Keith Drury’s Backpacking equipment list
What equipment do I need to start
backpacking?
By Keith Drury
(Professor
of practical ministry and backpacking,
You don’t need too much money and you don’t need 95% of what is offered on line—most of the stuff offered online and in outfitters stores is sold to people who like to collect backpacking stuff and think about trips they seldom take—not to real backpackers. I’ll give my opinions here—of course there are other ideas you can listen to… but having backpacked about 10,000 miles of trails so far in my life the following approach has worked for me, though if you read earlier versions of this article you’ll find significant shifts over time.
The central value: P-A-C-K L-I-G-H-T. Take less. The lighter the load the happier the trip. Buy the minimum… borrow stuff until you really get serious about backpacking—many novices get all excited about a trip and buy too much stuff then have to replace it later. When you are ready to buy, there are three things that will cost you bigger money—these three may even become “lifetime” investments. They are
1. A sleeping bag (the most expensive thing you’ll buy—from $150-$600)
2. A pack ($75-$150)
3. A shelter (about $100 for the lightest/best, far more for a whole tent)
Everything else is cheap and easy—a sleeping bag, pack and shelter are the only three you need to borrow or buy for your first trip.
The best book on backpacking is Ray Jardine’s Beyond Backpacking. Ray helps you see lightweight backpacking as a mindset—a worldview that will pervade the rest of life. It is 500 pages but has short chapters and is easy to read. Ray avoids the confusing approach of trying to introduce you to all equipment and hiking styles and compare the advantages and disadvantages of each (like most backpacking books do). Rather he presents “one way” to backpack (the “Ray way” it is often called on the trail). This simplifies things. He may have some crazy ideas (an umbrella—which I made fun of for a long time) but most us of are nutty 10% of the time—and the other 90% of his advice is great. If you want a “note taking guide” for this book the students in my backpacking class use these three sets: set one …. set two ….set three …. (And if you’d like to see the collected advice after a hike of these students click here) Also consider reading the more poetic version of long distance backpacking.
This is writer to a novice considering
their first hike—not to elite fastpackers.
Like all introductory articles (and courses for that matter) they are
only true temporarily—that is when you become an advanced backpackers some of
the following will not apply. But to
start off with a 4-5- day backpacking trip the following will help get you
going. This article serves as an
equipment guide for my
Backpacking course at
OK HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED IN DETAIL:
The
Big Three
1. Sleeping bag. Your single greatest expense is a mummy bag.Borrow one for now and save the following information for buying one later. I have 11 sleeping bags—mostly because I keep buying a better one. Buying a good one from the start is the smarter. Most people get a 30-40 degree bag…and Goose down is the best fill…the higher the number the better the down (e.g. 900 fill down is the gold standard…600 fill down is cheapest/heaviest). I have and still use a down sleeping bag I bought in 1957—they are lifetime investments. Polarguard 3D is the next best after down—cheaper but wears out over time—giving less warmth though still weighs the same. After that comes Polarguard II then there are junk bags sold by Dick’s sporting goods and Wal-mart made of Polarguard (classic) and Holofil . My opinion is down is best to buy, but the most recent generations of synthetics are fine—and only a pound or two more, which for newbees doesn’t seem too bad I suppose. The sleeping bag I like most is a Marmot Lithium® bag (see links below for products). This bag goes down to zero (for me only to 20 degrees—I’m a cold sleeper). It weighs 2# 8oz and is 900-fill down. But that bag will set you back a many week’s wages and it is beyond the scope of a student purchase. I say buy a good down bag with a high number and you’ll be set for life—until then borrow junk bags from other people. You can sometimes get closeouts at Sierra Trading post (http://www.sierratradingpost.com) on equipment—that’s where most of my poverty-stricken students buy stuff. SUMMARY: buy down and the higher the number the better and borrow until then. Spend the money here when you are ready—it may be about a third your total investment in backpacking equipment. You’ll probably spend at least $200 for your bag—and as much as $600 if you buy the very best.
2. Pack. Forget
fancy expensive packs—all they do is make it easier for you to carry too-heavy
loads. Some packs weigh 8 pounds
empty—my pack weighs about 8 pounds full.
My opinion: the best packs are Go-lite
packs. My pack weighs 15 ounces—The pack I’ve used the most is the Go-lite
breeze® pack which costs about $75—but they are hard to find now and may have
been discontinued. I’ve carried it
several thousand miles so far. It is tiny—but that’s what I want—a small pack
that will force me not to take stuff.
However the Breeze does not have a waist strap (which enables you to
carry over 20 pounds—something I don’t want to do). I also have used other
light packs and currently like my Granite
Gear Virga that weighs a hair over a
pound (by the tim I cut off extra stuff I don’t need). Many of these other packs have a “waist
strap” (which the Breeze lacks) and are thus more comfortable when I’ve got ten
days food—but for anything less than 7 days I go for the Breeze—it forces me to
take less.
