[at-l] Gear list II - lots of questions!

[spiriteagle99 at hotmail.com (Jim and/or Ginny Owen)]

Kelly Whitman
>YEA!!  Such good feedback!  Thanks, everyone.  :)  Here's my feedback to 
>the
>feedback, I hope no one minds that I'm just responding to everyone at the 
>same time.

A little feedback to your feedback to the feedback --- <G>

>>Get the EverNew 0.9 liter Titanium Pot if you can afford it.
>
>I was going to get the AntiGravityGear 3 Cup Aluminum Non-stick Cook Pot.
>It's the lightest one I've found so far, 3.8 oz.  Is there something 
>lighter?

Lighter you don't need as much as bigger.  3 -cups is too small for a 
thruhiker.  Or hasn't anyone told you about thruhiker apetites (hiker 
hunger) yet?

>>>coffee filters
>>
>>For what?  you plan on drinking coffee a lot?
>
>They're for filtering murky water (I don't like coffee).

You won't likely find much murky water on the AT. Doesn't mean it won't be 
contaminated - but it's not the kind of murky water you get out West.  OTOH 
- they weigh next to nothing unless you're takiing a lot of them.  I carried 
them on the CDT - but not on the AT or PCT.

>>>silk bag liner

I sent mine home with my kids - before I ever set foot on the Trail. Too 
heavy for what it didn't do for me - and what it did do to me.  But - 
there's always Neels Gap. <G>

>>Nah, carry a cheap plastic lighter.
>
>Am I the only person who gets burned thumbs from lighters?

Third Law of backpacking - Strike anywhere matches don't.  I took a lighter 
just as a backup to the matches - then the matches wouldn't light. Shipped 
'em home and used the lighter for 3 thruhikes.  Still have some of the 
matches - 12 years later.   Got rid of some of them at the Ruck last year.

>I might not get lost but I have bum ankles so I could take a long, bad 
>fall.
>  Mainly the mirror is for checking for ticks.  Maybe it can go with my
>warm-weather gear.  When will I need to start checking for ticks?

Probably not till Damascus - at least.  Probably even further north. 
Certainly before Front Royal.

>>>shorts + light top for camp/sleeping clothes
>>
>I didn't want to carry camp clothes.  I just recently added them to the 
>list
>because I'm concerned about having to sleep in rain-drenched clothes,
>especially in cold weather.  Bike shorts are pretty light.  Amy suggested a
>silk shirt, that's a good idea since they're so lightweight.  I can sew, so
>maybe I'll just make myself a top and shorts out of silk to sleep in.

Good decision.  Anything dry will do - just get out of the sweaty clothes 
ASAP.  Hypothermia's a bitch.

>Will that be warm enough in a 0 degree bag in the snow, though?  Shane, how 
>do you stay warm enough sleeping nude (alone, I mean!)?

Betcha a dollar that 0* will be overkill no matter how cold you sleep.  Pay 
me when you get back.  <G>

You keep worrying about sleeping in the snow.  But in the hammock, the snow 
is immaterial.  Only the air temp matters.

>>>helmet drape
>>
>>What's that?
>
>It's a thing I am never without here in the desert (this place is like
>living on Tattooine, I swear).  I need it in snow, too.  It keeps the sun
>off of my face and neck.  I burn when most people would never burn, even in
>shade.  I know it's "the green tunnel," but I'm a prime candidate for skin
>cancer so I'll happily carry the extra 1.5 ounces in order to be careful.

Carry it - wear it - and use sunscreen as well.  One of the unrecognized 
dangers on the Trail is sunburn in the South.  You'll  be at 5-6000 ft 
before the trees leaf out for at least two months.  I ended up with 
precancerous lesions on both ears.  Cover your ears.

>>>boiled wool mittens (still looking for these)
>>Why boiled wool mittens?
>
>Extremely warm, light, and durable.  If there's something better, I'm
>definitely open to suggestions.  There seems to be a mitten vs. glove 
>debate and I'm not really sure which side I come down on.

Then carry both.  Carry mittens for warmth (fleece is lighter than wool).  
And carry polypro glove liners for when you need to have your fingers free - 
like for cooking.  Mittens are always warmer than gloves.  If you use 
fleece, you can carry both for less than the weight of the boiled wool 
mittens.

>>Get one of the lightweight rigid cases.  If your glasses are riding in 
>>your pack, there is a very good chance they'll get mangled.
>
>I was going to stuff them in a sock and put them in my cooking pot.

How often do you need them?  If you need them for reading - you're not gonna 
want to have to dig out the pot so you can read a map or Data Book.  And you 
WILL want to read something like that - multiple times every day.  REI sells 
a softside case that'll clip to you pack harness.

>>>travelmate

Better ask some of the women - see if anyone's used one.  My wife won't use 
one - too many downsides.  But what do I know.............  <G>

>>Balaclava, man.  What good's a warm head when you have a cold
>neck?
>
>Do you need things like that if you have a bag that closes all around your
>head until just your face is showing?  I'm not crazy about sleeping with
>something over my mouth and nose.  Maybe that's an asthma thing.

I've carried one in northern Montana, Colorado - winter hiking - etc.  Only 
use it in extreme cold. There are two versions - one is fleece - the other 
is polypro.  Both very warm - and light.


>>Do you live anywhere you could test this stuff out for a really cold 
>>night? Be sure to spend a night in your hammock before you chose it
>as your final shelter system. It's a great sleep, but you'll need alot of 
>insulation of the outside in March and April.
>
>That's a good suggestion and that's what I'm planning to do.  We get
>snowfall here on the desert floor (although it doesn't stick) (okay, so 
>maybe this place isn't like Tattooine in that regard) and there are also 
>8000' mountains right next to us that I figure will be an excellent testing 
>ground for my cold weather gear and clothing, once I have it.

Snowfall is meaningless - only air temp counts cause you won't be on the 
ground - which is where the snow will be.    Good idea but try it for a 
night at home first - in your back yard.  Then if it doesn't work out you 
can bail out back to your own bed and rethink it the next day.  If it does 
work, then the mountains would be a really good testing ground.  One woman 
lived in an apartment - and tested her gear by sleeping on the balcony 
during the winter.  That wasn't Jan, was it?  Have a memory fault there.

Walk softly,
Jim

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