Everything I’ve got in my pocket

March 20, 2025

The Homestead

Total Miles: none yet

Minnie Driver on my headphones

I’m told that the three biggest conversation topics for hikers on trail are gear, food, and bowel movements. I look forward to finding out, I guess. For now, we’re talking about the gear.  So strap in–this is going to be a long one.

Just about every trail blogger seems to do a gear post of some kind. Some folks post about almost nothing else. I can see the appeal of logging the stuff I start with, though; I think it’ll be interesting to see what ends up lasting, and the things I learn about what/how much I actually need out there. My hiking experience is relatively minimal–only a few overnights and some day hiking to speak of–so I am fairly certain that I’ll learn a lot. 

For weeks, I’ve been trying to balance considerations of pack weight vs. comfort and safety. In general, the lighter the pack, the better things are for your joints, your energy, your effort. Hardcore ultralight hikers try to get their base weight (that’s the weight of everything you’re carrying without consumables like water, food, or fuel) under 10 pounds. That’s not going to happen for me here, at least not yet. Sources aren’t unified on what an advised ‘normal’ base weight should be, but a lot of the info out there recommends keeping your total pack weight under 35 pounds. Half a gallon of water weighs about 4 pounds, and water sources are fairly plentiful on the AT; to meet calorie needs, a person should take 1.5-2 pounds of food per day on the trail. This means that total consumables for a longish carry will add up to about 15 pounds. I figure if I can keep my base weight under 20, I’ll be mostly okay.

So here’s…everything, except for food and water. I should probably add at this point that my opinions are both entirely my own and relatively useless given my current inexperience. Also, I am not being sponsored by or receiving payment from any of the brands or companies mentioned.

Pack

The bag is a Gossamer Gear Mariposa 60, older model, acquired on sale just as the new model came out. I added the patch to cover/repair a small tear in the front mesh.

I thought about getting a fanny pack to help distribute weight and give me a little more access to some essentials, but then I remembered that I had a runner’s belt already.

The poles are Cascade Mountain Tech, one of the first purchases I made. They’ve held up well.

I tried a trash compactor bag as a pack liner on a few hikes, but it kept ripping, so I decided to go with an actual pack liner from Six Moon Designs. The Mariposa isn’t waterproof, and I think a liner will do a better job of keeping things dry than a pack cover.

Shelter

The tent is a Durston X-Mid 1. It’s got a pretty big footprint for a single-person tent, but I like it a lot so far.

Sleep System

Tried a closed-foam sleeping pad, but after trying it a few times, I decided I wasn’t hardcore enough for that. What I have now is a Nemo Tensor all-season inflatable pad, which was a definite improvement. Went with a quilt rather than a bag–a Hammock Gear Burrow, rated for 20 degrees.  I also have a silk liner that can add some warmth or be used on its own in a hostel, etc. And one tiny luxury is a little pump attachment that plugs directly into my power bank so that I can inflate my pad while I’m setting up the rest of my camp.

I’m not sure how cold it will get, but in these early days, I want to be ready for cold weather if it comes. I imagine I’ll need to switch out for warm-weather, lighter gear or send home some of this eventually.

The pillow is a generic inflatable travel pillow, but I’ve wrapped my puffy coat around it and used my Buff headwrap to keep it all contained and keep it from sliding around on the pad.

What I'm Wearing

Shirt, pants, sports bra, underwear. Long sleeves and long pants for sun and tick protection, short-style briefs for chafing. The necklace is a memento, but can also be used to open my bear can. Earplugs are the second ‘necklace.’ Watch is a Garmin Enduro I found used online. Shoes by Altra with Superfeet insoles, socks by Darn Tough. Ballcap will alternate with the Buff headband as needed. 

Carried Clothing

The aforementioned puffy and Buff, now in their original forms, as well as a thin pair of wool gloves for cold-weather stuff. The mid-layer is a hoodie covered in owl heads from a company called Sambob, and I've got a mesh thermal undershirt as well. All these can be layered up or down as needed. I’ve got a pair of Arcteryx leggings and an Outdoor Research sun shirt for camp–the shirt at least will probably eventually become my warm-weather hiking shirt once things heat up, and the leggings can layer under my hiking pants in cold weather before I trade them in for a warm-weather switch. Spare socks and underwear/shorts feel like a given. The camp shoes are Oofos recovery shoes. They’re heavier than I’d like, but they’ve been awesome as I’ve been getting over plantar fasciitis, and they’re incredibly comfortable.

Rain Gear

This Frogg Toggs jacket is large enough to layer over all of my cold weather gear combined; a generic rain kilt will keep my lower half dryish and serve as an extra waterproof layer at the top of my pack.

Electronics

People say that new hikers tend to pack their fears. If you’re worried about going hungry, you overpack food. If you’re worried about hypothermia, you end up with more clothes than you need. If you’re worried about injury, you stuff your first aid kit.

I think I may have packed fears in a number of categories, but the biggest contender is electronics. I’ve got two power banks–a 15000mAh Elecom that I bought myself, and a 10000mAh Anker that I received as a gift–and I’m taking them both. I hope I’ll find that I don’t need one of them fairly quickly, taking me down to a single power bank, but I haven’t been able to get consistent results when testing out the draw of the gear in my bag.

