[at-l] Last-minute gear questions

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

Melissa wrote:
>I've switched from my work account to my personal AOL account and am now 
>down in Tennessee, three hours from the trailhead, ready to go on Thursday. 
>  March 4th, a great day to, ahem, march forth.

Whatever the reason, congratulations.

>1.  Rain gear.  I've been planning to take your basic cheapo barrier 
>rain/wind pants as my top layer.  Should I fork over $100 for something 
>waterproof/breathable/Goretex instead?  I know people have strong feelings 
>about this (as they will about most of my questions) but will I really die 
>out there with a basic top layer?

You've got what you've got.  Use it.  If it's not working when you ge tot 
Neels Gap, the outfitter there will be happy to help you change it.

>2.  Is silnylon really worth it?  My family has been backpacking for years, 
>and we are plastic-bag royalty.  I've been planning to use garbage bags for 
>my groundsheet and plastic bags instead of stuffsacks--should I go with 
>silnylon instead, or am I okay with plastic?

I used light construction plastic as a groundsheet for 3 thruhikes - and a 
lot of miles in between.  It works.  I also used many, many ziploc bags 
instead of silnylon.  Now I use one (1) silnylon bag that I sometimes use 
for clothing - but mostly I use plastic grocery bags for clothing and 
anything else that won't fit in a 1 gal ziploc.  The only stuffsack (coated 
nylon) we use is for food - because we use it as a bearbag.

>3.  I'm also bringing our very heavy Apex stove.  I figured it was worth it 
>because it's gear I'm familiar with, I've used on my own solos, it uses gas 
>that I can get anywhere, and it works in really low temperatures.  But I 
>have been tossing around the idea of ordering a Pepsi-can stove for months 
>now.  Should I order one from one of the tin-can men?  My dad's coming to 
>join me the middle of next week for a week, so he can bring me any gear 
>that I order now.  We could even experiment with some extra stuff that 
>week.

If you can get a tin can stove before you leave, do so.  And practice  with 
it.  If not, either call Walasi-Yi (706-745-6095) to see if they have any - 
or have your father bring it.  either way - practice with it before you take 
it out on the trail.  That applies to ANY stove you intend to use on the 
trail.  We had a partner on one trail who bought a brand new Whisperlight to 
replace the Zip stove he'd brought with him to start the trail.  The Zip was 
entirely unsatisfactory and it took us a couple days to get the Whisperlite 
operational cause it had a problem right out of the box.

>4.  For both the Apex and the Pepsi-can stove, how much fuel do I need to 
>bring for about a week?  This is something it's really tough to get 
>estimates on.  Any web links would be helpful.

For two of us, we use 2.5 - 4 oz of alcohol per day for two hot meals.  
Depending on whether we have goodies like hot chocolate at night.  For a 
single person, I'd figure on 2 - 3 oz per day of alcohol.  For white gas, 
we'd use about 1.5-2 oz per day for the same kind of cooking (basically 
boiling water).

>5.  Nalgene vs. soda bottles.  I have a Nalgene to which I'm very partial.  
>But I'm willing to leave it behind to save weight.  If I do, what's the 
>best size and type of plastic bottle to bring?

Buy a 16 or 20 oz bottle of Coke or Pepsi - drink the Coke or Pepsi, rinse 
the bottle - and you have an alcohol container.

If you're partial to using the Nalgene as a hot water bottle at night, then 
keep it.  Otherwise buy a quart of Gatorade, drink the Gatorade, rinse the 
bottle and you have a 1 qt water bottle.  The difference in size/shape is so 
you won't mix them up at night when it's darker than the inside of a cat.

>6.  How essential is a Platypus with a hose?  Will I be okay without one?

Starting Mar 4?  The hose will freeze.  Unless you've used one before, 
you'll be better off without it.

>7.  How much water-carrying capacity should I have available at all times?

On the AT, I never carried more than two qt unless I was hauliing water back 
to camp.  For camp, I used a 2.5 gal watersack REI item #402147 - 
http://www.rei.com/online/store/Search? 
stat=7889&langId=-1&storeId=8000&textQuery=watersack).  It weighs 4 oz and 
will carry as much water as you'll need on the AT.  Any good outfitter 
should carry something like it.

>8.  Does anyone have compass recommendations?
>

Uh huh - leave it at home.  Know how to read the maps.  There are other 
opinions about this.

>9.  What about flashlights?  I've thought seriously about ordering one of 
>the Photon microlights.  Right now I have a mini Maglite, which is fairly 
>heavy.  Do I need to bring a spare battery?

mini Mag isn't too bad, Photon is better weightwise.  If you're gonna do 
some reading (like at night when it gets dark early - like early March), a 
Photon backup might be good, but I'd carry the headlamp.

>10.  What about a headlamp?  Will I perish without one?  My brother is 
>convinced this is the one essential item without which no hiker can 
>survive.

We rarely use them anymore, but most people do.  They "can" be handy - 
they're good for reading or cooking after dark.  But you won't perish 
without one.  <VBG>

>11.  If I bring duct tape, do I need to carry a repair kit?  If so, what 
>should I carry in it?

I don't always carry duct tape -  but others do.  For some, duct tape IS 
their repair kit.  Mostly anything I've used as a repair kit goes in the 
drift box.  I've rarely had to use any of it.  With the exception of parts 
for the Whisperlite when we were using one.  But we don't use that anymore 
either.

>I know these are decisions I should have made months ago, but I'm 
>eighty-percent decided on most of them and I just want some feedback for my 
>peace of mind.

When you're on the trail, you'll run into other hikers - some of them will 
know what they're doing - watch them, learn from them, talk to them --- and 
in a couple weeks, you'll have all the answers you'll need.

Have a good hike,
Jim

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