Going over the "big 3" for my early April Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike departure
In the backpacking world, the big 3 are your backpack, shelter, and sleep system. These are the base of your "kit" and are usually the heaviest and most expensive items.
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My backpack is a ULA Circuit
It can be frustrating to keep everything both accessible and out of the way at the same time. It's a constant battle.
It's deceivingly hard to access anything in your pack once it's on your back. The side pockets end up sitting up much higher and farther behind you than you would expect. They are almost impossible to reach. The hip belt pockets sit much farther to your side than you expect. You'll only be able to reach them with one hand, which is hard when a zipper is involved.
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I attach my water bottle upside down using the bungee cord of my right side pocket. The lid rests in a little gap created by the hip belt strap. It's much easier to grab from there than the side pocket. You can use the bungies on the shoulder straps to hold water bottles or other things but I don't like things blocking my peripheral vision or view of the ground if I can help it.
I removed the small internal pouch clipped to the inside of the backpack. It had an opening on one side and I cut another one on the other side to match. I slip my hip belt straps through the pouch holes and use my pouch to comfortably rest my hands in front of me and shield them from the weather. I attached some quick dry towel strips and a little canister of pepper spray to the inside of the pouch.
I attach the grips of my hiking poles to one of the bungies on the shoulder straps and then use a flexible gear tie that's long enough for me to find and manipulate with one hand and without being able to see what I'm doing since it's behind me. The poles stay tight enough to my side that they are out of the way and they also sit comfortably in the crook of my arm when I have my hands resting in front of me in my hip belt hand pouch.
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I keep a rain cover over my pack
The rain cover folds up into a nice little pouch, but unwrapping it and getting it on in a hurry is a bit of a pain, so I just leave it on. It's easy to pull the top of the rain cover back and get into my pack. I attach things like my hat, rain poncho, sunglasses, reading glasses, waterproof socks, quick dry towel, emergency whistle, etc to various places on my pack, but let the things rest in the sides or the bottom of the rain cover where I can get to them. If anything mistakenly falls out of a pocket it ends up at the bottom of the rain cover.
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My sleep system
Enlightened Equipment 20 degree Revelation Quilt: I got a "special edition" version of this that they were offering over the holidays for both Helen and I. The "special edition" was less expensive than the custom one and didn't come with the DownTek water repellent treatment. There are mixed reviews on whether water repellent down treatments matter. I'm a little worried. I hope mine will be ok. Quilts come with straps to attach to your sleeping pad so you can clip your quilt to your pad when it's cold.
Sea To Summit Sleeping Bag Liner: Not sure about this one for me. I like the feel of the quilt by itself. People like liners for added warmth and to keep their sleeping bag clean. It's also much easier to launder than a sleeping bag. They're also nice in hot weather or warm hostels instead of a full sleeping bag.
Sea To Summit Pillow: Nice to have. I used a hair scrunci (I use a lot of scrunci's) to attach a contact lens container with some ear plugs to the air valve of the pillow.
Neo Air XLite Sleeping Pad: Most popular lightweight air pad on the trail. It's lighter than the REI sleeping pad I had but sits a little higher so that I notice my arms falling off more. It's a little crinkly, like a bag of potato chips, when you move around.
Non-slip drawer liner: I use some strips of this to keep my sleep system in place. It seems like the tent floor and all the gear is slippery and the slippage is magnified on unlevel ground.
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| I attach my puffy jacket to my pillow using a velcro strap and then cover it all with my merino wool buff. It beefs up the pillow to feel more like a normal pillow. I find that under-inflating my sleeping pad and pillow make them more comfortable. |
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| I use a shipping envelope with some air pockets as a camp seat and also put it under my sleeping pad to elevate my head |
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Lightweight plastic is waterproof and insulating
A lot of people use trash compactor bags on the trail. They are tougher than normal garbage bags.
Even though my tent footprint is waterproof, the ground still feels wet and cold sometimes so I put a compactor bag under my sleeping pad as another layer.
I have a lightweight plastic film drop cloth as another warmth layer and to help with condensation. As much as you try to keep your stuff dry, condensation is insidious. Glass is waterproof but water still forms on the inside due to condensation. Rain jackets are waterproof but sometimes make you sweat more than the moisture they block. Sometimes you find yourself in a ground hugging wet cloud of all encompassing moisture.
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I plan on putting my backpack under my legs in order to help the blood flow away from my beaten up feet and lower legs.
My sleep system and small ziplock of extra clothes are stored in a compactor bag and stuffed in my backpack.
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My shelter is a Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL2
My tent poles, rainfly, and packet of guy line extenders are stored in the mesh netting on the back of my pack. My tent footprint and stakes are stored together in a side pocket of my pack for quick access.
I can use the footprint as a seat\ground cover or even wrap it around my legs as a skirt in bad weather. I can setup the footprint, poles, and rainfly fairly quickly without opening my pack - important in bad weather.
The tent is stuffed into my backpack - inside the sleep system contractor bag if the tent's not wet.
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