I’ll need juice to charge my phone, my e-reader, headlamp, Garmin inReach Messenger for emergency SOS and satellite communication when I’m out of service, GPS watch, and the tiny pump fan in my sleep sack.

I know I could read e-books on my phone, but I’ve found that reading at anything close to my usual volume and speed drains the phone battery enormously, and I need the phone for more essential tasks, as well as for any music or podcasts. That phone is doing a lot of heavy lifting electronically, and it’s an older model that was already used when I bought it; I’ve had a hard time getting consistent results on its energy needs. I’m really hoping that I can make a single power bank work, but my general philosophy has been that it’ll be easier to send stuff back along the way than it will be to have stuff sent to me on the road.

Also in the electronics bag is a USB outlet plug, wired headphones, and a set of cords, one of which is convertible to adapt to lots of plug styles.

Kitchen

Many official sources for the Appalachian Trail recommend using a bear canister, but there are only a couple of smaller areas that actually require them. From what I understand, most hikers on the AT use bags and hang their food. 

I got this bear can as a gift from my brother, and though it’s heavier than a bag would be, I’m sticking with it for now. It feels simpler, somehow. I also reckon it carries less risk of crushing the items inside than a bag, and it can double as a seat. I’ve got a simple camp stove that runs with a fuel can and a 750ml pot/mug; wrapped in a lightload towel, the fuel can and all the smaller items (lighter & backup matches, Flipfuel device to transfer fuel to can, foldable stove, silicone scraper head, and ziplocs for food and trash) can fit inside the mug under the lid. The sock is a tea sock–it replaces the net bag that originally held the mug & lid, so it can be used to hold the pot together in transit and as a strainer for tea or pasta, etc.  Chopsticks don’t fit in the mug, but can easily be tucked into the side of the can.

Not sure if I’ll need the snap-fold bowl or the insulated cozy for rehydrating, but I’ve been thankful for both of them on practice runs, so they’re coming along for now.

Hydration

My water filter is a Katadyn BeFree which allows you to drink right from the filter. Taking a SmartWater bottle and a Cnoc water bag with the idea that I’ll either stick with the Cnoc or send it home and transition to a couple of SmartWater bottles.

Hygiene

This feels pretty basic. Foldable mini-hairbrush, basic dental kit (I’m bringing the flossers mostly because I still had them left–I’ll grab some proper floss on the road on my first resupply) The bar is a body bar from a batch I made myself. It can work for hair or as a general soap, and it’s trail-friendly and biodegradable. Extra hairbands. Nail clippers and a mini-file for foot care. Prescription drugs and period supplies, plus bug spray, sunscreen, and chapstick.

First Aid and Repair

The repair kit is from Igneous–it’s wrapped in gorilla tape with a needle and thread tucked inside, as well as a smallish space where I’ve stuffed some gear patches and Tenacious Tape. The multitool is a mini Victorinox–I’d thought it also had a nail clipper, but sadly, it doesn’t, so I had to bring the one up above. Aquatabs are an insurance option in case the filter fails.

Sting relief, poison ivy/oak relief, alcohol wipes, antibacterial gel, and blister care. Meds are ibuprofen, benadryl, immodium, and melatonin. (I’ll throw a multivitamin into the bear can, as well.) I’ll probably take pills out of all of these bags before I leave. I reckon I should just take enough to get me to a resupply.

Bathroom Kit

The inevitable poop shovel can slide into its own separate pocket on the outside of this little bag. The little brown tablets are mycelium pellets from a company called Pact; you toss one into the hole when you bury your business and it speeds up the decomposition process. Kula cloth and backwater bidet cap for the SmartWater bottle should cover basic body cleanup for #1, and the expandable paper towel tabs and the dropper bottle of trail-friendly liquid soap concentrate close to hand are an extra layer of insurance for #2. (These last two also have multiple uses outside of the bathroom.) An empty Ziploc is tucked in the bag, ready to pack out any trash.

Miscellaneous

This is all the rest: some Gold Bond powder, hiking salve, and foam toe separators for foot care that I forgot to include in the hygiene section; a bug headnet; a lightweight pack towel to preserve my Hitchhiker’s Guide cred; literally half of AWOL’s guide to the AT that I can swap out for the other half if I get that far; my journal and a pen; a cork massage ball and half of a lightweight resistance band, for mobility and flexibility work; and a ⅛” thinlight foam pad that can work as a sit pad, serve as extra insulation under my sleep set when needed, or hang out in front of my vestibule as a little extra protection for outside gear and a place to put on/take off my shoes. 

A lot of this is pure luxury, so I’m not sure how much of it will stay. I’d like to be the kind of hiker who makes active use of these kinds of things, though, so I hope that I can be, and that they end up being worth the weight.

Total weight? 21.4 pounds (and this does include a full fuel can, so it's just food and water that's missing here).

It's heavier than I was hoping it would be, but I'm not repining. I think I've probably overpacked clothing, and even if I haven't, once the weather fully warms up I can dispense with many of the winterish gear and cold-weather precautions. Most categories have the potential to lighten up, either because I'm not sure I'll need some items for the long haul, or because supplies of things will dwindle over time as I use them up. The only way to know for sure what I need is to get out there.