Appalachian Trail Journal -- A Gear Head Minimalist
Gear Heads are quite common on the AT. Far too much of the conversation at the shelters revolves around people obsessed with their equipment. I never joined these conversations as they bore me to tears. Yet I must, albeit with some embarrassment, raise up my hand and confess to being every bit as much a Gear Geek as my more loquacious companions. In fact, my silence on the subject makes my fixation all the more irrational.
Even stranger is the fact that I'm a serious minimalist when it comes to other possessions. I've never owned a car, a cell phone, or a camera. I don't own any type of electronic gear outside of a GPS unit that I never use. I own no property or furniture. I have very few articles of clothing that aren't designed for the backcountry. Outside of my backpacking equipment I could probably fit all of my worldly possessions into two large suitcases!
And yet, I own a fairly large amount of camping gear. I have four sleeping bags, one of which I purchased during the hike. I have five backpacks, yet I wasn't happy with the one I brought with me. I own four tents and I just sold two others before I left. I have several pieces of expensive technical outerwear. I even have two titanium pots!
The other curious part of this equation is that I'm ridiculously careless with my belongings. I left a lightweight Therm-A-Rest mattress at a shelter. I lost three watches, which were the first (and quite possibly last) watches I've ever owned. I lost several pieces of clothing and water bottles. I even lost my stove and pot right before entering the 100 Mile Wilderness after Monson. I would have lost many more things as well had I not spent a great deal of time backtracking along the trail to pick up stuff I'd left behind.
Even stranger, I don't really believe in most of the gear. Oftentimes, I hiked in a cotton t-shirt, much to the horror of more purist Gear Heads, who would all repeat the "cotton kills" mantra to me whenever they saw this. I didn't bring any of the spiffy fleece pieces I own, relying on my rain jacket and sleeping bag as sole sources of protection against the cold. I honestly think you can get by on the trail with basic Walmart variety equipment, yet I wouldn't dream of actually doing this. Instead I spent long hours researching and acquiring top notch, state-of-the-art stuff.
Trendy like my fellow Gear Freaks, much of this time and far too much money went towards getting lighter gear. Lightweight is definitely in and I tried to shave as many ounces as everyone else. Until I actually got on the trail that is, then I seemed to forget this philosophy and throw all kinds of crap in my bag. I carried books I rarely read and ointments I never used. I carried vitamins that I'd never take at home and only remembered when I was starving. I carried four pairs of socks but only used two before a washing. I carried shirts that I meant to pitch when dirty but kept tossing them in the wash for "one last use".
Consequently, my lightweight GoLite bag, which is nothing more than a high-tech sack, with no frame support or even much of a belt, was hell for me after leaving towns fully loaded. All the weight was on my shoulders and they would ache before too long. I'm not the only one who does this. Heed my words and don't use a bag like this unless you are completely committed to keeping your weight down. If I was doing this again (and at this point, I don't intend to!) I would bring a heavier backpack that carries loads better.
I also sorely regret my first choice of footwear, a truly awful pair of Montrail trail runners. I had nothing but trouble from these dogs and they fell apart almost immediately. When I complained to the Montrail person at Damascus Trail Days he was full of lame excuses, such as claiming that these were "trail runners" and not "trail hikers". So, if I was going faster down the trail they wouldn't have fallen apart? I will never, ever purchase anything from Montrail again!
It took four pairs of shoes for me to do the trail. I had pretty good performance from my Dunham Waffle Stompers. I made the mistake of purchasing and mailing ahead a pair of "New Balance" trail runners. Not that these are bad shoes. In fact, this brand is my staple and the type I used for most of my overseas treks. The problem was that my feet swelled up a full size, so these were too tight on me. I finished up the trail in a pair of lightweight Vasque hiking boots. Even these light boots felt heavy after so many miles of trail runners, but my feet needed the extra protection by this point and I was very glad of the switch. I also picked up a pair of those trendy Rebound Croc Wallies that are the sandal of choice for the well dressed thru-hiker.
I started with a venerable Marmot down bag and switched to a Mountainsmith Wisp down bag when the Marmot finally started to die. Both are 30 degree bags and I'm glad I had them. One of the biggest mistakes I saw people make was to try to skimp weight on their sleeping bag. Since I had no warm clothings, it was a matter of survival for me, but even if it wasn't, I would recommend a 30 degree bag throughout.
My sleep gear was a bit unusual. I used a North Face two-hoop bivy along with a tiny, no-name, one-off tarp, which I used as a vestibule to cover my stuff. I'd guess the whole thing was a bit more than 3 pounds. Not superlight, but quite comfortable, and I never had condensation problems. I rarely used the shelters, so a good sleep system was extremely important to me.
My only piece of rain gear was my most expensive (even with an exceptional price) item: an Arc'teryx Theta AR Jacket. Most people who saw this would only notice the high price, the cool zippers, or the fact that it isn't light. If they wore it as much as I did they'd know that it is a great jacket. My other equipment champions were my 15 year old Leki Wanderfruend poles, with the alpine cane style tops and my Patagonia hat, with ear and neck covering against sun and insects. I can't imagine doing the trail without either of these.
I used a homemade alcohol stove that consisted of a cat can base and a pepsi can basin, filled with fiberglass insulation to disperse the flame. It worked like a champ, before I lost it, as I've mentioned. I gave up on cooking after it was gone. I had some North Face rain pants that I sent off before too long because I didn't use them enough. I wore out one pair of Patagonia hiking pants, that were on their last legs since I'd brought them on the RambleQuest trip. After that I hiked in cheapie swim trunks that I found in a hiker box. I had one good-looking Mountain Hardwear button down shirt that I mainly used in camp and town. For the end of the trip, I used a pair of OR low gaitors. I had problems with them but Outdoor Research was cool about sending a replacement by mail.
For water I started out with a Katadyn Exstream water bottle filter. This worked extremely well, but eventually I got tired of the iodine taste and switched to Aqua-Mira. If I had a good spring source, then I didn't use anything. I carried a rope that I used to hang clothing but not my food (more on this later). I was perhaps one of the only people on the trail who didn't carry a flashlight. I didn't have any guidebooks or maps either, until the very end, but I'll address that elsewhere. Outside of the standard toiletries, I'll put in a plug for zinc oxide cream, which is the boss when it comes to treating rashes.
For my next long hike (so help me, I'm already thinking about this!) I think I'll use a pancho-cum-bag cover-cum-tarp and an even lighter bivy. I'll leave the Theta behind and take a lightweight fleece. A Granite Gear Vapor Trails bag seems the proper compromise between weight and support. Pretty much everything else will be the same.