I
do also own a Go-lite
Gust® for use in winter for mountaineering when I’ve got to carry a bunch
more stuff and snowshoes, crampons, ice axe etc. This pack is huge and even has
a waist strap. But even this gigantic
pack only weighs 18-19 ounces and costs less than $100. A pack that weighs more than two pounds or
costs more than $100 is a waste and you eventually toss it if you get serious
about backpacking. Buy something cheap
at about a pound or two. Better yet—use
that old frame pack from your parents or friend that weighs 4 pounds then after
you’ve slept out 20 nights and walks 300 miles you’ll know for sure what you
want. Nothing is worse than buying new
equipment and discovering on your hike that you made the wrong choice. Even if your borrowed pack is lousy at least
you didn’t spend money on it! One more
thing—ALLK packs are uncomfortable.
There is no pack in the world that makes carrying 10 pounds 20 miles
“comfortable.” If you go hiking and complain, “my pack hurts your shoulders”
there is probably nothing wrong with your pack at all—carrying 10 pounds 20
miles will always hurt! All we hope for
is a “pack that hurts less.” While I’d
suggest waiting to buy a sleeping bag if you have ants in your pants to buy
something—buy a pack and you’ll at least not spend more than $100. Bottom line: Borrow a pack until you can
buy a light one.
3.
Shelter (Tent/Bivy/Tarp) I believe the best single plan is neither
a tent nor a bivy (a waterproof cover for your sleeping bag) but a “tarp.” The cheapest way to do this is to buy one from Wal-mart and
some cord—that may set you back about ten dollars. But it will be heavier than one of the fancy
ones I’m about to tell you about—two pounds for two people instead of one
pound—but it works just fine until you are ready to buy. There are no lifetime purchases here—the
field is developing so fast that in 2 years everything I say here now will not
be valid—which is why a Wal-Mart tarp is probably best. I suggest a !0X12’ tent (or if you want to
sleep three maybe 12X12’. When you’re
ready to buy I suggest you aim for a one pound tarp that will hold two
people—sometimes three people. I got my
first one from Lynn Wheldon
in
Of course if you are handy you can make your own ultralite tarp (Henry Shires now gives away the plans to his first tarptent). If you buy “silicon impregnated nylon” by the yard and sew one single seam you can make them into tarps—sealing the seam with silicon caulk you buy at a hardware store. You can get your tarp for about $25 that way.
Other Stuff after
the “Big three”
Once you have your sleeping bag, pack and tarp the rest can be borrowed, gathered or bought here and there. Here is my basic list:
A. Sleeping: (beyond sleeping bag)
___Sleeping pad—always. I use a Ridgerest or a Z-rest pad from Cascade Designs. I buy a full length pad and cut it in half—so it only used by my shoulders to hips—the rest of me isn’t that heavy. So mine weighs less than 8 ounces. The pad then does double duty as the back support for the go-lite packs (The idea is to curl up the sleeping pad into a circle and pack down inside it so it doubles as a pad-support in the pack—no use having a pad in your pack you don’t use all night!) Either of these pads will cost you about 30 bucks and will last for years. I have both and prefer both depending on my mood. (if you are real old, real fat, or real soft you can go with this company’s Therm-a-rest inflatable pad—but if you are really serious about backpacking and walk far enough you won’t need a comfortable bed—you’ll be able to sleep on rocks you’ll be so exhausted!) As a cheap alternative get any old pad from a nearby sporting goods store. I have even seen people use a big sheet of bubble wrap for a pad—though if you are heavy you might have to contend with popping at night when you turn over.
___Garbage bag—almost always. I carry a lightweight garbage bag for rain protection for my sleeping bag. I only use it when it rains—sticking the sleeping bag in the garbage bag inside pack. I don’t try to keep my pack covered or dry—I keep the stuff in it dry. The only time I don’t carry a garbage bag is in the desert.
___Sleeping bag stuff sack—seldom. Occasionally I use a ½ oz Go-lite silicon impregnated nylon stuff sack for my sleeping bag—but mostly I stick my pad inside my pack like a big “O” then stuff the sleeping bag right down into the bottom of my pack—after all a pack is essentially a huge stuff sack isn’t it? Why put a stuff sack inside a stuff sack?
___Ground cloth—never. I
use my pad for my upper body and my empty pack for my feet. Your pad IS a ground cloth—so that only
leaves your feet to stick on something above the dirt—a pack works great for
this.
