Date: 2011-10-10
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To: Home
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Hmmm well gear was interesting and some gear survived some did great and others didnt survive. But on the whole I was happy with most of my gear.Start with the shelters. I started the trail with a TarpTent Rainbow with the added inside liner and tyvek for a ground sheet. Prior to this trip I had just been using a 8x10 tarp and tyvek for a year or two but wanted to get something all in one to use during bug season as well. When I first started using the Rainbow I had some issues with sliding everywhere and ending up in the wall of the tent. Because of this I actually sent the tent home early on and had my tarp sent back to me. I continued to carry the tarp from Hot Spings, NC till Harpers Ferry, WV before the bugs got bad again and I got annoyed with the bug net I was using. After getting the tent back I solved the problem of the sliding by ditching the tyvek. With the Rainbow it has a floating bathtub floor that when on top of the tyvek it would slide around, that was the cause of the problems and afterwards I never had another issue with it. It was however hot during the summer and I wished it had more netting for air flow but either way the netting doesnt flow well no matter what. The tent is still in perfect condition though I only slept in it about 50-60 nights total. It is a heavier model of the Tarptents but provides so much room versus other tents on the trail. Will possibly use it again on the PCT if I dont design and make my own tent.Sleeping bags: I used two different bags during the trip, a Montbell 15 degree Super Spiral during the cold months and a Big Agnes Pitchpine SL 45 degree during the summer. Both these bags are excellent bags and never had any issues with them. I personally always slept with them opened like quilts and for that reason I would prefer an actual quilt bag but either of these were great.Sleeping pads: Started the trail with the Big Agnes Insulated AirCore Mummy pad for the cold months and my only complaint was it seemed pretty narrow. It did start to slowly leak at the end but wasnt ever a big deal and I never dealt with finding the leak. During the summer I switched back to my Neo Air Thermarest I used in the past and immediately had it replaced due to the leaks all through the seams. The new one I carried from Daleville, VA to the end. I did get holes in it but repaired them with duct tape and super glue which fixed them. I do prefer the vertical baffling of the Big Agnes to the horizontal baffles of the Neo Air, the BA seems to hold you on the mat better. Other than the weight difference for the insulated version both are great and many people actually bought the Big Agnes pads on the trail since they are quite economical for only a slighter heavier pad.Backpack: Only carried the Gossamer Gear Mariposa Plus the entire trail. For a lower end weight pack it did very good carrying heavy loads when needed. I ranged from anywhere between 18-38 pounds depending on the season and how much food I was carrying. At the heavier weights of 32+ I would say the pack started to cause problems and would not suggest more than that. The shoulder straps for me are very wide and flat and would cut into my shoulders pinching a nerve. I added a 2" wide piece of foam under the other padding and that definitely helped with the issue and didnt have much of a problem after doing that about a quarter way in. The mesh on the outside of the pack was definitely a problem and would snag on stuff and rip very easily. I had to sew up pockets with cord like a football. I believe some newer versions of the packs now have solid fabric there to eliminate that problem. The frame also was beginning to come out the top and was wearing holes into the corners on the top of the frame. The website does say that they are good for one full thru hike and my pack did its job well. I would like to see hip pockets on the pack and stabilizer straps would have been excellent since my pack was a little to long on the torso for me.Cooking Gear: Started with a Bruuton Talon stove which the threads on the bottom stripped out and wouldnt attach to a canister. The stove had already had a few years usage on it so cant say it was a bad stove and always did great until that moment. It was replaced with a Soto Micros Regulator stove which is an excellent canister stove. Has a piezo igniter which I could have gone without but was nice. The regulator on it though was incredible with a micro adjustable valve to get a perfect burn for any occasion. In the beggining I was using a 1.3 liter Evernew titanium pot but traded it out for a Snow Peak .8 liter one. Each did the job well and had no issues. Canister fuel was never an issue getting and that is a thing of the past on the trail these days. I do wish I hadnt sent the rubber cup that came with my pot home and could of used