[pct-l] Gear Advice

[Sean Nordeen]

Dwane,

I used a down quilt that weighed 18.8oz.  It supposedly had a 20F rating,
but that was optimistic as it seemed more like high 20's.  That said, with
just a set of lightweight thermals, wool socks, a lightweight
balaclava, and my water resistant lightweight bivy sack (I mainly cowboyed
camped with it with the occasional use of a Tarp as a shelter), I was
always warm at night.  Only twice, near Canada, did I have to wear my
hiking clothes on top of the thermals to stay warm.  Never did have to wear
my down jacket to bed.

I cowboyed camped for all but 9 nights on the PCT and only used
a small lightweight tarp for rain and snow along with my lightweight bivy
sack.  I found that was more then enough to deal with the weather and
bugs.  Not everyone is happy with using tarps but the combined weight
of tarp/bivy/stakes was less then a pound and packs really small.  Normally
packed them in my pack, but if they were wet, they were packed in the
outside rear mesh pocket.

I had a very lightweight Montbell Ext. UL Down Jacket for the entire hike.
It made a nice comfortable pillow stuffed in my clothing stuff sack with my
fleece balaclava pulled over it like a pillow case (on nights when I wasn't
wearing it as a warm hat to bed).  Never wore the jacket to sleep in.
Never hiked in it for more then 15 minutes in the cold mornings as I would
start to sweet too much, even in the snow I had at the Canadian border.  It
was very nice to wear around camp at night and when packing up in the early
mornings.  Some mornings were below freezing and I doubt I would have
gotten up at dawn had I not had the down jacket to wear for warmth as I
packed up.

I hate Jetboils for their heavy weight and would never carry one, but did
enjoy the benefits of a hiking friend boiling small fish (caught in the
High Sierra) in one.  If all you are doing is boiling water to cook with,
then I'd dump it for a smaller and lighter alcohol stove.  Google Freezer
Bag Cooking to see how I cook on the trail.

I can't comment on pack size since I don't really know how bulky some of
your gear is.  My baseweight (not including my camcorder + misc
electronics) was ~11lbs and found my 3800 cu.in. pack too big for most of
the trip.  I definitely could have gone with a smaller 3200 cu. in. pack
though it would have been tight on one section of the High Sierra with that
bear can.  I mainly choose my pack for its weight carrying rating for heavy
water loads and a Garcia Bearcan for the High Sierra, but even then,
looking back, could have gone lighter and smaller.  If you choose your
resupplies carefully, you should never need to carry more then 7 days of
food (usually much less) at any point on the PCT; even in the High Sierra
if you exit over Kearsarge pass instead of straight through to Muir Ranch
or VVR.

-Miner
'09 PCT Journal:
http://www.postholer.com/journal/viewJournal.php?event_id=349