Practical Light Gear List Appalachian Trail

Update April 2016: I successfully completed this hike in 3 days.
See my trip report 10 Pound Backpack to Hike 100 Miles.
That’s the total weight of everything in my backpack—gear, food, water, and stove fuel. I used that 10 pound backpack to hike 102 with 22,000 feet of elevation gain of the Appalachian Trail through Shenandoah National Park in 3 days. No fair weather hiking, it was more late winter than early spring conditions—rain, sleet, light snow and hard freezes at night. I think I am very close to dialing in a Light Pack that is also supremely efficient at covering long trail miles. I used most of the gear listed below.

I believe this “5 Pound Practical Ultralight Backpacking Gear List” is very close to the lower weight limit of gear to efficiently walk long days on the AT (section hiking or through hiking) without sacrificing comfort, functionality or miles hiked per day. For me Practical Light is sub 12 pound total pack weight (gear, food, water & fuel) to do a ~100 mile section of the AT without resupply.

Overview of Practical Light Gear List Appalachian Trail

2016 Sequel to 2.4 Pound Extreme Ultralight Backpacking on the AT
This spring I am going test my “Practical Light Gear List Appalachian Trail” by re-hiking my 2.4 Pound Extreme Ultralight Backpacking on the AT in Shenandoah National Park. The objective in 2016 will be to answer the question, “*What is Practical Light on the Appalachian Trail?” Well, at least answer the question for me. I am already close to dialing-in this final kit. I tested a beta version of this new kit last Fall on an AT section hike from Harper’s Ferry WV to Pine Grove Furnace PA. I was very happy with the results. I was pulling 25 to 30 mile days without a lot of effort, and I was not lacking in either comfort or functional gear. Stay tuned for a a post hike trip report this Spring…

Summary of changes from ‘07 to 2016

• Pack under 12 pounds to hike 100 miles with food, water and fuel included. This should not compromise comfort or happiness. But also, my gear should maximize trail miles covered per day. That is, the lightest pack is not the only factor to efficiently hiking the most miles per day. For my other considerations see: *But what exactly is Practical Light on the Appalachian Trail?
• More durable pack – less time fiddling around trying not to rip pack. More pockets to minimize hiking time lost when diving into the main pack body for something in the middle of the day. Inherently near-waterproof = less time dealing with rainproofing pack and gear in iffy weather.
• Warmer quilt – to assure a good night’s sleep and full recovery from a long day of hiking. Trimmer dimensions, lighter fabrics keep weight similar to ‘07 quilt.
• Hammock Camping = more miles per day than ground sleeping. For my rationale on why hammock get you more miles per day see: Hammock Camping Part I: Advantages & disadvantages versus ground systems
• But! I realize that there is nothing wrong with ground sleeping—it’s a great and very light system. And I know that I am unlikely to convince many (most?) backpackers to depart from traditional camping on the ground. So I’ve included excellent, light ground sleeping gear on the list below.
• Upgrades to new lighter/better equipment not available in ‘07. Sprinkled in a few more (light!) creature comforts – to keep me sane and happy on the trail.

5 Pound Practical Light Gear List

Click here see it full page, as a Google Sheet

Discussion of Practical Light Gear for the Appalachian Trail

It’s been almost nine years since I wrote 2.4 Pound Extreme Ultralight Backpacking on the Appalachian Trail in ‘07. Now when I look to optimize my gear, my primary objective is to maximize trail miles with the minimum of effort—not to get the lowest possible pack weight. I call this “Practical Light.”

*But what exactly is Practical Light on the Appalachian Trail? Obviously the interpretation of “practical” is key. We’ve all heard the term “Stupid Light” bantered around but what is the opposite? Smart Light would work as an opposite but it implies a level of hubris some not want to take on. Practical seems a more humble word. Nobody is going to say you are arrogant for just being practical.

For me “Practical Light on the Appalachian Trail” is:

Practical Light on the Appalachian Trail is the gear and food that will maximize trail miles (dawn to dusk hiking) with the minimum of effort for an AT section hike or through hike. (Emphasis on efficient.)

 

Obviously a very light pack is still a significant contributor towards that goal, but it’s not the only one. Other factors that I consider for maximizing trail miles are:

• This is not a suffer fest! My first priority is to enjoy myself—that’s why I am out there—not just to cover trail miles. It just turns out that I really enjoy hiking dawn to dusk (as long as I am hiking at my own moderate pace).
• How well can I sleep and recover from a dawn to dusk day of hiking?
• Will my gear allow me to camp where I want when I reach the end of my optimal hiking day? I.e. I do not want to be being tied to camping at just AT shelters or the few other areas with flat campable ground.
• Carrying enough food and the right food to sustain dawn to dusk hiking. 1.7 lb per day of nutritions, high calorie food.
• Minimizing water carried (while still staying well hydrated). Key here is to filter and drink at the source.
• No “high-futz/fiddle factor gear” that would reduce my available hiking time

If I compromise any of these to lighten my pack, my gear is no longer practical. That is, I am likely to hike fewer miles per day by cutting weight in this manner.