B. “Office” (One large zip-loc bag containing all these little things)
___Flashlight—sometimes. A tiny little ten dollar key-chain LED light works fine. In the woods, once my eyes adjust, one of these little ½ ounce lights is all anyone needs. I’ve crossed snow-covered passes in the high sierras at midnight with it. They last 100 hours so you don’t even need an extra battery. Occasionally I carry a $40 Black diamond LED headlamp—but only because I spent the money for it and feel obligated to use it—it was a waste to buy. Actually you seldom need a light at all—most hikers go to bed when it is dark. Usually one light per group is enough really to search in your ditty bag for your ear plugs at midnight when your tarpmate is snoring.
___Wallet-always A little snack-size Zip-loc "wallet" with my license (I need it to claim general delivery mail at post offices) a credit card & a cash advance card, some cash and a few pictures of people I love. Leave fat leather wallets at home.
___Pen-paper—seldom. I no longer carry writing materials—but when I did, I took a refill (not the pen just the ball point refill) to write notes, a single sheet of paper per day to write on (or sometimes a postcard-per-day on which to write a journal that I’d send to my wife whenever crossing a road or meeting hikers headed to their car that day). Now I usually borrow a pen when in town to write letters and I just remember anything I need to remember while hiking figuring if I forget it wasn’t worth remembering. Writing things down doesn’t fit with the outdoors in my mind. Remembering and talking does. This is the reason praying and talking about spiral things fits the woods while reading the Bible and journaling doesn’t seem to fit—at least for me.
___Maps or data book—usually. I
just take the map or data book for the week—sending the rest to post offices
along the way. A “data sheet” is a listing of the miles on the trail and points
of interest—stream crossings, campsites, tops of ridges, roads. Few hikers
carry maps for anything else but reading material—just for fun. Same with a GOS—they are toys like an iPod.
___Camera--sometimes I used to take a disposable camera… then I
got a 3 oz Casio, that was perfect but eventually went bad (maybe it was
glissading down those glaciers with it in my pocket???) I then went with a Casio
S100 which I promply lost in the bed of a pickup truck while hitching back
from town. Now I just use the cheapest
digital camera offered by Wal-Mart that I can afford to lose—and I’ve never
lost it yet. Just make sure someone
has a camera among your hiking companions. Not to take too many views (they
never look as impressive as real life) but to take pictures of people—that’s
what you’ll treasure over the years.
C. Toilet kit (One large zip-loc bag containing all these little things)
___Razor—sometimes. If I decide to shave (I often don’t). On long treks I send a razor to each town or put some in the “bounce box” (a box of supplies sent to the first re-supply town which is repackaged and sent ahead to the next town, then the next, “bouncing” along ahead of the hiker). On hikes less than a few weeks I seldom take a razor.
___ Deodorant—always. I take a tiny bit of deodorant, just
because I’m uncomfortable smelling myself in the woods—there are many nicer
things to smell. Most of the students I
hike with do not carry deodorant though and I notice this.
___Soap—never. I used to carry ¼ of a “motel bar” of soap
but of course one should never use soap in running water. I’ve found out that water alone works just
fine. You don’t smell as badly in the
woods—it is committees that make you stink, not hard walking. Besides I sometimes just take a “deodorant
bath” and don’t use water at all.
___Toothbrush—seldom. I used
to start off with a toothbrush with the handle sawed off—then after a week or
so on a long trek I’d send it home and just use some floss or snap off twigs
for a “woodspick,” and use my bandana or my tongue. I seldom take a toothbrush. If I did I wouldn’t take toothpaste of
course. Here is a good place to remind
backpackers that they aren’t trying to
“take a small or light edition of all the regular things we use in
life.” Rather, backpacking is
“zero-based planning.” We start with
nothing and ask, “what do I absolutely need?” This eliminates most everything
we use in regular life—that’s where the spiritual value of “simplicity”
emerges.
___Bandana—always. Multi-purpose use-for-everything item. Towel, washcloth, sunshade, pot-holder,
sweatband, toothbrush. But to save
weight I rip mine in half or sometimes quarters and take only that part.
___Toilet paper—always I carry six single ply sheets
of toilet Paper per day rounded off by an extra day. I carry this in a Zip-loc bag—sometimes with an additional
ounce of Hand Sanitizer. Lightweight
fastpacking women carry 18 sheets a day with more conservative city-women
carrying as much as a half roll of TP per week.
In some places you will have to carry it out in a separate plastic bag,
in other places you can bury it. It
still other places (
___Plastic Spade-sometimes. To
dig a ‘cat hole.” If I’m out east or in
___Mosquito repellant—sometimes 1-2 oz bottle with at least 50% DEET in it—better yet 100%. (Sometimes also a face net @ 1/2 oz.). Depends on the season of course. If you are going to be hiking more than 30 years straight and using DEET every four hours you might be concerned—but less than a few years straight it appears to be safe.
