Thru hike gear recap

Posted On December 30, 2019

Here’s my quick and dirty review of my big three, plus a few notable mentions.

Sleep System (aka my princess bed, because it was SO cozy)

I used this setup for the whole trail and was only cold one night. On warm nights, I unzipped my sleeping bag and draped it over me like a blanket. Even in sub-freezing conditions (probably in the upper single digits or low teens at the lowest) where my water bottle froze solid, this setup kept me comfortable (except for that one night).

• Therm-a-rest NeoAir Xtherm – Early on in the trail, I could tell who was sleeping on a new NeoAir from a mile away based on the loud, crunchy sound the pad made every time they moved. When it was me rolling over, I didn’t mind the sound so much, but I worried that I might drive my tent mate crazy if I rolled over. The crunchy sound got much quieter after a couple of weeks, and thus began my love affair with the Xtherm. Inflating it each night was one of my least favorite camp chores since , but the warmth and comfort that the sleeping pad provided made it worth it. The pad developed its first and only leak somewhere in the Sierra. I wasn’t exactly careful about checking for rocks and other pokey things before setting up and I didn’t carry a thin foam pad to set up on, so this was bound to happen at some point. A small puncture on the underside caused the leak. I repaired the leak using soapy water to find the hole and Therm-a-rest’s field repair kit to patch it up. The patch held up for the rest of the trail. Overall, I definitely recommend this sleeping pad if you can be patient with its initial noisiness.

• REI Magma 15 Women’s Sleeping Bag – I’m about 5’7″ and went with the long version of this sleeping bag. It’s very warm, cozy and lofty. I had two complaints: the delicate neck yoke and the zipper. The neck yoke is an excellent addition and really helps to trap body heat, but I accidentally ripped through the stitching that attaches it to the bag one morning. And about 2,000 miles in, on the same day that my tent lost its fight with the wind (more about that later), the zipper stopped functioning. If REI didn’t replace it for free, I may have switched to another bag. But, since they did, I stuck with the Magma for the last few hundred miles. If you aren’t going to be using this bag every night for nearly five months, I highly recommend it. It just seemed a little too delicate for a thru hike.

• Cocoon HyperLight Air-Core Pillow – Considering most people seem to use a stuff sack or puffy full of clothes as their pillow, my inflatable pillow was supposed to have me living in the lap of luxury. The pillowcase on this pillow was pretty slippery, which meant it’d slide away from underneath my head in the middle of the night if I didn’t keep it inside the hood of my sleeping bag. This pillow was a take it or leave it item. If you’re wanting to go the luxurious route, there’s probably a better/less slippery backpacking pillow out there.

Shelter

• MSR Hubba Hubba NX with footprint – I really love this tent! The near-vertical walls make for a roomy (or should I say “roomy” with “air” “quotes”. This is a backpacking tent, after all.) interior. The only time I had condensation issues was when I forgot to open the side vents. The two vestibules have plenty of space for gear and there’s a good amount of interior storage space in the four pockets inside the tent. I had two versions of this tent on the trail: the 2018 and the 2019. The 2018 one was a wreck by about halfway through the desert section. The zippers were having issues, and after yet another night with crazy winds, one of the poles snapped beyond repair. The newer version is easier to set up and has what seem to be sturdier poles, but I only had a few weeks on trail to test it out. It held up well during those last few weeks and I see many more (shorter) backpacking trips with this tent in my future.

Pack

• ULA Circuit – This pack held up like a champ. One of my favorite features is the water bottle holsters on the straps. No need to suffer from dehydration because you’re too lazy to take your pack off and fish out your water bottle from a side pocket. The big hip belt pockets are a really nice feature, too. I was able to keep enough snacks for the morning in one pocket. The side pockets expand wide enough to hold a Nalgene, or two smart water bottles, or tent poles. The front mesh panel was spacious enough to hold everything else I might need throughout the day. I really loved all of the external storage options that saved me from having to open and close my pack multiple times a day. I definitely loaded it over the recommended 35 lb carrying capacity on more than one occasion and it still performed well. My only complaint here is that the pack isn’t wide enough to hold the BV500 bear can laying horizontally. Storing it vertically caused pain in my lower back. So if you’re going to switch packs at any time along the trail, I recommend switching for the sections that require a bear can.

Other notable gear stuff

• Shoes – I stuck with Altra trail runners for the entire trail, even after I discovered that my feet aren’t fans of zero drop shoes. I’m a big fan of the wide toe box in Altra’s. I added the blue Superfeet insoles to resolve the zero drop issue. My first two pairs were the Lone Peaks, and I switched over to the cushiony Timps for the Sierra section. I stuck with Timps for the rest of the trail. The difference in comfort was pretty noticeable. In the Lone Peaks, I felt like every rock I stepped on was stabbing me in the foot. The Timps created more of a cushion between my feet and pointy rocks, minimizing my foot pain. I met some hikers who felt that the Timps didn’t hold up as well as the Lone Peaks, but I didn’t notice a difference. Both models lasted me for somewhere in the 500-600 mile range. Also worth noting, I started the trail with shoes that were a 1/2 size bigger than my normal size and stuck with the same size for my second pair. By my 3rd pair, I was a full size bigger than my normal size and I stayed at that size for the rest of the trail.

• REI Sahara Long Sleeved Shirt – I picked this shirt up about 500 miles into my hike, and I wore it every single day for the remaining 1,800 miles. I went with a size medium. I’m 5’7″ and I was about 152 lbs when I bought the shirt. It served me well and is now hanging in my closet at home, awaiting its next adventure. It’s sun faded with some nice permanent back sweat stains, but the funky hiker smell washed out and it’ll work for my next backpacking trip.

• REI Snow Stake – Doubles as the perfect cheap, lightweight option for digging catholes. ‘Nuff said.

I hope future thru hikers have found this useful! If you have any gear questions, comment on this post or send me a message through the Contact Me page. The PCT has turned me into a gear nerd, so I love talking about it.

Happy almost 2020!