To keep my mind off the fact that I am freaking out about all the little details I have to take care of, I have decided to talk about my gear and post pictures!
BIG FOUR:
PACK - Osprey Exos 48 Liter - smallOriginally this was not the pack that I wanted, but picked it up at a REI garage sale for a really great price. It is a little heavier than I would like but hoping it will work. The upper lid could be left off, but I kinda like the extra pocket space it provides. Once I'm ready to go I may cut off some of the unnecessary extras to lighten it a bit. I do wish the 2 pockets on the hip belt were a bit bigger. If I get my sewing machine running I may make some changes. My favorite feature so far is the mesh back support that keeps the pack away from you back and allows ventilation.
Great tent, very popular on the trail. I had planned on going with a tarp tent that was a bit lighter and even cheaper, but have never had a tent that wasn't a "stand alone" tent and thought maybe being a novice with that kind of tent wasn't the best idea. I was going back and forth when this tent became available used on a fb used gear flea market page for the same price as the tarp tent, so I bought it, decision made. Have set it up several times and it is so easy, I think I will be happy.
SLEEPING BAG Therm-a-rest Mira 15 degree bag
$410 total weight 28 ounces. This bag comes with a hood, toe pocket for keeping toes warm. 750 fill down. Can usually find this bag on sale and currently there is a slightly used one on sale for $280. So it won't be as warm, and will be almost 10 ounces heavier, but will save me about $140
Another trail favorite. I originally was going with the cheap closed foam pad, but after hearing everybody talk about this pad, and how they switched to this pad mid hike I decided to go for it. I bought the small, it is very small, part of my body will hang off, but I knew that when I bought it. So light and takes up very little space in my pack! Because of the material on the outside and the reflective material inside, it kinda sounds like you are sleeping on a potato chip bag. One thing that has become very clear to me is that I need to be able to sleep comfortably!
CLOTHING:
EVERYDAY WARM WEATHER CLOTHESWell I better like this outfit, because I will be wearing it a LOT!
The shirt is a Merino wool blend, very comfy!
Shorts are Ink&Burn running shorts, very light stretchy material. I removed the liner.
Injinji toe socks to help with blister control
Buff, can be worn many different ways. I currently wear it to keep my neck warm when riding my scooter and found it to be wind resistant added plus!
Simple hat - radar style. Not sure this is the best option for the desert, may be replaced at some point.
gaitors - Dirty Girl Gaitors, got the "obsessive" pattern, mostly just cuz it matched everything, love them, wouldn't hike Cali without them. Shoes - Altra lone peak, love these shoes, but even though I have already bought them a size up, my next pair will be a 1/2 size bigger and I may even need to go up after that, the trail will decide.
REI Sahara long sleeve shirt - I have had this shirt for a long time, and never wore it, a couple years ago I wore it out into the woods and realized how much I like it. It will protect me from the Sun, Cold, and bugs.
Patagonia hiking pants - I got these from a friend for a great price, I may need to get them altered, they are a little long. They are very thin and light and should work great! Only forseeable problem is that they are very light colored and will probably be very dirty by the end of this all! haha
In all the research that I did I knew that I wanted Merino wool base layers! They are not cheap! Most average around $75 each piece! I already had decent base layers for snowboarding, but they are white, and not merino wool! I figured that unless I found a great deal that I would not get new ones and would do something creative like dye them.
Then one day someone shared in a group that Icebreaker had these on clearance 65% off! I got both pieces for under $40 amazing!
The socks are wool, I hate sleeping in socks but if I need to I will!
One of my favorite pieces of gear so far, my Sierra Designs Gnar lite down jacket. I have to admit that I have been wearing ever since I bought it! I usually pair it with my wind/rain jacket (my orange one). They have kept me warm down to 40 degrees going 50 miles per hr on my scooter! I was surprised when I wore just this jacket one day and realized it blocks the wind pretty good too!
my hat, well it's my favorite hat and has been with me through thick and thin, so it gets to come along.
The mittens I bought during a really good online sale, they are down and water resistant, but may be overkill. may just be on standby.
RAIN GEAR Marmot Precip - I'm really happy with this rain jacket! I was just going to use one I had, but it didn't have a hood and was a bit heavier. Then I came across a great deal and couldn't pass this up. My only uncertainty is that it may be a tad big, but then again it will fit my layers underneath.
The pants are Sierra Designs rain and wind pants, I have treated them with waterproofing to make them a little more waterproof. I wore them in the rain on my scooter and my pants got wet, the treatment made it better, so hopefully they will work great.
EVERYTHING ELSE
First off, I wish I had a smaller pot or a lighter one...
GSI Soloist Pot - got it for a couple bucks.. it's kinda banged up, but who cares, it boils water.. I would like to think I could get away with something with less capacity, but the large fuel can fits inside, so it works. Guess I should stop second guessing it.
I'm bringing a long spoon and and a knife/spoon/fork combo just for the heck of it. Some think the sporknif is unnecessary but it only weighs .2 ounces.. and it makes me happy.
I love my little stove, It has an ignitor and you can control the flame.
For a food bag I got a zpacks cuban fiber bag. so light and super tough
I also just made a pot cozy w/ a lid, not sure what my final cozy will look like so I'll post about that when I have that settled.
Keeping it pretty simple.
Band-aids: 4 - Gauze: small roll - Triple Antibiotic - Safety pin - Abreva: cold sore treatment - Antibiotics: 2 - Anti Diahrea: 6 - Antihistamine: 3 (just in case, I have no allergies) - Aleve: 25 - Ibuprofin: 25 - Alcohol pad - very small elastic band
Not pictured (I still have to buy) - Tenasious tape - baby fingernail clipper - super small tweezers
SURVIVAL STUFFWell... not much.
Spot Locator
Headlamp
Bug net
20' of line
knife
patch kit for sleeping pad
blue led light
lighter
Pen + 2 feet of duct tape
Sorry if this comments twice, I forgot to sign into my google account to post a comment.
ReplyDeleteHow do you like the Fly Creek? Have you tried it in rain yet? I live in the PNW and so that's a big concern of mine.
Also, do you have protection against blisters? I would recommend taking some moleskin with you.
Finally, what's your water filtration system and how are you keeping your water? I'm beginning to backpack and trying to get a wide variety of advice. I'm going to have a 3 liter camelback and then 2 1 liter nalgene bottles (light weight) for collecting water along the way. I'm just going to be doing 2-3 day trips to begin with.
So far I like the fly creek, It was not my first choice, I had planned to buy a Six moons design tent, but this one came along. I hear it is good in the rain but haven't used it in the rain yet. My protection against blisters is sizing up my trail runners, I wear altras, they run small so they fit me best a size and half bigger. I also wear injinji toes socks and they seem to work pretty well in the california desert. I will tape toes with tenasious tape if I get hot spots or blisters and also plan to thread my blisters so they can drain. I have a 3 liter platypus (lighter than camelbacks) and will carry 3 smart water bottles. I will most likely filter my water inline, as I go. so my platy is a dirty bag. hope this answers your questions
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