___Sunscreen & Lip Balm-sometimes. I usually start off with a ½ filled tube of Chap Stick® lip balm if I am going to be in really windy territory, above the timberline, on snow or in the desert. Same with sunscreen—if I’m above the timberline for days at a time at higher elevations, or walking in the Mojave desert I take an ounce-a-week of sunscreen. Otherwise I do without this weight.
___Ear plugs-occasionally . (If
I have a snoring roommate.)
D. Utility Kit (One large zip-loc bag containing all these little things)
___ Bleach. 2 Oz household bleach to treat water (I use a little Visine® bottle to carry mine). I use 2 drops per liter…up to 4 drops if I’m really nervous about the water. After treatment let it sit for about a half hour (20 min. minimum). Chlorine is what my city uses so I do it too. If you wait a half hour to let the chlorine kill the invisible creatures then you can drink it. Bleach is a few percentage points less effective than a water filter—but never clogs up and is 100 times lighter and 90,000,000 times cheaper. If you are a fearful person then a filter is the best bet—but not as important as sanitizing your hands often—the research shows filter-users get sick quite as much as bleach users (and even as much as the I-don’t-use-anything hikers… mostly because of their hands carrying bacteria and viruses—not due to the water they drink.
___ Knife—seldom. I used to carry a ½ ounce tiny key-chain knife. There are so few things needing cutting on the trail I no longer take it.
___ Lighter--seldom. The tiny mini-lighter between three people is perhaps nice—though I doubt it. It might be nice for someone to have one. Serious backpackers seldom or never build fires except for romantic purposes. Campfires are dirty, leave too much mess, ruin the environment, the sparks ruin high-tech clothing and tents, and most backpackers practice “leave no trace” practices and thus don’t build a fire for it is almost impossible to “leave no trace” of it later. It is nice for one person in a group to have a lighter though because every rule is for the breaking sometimes.
___ Baby Powder—sometimes. I often start a long hike with 2-3 oz. baby powder for the first week to powder my feet every hour to prevent blisters. I don’t actually know if it helps—I wonder if stopping every hour, taking off my shoes and airing out my feet and changing my socks, letting the other pair hang out to dry on my pack the next hour is what really does it not the powder. Baby powdering is the excuse to do all that. After a week I quit carrying it.
___ Tape—always. I take a few feet of Duct tape or adhesive tape per week to tape up my “hot spots” where a blister is developing. A bit of prevention before blisters develop is worth pounds of curing after. As soon as you feel tenderness STOP and tape the hot spot. Always. Never fail!
E. Clothing (mostly to wear, not for carrying)
CLOTHES FOR WEARING
___ Tee shirt--always. I usually wear a non-cotton Starter® soccer shirt from Wal-Mart at about $12. Just don’t wear cotton unless you are hiking in the desert or like a clammy damp feeling.
___ Shorts/pants—always. I wear a cheap pair of nylon running shorts usually. I like running shorts with pockets. In the cold and in the desert. However recently I’m wearing a lightweight pair of full-length “cargo pants” I got for Christmas—at about 6 oz. Forget cotton or jeans.
___ Hat-always. Baseball hat or floppy hat in the woods, Stocking cap in the cold. When I’m above the timberline or in the desert where the sun is a challenge I wear a wide floppy hat (sometimes straw, sometimes cloth) that protects my ears from the sun.
___ Socks. I usually wear two pairs of liners on each foot. Two pair of thin socks dry out faster on my pack between changes than one thick pair. Some of my poverty-stricken students use men’s dress socks or women’s thin nylon socks they buy at the dollar store®. I use more expensive non-cotton liners but I’m not sure they’re not much better than what my students wear. In the cold or in rainy territory or sometimes when I just feel like it I take Smartwool® socks—my favorite thicker socks (I have one pair I have logged over 1000 miles on). But they are expensive. Cotton can work, but once they’re wet—they’ll never dry and you’ll be carrying or wearing heavy wet socks from then on.
