
4. Noted, thanks for the info
5. I have hand sanitizer too for my hands after pooping (unless I somehow make  mess and soap is needed).  I was thinking about also using soap for a light wash of my socks/undies
6. So you don’t use any bath wipes or anything, just a little water to rinse off or do you use soap too?

@greg23

3.  Thanks, it will be hot on the trail while I am on my trip.  I remember last year it was raining and it had my rain jacket on in 88 deg. weather and I was completely burning up in it.

5. I get dirty all the time.  Another reason to carry soap if I want to clean up a bit.  It seems like everybody so far does not care for bath wipes.

[Ben C]

I concur with Les on all counts, except I do like an extra pair of light socks.  I like to go to bed in clean socks because my hiking socks a truly funky – much more so than the normal funk on the rest of me.  I bandana is good for wiping down at night.

[David Thomas]

I’m not going to search for the link, but someone found super light “shoes” that were cleverly folded foam used in spas for their clients.  An ounce or two for a pair.  If you want to air out your feet once you’re in camp, you could take something like that.  But I never bring camp shoes* – my shoes and socks dry more quickly with body warmth from my feet than if I take them off.

*unless I’m staying in a hut like on some new Zealand’s “Great Walks”.

There’s a decent argument to be made that backpackers suffer more intestinal distress due to poor hygiene than untreated water.  Throughly washing your hands with just water mechanically removes most contamination.  Using soap does more.  Using a alcohol gel kills bacteria on your hands.  The more I’ve thought about it, the more careful I am around sanitation and avoiding hand-to-mouth transmission of nastiness.  i.e. washing after using a cathole AND washing hands before eating.

I don’t like the sticky feeling of my salty legs pressed against each other at night.  So late in the afternoon, before it’s cooled down a lot, with a mile or two left to go, I wipe down my legs with stream water using my bandana or a dollar-bill-sized piece of a backpacker’s towel.  I do that a few times till the rinse water runs clear.  Others might use hands-wipes for that.

[terry a thompson]

I agree with everything suggested above.

But if i know i am going to not have a water source for a few days, then i will carry individually packaged wipes… i don’t want to waist the water i have on getting clean before i get in the sleeping bag. 2 wipes and i can get most of my body sum- what clean.

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

Just curious, but is there a significant difference between a 3 day trip to a 2 week trip?  Clothes-wise, I think that I bring the same gear.  I might ditch some rain gear ONLY if I am sure that the forecast allows for it.  The biggest thing that come to mind is on a short trip, I would splurge for better food that might be a bit heavier.

[Roger Caffin]

Just curious, but is there a significant difference between a 3 day trip to a 2 week trip?
For a single overnighter I could bring less gear, on the theory that I can wear one night of discomfort. But since my pack is so light (little food), I often don’t bother stripping stuff out.

For anything longer, up to a week – standard gear. If it gets longer than that, and some of our walks have been 2+ months long, we take a change of socks and underwear and wash them regularly. I have some photos of Sue’s pack decked out in drying underwear … But NOT in thick scrub!

For some trips in harder country I will add 30 m of light rope and some crabs, but that is the nature of that country. Such trips are rarely longer than 6-7 days: they can be hard work.

Cheers

[BlackHatGuy]

Camp Shoes – I almost always carry camp shoes for anything more than an overnighter. It’s psychological more than anything, but I really like getting out of my hiking shoes and airing my feet out in my camp shoes.

camp/sleeping clothes – i do like a pair of socks used only for sleeping, and if i’m out for a week or more, an extra pair of walking socks. i also generally bring a light silk shirt just for sleeping.

wind jacket – yes. i generally always carry a separate wind jacket – and if it’s warm i’ll often eschew the rain jacket in favor of only carrying a wind jacket since i don’t mind being wet if i’m not cold (unless it’s a driving rain, which is simply no fun at all, regardless of what i’m wearing).

soap in a dropper bottle, yes. i’ll sometimes carry wipes (Dude wipes or Action wipes usually) but not always. but always soap in a dropper bottle (Dr. Bronner’s).

[Nathan L]

Thanks all for your information.  It has been very helpful to see what different people like to and not like to bring along.  I appreciate everybody’s input and it will help me finalize my packing for the trip.

I am hoping to keep my pack weight, including consumables for 6 – 7 days to around 22  – 24 lbs.  I think I am almost there, I just have some tweaking to do on deciding what I need and don’t need on the above mentioned items in my original post.