it for coffee in the mornings while I ate cereal in the pot but wasnt a big deal.Shoes and socks: Smartwool are ok socks but Darn Tough are way better. Smartwools wear out quickly and are useless when they do. The Darn tough take a lot longer but where still good when they did begin to degrade. Smartwools lasted about 700 miles and the Darn Tough lasted about 1500 with about the same amount of wear on each of the two brands. I had three pairs of shoes, two pairs of Salomon XT Wings 2 and a pair of Oboz Sawtooths. The Solomans worked great for me after about a 40-50 mile break in to soften up the fabric on the heel. The Oboz were not a bad shoe either but I preferred the Salomon's with their wide bottoms on the heels which added prefect ankle support. The Salomons got 700 and 1000 miles and the Oboz had about 500 miles on them. Trail runners were definitely the way to go.Trekking poles: Started with the angled cork handled Black Diamond poles and they are excellent poles but I managed to cut the cork in the handles in half and it fell off. Dont wrap you tarp lines around the cork section because it screwed mine up and had to trade them out for an old pair of low quality poles I had at home. Didnt realize the difference in feel till switching out and the Black Diamonds where great. Not sure if it was just me but all the people I hiked with replaced their pole tips every 500 or so miles, mine didnt break until two days and one day before getting the other ones sent to me. So both pole tips broke on consecutive days about 1700 miles in. I will be replacing these poles with the same thing.Rain Gear: Started with Frogg Troggs and they ripped and feel apart very quickly on the trail. Replaced them with a Marmot Precipe Jacket which was good to keep you warm in the rain. Also had North Face pants which are similar to the Precipes, rarely wore them though and got the most use during the snow in the Smokey Mountains. The rest of the time I didnt wear any pants. Because you sweat in rain wear no matter what I would of preferred something very light instead to just keep warm. Will be researching alternatives to standard rain gear since I just need the warmth instead. Along those same lines a pack cover is pretty useless imho. Mine blew away in the Whites and I never replaced it and we had a ton of rain after that point. My solution has always been using a plastic bag as a pack liner. Originally I also had my sleeping bag and camp clothes in a light weight Sea to Summit dry bag inside the plastic bag. Even after my bag was eaten thru one day as mentioned I crossed the ford that submerged the bottom half of my pack with my sleeping bag in only a compactor bag and it never got wet. I will still replace the dry bag as it does make packing a down bag much easier and my pack was always tight fitting with an unstuffed sleeping bag.Clothing: During the summer time my favorite gear was camp clothes. After hiking all day in sweat the light shorts and a tshirt made the nights bearable having dry clothes to wear. So I believe two sets of clothes are necessary but it does just need to be light. I wore North Face convertible pants all but the last few weeks during the day which are heavy and dont dry well. I actually ditched the legs very early on in the trip and never wanted them back. In the end I was just wearing a pair of light weight running shorts and those were great and very light, only downside was they had no pockets and that is why I want a pack with good hip belt pockets in the future. My first shirt was a wool shirt and other than falling apart easily it was by far the more comfortable of any of the shirts I wore, I do recommend the light wool if you dont mind getting multiple ones.Camera: I bought an Olympus Tough Waterproof/Shockproof/dustproof camera for this trip since I knew I wanted to get plenty of pictures and not have to worry about it breaking. Never had a single issue with mine and I believe it did get some good pictures. I saw others carrying DSLR's and it did make my envious but since I know nothing about taking pictures mine was probably more than adequate. If I get some knowledge of photography I might reconsider the camera choice in the future. Water Needs: I started with Aqua Mira and it worked great until I couldnt get any in Daleville and bought Polar Pure instead. It lasted the rest of the trail and was never a hassle. Others I know eventually switched to just bleach. I saw a lot of issues with the Steripens early on but the issue was always with certain models and those who finished with them always had a different model but not sure what those models are named. Started with a Nalgene bottle in the cold weather to use for hot drinks but eventually switched to Powerade bottles or DrPepper one liter bottles in the end just for the weight savings. This is not everything I carried but pretty close to it. If you have specific questions on anything feel free to email me.