___ Sneakers—always. Any sneakers you feel comfortable in is fine. I personally am a totally committed fan of New Balance® sneakers. I get about 500 miles per pair of NB shoes. I used up four pairs of NB 804’s then they quit making them. (805’s are lousy for the trail—forget them) Then I used up five pair of NB 806s until they disappeared too. I used up a pair of NB 871s in the desert and they blew out in 350 miles. I have a pair of NB 915 waterproof sneakers for snow and rain—but they suck—literally. Finally I found a close-out on NB806s and bought several pair. Whatever find comfortable sneakers and break them in with 100 miles before your big hike. Here’s the rule: use a sneaker that makes your foot feel good and one that has some lugs on the sole. If you’re hiking less than 300 miles just go in your old sneakers and buy nothing new as far as shoes go. If you carry a gigantic pack (against my advice) or have really weak ankles you might need heavier “boots” like hunters wear but you’ll find few of them on serious backpackers now. If you don’t sprain your ankles often, and you will be carrying a light pack, sneakers are the best bet for backpacking. If you are headed off on a 500+ mile hike do one additional thing—even with New Balance sneakers: toss out the cheap insole and put a proper one in. I use Superfeet® insoles—I’ve had these insoles last over 2000 miles—through four pairs of shoes—and they are sweet (they are NOT soft, so forget “soft”—you don’t want soft). Bottom lin4e: for a short hike use comfortable sneakers you already own. For a longer hike buy sneaks ½ or a full size larger and break them in with 100 miles. (your feet swell ½ size or more after 100 miles—hence the larger size for longer hikes)
___ Glasses/contacts—never. I never take glasses backpacking even when I was required to wear them to drive a car. The first summer I left them home and hiked all summer without them I returned home and tried my glasses on and they “felt weird.” My optometrist tested my eyes to discover my eyesight had improved by 50% over the summer—just from forcing my eyes to do it (I rally wanted to see the views I guess!). Anyway, this is not scientific, and may sound made-up, but it happened to me. I never put glasses back on—even after I got my new prescription. IN fact when I went to renew my license I passed the eye test that I’d failed since I was a teen. You decide. Biology professor, Burt Webb always takes contacts and never has problems—well, almost never—there was that sandstorm in Washington once….
___CLOTHES FOR CARRYING
___ Socks—always. A second “set of two pairs” of thin sock liners. I rotate—drying out four socks while I’m wearing the other four. If you go with standard thicker sock, once spare pair is enough.
___Sleeping hat—always I carry a thin stocking hat for sleeping, chilly mornings, and hypothermic-inducing rain. I’m a baby when it comes to cold—so I wear a sleeping hat even in the summer. If you are a hot-headed sleeper you’ll get away without this probably.
___PJs—never. I used to carry silk boxers as PJs but now I sleep in whatever I walked in and wash out my stuff every few days when the sun shines—putting it back on to dry while I walk. Some people must have a change of clothes to sleep in so if that’s you take it—I just see no reason to carry something all day long that I’m only going to notice the first 10 minutes of the night. What do I do when I get totally soaked in the daytime? Sleep in my skin.
___Rain suit In rainy territory (like the Appalachian
Trail and the Knobstone) I take a nylon rain suit. Any one will work, it doesn’t even have to be
expensive or breathable. Actually I have
a Go-lite jacket and pants that weighs 15 ounces combined, but to tell the
truth…any tight-woven nylon suit will work… even the Wal-Mart brands I bought
for $20 are almost as good. Face it,
when it rains and you suit up, you get wet from the outside by rain, or the
inside by sweat…now which do you think is the fresher experience? In cold climates, rainy spots or when I am
above the timberline I always take a rain suit.
In the smack-dab-middle of the summer on the
F. Cold weather additions (when it is going to be in the 30’s or less)
___Fleece or wool sweater, or even a lightweight down jacket. Walking in a tee shirt is fine at 33 degrees—I use so much energy walking it feels perfect. But sitting down for a break at that temperature requires something to fight the chills with. In cold weather I put on fleece & my stocking hat during breaks, and sometimes for the first hour of a chilly morning. If I’m expecting temps in the teens I take a lightweight down jacket instead of the fleece. If below zero I carry a NorthFace parka.
___XXL Totes® OK it sounds crazy—but if I’m hiking in the snow I often still walk in sneakers, I just add XXL Totes® (the zip-up kind to the outside of the sneakers) to the sneakers to get a 100% waterproof shoe. They last about a hundred miles in the snow, and longer if you have duct tape.
___Ice axe, snowshoes, crampons, rope. If doing mountaineering.
___Tent. Sometimes I trade my tarp for a small mountaineering tent for snow.
G. Eating:
___No-cook Food-always. Why cook food while hiking—if I were there
for the eating I’d stay home or go to the Outback®. I go no-cook and I love it better. For a short hike of a week or less I just
gather together as much “junk food” as I’ll need and pack it away for a
delightful week of munching, crunching (and trading with others.) Almost all the students I now hike with go
no-cook too. Backpacking is mostly
walking not keeping house. On hikes
longer than 300 miles I carry as my primary staple “PowerShakes.” I drink 2-3 a day. The “PowerShakes” recipe is: a) enough dry milk to
make 1 Qt; b) a scoop of Whey protein powder (sometimes two); c)a few
tablespoons of Nesquik for flavoring—that’s it!
