When I started my hike in Maine in July last year I had already given my gear some thought. A lot of thought, probably bordering on obsession. But it was just “temporary insanity” while I waded through the sea of gear possibilities.
What makes gear choices interesting is that they are interconnected. Will your shelter be a tent, hammock, tarp, bivy? What water purification strategy will you use? How many days of food should you carry? Will you choose synthetic insulation or down? What temperature rating? What clothing? Will you use mail drops and/or a bounce box? How much charging capacity will you need for electronics, based on your resupply schedule? How large of a food storage bag will you need based on your personal food preferences and resupply schedule? So it goes, on and on.
I did my research and made my decisions. And, as it happens, I made a few changes along the way.
I started in Maine with a Hyperlite Mountain Gear Southwest 3400 pack and was endlessly satisfied with this choice. I chose the pack after making the rest of my gear choices. The pack you choose not only determines how much you can carry on your back, but adds its OWN weight to your back as well—so you shouldn’t choose a larger or more featured pack than you need or you’re carrying extra weight for no reason.
How much volume and weight will you be carrying, considering all gear, food carry and water? This is hard to know until you have everything in one place. Determining pack size and features is both art and science. But you aren’t the first person to undertake a long hike—gear lists from other successful thru hikers are invaluable here. In the end, I had plenty of room in my pack and, after a month or two of slowly shedding lesser needed items from my pack, I found it actually oversized. The excess capacity came in handy on occasion, but was mostly unnecessary for a warm season hike. If I could go back in time I might choose the same pack, but in the smaller 2400 (40L) size.
But since I already owned this HMG pack, it didn’t make sense to look at the same one in a slightly smaller size. I took the opportunity to consider downsizing even further—now that prior trail experience might help shave more gear out of my carry. I relooked everything on my list: did I use it? Really need it? Is there a lighter or smaller option to get the same function? The cheapest easiest way to reduce pack weight is to not put something in it. Only carry what you need, not what you’d like to have along, just in case. I myself won’t compromise on safety or comfort. But I have become less accommodating with myself on optional items. I don’t “need” them…
Each decision to leave something home, or exchange it for a smaller, lighter version, is a small step in a virtuous cycle. A lighter carry opens possibilities for smaller and lighter backpacks. And smaller lighter pack means a more enjoyable hike, fewer calories burned, less food carried, less water consumed and carried, and lower risk of sports injury.
So I decided to swap my 2lb HMG pack (already pretty light) for a 0.75lb Z-Packs Nero for the remainder of the hike. I would drop 1.25lb from my pack weight in that change alone. In this swap I give up some padding, a real hip belt, hip belt pockets, and around 25 liters of capacity. These are not insignificant trade offs, but I think I may prefer the new setup, given it helps me lower my base pack weight (all packed items except food, fuel, and water) to under 12lbs. This is a drop of about 4 lbs, or 25%, from my previous 15-16lb base weight. As I get some miles on this pack and setup I will have more thoughts on it.
Some of my recent gear changes:
- Z-packs Nero Backpack (replacing HMG Southwest 3400) saving 20 ounces
- Big Agnes AXL Insulated Mummy Pad (replacing Big Agnes SLX Wide) saving 10 ounces and .75L volume
- Evernew Ultralight .9L Cookset with Trail Designs Sidewinder Stove (replacing Toaks 1.3L Cookset with TD Sidewinder Stove) saving 2 ounces and 0.5L volume
- Dutchware Gear small gear hammock and suspension (remove from pack) saving 6 ounces and 1L
- Reduce bottle sizes for sunscreen, hand sanitizer, insect repellent, soap, etc. saving 2 ounces and 0.5L
- Reduce quantity and size of items in first aid and toiletries saving 2 ounces and .25L
Pre-Hike Gear for April heading SOBO in Northern VA
Things I might change during the remainder of the hike:
- Send hammock home. Use tarp + ground sheet (potential savings of 26 ounces and 3L volume)
- Send down jacket and long pants home once the weather warms up (potential savings of 24 ounces and 3L volume)
So that’s where I am right now. After the hike I will try to post my full pre- and post-hike gear lists for anyone interested.