Date: 2009-10-22
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Miles today: 0.0

Gear review continued:   Light weight Capilene T-Shirt: Primary hiking shirt. Drys fast. Held up well. Used on the entire hike.   Fleece lined Cap: Had several skull caps along the way. Didn't not use this much. Sent it home after the Smokies.   ULA Rain Wrap: Popular item among hikers. Didn't not really keep you dry, but was nice to put on to keep you warm in windy, chilly conditions. A little restraining at the bottom when fully closed. Multiple uses. It was so light I carried the entire hike.    Gordini Gortex Gloves. Brought them for the Smokies. Never used. Sent home after the Smokies.   Capilene 4 Long Sleeve Shirt: Used for layering and my primary sleeping shirt. Used the entire hike.   Down Vest: Very light, but I never used it once on the hike. Mahoosuc Notch   ULA Circuit Backpack: Great pack hands down. Used the P2 (now Catalyst) in 2005, but in efforts to get lighter went to the Circuit. I tried packing both packs prior to my hike and seemed to be able to actually get more in the Circuit than the Catalyst. Go figure! Both packs have similar features. Held up great though I did get a few holes in the bottom of the pack that patched with Kenyon Nylon tape. One sipper on the hip belt broke at the end, but I put a safety pin through it to prevent it from running off the end of the sipper track. Saw many ULA's along the way. With summer gear could have easy used the ULA Conduit pack. Definitely would use again.   Jet Boil Stove: Great! Fast, efficient and reliable. In Harpers Ferry I sent it home and went stoveless. When I hike again I'll go stoveless from the start. Learned I did not need hot food.   2 Liter Platypus water bag: Used as a backup. Did not use much in the first half of the hike, but when good water was unavailable in PA, NJ and NY used it often. I primarily used 2 one liter Aquafina water bottles. I got in the habit of drinking as much water in the morning (2-4 liters) before hiking. I could then usually hike all morning without being thirsty. Hiked many days without carrying any water.   Aqua Mira: Works great. No heavy water filter to carry.   Yak Trak Pros: Never used. Gave them away early.   Plastic cup: Used when I was cooking, but sent it home with the stove. Didn't miss it.   Kelty Triptease line. Great stuff. Used for hanging food bag and wet gear to dry. Had 2 small carabiners on each end for quickly attaching to trees.Bell Pond, ME   ADC Weather Pro: Great luxury item. Most used feature was the Altimeter. Helped let me know I had reached the summit of many mountains. Many times there are no signs and you wonder if you are on top yet. Dew Point reading came in handy to let me know how cold it would likely get each night. Had many other features as well. It was my alarm clock.   Brunton Firestorm Lighter: Great item, but rarely used. Kept it the entire hike though just in case.   LG nV2 cell phone. Worked great the entire hike. Used it nightly to send my journal in. With Verizon service there were only a few locations I had no service even in Maine. It had GPS and and when crossing some unmarked roads I could check my map location on it. Had to replace it once because it stop working, but I had insurance and got a replacement quickly with no hassle.   Leki hiking poles: Used from my 05 hike. Replaced the tips along the way once. Bent one in Maine on one of my falls in the Whites. Outfitters along the way did not have a replacement segment so finished with one bent pole at the bottom. Saved my butt I don't know how many times! Priceless!   Princeton Headlamp. Used nightly for journaling. Could have used it a number of times when I hiked long days until dark, but it was deep in my pack and I didn't want to stop to fish it out. Poor planning on my part perhaps not making it easily accessible.   Sea to Summit Dry Bags: Used one for a pack liner the entire way. Did not use a pack cover. Learned in 05 they don't work. Used several other small ones for sleeping bag and clothes. Very light and hold up well. Resealed them several times as they got pretty dirty so I washed them.   Big Agnes Mystic 15 degree sleeping Bag. Great bag! Has a compartment on the bottom of the bag where a pad slips in. No rolling of your sleeping pad at night. It also has a compartment attached at the head for a pillow. Used an clear air pillow which worked great the entire trail. Having a confortable pillow that didn't slip away under your head at night was priceless. Many hikers complained of lumpy clothes bags as pillows that would not stay under their heads at night. It was a great decision to take a pillow.   Big Agnes Yampo 40 degree bag: Also great. Same features as above.   Big Agnes Seedhouse SL2: Used it in 2005. Great light weight shelter. Held up in the biggest of storms. Saw many along the way. Don't put the fly in a dryer. I did and it leaked like crazy on the next rain. I resealed it and it was fine. Didn't use a ground sheet although I was careful every place I set up at night. Got one small hole in the bottom, but patched it with Kenyon tape and it was fine.