This recipe makes one liter of cold delicious drink—just put the mixture
in cold water & shake up then drink it.
Three PowerShakes a day gets me about 1500 calories more than half my
diet—the rest of my diet I get
from munching at every break on the other stuff: dry cereal, Fritos, candy
bars, breakfast bars, nuts, raisins, coconut, pop tarts, tortillas, peanut
butter, , jelly, cheese, pepperoni—gee whiz just writing this makes my mouth
water! I say “If you want to cook start
cooking on your tenth backpacking trip”—if you’re starting out go simple at
first. For me no-cook saves time, fuss, and all kinds of weight in your pack.
(However if you ignore this and bring your sto9ve, pot and fuel I hope you make
me some hot chocolate on that chilly morning!
___Water containers-always. You
need 2 one-liter Gatorade® bottles or wide mouth coke bottles.
Maybe three at the most. If you are rich
or going out for more than 300 miles (or in the desert) try getting a
collapsible "Platypus"
which will set you back fifteen bucks or more to get about the same weight as a
Gatorade bottle, but it collapses flat while not using it. Forget expensive Nalgene
containers--they are for people who pretend to be outdoorish (though if you are
mountaineering and it is going to be below zero they are required for you can
put boiling water in them). In the east
on the
___Spoon-always. Cook or no-cook I take a spoon. If I’m no-cook I stick a box of crackers in a
plastic bag and crush them before carrying them on the trail—they get crushed
anyway so I just beat the pack to it and crush them myself Then for snacks I get out several of these
bags and eat them with my spoon—discovering what they are by taste if not
sight. Using your fingers invites the transfer of virus and bacteria to your
food and mouth. While the hot-cookers
are still cleaning out their pots I’m on the next pass drinking in the views.
(as you can see backpacking isn’t really “camping” it is hiking. I use an expensive
($15) titanium spoon that is not really any better than a spoon from Wendys®
--(though if you eat Peanut Butter in the cold a backup plastic spoon may be
smart—they invariably break the third day).
___FOOD—of course. I take about 1 pound of food per day—no more,
but younger folk sometimes take 1 ½ pounds a day and if the hiker has
absolutely zero “stored fat” something two pounds per day. It all depends on how much “spare food” you
already carry around your waist. The
first month I’m out backpacking I get 1500-2000 calories a day from my pack and
another 1500-2000 from my waist. I
usually lose about ¾ pound a day when backpacking. After a month I have to carry almost two
pound of food a day. Some hikers do
short 4-5 day trips with no food at all like John Muir did regularly but I’ve
never been able to go longer than a day or two without food. I do however take no food for the final day
out—ever. I carefully plan to have no
food left the final day walking into town (or to my car on a shorter trip). Being hungry for one day is a good
experience! The primary thing to
remember about food and backpacking is “food
is fuel.” Where you really get the
sensuous food-eating experience is not on the trail but once a week in town—and
the more you’ve adopted the “food-is-fuel” philosophy on the trail the better
those three Pizzas taste in town!
TOTAL
WEIGHT My own
pack including all the above (excluding food/water) weighs about 7 pounds. That sounds light—but consider this. If I have seven days to make it to the next
town/re-supply point I’ve got to add seven pounds of food to that—now I’m 14
pounds. And if I’m starting out in the
morning and the first water is a half-day away I’ll be adding 2 liters of
water/4 pounds to that and presto—now my pack weighs 18 pounds. A pack should never weigh more than 20
pounds.
On the other hand, on that 7-day
trek, the final morning after I’ve eaten all my food that week, I’m now headed
into the next town, down a stream all day thus needing to carry no water… I’m carrying only 7 pounds going down hill with
two XXL pizzas waiting for me at the end of that 20 miles…watch me speed!
Other
stuff some take
?___UNDERWEAR. many thru hikers—both men and women--don't wear 'em figuring
they only retain moisture and invite rashes. If you do, you'll want some that
wicks away moisture. Sometime I’ve worn silk boxers. You have to make the call here and nobody
will know what you’ve decided unless you tell.
?___FLIP-FLOPS/SANDALS I don't take these to save weight, but many hikers carry them, especially
those who wear heavier hiking shoes—to give their feet a chance to rest at
night or for a quick trip to the bathroom. I take the insoles out of my
sneakers and wear the sneakers in the evening…my warm feet then dry them in a
hour or so. Another advantage of sandals is for river crossings--otherwise you
get wet feet and have to "walk them dry" the rest of the day. I just
ford rivers in an extra pair of socks. However remember in backpacking most of
the time is spent… well, backpacking.
Walking. The long evenings you
imagine (from car camping) don’t happen to backpackers much. They take their long lounging time during the
day when it is warm and the sun is shining.
