My Work In Progress Philmont Personal Packing List

[Brad P]

Good point, Jay.  I’ll drop it back in the luxuries category.

[Bruce Tolley]

RE: Sandals.  The Philmont policy requires a closed toe.

RE: to take Fleece, wind jacket, and puffy

I doubt you will need the fleece and the puffy during the day.  The only way to test this as part of your sleep system for you high camps would be to actually use them in something approximating the expected conditions.  Perhaps there will be some 30 degree nights in you rbackyard the next couple of weeks?

That being said, I would probably keep the puffy and leave the fleece at home.  The only advantage of a fleece is that you can wear it under a pack and it still insulates since it does not compress. I borrowed a leave from Ray Jardine’s Beyond Backpacking and I took a wool LS base layer top and a synthetic base layer LS top, and there were one or two mornings I had both on for the first hour of hiking.  But most mornings I just wore a LS nylon hiking shirt. I personally find water resistant wind shirts very useful and will wear mine as long as possible during wind and rain even when hiking in Scotland before changing into my Goretex hardshell.

If you really want to go minimalist, you take either the windshirt or the nylon LS hiking shirt.

Luxury item: Yes on chair or at the very least a sit pad.  I used my Thermarest inflatable seat as both a sit pad and a pillow.

[Jeffrey Peters]

Bruce Trolley can you please provide the site for the closed toe shoes requirement for  camp shoes. Maybe it’s changed but I called Philmont in early 2017 and asked if closed toes where required for camp shoes. They said  sandals would be fine but they would recommend wearing socks.

[Bruce Tolley]

hey Jeffrey

I was reporting how Philmont leadership interpreted the Guide to Adventure when I went to Philmont

Current text from the 2019 on Page 19 reads as follows:
<div class=”page” title=”Page 19″>
<div class=”layoutArea”>
<div class=”column”>

“You will also need a pair of sturdy lightweight, closed toe shoes for use around camp and occasionally when hiking without your pack. These will also be used when rock climbing, biking, and potenially crossing streams. Sandals are not recommended but can be used in campsites only. For more ps on choosing boots and footwear visit http://www.ToothOfTimeTraders.com.”  The solution for some folks in my crew was to bring closed toe sandals. Others brought water shoes.

Personally, I do not see any functional advantage of wearing socks with sandals. A closed toe does mitigate bashing the front of your foot against a rock or stump.This is BackpackingLight and backpackers should be able to get by with one pair of breathable mesh shoes for the whole trek. Also IMO, you do not need to change shoes for river crossings, since a mesh trail running show or mid boot will dry out in time. And given the number of stream crossings in many itineraries, waiting for folks to change shoes just wastes time. The adult leader is responsible for safety. I personally not allow open sandals in camp.

Cheers

</div>
</div>
</div>

[Brad P]

I recommended Crocs or the Water Shoes I posted earlier in this posting for our crew.  I’ll teach them that we’re not changing shoes at crossings.  I’m taking those sandals but just for sitting around camp to air out my feet.  Wearing socks would be counterproductive for that and of course they provide no protection.

[Author]

Posts