A change in perspective: In ‘07 I only covered gear but did not include the food and water I carried. In this iteration I will include considerations on food and water and include their weights—since this is what will actually be on my back . E.g. I will carry a 3 oz water filter. While that will increase my base pack weight over ’07, my total pack weight will be less since the filter allows me to drink immediately from water sources. I do not intend to carry a drop of water on the trail.

Highlights of Gear Changes for 2016

Sleeping  To: Hammock camping  From: on the ground with a foam pad

New	Old	Rationale
Dutchware 11 ft. Single Layer Hammock – Hexon 1.0 fabric	N/A	Hammock camping = more miles per day & more comfortable! See advantages of hammocks
Hammock Gear Phincubator Under-Quilt, (60″ no need for pad under feet) 800fp down, 0.67 oz fabric	GossamerGear Foam Sleeping Pad (Torso)	Underquilt serves same purpose for a hammock as pad for ground sleepers. More comfort than a full-sized NeoAir
Hammock Gear “+30” Burrow Top Quilt. Trimmed dimensions, 800fp down, 0.67 oz fabric	Jacks R Better Stealth (down quilt)	Jack’s is still a great quilt. HG is a bit lighter, and I can wrap it around me in camp. I also spec’ed the HG quilt to be warmer so I’d sleep well.
Hammock Gear Cuben Hex Tarp	Oware 1.5 cuben Cat Tarp	More coverage to keep gear dry in the rain and cut optimized for hammock use

 

Bottom line: For me hammock camping equates to more miles hiked at the end of the day vs. sleeping on the ground. Why? Sleeping in a hammock dramatically increases suitable campsites on the AT. With a hammock all I need to camp is two trees—the ground below is largely irrelevant. That means I can hike until dusk without the risk of being in un-campable terrain. (Since much of the AT is sloped and rocky it’s not suitable for ground camping. So if I were ground sleeping I would likely need to stop hiking sooner than dusk to camp. I.e. I need to stop at the last shelter or campground that I could comfortably make before dark. Thus I might miss an hour or more of available daylight to hike.) There are many more advantages to hammock camping like a great sleep each night that allows me to more fully recover from a long day of hiking, and the option to avoid crowded, noisy, and heavily impacted campsites. Read more here: Hammock camping article. Hammock Camping Part I: Advantages & disadvantages versus ground systems

And there is nothing wrong with ground camping! If I were to ground camp, my sleeping system would remain quite similar to my ‘07 trip. Although I would use some model of NeoAir for a ground pad. Just getttin’ too old to get a great night’s sleep on a thin foamie! And as with the hammock camping, I would spec’ out a warmer quilt so that I would be guaranteed a good sleep. But with newer, lighter fabrics and trimmer dimensions that warmer quilt weighs less than my ‘07 one. Oh, and I would also take a down vest to wear around camp.

Pack
To: 11 oz Mountain Laurel Designs Burn in Cuben. More durable, more pockets, inherently waterproof
From: 3.8 ounce spinnaker fabric pack: Gossamer Gear Whisper

While the Gossamer Gear Whisper Pack performed fine and I didn’t rip in ‘07, there were a few things that made me look for a similar pack but with more durable fabric and more pockets. 1) the Whisper’s pack fabric was so delicate that I was always looking out not to snag it on something; locating a soft, non-sharp place to put it down and sometimes resting it on the top of my feet when I couldn’t quickly find one. This fiddling takes away hiking time and distracts me from enjoying other things. 2a) while still light, the two quilts for hammock camping (top and bottom) takes a bit more volume in a pack than a single quit/sleeping bag–the Whisper is not quite up to that storage. 2b) even with sufficient volume, I would have my reservations that the seams will hold with such delicate fabric when I stuff two quilts into a pack. 3) the pack had no side pockets to store food and a water bottle, etc. in a more accessible location. Digging into the main pack added fiddle time that took away from hiking time. 4) the Cuben Fiber on the MLD Burn is inherently near-waterproof = less time dealing with rainproofing pack and gear in iffy weather.

NB. Gossamer gear now makes the 9 oz Murmur pack which addresses most of these issues except for pack volume. Altho the volume is fine for ground campers with a single quilt, it’s a bit small to store two quilts for hammock campers. And it is not as waterproof or durable as a cuben fiber pack.

Warm Camp Clothing  To: a down vest From: nothing! (or rather a quilt worn in camp as a poncho)

Since my quilts are now non-poncho versions (although I can still wrap it around me in camp like a blanket). I have have added a down vest for walking around/being more mobile in camp and for early starts on cold mornings.