Even “supper” is eaten along the trail before more walking. Most good backpackers walk right up to the
moment of darkness (often sometimes until an hour after dark—the trick it to
see how long you can walk before turning on the light). When all day hikers arrive at camp what do
they do? They find a place for their
tarp and set it up, roll out their sleeping bag crawl in it go to sleep all
within about ten minutes. Most serious
backpackers do their “campfire chats” in the pleasant afternoon breaks not in
camp. If you want a long evening
snuggled around a campfire chatting and telling stories go car camping. If you like long breaks, many-a-day gathered
around a stream or an overlook chatting, laughing and telling stories
throughout the day then backpacing is your thing.
?___Pee bottle. Many men hikers carry an extra bottle dedicated
to keeping them from having to get up in the middle of the night and make a
stumbling trip out into the dark.
?___ Walking Sticks I have a
wonderful pair—but I seldom use them except in
Keith Drury,
Other
helpful pages
·
Caring for your FEET while walking
·
Outdoor links (suppliers, organizations and
companies)
·
Studies on water treatment
COMMENTARY
(Other views on the above list by experienced backpackers)
Commentary by Burt Webb
(Biology professor,
1. Shelter
- I am slowly becoming a tarp convert, but there have been several nights in
bug-infested regions of southern Washington and on very stormy nights on the
Knobstone that I have been thankful for my Clip-flashlight CD tent. Weighs more
than my tarp 36 oz compacted to 12, but there are occasionally reasons that I
like it.
2. Shoes
- ok, I am a techie - I liked the NB 803 and the 804, but after that the NB
company moved away from good tread and toward the mass market of high school
and college campuses. So, my new favorites are the Nike Air Zoom Steens and Air
Teochalli shoes. In addition to hiking I am a pretty active trail runner (30 -
70 miles/week) which makes me REALLY picky about my shoes. I am with Coach D
though on Superfeet, they cost $20+ but are worth every penny!
3. Bag
- I am saving for a Marmot Helium as we speak.
4. Pack
- GoLite all the way.
5. NuSkin
- I gave up on the duct tape and athletic tape last year. nuSkin is light and
stay stuck longer than the others.
6. Platypus
- My pack has a built-in Platypus hydration system. I love it and have stayed
more hydrated with it that without it. Worth the weight.
7. Socks
- I like Smartwool all the time - but I prefer the light hikers or low-cut
runner socks.
8. Hat
- Tilley, a little more expensive - mine was a gift - but worth it! Sheds water
better than anything I have ever had.
9. Hiking
poles - a toss-up. I sometimes hike with them, but often don't. For me, it
depends on how much descent there will be on the hike. I can climb with no
problem, but going down my knees need the support of poles.
10. Shirt - I am becoming a longsleeve devote. Always drifit or similar
fabric, but a cool good-fitting long sleeve shirt protects your skin from UV
without being too hot.
11. Gloves - I almost always carry drilite gloves. They keep my hands
warm on cool mornings and cold evenings.
12. Food - I NEVER COOK on the trail. I had my last pot-full of mushy
macs and cheese 4 years ago and have
never gone back. I use backpacking as my opportunity to defy every eating rule
that I keep during the regular year. Chocolate every day! Chips, bagels, huge
hunks of cheese and sausage! More Chocolate in the form of cookies and candy
bars and hard candies! Sugary drinks like Gatorade and cool-aid and High
calorie protein shakes. Not the itchy kind sold at Wal-mart, but the good ones
that Coach and I created several years ago. They are Tasty!
13. Fitness - It is possible to jump out of the car and hike 18 - 24
miles a day, but to do it, you must be pretty fit all the time. Here are my
recommendations:
* Run - 30 - 60 minutes each day with
one longer run each week 1.5 - 2 hours.
* Stair climber or Elliptical runner
(set at maximum incline) 20 - 40 minutes a day 3 weeks prior to hike
* Weight training - especially back and
shoulders, but some leg work helps too.
* Gut work - the best, hands down is:
the inverted bicycle ride - lay flat on your back, hands behind head, hips flat
on the ground, and work your legs like you are riding a bike. Start with 3 sets
of 30 seconds and work up from there.
14. Medicine - I have a small
zip-lock bag that coach calls my mini-pharmacy. I have everything from imodium
to ciprofloxacin... but only enough to get us out of the woods. Just a few of
each. Be sure you know which is which!
15. Camera - go mini digital; one per group is usually enough. Carry
one with a big memory card that can take short videos, and give it to your most
picture happy hiker. Keep it handy so you can take pics quickly.
16. Bodyglide - if you are prone to chaffing, and you know who you are
- get a mini tube of Bodyglide. It is, hands down, the best body lubricant I
have ever used. That is speaking from hundreds of long runs, 7 marathons, and (very soon) my first Ultra.
