AT Gear

I decided that while I'm riding down to Georgia, I could post the gear I'm taking with me to 1) give everyone an idea of what I'm carrying, and 2) keep a list so I can annotate what worked and what didn't.

This is my pack, an Osprey Atmos 65. It has a good frame for my back with breathability built into it, adjustable hip belt to rest the weight of the pack on my hips vice my shoulders (it does this very well and it's a necessity for me with the titanium plate on my right collarbone that sticks up a little). On the bottom of the pack are my sleeping pad (Thermarest side-sleeper pad) and my hammock tent (Hennesy Jungle Hammock with Snakeskin covers).

I know I know, everyone sees crocs and cringes. However, you need camp shoes to get your shoes off when you stop at night. Crocs work very we'll because they stay on your feet and protect your feet (think walking over rocks and twigs/branches). These crocs served me VERY well when I was in Iraq and had to walk to the bathroom and the showers over 200 yards of aggregate.

This is the Goal Zero Nomad 7 solar charger and battery back up pack. I chose this particular charger because: 1) lightweight, 2) foldable, 3) USB charger to direct charge iPad and iPhone, 4) came with battery back up you can use to provide emergency charge to phone, and 5) it was on a 24 hour sale from Woot for $69.99 vice it's normal price of $149. I bought lightweight titanium carabiners to clip it to the back of my pack while I'm hiking to charge my gear.

The bare necessities of toiletries while hiking...though I did forget floss, so I'll have to pick some up.

Knife and headlamp. You never know when you'll need to cut line or something so you'll need a knife. The headlamp will come in handy for early morning or late night hikes...and for trips to the privy in the middle of the night.

Bright colored para cord for a myriad of needs. Most importantly, to hang a bear bag if I'm not at a shelter that has a cable system or bear pole.

Meds: Ibuprofen, garlic tabs (keep ticks away), cephelexen for infected cuts, azithromyacin for sinus/bronchial infections, epi pens for bee stings, fenegren for nausea, prednisone for poison ivy, zeasorb powder for chafing and Benadryl.

Here are the meds all packed up.

Slapstraps and tent spikes for the hammock and it's rain fly.

Believe it or not, this is my raincoat. It weighs like 6 oz and folds into this little pack--it's about the size of my hand and about 3/4 of an inch thick.

This is my pack cover, e.g. the raincoat for my backpack. It's smaller and lighter than my raincoat (backpacks don't have arms nor need a hood).

This is my jet boil--my stove for cooking (mostly just boiling water). Inside the unit is a gas can, burner and burner-stand for stability. The small silver things are emergency lighters--they weigh about an ounce and will light in the rain. The blue thing on the left is my water filter - 0.1 microns and will filter app. 100,000 gallons of water. Beside it is a syringe to back flush the filter (when there is a lot of particulate in the water you filter you need to clean out the filter).

This is the jet boil, lighters and water filter all packed up in a bear bag (has hooks for hanging in a tree, a bear pole or a bear cable system).

This is my sleeping bag and sleeping bag liner. Weighs less than a pound and together will take me down to 10F. I should've taken the picture with something for size reference, the sleeping bag is about the size of car headrest when compacted in this bag.

This is my food bag. I didn't want to take a picture of the food, but I did grossly overload with food for the first leg...8 packs of instant noodles, 8 foil packs of tuna, salmon and chicken, 6 x 1 qt ziplock bags of trail mix, and 12 packs of instant oatmeal.

Finally, my clothes bag. It has a pair of hiking pants with zip off legs, pair of socks, pair of underwear, extra UV protecting synthetic fiber shirt, a long sleeve base layer shirt and a sweatshirt.

 

Not pictured in all of this is my camp spork, iPad, iPhone and camp pillow (it's a down pillow that is about the size of two hands together. It has a pouch on the back you put a sweatshirt or something in to give it bulk.

 

If you have any questions on my gear, feel free to ask either here or on my 'The Next Great Adventure' Facebook page and I'll answer them as I can.

 

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