Previous installments: Part #1: How to create maps / Part #2: How to plan for food / Part #3: How to pack and ship your foodI haven’t been looking forward to writing this installment to the series because I didn’t want to add up the outr...
Previous installments: Part #1: How to create maps / Part #2: How to plan for food / Part #3: How to pack and ship your foodI haven’t been looking forward to writing this installment to the series because I didn’t want to add up the outrageous amount of money I spent on gear.Before my trip, I received the first check for my book, making this the first time in my life I had a good chunk of money in the bank. So, between wanting to buy the best gear for my trip and feeling okay about treating myself to gear I’d probably use over and over again, I wasn’t exactly frugal when making my selections. I was seeking top quality, light-weight gear. I wanted to embrace “ultralight” backpacking as much as I reasonably could. Over the course of the trip, though, my opinion on ultralight backpacking would change. But I’ll get to that later. Clothes Item Weight Price Wool Socks (carried two pairs) 7 oz $52 Patagonia Nylon Pants 10.7 oz already owned Synthetic boxer shorts (carried 2 pairs) 5.4 oz $40 Polyester undershirt 8.4 oz $60 Wool overshirt 10.7 oz $105 Thermal shirt 7.2 oz $34.50 Thermal pants 5.4 oz already owned Rain pants 9.6 oz $34 Golite Malpais Trinity rain jacket 7 oz $80 Golite Cady Synthetic Jacket 15 oz $69 Gaiters 8 oz $55 Gloves 7.4 oz $85 Winter Hat 6 oz $30 Beanie 2 oz $30 Facemask 1.8 oz $25 Baseball cap 2.2 oz already owned Orange vest 6.8 oz $10 Total 2 lb 6 oz (on person) 5 lb 2 oz (packed) 7 lb 8 oz (total) $709 I began the trip with a pair of nylon pants, a light wool underlayer shirt, a medium-light top layer shirt, two pairs of socks, two pairs of boxer shorts, a baseball cap, winter hat, gloves, rain pants, rain jacket, and a light jacket. This was a fairly minimal approach to carrying clothes on a backpacking trip, and they would have proved enough for a summer excursion, but once winter came I had Josh (my base camp) buy and ship me more items, including another wool shirt, gaiters (for trudging through the snow), a facemask, and beanie. Three things I learned about clothes: 1.) You only need one pair of pants. If my pants got soaked during the day, I wore my thermal bottoms at night, which kept me warm. In the morning, I’d put on my wet pants, which was unpleasant, but better than having to carry another pair of pants. 2.) Bring layers; don’t bring a heavy jacket. While hiking, I was constantly peeling off or putting on clothes to maintain comfort. This is possible with layers; it’s not with a big parka. 3.) I always thought recreationalists were lame for paying so much attention to their gear, especially their fabric type. But that stuff matters, especially fabric. Cotton does not handle moisture well; it’s very slow to dry. You’re better off wearing synthetic materials, or, better yet, merino wool, which breathes nicely, weighs little, and dries out very quickly.Those Patagonia nylon pants were amazing. They were old when I began the trip with them, but they held up for the whole trip and are still very usable. I probably had to stitch them up at least twenty times because of barbed wire incidents, though.My GoLite rain jacket was incredibly disappointing. It was very expensive, yet it failed to keep my clothes dry. Also, the seams started to come apart, which was especially disappointing because I'd hardly had to wear the jacket on account of it being such a dry fall/winter. Seam in jacket tearing. Thermal underwear was infrequently worn, but was absolutely critical on days when I had to walk/sleep in extreme cold.The GoLite synthetic jacket worked admirably. It was a good sized jacket: not too big, and thin enough to fit underneath my rain jacket. I've had this REI hat since May 2007, and it's still in great shape. Shoes Item Weight Price Vasque hiking boots 3 lb $80 La Sportiva Raptor trail running shoe 12.3 oz $85 Total 3 lb $165 I began my hike with some La Sportiva trail running shoes, which were very ligh