Date: 2011-02-01
To: Post Hike #2-Gear Review
Miles today: 0.0

As I said way back in one of my prep entries, I'm not a gearhead. But I know inquiring minds want to know what worked, what didn't, and what I would have done differently. Here is my decidedly subjective gear review. CLOTHING300 mil Expedition Fleece Jacket: Too warm for hiking but was great in camp during the cold months. Bulky, so used up more cubic inches in my pack than I would have liked. Sent it home in mid-May from Virginia. Was going to get it back before heading into the Whites but instead bought a North Face pullover wind jacket which compressed very small. It wasn't quite as warm as the fleece but on those occasions when temperatures were really low, I wore my rain jacket as an additional layer and was fine.   Merino wool long underwear: Loved them. Used mostly as my sleeping clothes, occasionally wore them under shorts when it was cool and I was in town. Too warm for hiking in them. Mailed the bottoms to Massachusetts from Virginia. Kept the tops with me through the summer as an emergency layer.Convertible pants: Wore them as shorts all summer and as pants once I got into New England. Next pair I buy will have at least one large cargo pocket for the day's map and/or guidebook pages.Wicking shirts¢long sleeve for winter and short-sleeve for summer. Mine are 10 years old and made of Benilene, the precursor to Capilene. Worked great, dried fast. Goretex rain jacket: Next time would buy a lighter weight rain jacket, perhaps a Precip or something like that. The Goretex was older and not as water resistant as I would have liked but used it many times not only in the rain but also as a wind jacket, extra layer and as an extra pillow.Nylon windbreaker pants (cheap): Did not bring rain pants so used these on cold, rainy days or when I needed an extra layer. Super lightweight and took up very little room.Turtle Fur Neck Gaiter: Wore it around my neck on cold nights as I don't like to snug my sleeping bag collar too tightly. Wore it as a head-band type hat in camp on cold days for warmth. Wore it as a facemask while hiking when wind chills were in the single digits. Wouldn't hike without it. Smart Wool Pro socks performed well. Went through four pairs for the entire trip. The Pro socks are designed to not have to use liner socks so didn't have to carry those.Gloves: Started out with fleece gloves but wouldn't again. My hands were always warm enough to not need them when I was hiking but the gloves didn't keep my hands warm enough when I was in camp. They were useless when wet. Bought a pair of waterproof winter mittens in Rangely that definitely kept my hands warm in cold and wet conditions but were bulkier and weighed more than I would have liked. Still have to find the ideal glove.COOKWARE: Stove, pot, filter, water bottlesStove: MSR Whisperlite stove. Used this from Springer to Erwin and it worked great in the cold. Boils water quickly. Will continue using on cold weather trips. Bought a Varga titanium alcohol stove in Erwin and love its light weight. Takes a bit longer to bring water to a boil than the Whisperlite but I use that extra time in the morning to pack up my gear and in the evening to simply relax so it never was a problem. Used an empty small Aquafina water bottle for my alcohol.Halulite Tea Kettle: As lightweight as titanium and less expensive. The pour spout was ideal as it precluded spilling boiling water when I poured it into my cup. Insulated handle stayed cool so I didn't get burned when pulling it off the stove.Steripen Classic: 8x lithium batteries lasted 4-5 weeks while hiking filtering 4-6 liters per day. Only times it got finicky was when I put it away without drying it thoroughly first which was sometimes hard to do on rainy days. Had to use my iodine backup about 10 times on the whole trip. Best thing about it was being able to zap the water for about 90 seconds and drink it right away, icy cold with no wait time. Have used it winter camping. Came with a screw-on Nalgene bottle compatible pre-filter which I didn't use so sent it home from Erwin to save a few ounces. The few times I had to pre-filter water from sketchy sources, I simply ran it through a clean bandanna before zapping it. Nalgene Water Bottle: Needed a wide-mouthed bottle to accommodate the Steripen. Also used it on cold nights filled with boiling water to put in my sleeping bag as a hot water bottle. Will continue to bring the Nalgene on cold weather trips, but in future will use a wide-mouthed Gatorade bottle for Steripen use to save ounces. FOOTWEARSalomon Trail Runners. Started from Springer with Goretex. They kept my feet warm and dry and fit me perfectly. Did not get one blister on my feet the entire trip. Switched over to a non-Goretex Salomon model in Virginia which kept my feet cooler during the summer months; however, the mesh-like uppers allowed trail dust into my shoes and my feet got much dirtier than with the Goretex ones. Got 1,000 miles on the Goretex ones and 1,200 miles on the non-Goretex pair. Because they fit my feet so well, I would definitely buy Salomons again.Tall Gaiters: Kept the snow out of my trail runners during the early part of my trip, and the rain out of my boots during the summer as I did not carry rain pants. Additionally, they kept the poison ivy off my legs when I'd go off the trail to do my business (be sure to handle them very carefully when you take them off so you don't