Date: 2014-09-16
To: My Gear Review
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

THESE ARE MY OPINIONS ABOUT MY EXPERIENCES WITH MY OWN PERSONAL GEAR. OTHER HIKERS MAY HAVE DIFFERENT OR OPPOSING VIEWS THAT ARE ALSO CORRECT.On February 27th of 2014, my wife and I arrived at Amicalola Falls State Park in Dawsonville, GA. I signed in at the visitor's center and weighed my pack. It was 31 pounds fully loaded with my gear, winter clothing, four days of food, and seventy ounces of water. The next day, February 28th, I hiked The Approach Trail to the beginning of The Appalachian Trail.After I met my wife for the first time in Hampton, TN., I don't think my pack was ever that light again. I asked her to bring me items that I missed having with me. Every time my wife would visit, I would ask her to bring more items that I wanted. Eventually I figured that the pack was five pounds heavier than the first day I weighed it in Amicalola Falls State Park. In addition to the extra gear I was carrying, I also started carrying more food. I believe that every time I resupplied in a town my pack was ten pounds heavier, but became lighter as I used up the food.I never weighed my pack again after I left Gatlinburg, TN. I thought it would be psychologically damaging to know the exact weight. After Harpers Ferry I guessed it was not 31 pounds anymore, but probably closer to 40 pounds. I did not want to know. I was constantly worrying about taxing the limits of my pack straps.When I purchased my Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2 Tent, it was the lightest free standing 2 person tent on the market. This was a popular tent on the AT, and I saw many of them along the way. Complete with all tent accessories including ground cloth and rain fly it came in under three pounds. Big Agnes now has a free standing tent several ounces lighter than the one I had.This tent did not disappoint me. It lasted to the end but just barely. The poles string broke and I had to put the poles together individually. Also the zipper broke and I had to use one of the two zippers to zip and unzip. I put all of my gear inside the tent at night except for the items I hung in the tree. It weathered many rainy nights and never leaked and it withstood high winds very well. I put the tent in the trash when I got home only because it didn't smell very good from packing it away wet so many times. A good cleaning would have taken care of that but I wanted to get a new tent with new working poles and zippers. I will be buying the same tent in the Big Agnes Platinum Series.My Go-Lite Quest Pack was great. Three pounds and one ounce. It served me well with many access points to my gear and items. Most of the time I didn't feel it on my back. I checked and I don't think this pack is available new anymore from Go-Lite, but if it were I would purchase it again. The pack had scuff marks and holes in it from the many times I had to slide down rocks on my butt, but it did well to the end. Since the pack smelled pretty bad from six months of sweat, it also found its way into the trash. I am going to purchase a pack as close to this one as possible.My ZPacks +20 degree sleeping bag that weighed 20 ounces worked pretty well for me the whole trip. In the Smokies I had to get inside of it to warm up and at night to sleep because it was so cold, but most of the time I just laid it over me like a quilt. When it was warm I just lay on top of it. I managed to put several rips in it and the down was coming out, plus it didn't smell very well either, so into the trash it went. However, I will repurchase this same sleeping bag from the same company. It served me well.I became used to sleeping on the not so wide Therm A Rest Neo Air XLite sleeping pad, but if it had been wider it would have been more comfortable. I used my air pillow every night; it also served me well. I did not put holes in these items.I used the Aqua-Mira water treatment drops the whole trip with no problems. I carried two 20 oz. plastic soda bottles full of water at all times, one on each side of the pack, plus a two liter Platypus Plastic Water Bottle for camp. I used this water for night and morning cooking and cleaning and to brush my teeth. I did not use the CamelBak 100 ounce hydration system pictured in my gear list in an effort to save weight. When I would fill my 20 ounce water bottles up at water supply points, I would drink a whole liter and then refill on the spot. I did this method until I hit New York and then the water was not so plentiful.My cook system was simple, light, and fast. I used the Jet Boil Sol 1 Titanium Stove system the whole trip. I did not have any problems purchasing gas fuel on the entire trip. I had to repurchase this stove on the trail because I made a mistake one day and forgot to put water in the pot before I turned on the stove and I burned out the heating fins. Most of the time I was finished eating and cleaned up before people even had their food cooked, unless of course, someone had a Jet Boil, and many people did. I did end up using a spork for most of the trip. The folding MSR eating utensils (pictured) did not hold up for me.I did not carry any of the rain gear pictured in my gear list. I ended up with an ultra-lite rain jacket from antigravitygear.com and a pack cover for my backpack. For me personally, rain gear was almost worthless. If I was hiking in the rain and put on my rain jacket, I would end up getting soaking wet from sweat. So I would just put on my pack cover and hike in the rain and get wet and dry later. If it was a drenching rain it didn't seem to matter if I had rain gear on or not, I would still get wet. I used the rain jacket mainly when I washed my clothes in town. I would put it on so I could wash my shirts. If you were stationary and not moving, rain gear helped a little, but most of the time when it was raining I was hiking. The bug head net came in very handy at times and I also used 100% Deet for the whole trip. I carried a hole digger for digging but only used it about four times. Most of the time I used the privies.The Ultra-Lite Weight Waldies Camp and Water Fording Shoes were completely worthless and the reason I lost my balance and slipped into the currents losing my eye glasses. I bought Crocs at the next town I entered and used them for the entire southbound part of my trip. I replaced my Asolo Fugitive Hiking Boots with Keen Targheen 11 Mid Hiking Boots. They were lighter and more readily available. I purchased three pairs of the Keen shoes for this trip along the trail. I continued to use the green super feet for the shoe inserts.My hiking poles helped to save my knees. It was hard to get parts for the Black Diamond Poles that I started out with. Most of the trip, until I fell on them and broke them, one pole or the other was in need of repair. Very few people along the trail wanted to work on them for fear of breaking them as they are made out of carbon cork. I replaced them with a light weight set of aluminum Leki Poles that everyone could repair if needed.When I made it out of the White Mountains, I sent all my winter gear home and this lightened my pack a little bit. I knew in advance that when I hit the PA rocks I wanted my pack to be as light as possible. So extra clothing was sent home and I kept food to a minimum to keep the weight down. I figured there would be less of a chance of getting hurt if my pack was lighter at this point.In Maine my cell phone died and I went to an I-Phone. I carried an extra battery charger and the associated wires. I could stay out in the woods one week before I needed electricity.Bottom line is I was very satisfied with my gear generally, and would not change much if I were to do it again.Ultra light costs more money. Everything you buy for backpacking you should research first to make sure you are getting the best deal for the amount of money you want to spend. That way some day you will be finishing up The Appalachian Trail and you will be as happy with your gear as I was with mine.My next journal will be my last entry. Thank you for being there.Good day.