One good thing about the Long Trail is I pretty much never hurt for water.  I can start with 1 – 1.5 L and generally pass water at least 3 – 4 times per day.  Once I think I past 15 water sources in 12 miles.  Then there was that one time we were in a drought and I didn’t pass a water source for about 10 hours, but that was only once and I learned quickly how much I loved drinking water when I ran out for 5 hours.

[George F]

For water I like to have 2 L capacity. That doesn’t mean I carry that much, they are not usually full. But that does give me enough for a comfortable dry camp; dinner, drinking water, breakfast and a couple of hours into the next day. If you are on a serious mileage schedule it is nice not to have to stop and camp at a water source. Even being able to go one or two miles farther in a day can really add up when you are trying to hit a goal.

[Erica R]

For camp shoes you can remove your insoles, then hold them to your feet with a pair of cheap socks which will wear out while walking around camp. If you want to go lighter weight yet, simply remove the insoles from your hiking shoes while in camp. Gives a whole different feel, but you can still go to the stream or hang your food.

I carry long johns to sleep in; they keep the expensive sleeping bag clean, and are warm and comfortable to sleep in.  They are good for hanging out in camp when it is colder, too. If the weather turned much colder I could use them while hiking, but so far I’ve always removed them during the first hour of walking.

I always carry liquid soap. REI has some little 1 fl oz containers… you don’t need much. Less than 1 oz in weight. I also carry shampoo, which I use every 3 or so days. Makes a world of difference for me.

I have a dedicated pair of socks for sleeping too. If my feet are warm, I am warm. I guess you are seeing my sleeping bag is quite lightweight, so the long johns and sleep socks and hat are quite useful at night. But, I hike at high elevations in California. I remember camping out in Florida during the winter and using a thin “sheet” most nights. No place for long johns there. I imagine Vermont in the summer to be much like Florida in the winter.

I don’t much like carrying water. Pretty much never over 1/2 liter, if the streams are flowing. If I get thirsty, a sip of apple cider vinegar perks me up until I get to the next stream. I think I can get away with not carrying much water because of the RealLemon dry lemonade packets. When I mix these into the water bottle water, I can really tank up. It’s like I am inhaling it.

[Nathan L]

<p class=”bbp-user-nicename”>@erica_rcharter-net</p>

@Erica_rcharter-net

Curious, what does apple cider vinegar do for you?  I will have to look into RealLemon dry lemonade packets, I never thought about that, I carry Gatorade powder for the evening at camp, but it would be nice to have lemonade flavored water too in a bottle.

I have a 1 or so bottle that I put my Wilderness wash soap into, I figured that would last 7 days, since I would only be using 1 drop at a time.

[James Marco]

Nathan, I do two and three week hikes all the time. Usually at least one three week trip per year and one or two 2 week trips along with several one week trips and less.
Camp Shoes- Sometimes. It depends on the terrain. Sometimes I have to carry a super light (like 4-5oz) pair of boat shoes because I beat my feet up so bad on rocks and boulders.
Camp Clothes/Layered Clothes- Yes. I plan all my layers to take me down to about 20F or so while moving and about 32F while sleeping. Note that this is *comfort*. I can survive much lower temps but I rarely get caught. Long johns, hiking shirt, pants, 1 set of underwear. 2-pair of socks, down sweater, rain jacket. I add a sweater and another set of long johns in spring/fall. Summer, I don’t bother.

Ditch the wind jacket. Anytime I needed a wind jacket was because the wind was cold. The rain jacket works well to hold in heat. If it is too warm, unzip it or take it off. Does virtually the same job.

Clothing- How much extra clothing do you bring? None to as little as possible. In cooler weather, rain storms, wet terrain, etc, I like to change my socks out for dry ones. I *never* sleep in the socks I hiked in, rather have a knee length set of socks for sleeping, that, in a pinch, I *could* use.

Soap- I bring a tiny 1/4oz dropper bottle of ivory soap. No more than one or two drops is enough to clean out oily foods from my pot. I just use my bandana for cleaning up every day. I rinse my cloths out whenever I get a chance, rinse twice.. But, it is OK to smell bad. Just wash off your privates every day. Then rinse the bandana out. Generally, you cannot catch anything you do not already have from yourself. Diseases are social.