get poison ivy oil on your hands), and also kept ticks off of me by putting a little DEET around the tops each morning. Bought the REI brand. After about 800 miles, the inside seams came apart and one buckle failed. Can't complain though because REI replaced them no charge. Didn't wear them in temperatures over 90 degrees as they were too hot.MISCELLANEOUSBlack Diamond Trekking Poles: Workhorse poles. Had to replace the tips in Connecticut and bent them a bit while "saving" myself from a couple falls in the Whites, but they never broke. Like the flip lock design. Good gear.Compass: Sent it home-didn't need it.First Aid Kit: By the time I got to Erwin, my first aid kit consisted of 3 bandaids, small tube of Neosporin, Ibuprofin, Cobroxin topical pain killer ointment, 3 packets powdered aspirin, 4-day dose of Doxycycline (Lyme disease antibiotic prophylactic which I never used) and Boudreaux Butt Paste (diaper rash ointment for chafing and heat rash). That's all that I needed or used but for hikes on less populated trails, I would bring a larger kit.Headlamp: Petzl LED with 3 brightness settings and flip-up red lens. Only replaced the 8x Lithium batteries a few times. Was bright enough at the lowest setting for camp chores and reading. Brightest setting was sufficient for night hiking. PACK: Backpack, pack cover, stuff sacksDeuter woman's 60-liter pack; expandable to 70-liters with extension collar. I liked the pack and even after the trip it is in very good condition. If I had to do it over again, I would purchase a lighter weight pack with 50-55 liter capacity.Pack cover was an inexpensive one from Campmor that had elastic all around to hold it onto my pack. On three occasions while I was going over a mountain in high winds, the wind ripped it off my pack. Next pack cover will have a better attachment method and I can probably find one a few ounces lighter.Stuff sacks: I used a 13-liter Sea to Summit waterproof sack for my food. A 10-liter would have been plenty big. Used two 8-liter Sea to Summit waterproof sacks for my clothing and sleeping bag. I was particularly concerned about keeping my food dry on rainy nights as it was usually hung outside.   They all performed well and kept what was inside dry. Sent my Neo-Air stuff sack home; just rolled the pad and put it directly in my pack. Also sent my tent and pole stuff sacks home; rolled the tent and put it in my pack and put the poles in my pack's internal hydration pocket (I wasn't using a bladder). If the tent was wet in the morning, I'd put it in my large outside pack pocket so the inside of the pack wouldn't get wet and so it was easily accessible to lay out and dry once the sun came out.SLEEPING GEARLafuma 30 degree down bag. At 22 ounces and compressible to 6"x12", I loved it. Had about a dozen or so nights in the 20-30 degree temperature range and with the addition of a hot water bottle in the bag with me, kept me toasty warm during the really cold nights. Used it unzipped just as a blanket when nighttime temperatures were warmer. Went "bagless" from Harper's Ferry to Williamsburg, MA sleeping only with my silk bag liner and occasionally an extra layer of clothes. The night after I picked up my sleeping bag in Massachusetts it got down to 40 degrees. Good timing. Washed it on gentle cycle 5 times during the course of the trip and it's still in as pristine condition as when I bought it. Great, inexpensive bag.Sea to Summit Silk Sleeping Bag Liner: Helped to keep the inside of my bag clean. Gave me a few more degrees of warmth on cold nights and used it by itself to sleep in during the summer. However, silk is a bit flimsy and I tend to roll over numerous times during the night, so the seam failed by the time I got up to New York. I would use a liner again in the future, but look for one that could survive the wear and tear better.Neo-Air Pad: Loved it, loved it, loved it. Very comfortable and cushy for these old bones. Carried but never needed to use the repair kit. Only downside was that I had to use a 3/16" closed cell foam (CCF) pad under the Neo until nighttime temps stayed above 40 degrees or else I would get ground cold seeping through the Neo. Carried the CCF from Springer to Erwin and from Rangely, ME to Baxter. Exped Inflatable Pillow: My 3 oz. luxury item. Developed a slow leak in Vermont which I repaired. Was wonderful to have and would bring it again.TENTBrought a 2-man REI Quarterdome tent with two entrances and two vestibules. It was bomb proof, kept me bone dry, never had a condensation issue, and survived some wild 60 mph winds a few nights. As I lost body weight over the course of the hike, the tent got bigger and bigger. I loved the tent and though fairly light for a 2-man at 3 lbs. 11 oz. I would go with a lighter weight 1-man tent in the future.Quarterdome Tent Footprint. I'm undecided as to whether a footprint is necessary but I always used it and never had any moisture come through the floor. Also used it under my Neo in the shelters to protect the pad from any stray nailheads and to lay out my gear when exploding my pack.IN SUMMARY:I said at the outset that I'm not a gearhead, but I do enjoy buying new gear and think it's wonderful there are so many options out there. Even though I've been backpacking for about 15 years and have hiked around 3,000 lifetime miles, I'm still tweaking my gear and still looking for the "perfect" pair of gloves. I suspect this aspect of hiking is neverending.