I’ve never been much into expensive gear. A lot of the equipment I started hiking with was from yard sales. Over the years, I have invested a little more money into gear. Sometimes I have to justify to myself why it’s ok to splurge a little bit. I think about a 3-4 night backpacking trip and calculate what it would cost to stay in a hotel for those nights instead. That’s an easy way to justify spending a couple hundred dollars on gear.
Don’t get fooled by the gearheads. There’s no reason you have to go into debt on the most expensive ultralight gear.
Backpack
My evolution of packs has gone something like this:
- A heavy blue canvas backpack meant to be used for luggage
- A child’s REI Rising Star backpack I got at a garage sale for my kids for $20. It held more than you would think and was pretty lightweight. But it fit me kind of funny.
- A High Sierra Classic 2 Series Explorer 55 backpack that my wife got as a gift from her employer.
- Finally, I recently graduated to the Gossamer Gear Mariposa 60 which helped me realize how rough I actually had it all those years. It fits comfortably and it’s lightweight.
Tent
Tents, for me, have been about the same. Here have been my go to tents over time.
- A eureka solitaire. An older model of this bivy style tent which I bought at a yard sale for $10. The seller said she didn’t need a one person tent anymore because she got married. This was actually a decent little tent for me on many trips until I lost the poles.
- A 2 person pup tent. This is a horrible tent that during rain storms shields no water and instead the water comes right through the tent and collects at the bottom of the bathtub floor so your sleeping bag sops up the water and you are miserable. It led to some of the worst nights, for my sister on the Wonderland Trail, and for me/my son on the Teton Crest Trail. It’s a cursed tent and has now been retired to the landfill. When you’re not expecting rain, it’s a great little tent that you can set up with your trekking poles. But what good is a tent if it can’t shield you from the rain? (OK this one is over $20, but you shouldn’t buy it anyway).
- Finally, I’ve evolved to this one person ALPS Mountaineering Lynx. If you thought I spent months researching tents and finally settled on this one, you’re wrong. I bought two of these in Jackson, WY for my son and I in an act of desperation after the pup tent failure.
Sleeping Bag
I don’t have much interesting to say about sleeping bags. I don’t even know what brand my sleeping bag is. It’s just some super lightweight 30 degree bag that I got at a yard sale for $10. In cold weather, I do supplement with a sleeping bag liner.
Sleeping Pad
For pads, I always used a Therm a Rest Z Pad. I love this pad because it’s non-inflatable so impossible to pop. You can set it up and take it down in a second. The other benefit is that it doubles as a pad you can sit at when you get to camp or when you stop to rest. The drawback is that over time it gets compressed and you have to replace it. Also, once I switched over to the Klymit Static V I realized how much comfier it is to sleep on air. I don’t wake up nearly as frequently now with a tingly arm that fell asleep.
Stove
My stove was only $20 on amazon. It is so lightweight and reliable, I’m not sure I could ever understand why someone would pay more for a stove.
Water Treatment
For water filters, I started with the sawyer mini and thought it was the best product out there. Being lighter weight and cheaper than the sawyer squeeze, I just assumed the mini was superior. I noticed all the PCT hikers used the squeeze and eventually I figured out why. The squeeze is way more efficient at filtering water and will reduce the time you spend filtering by half at least. It’s well worth the extra ten bucks and all the few extra micrograms in weight. Pro tip: also doubles as a great duct tape carrier. Wrap some duct tape around the middle and you will thank yourself later when you have this stash.
Occasionally, I am hiking in areas where filtering is problematic. Sometimes this is because I’m in the desert and there is too much silt in the water source. Other times I’m pushing big miles and I’m too antsy to even take a short break to filter. My solution in these instances has been to use water treatment tabs. Some people don’t like the taste, but you can always add electrolyte flavoring to make it more palatable.
Day Pack
On some of my backpacking trips, I occasionally plan to set a base camp and do some day hiking/exploring. My solution, is either to simply use my mostly empty backpacking pack and throw in some water and snacks. Or to bring this day pack which has served me tremendously on summit hikes like Kings Peak. Or even just day hiking around in the wasatch on the weekends at home. It’s folds up to nearly nothing in its attached pouch.
Trekking Poles
Like stoves, I never understood the allure of pricey trekking poles. I’ve hiked with people who have spent over $100 on lightweight trekking poles. For me, I have always opted for the cheap $20 set at amazon or recreation outlet. The first thing I do, is toss the baskets and caps, knowing they will just come off and get littered in the woods. On the Teton Crest Trail, a porcupine enjoyed the salty hand grips of our poles and we woke to them completely chewed through. I was glad in this instance to only have been out $20.
Western Compass 