Date: 2014-06-21
To: Gear Choices
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

This is my obligatory gear discussion entry - if you have no interest in gear, skip it!Many people obsess about gear - I hope I am not like that. But I do try to make the best informed decisions I can. Then I promptly forget who made what! I like using the small cottage industries where possible. And I have constructed a lot of my own stuff over the years.Pack: I'm currently using a Gossamer Gear Mariposa pack. It's just a big sack, and my sleeping pad foms the back of the pack. Once you take everything out of the pack it just collapses to almost nothing. I use a Zpacks cuben fiber pack liner and rain cover.I've been using hammocks for years, starting with DIY versions. For this trip I'm using a Warbonnet with the sleeve for a pad. I've changed the suspension to Whoopie slings with added Dutch Clips. The only problem with the Whoopie slings is that the trees can't be too close together. The Dutch clips solve that problem, so by having both I have a more versatile setup. I use a cuben fiber tarp.I'm starting out southbound with a 40 degree down bag from REI. Later I will swap it for a 20 degree bag. I use a short underquilt from Jacks R Better, and will be carrying it the whole way. When the weather gets really cold I'll use the pad as well. Also the pad lets me sleep in a shelter if I have to, or go to ground. I have a very light ground cloth for those times.I use an alcohol stove, currently one of the Zelph models that has a plastic cap. This conserves alcohol. I only cook one meal a day. I only do freezer bag cooking.I'm carrying a minimum of clothes. I use shirts from Duluth Trading Post - they look nothing like hiking shirts, so I am a little better dressed than usual! They are super cool and dry very fast.I carry an iPhone, which is essential nowadays. There are no pay phones anymore, have you noticed? I used to just carry a phone card, but I doubt that you can even buy those anymore! I also carry a kindle loaded with books - it always weighs the same, no matter how many books you have in it! Also a battery substitute.I leave the phone off most of the time, or in airplane mode. Journal entries are typed into the memo app, then copied and pasted to trailjournals when I have a connection.I use the iPhone camera for snapshots for the journal, and a Nikon waterproof camera for good photos to be perused when I get home.I use Aqua Mira drops when I need to, or drink right from the springs if I am confident about the source. I just use gatorade bottles for water, although I have a neat 1 liter square shaped bottle with the same size cap as a gatorade bottle. It was originally some kind of fruit smoothy bottle.Laurie will send me food drops, and I'll shop in stores for flatbread and cheese and other things that I need. At least until I get really tired of chicken/tuna/spam!I use AWOL's guidebook, the special southbounders version.I hike in trailrunners, not boots. Because of my right foot problems, I'm using the expensive Bauerfeind ViscoPed S gel inserts recommended by my doctor. They do seem to help.One thing I have found useful is sports slick lotion for chafing. Add in the usual bag of other little necessities and first aid, and the whole thing weighs about 16 pounds dry with no food. Limiting the weight is very important for an old guy like me. Add a maximum of 7 or 8 days food to bring it all up to about 30 pounds. Hopefully I won't carry that much food that often.So, that is a big picture summary of the gear I will be carrying. Exactly 3 weeks from today I start Southbound!