THE GEAR POST

See those all caps? I can hardly contain my excitement as I’m writing this post. In advance of the genesis of my A.T. thru-hike attempt, I’ve spent hours and hours researching, collecting, testing, and organizing the gear that I’ll be taking with me.

So, without further ado, see below for a breakdown of everything you’ll be able to find in my backpack. Below the image is a link to my “LighterPack”. LighterPack is an oft-used platform by backpackers to assemble and compare their base pack weights.

Full detail of all the items that collectively comprise the chart above (including images on the scale and links to purchase where appropriate) can be found at https://lighterpack.com/r/8dgpmu. A quick note on terminology:

• Consumables refer to items that I’ll be consuming whilst on the trail, and are not included in any of the weights shown above. This includes the weight of food and water that I’ll carry. It’s worth noting I’m not planning to bring a stove, but if I were, the weight of the fuel (but not the canister that contains it) would be a part of consumable weight as well.
• Worn weight are items that I’ll be wearing or carrying while I’m hiking that do not live in my backpack. This is pretty self-explanatory, and aside from what you’re probably picturing (clothes, socks, shoes, hat), also includes my trekking poles.
• Base pack weight is everything else – non-consumable items that I’ll carry in my backpack.

With all that in mind, I’ve made a video packing up the backpack with all the items constituting my worn weight and base pack weight. I hope you enjoy!

Bonus content: Let’s set the scene: you’ve spent the better part of an afternoon figuring out how to use your AirPods as a microphone for your gear walkthrough video. Tripod set up, gear carefully laid out in frame so that you’re also visible. This is going to be your first video – you better crush it. Everything works out better than expected! Maybe this blog will take on the form of a vlog, you think! Pretty neat, huh? You go to edit the video – it’s an hour and thirty eight minutes long. “That can’t be right”, you shake your head in disbelief, thinking about all the detail you’d intentionally left out for the sake of time. “That can’t have been more than twenty minutes!” So you set out to edit your masterpiece to a more palatable length – no dice. It really is that good – to you, at least.

In fairness, I did warn you at the outset of this post that I get excited about all things gear-related.

I couldn’t bring myself to delete my video. In the end, the version embedded above is the second take. I have no expectation that anyone (except maybe you, mom) is going to watch the whole original version. But uploading it to YouTube allowed me to delete it from my phone’s hard drive, and make space for things that are actually useful. And there it lives! Watch at your own risk.

Cheers,
Billy

Note: all of the gear that I plan to bring on my thru-hike was purchased by me, or was a gift from family. I have not received any compensation from any of the manufacturers discussed herein, and any opinions about particular products are my own.