I have a collection of backpacks that I use for day hiking, backpacking, bushwhacking, winter peak bagging, and fly fishing. Some of them are general-purpose and some are more specialized for the kinds of activities that I enjoy when I’m out of …
Read More »Gear Lists
Gear that Worked and Gear that Didn’t on the Cape Wrath Trail
I like to keep track of what gear worked and what didn’t on my backpacking trips for future reference. If you’d like to see the complete list of gear I brought for this, the southern half (140 miles) of the Cape Wrath …
Read More »Cape Wrath Trail Backpacking Gear List, Explained
The Cape Wrath Trail travels up the west coast of Scotland, beginning in Fort William, and ending at Cape Wrath which is the northernmost point of Britain. It’s not actually a trail though, but a route. What’s the difference? You can connect …
Read More »Pennsylvania Appalachian Trail Section Hike Gear List – Spring 2018
I’m headed down to the Pennsylvania Appalachian Trail this spring to finish section hiking the state. It’s tough living in Massachusetts or New Hampshire and getting down south to finish the trail on section hikes, but I am shooting to finish the …
Read More »Backpacking Gear List for New Hampshire and Maine
Most of the backpacking trips I take are 1-3 nights in length in the mountainous terrain of New Hampshire and Maine. This includes sections of the Appalachian Trail and the 1440 mile trail system in the White Mountain National Forest. I still …
Read More »Gear Closet: Backpacking Clothing and Footwear
You don’t need a huge wardrobe for backpacking, day, hiking, or bushwhacking but you do need clothing and footwear that’s durable and can be easily layered to keep you warm or cool in different temperatures and weather. Understanding your metabolism and how to …
Read More »Section Hiker’s Gear Closet: Sleeping Bags, Quilts, and Sleeping Pads
I’m very picky about my personal backpacking gear, the stuff I use on personal trips when I’m not “working” and reviewing someone else’s gear. Here are the sleeping bags, quilts, and sleeping pads that I use year-round on a regular basis (90-120 nights/year.) …
Read More »Hiking Mt Washington Gear List
Mt Washington is a serious mountain with unpredictable weather despite that fact that there’s a weather forecasting station on top. You can set out to hike it on a day which is supposed to be clear and sunny, but experience unexpected fog, …
Read More »Appalachian Trail Section Hike Gear List – 2016 – NOBO – VA to PA
This backpacking gear list is for a 2-3 week Appalachian Trail section hike I’m taking in early spring from northern Virginia and into Pennsylvania. I’ve section hiked over 1250 miles of the Appalachian Trail so far and hope to finish hiking the trail …
Read More »Winter Backpacking Gear List
I don’t believe in the idea of ultralight winter backpacking and I’d be hesitant to set an upper bound on what your winter gear weight should be, if only because people’s regional definition of winter differs so much. Regardless, I still try …
Read More »Gear that Worked, Gear that Didn’t on my Appalachian Trail Section Hike
I took an 18 day/ 250 mile backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail through Northern Virginia in April and thought I’d give you the low down how my preparation and backpacking gear worked. If you’re interested in seeing a full list of the gear I carried, …
Read More »Winter Backpacking Above-Treeline Gear List
Last weekend I went on a difficult 2 night backpacking trip that involved a 19 mile traverse of the Presidential Range in New Hampshire, including 15 miles of fully-exposed, above-treeline hiking. We had great weather, but you never know what is going …
Read More »Appalachian Trail Section Hiking Gear List
This backpacking gear list is for a three week Appalachian Trail section hike I’ll be taking from mid-April through early May, starting in northern Virginia and heading north. I’m not exactly sure what how much mileage I’ll cover but it should be somewhere …
Read More »Winter Backpacking Gear List
I believe in creating a new gear list for every trip I take that takes into consideration the environmental conditions (weather, terrain, water, navigation, sunlight, etc) I’m likely to encounter. There was a time when I had one static gear list, but …
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