Hey!
It's been so long since we've written a blog post. I've been getting questions from 2015 hikers preparing their packs about what gear we liked and what gear we didn't so I thought I'd revisit that initial gear list I made. Here we go.
Pack: ULA Catalyst
I wouldn't change a thing! I loved this pack. Not to mention the company is fabulous to work with. So far I've gone through 3 hip belts on this thing and they've replaced them all for free. The first hipbelt broke the first time I put it on which I chalk up to a bad seem. The second hip belt I replaced midway through the hike because the padding was wearing down and I also lost a lot of weight so I ended up with a small instead of a medium.
Pack rain cover
I started the trail with a super cheap pack cover that I had lying around. It sort of fit my pack but it wasn't full coverage. This was a mistake. Especially when we had 8 straight days of rain through central California. Do not skimp on your pack cover. I went ahead and bought a bomb-proof cover that fully engulfs my pack and I'm much happier for it. The extra weight is totally worth it.
Sleeping pad: Z-lite
These things are awesome. Not only do you not have to blow up your pad every night, you also don't have to worry about poking holes through the material. We seriously beat up these sleeping pads. They were great for seats during breaks as well. It was so easy to just throw it down on the ground and get some stretching time in during a hiking break.
Water filter: Platypus 2.0 L Gravityworks Filter
I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with this thing.
Pros: you can grab your water from the stream and take it back to camp, sit down and let the filter do the work. No need to worry about the mosquitos because you don't have your hands out pumping.
Cons: to make it hands-free, you need a flat surface to put your bottle on and you need a place to hang the filter. Sometimes this ends up taking more time to set up than it would if you just had a normal pump filter or a UV Steripen. Also, the gravityworks filter is a bit slow. This isn't a big deal if you're making camp for the night but we found ourselves filtering water frequently throughout the day which ends up cutting in to your hiking time because you have longer breaks.
Bottom line: I'd probably go with a different filter next time like the Sawyer mini. The problem with those is that they may not last the entire length of the PCT.
Tent: Ray-way 2-person tarp
I would highly recommend making your own tent. Unfortunately, most people don't have the time or the equipment to make their own tent. We loved our tarp tent. It worked great in all types of weather conditions. I would avoid doing a single-wall tent unless it is ventilated very very well to avoid condensation inside the tent. We also set up our tent every night which a lot of folks on the PCT don't do.
Sleeping bag: Feathered Friends Lark UL 10
I love this bag. It's fairly light and so fluffy! Nothing like crawling in to a big down bag after a long day of hiking. I sleep very cold and I hate being cold so in planning for the trip I knew I wanted a 10 degree bag. Looking back on it, 10 degrees was a bit overkill. I think it would've been OK to be in a 20 degree bag. I can only think of two instances the entire hike where I was super happy I had a 10 degree bag: camping at Guitar Lake below Mt. Whitney and after the hail storm in central California.
Cooking system: Reactor with MSR deep dish bowls
The Reactor is heavy, 14.4 oz for the stove and the 1.5L pot. However, due to the new fire restrictions in California you can not have an open flame cooking system. I'm pretty sure we were the only people on the trail last year with a Reactor but we did see a few JetBoils which are fairly similar. I appreciated the efficiency of our system because we could hike with one 4oz fuel canister for about 2 weeks which was a luxury in towns where it was hard to track down fuel (in addition to being insanely over-priced on most of the trail).
Navigation
Ok, I know it's nice to have topos and maps in hand. We used our printed Halfmile maps for a majority of the trail but once we got to Washington we decided to forgo the printed maps. We had Guthook's app and Halfmile's app and we never got lost. There's plenty of trail markers and signs to find your way. I will say Guthook's app is phenomenal because the elevation profiles are included.
Accessories
Bandannas, buffs, and dirty girl gaiters. Essential items. I will never go hiking without them ever again.
That's all for now. If you have any specific questions about something let me know and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can. Happy St. Patty's day!
