Autumn Lightweight Backpacking Gear List

Here’s the gear list I used in on my last section hike over Mt. Greylock and up the Appalachian Trail into Southern Vermont during the long Columbus Day weekend. Designed for mid-autumn, it is a good deal heavier at 15 lbs. than the 10-11 lb. base weight I was able to get by with during the summer months this year.

Most of the additional weight comes from the inclusion of a full tent and heavy duty sleeping pad to provide additional warmth for nighttime temperatures in the 20 to 30 degree F range. Under these conditions, I’ve found it useful to replace my tarp or Six Moon Lunar Solo tarp tent with a Black Diamond Firstlight tent made from highly breathable EPIC fabric. This is a self standing single walled tent that is fully enclosed and cuts the wind, but is breathable enough to produce minimal internal condensation even when the screened windows are completely closed all night. It’s used by backpackers and mountaineers as a 4 season tent although it’s often labeled by retailers as a 3 season one. At only 43 oz., it’s really a great lightweight component for cold weather camping.

My sleeping pad, an Exped Downmat 7 is filled with goose down and is 2.5 inches thick, making it extremely warm to sleep on when the ground is cold. On my last trip, I was sleeping between 10 and 11 hours a night on this pad, in part due to exhaustion and in part because sundown was before 7pm. Having a warm pad under these conditions is essential, since you’re going to be stuck in your tent for much longer given the shortened daylight hours.