Bath wipes- Not needed. Most of the time I just wet my bandana down, do my face, armpits, and groin. Brush my teeth, then rinse my bandana out twice as I wash my hands. Been doing this for close to fifty years with no problems. All with about a cup of water…

[Nathan L]

@jamesdmarco,

Thanks for all that information.   When you are washing yourself down you are just wetting a bandana or towel and using water??  Or do you use your ivory soap?  In the past I used bath wipes, but it seemed to me they didn’t do a very good job and it left a residue and residual smell I didn’t like at all.  It kind of made me feel sticky after using them.

Since it will be summer I am going to ditch my mid-layer and probably only bring my long johns for camp clothes and a light puffy jacket (looking at the Montbell Plasma 1000) and during an extreme weather shift I could wear my long john top for hiking, the chances of that happening are extremely small though.  I am debating on whether I want to bring 1 extra set of socks for sleeping or 2 and be able to switch out hiking socks and wash/rinse one pair and have a sleeping pair.

I am carrying a 1 oz. dropper for soap in case I wanted to actually wash a shirt, socks or underwear, I am unsure of whether this is needed.   I will probably only bring 1 hiking shirt and maybe switch to my long johns and wash my hiking shirt if I want.The only other thing I would use soap for would be hand washing.

[James Marco]

“When you are washing yourself down you are just wetting a bandana or towel and using water??”
Just water, no soap. It kind’a depends on how much water is around. I have hiked dry areas where all I could afford was a half cup, not really enough but possible. In the ADK’s where I usually hike, I usually bring my pot down to help wash up, and/or, stand in the many small streams up there and wet myself down. Then I step out and scrub of the worst of the stuff with the bandana and rinse with the pot of water. Then I go back in and rinse off again, filling my pot for supper. Canoeing on lakes or up larger rivers is easy, I just go swimming for 2-3 minutes. Usually every day, sometimes every other day unless it is raining.

Socks, I usually have three pair, but only two are for hiking. I try to rinse one pair out, hang both pair each evening. Hiking socks are alternated. If you don’t, the dirt, sand, grit and other trail debris can cause both foot problems, blisters, and excessive wear in your socks. For sleeping, these can go quite a while, I count these as long johns, though. No hiking in them means no hot sweaty socks. IFF, I can get good dry day, I may rinse them a couple times in any leftover mornng water. Again, I only use soap to clean out my cooking pot/spoon (only because it cuts oils *much* faster.)

The only thing besides pot/spoon I have used soap on is my underwear. On the Long Trail, it can get hot and sweaty with all the climbs. (Hell, even the downs can be work at times.) It pays to rinse them out most every night along with my hiking shirt, but, especially after a hot sweaty day. I may use one or two drops on them *after* I have soaked them for a minute or so. Not strictly necessary, I guess, but nylon dries quick anyway. Synthetics do *not* hold the amount of water/oils as cotton does. They need more times cleaning to stay less smelly.

I rarely wash my hands specifically, rinse them off & dry them. Again, no soap. You cannot catch anything from yourself. Social areas can make you sick and I pay particular attention around lean-to’s and other shelters. I avoid shaking hands or touching other people or their items. Then I use a drop of soap. I *always8 come back with 3/4 of a 1/4oz bottle still full, though. The d@mn bottle weighs more than the soap! Use it however you will, an ounce is a LOT.

[Roger Caffin]

We try to jump in the river/creek every night and wash. If there is enough water, we may also wash our socks. If they are not dry by the morning – tough. Who cares?

(Kowmung R, Nov/17)

Cheers

[Valerie E]

Honestly, doing the LT in late June-July, I think the blackflies/mosquitoes will be the toughest part (and will make hanging around in camp a lot less attractive!).

Not sure whether you plan to stay at the LT shelters or hammock/tent, but if you’re staying mostly at shelters, it could reduce the need for camp shoes. OTOH, if you’re planning to take a few zeros in towns, camp shoes are nice to have.

I like to have camp/sleep clothes/socks that are relatively clean (I don’t hike in them); remember that if you’re staying in shelters in prime hiking season, you will rarely have privacy.

I also recommend using a bandanna for some brisk body washing in streams, but I like to keep a few wipes with me, for use after bathroom trips, and also for times when I arrive in camp during rain. I agree that they leave a residue, but still better than nothing to clean up inside the tent when it’s raining.

I do bring a teeny dropper bottle with camp soap, and use it to wash hands after…

The SUL flip flops mentioned by @davidinkenai can be found here (not sure they come in very large sizes, though…), and they would leave your feet very exposed to those swarming bugs!

And don’t forget the permethrin…ticks!

 

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