17. Persistence - you must have inner strength and the ability keep
going even when you feel like quitting.
Commentary
by Kerry Kind
Here
are my equipment comments, especially related to the Knobstone Trail. It is not really a list, because Keith’s
equipment list, complete with explanations, is the best you’ll see anywhere. I don’t disagree with a thing he says, but I
will still end up taking an extra thing or two beyond what he takes.
For
example, I do better with the trekking
poles on the Knobstone trail, I believe for several reasons:
1)
Each foot experiences close to 50,000 impacts on the Knobstone. The
trekking poles lessen the force of each step, distributing the impact so your
upper body shares in some of the work. I
was able to go farther in a day. This
also contributes to fewer problems with hot spots and blisters.
2)
When you are walking a long level stretch, you may feel that the
trekkers are superfluous. But there
aren’t many of those on the KS. The
poles come into their own when you are climbing, helping to take some of the
burn from your thighs, and when you are descending, helping to reduce the
impact to your feet.
3)
My first knobber, I fell down on a slippery creek bank my first
night, landed on my left arm at an awkward angle, and dislocated my
shoulder. It popped back in right away,
but that arm was pretty useless for the rest of the hike. Last Easter, I used the trekking poles for
the first time. There were a number of
times, especially on steep descents, that it was definitely safer using the
poles, and a couple of times they literally seemed to save me from a dangerous
slip.
I
am heavier and clumsier than most perhaps, but that’s why the trekkers are for
me.
I
use an unbreakable plastic spoon. You can get one for about a dollar at Dick’s,
I think, and it is super lightweight, maybe even lighter than Keith’s
titanium.
My shoes are New Balance 806
trail runners. It may be that you can’t
get them anymore, but newer lines may be similar. I would not set foot on the trail with
anything else. They have traction,
durability, they dry quickly, and most important, comfortable. Get a size that gives you sock room. I wear two socks: Fox River sock liners next to my skin, and
then SmartWool Lite Hikers. The
SmartWool socks are extremely durable, they are warm even when wet, they are
cushiony comfortable, and they dry quickly enough on the outside of your
pack. The Smart part is they way they
wick moisture away from your feet. So I
wear one set and bring a spare set of each.
Yeah,
I do the duct tape thing on
“hot spots.” It works. I will probably bring a few commercial
blister pads, as well. Not because I
expect to use them, but someone else on the trail with me will be having a
problem because they brought the wrong shoes.
I have been there, so I bring the pads so I can give them away and maybe
give someone a lift.
Scripture is always
appropriate. I should just memorize long
passages ahead of time and practice them on the trail. That isn’t me, though. Instead, I’ll prayerfully select a few
passages ahead of time for devotions, reduce them down and then print them on
the back of Keith’s trail data sheet for this event.
I
took a cell phone on my last
KS hike, but should not have. I thought
it might be good for getting weather information and for the potential serious
emergency. I got weather forecasts a
couple of times, but several times when I tried to get a signal I couldn’t get
one even on roaming. There aren’t many
towers around there; it is very rural.
Wasted weight.
I
use a flexible water container
that has a tube that attaches to it. Mine
is called a Dromedary, and it will hold 4+ liters, though I don’t need to fill
it on the KS. I put it in the top of my
pack and bring the tube loosely around my side and it has a clip which secures
to the chest strap of my pack. The end
of the tube has a pinch valve that I can squeeze with my teeth and suck water
out whenever I want a sip, which is pretty often. I think it is important to stay hydrated by
drinking pretty steadily. And you won’t
want to stop every mile and take a bottle out to get swig or two. I bring a thin plastic one-liter water bottle
as a backup, and to mix power shakes or sun tea in.
For
a sleeping pad, I use the ThermaRest. I use the lightest weight one, 16
ounces. It is inflatable so you are on
an air cushion. This one is only 1 inch
thick and ¾ length and stuffs into a small space. I tried the hard Ridgerest first and took it
on a couple of hikes, including Montana.
I would get up in the morning with my back hurting. I sometimes have problems with my back. When I tried the ThermaRest, no back
problem! So that is why it is worth it
for me.
First aid: I bring a little bit of Neosporin ointment to
put on cuts and scrapes, to reduce chances of an infection. The bandana will work as a bandage or a
sling, if those are needed. Most first
aid is knowledge, not supplies, right, doc?
Medications, though: as someone who had a heart attack a few years ago,
I will carry aspirins and nitroglycerin.
And I’ll bring some pain medication in case my back acts up.
I
don’t have much to say beyond Keith’s exhaustive list. He’s so right on clothes and the Big Three
and shoes, etc. Actually I think it is Big Four with four being the right shoes.
All
for now,
Kerry