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Posted by Bill S on March 4, 2008 at 11:28:20 am EST
In reply to Gear For '09 AT Thru-Hike posted by wildthing13 on March 3, 2008 at 7:26:47 pm EST

Jeffrey said

Quote:

"beyond Backpacking" by Ray Jardine. It is a somewhat outdated and highly opinionated book, but you can learn a ton from it.

Ray opinionated? Naaahhh, you gotta be kidding ;)

Wildthing, jeffrey is right. "Beyond Backpacking" is "the bible" of light and ultralight packing, and packed with information. It is a bit on the thick side, but it and other publications by Ray, outlining the RayWay have a lot of excellent information and ideas. A lot of people do find the RayWay to be a bit extreme (as you might guess by the cultish name), but almost everyone who reads the book benefits. You do have to try out the ideas to see if they work for you.

Last time I ran into Ray was at Patriot Hills in Antarctica. He and his wife were doing an "ultralight" trek across the continent. Now ya gotta understand - "ultralight" is relative. It requires sleds in the Antarctic, but can be a 10 pound pack on the AT. Still, they were using the down blanket instead of full sleeping bags - too tough for me (the down blanket is described in the book).

On the trail-runners - I use Adidas trail-runners for a lot of my hiking and approach to backcountry technical climbs. There is a rule of thumb that a pound on the feet is like 5 pounds in the pack. So lighter footgear makes the going easier. Topquality trailrunners are very comfortable on rough trails and off-trail. BUT they do not provide the support of a good boot (so you need strong and flexible ankles) and they do let water in (but they do dry fairly quickly). As jeffrey said, if you encounter snow, you will definitely want boots (waterproof, not the breathable mesh type).

The filter? You are from Maine, so you know about filters and cold weather. Make your own choice. Keep in mind that Aquamira (being chlorine dioxide) requires at least 20-30 minutes to kill the critters in the water (iodine is about half the time). And your water for cooking will be boiled, which will kill the beasties. The major water purification problem will be your drinking water (drink LOTS of water, meaning 2 liters or more in the morning and 2 liters or more in the afternoon - remember the mantra "clear and copious"). Filters do require maintenance, which means if you take one, you need to have replacement filter elements at your resupply points.

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• Re: Gear For '09 AT Thru-Hike - wildthing13 23:17:43 03/04/2008
  • Re: Gear For '09 AT Thru-Hike - sharkey5283 20:56:19 03/09/2008

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