I’m about 5 weeks away from starting my thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail and I’ve just about finalized my gear list.
Starting the trail in mid-March means I need to be prepared for wintery conditions at the beginning of my hike. In the mountains of Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee, the weather in early spring is unpredictable. Freezing temperatures and snowfall is common and I need to pack accordingly. Once we are well into spring, I’ll send the cold weather gear home.
Fortunately I’ve accumulated a decent set of backpacking gear over the years. Though there were a few items that I bought new specifically for the AT, most of this gear I already had.
Items marked with an asterisk (*) are the new items.
Backpack
Item
Description
Weight
Season
*Pack
Gossamer Gear Gorilla 50 liter
32.1 oz
All
*Shoulder strap pocket
For phone
1.3 oz
All
Shoulder strap water bottle pouch
Zpacks
0.6 oz
All
Pack liner
Waterproof
1.2 oz
All
Shelter
Item
Description
Weight
Season
Tent
TarpTent Notch trekking pole tent
26.8 oz
All
Tent stakes
Qty 6
2.5 oz
All
Trekking poles
Cheap aluminum poles from Walmart
N/A
All
Sleep System
Item
Description
Weight
Season
Down Quilt
Enlightened Equipment Revelation
27.5 oz
All, but may switch to something lighter in the hot months
Sleeping bag liner
Sea to Summit Thermolite Reactor
8.9 oz
Cold only
Sleeping Pad
Nemo Tensor, Regular Wide
20.4 oz
All
Pump bag (not pictured)
Exped Schnozzel. To inflate sleeping pad. Doubles as a water resistant stuff sack.
Alcohol wipes, Neosporin, Ibuprofen, Anti diarrheal, Benadryl, Tylenol, Medical tape, Kinesio tape, backup water purification tablets
6.0 oz
All
Toothbrush
0.4 oz
All
Toothpaste
travel-size tube
1.0 oz
All
Soap
Dr Bronners in eye dropper bottle
0.8 oz
All
Chapstick
0.3 oz
All
Pack towel
Small microfiber
1.5 oz
All
P Style
for peeing standing up
0.6 oz
All
Trowel
for digging cat holes for #2
0.8 oz
All
Diva cup
for periods
0.5 oz
All
Ditty Bag
Item
Description
Weight
Season
Gear repair kit
Gear tape and patches, Sawyer cleaning coupler, extra Sawyer O ring, needle and thread inside matchbox
0.6 oz
All
Knife
mini Swiss Army knife
1.0 oz
All
Earplugs
for shelters and hostels
0.1 oz
All
Trail wallet
small bag with ID, credit card, and a little cash
1.5 oz
All
Headlamp
NiteCore 25
1.8 oz
All
Cork Massage Ball
For evening foot and leg care
0.6 oz
All
Pen
0.2 oz
All
Total Base Weight
Cold Season
Warm Season
15 lbs, 1.5 oz
13 lbs, 14.1 oz
The base weight is the weight of the pack without food, water, and other consumables such as toilet paper and fuel. The additional weight will vary, but will approximately add an additional 5-10 pounds on average.
How does this compare?
A survey of 2022 AT thru-hikers conducted by The Trek showed that thru-hiker base weights ranged from 5.6 to 58 (yikes) pounds, but averaged at around 20 pounds. Read their post here.
At around 14-15 pounds, I’m pretty much right where I want to be. The load is light enough to be comfortable hiking all day, while also containing enough gear to be comfortable in camp in the evenings.
Though I imagine I’ll tweak things a little on the trail, I feel confident in my chosen gear. Most of it is tried and true, and the new items are high quality, highly rated items. I’m looking forward to putting the gear into action!
Have questions about any of my gear choices? Ask me in the comments!
3 thoughts on “My Appalachian Trail Gear List”
Betsi
I’m uber impressed by your base weight! Maybe your pack liner can double as avant garde laundry day couture?
2 questions: 1. Tell me about your choice to use recycled bottles instead of commercially available (Nalgene or bladder types) 2. How do you feel about your cheapo trekking poles? I know I swear by my high-end ones, but perhaps that’s because I’m carrying a heavier pack (with packraft stuff, for example) and/or traveling over rougher terrain (tundra, glaciers, or no trails). I can’t afford a break or joint failure!
Thanks! The SmartWater bottles are much lighter than Nalgenes and still remarkably durable. I’ve been using the same ones for several years and multiple trips and they still have lots of life in them. They also thread perfectly on to the Sawyer water filter so that’s really handy. One bottle is the dirty water bottle (with filter screwed on top) and the other is the clean-water-only bottle.
The cheap trekking poles are aluminum and are very sturdy, though they are heavy. Because I always am hand-carrying them I don’t mind the weight (nor do I count toward pack weight). I’ve heard a lot of complaints about the medium-grade trekking poles bending or breaking. It seems for sturdiness you either want the cheap heavy ones OR the high-end ones, but nothing in between. My previous cheap aluminum pair lasted from 2014-2022 with no bends or breaks. I trust them. I only recently replaced them because the tip broke off.
I love the clarity that comes with years of iterating a system. Sometimes the cheapest stuff really is the best! We have a (not very nice) joke around here that if someone shows up with all brand-new, top of the line gear, assume they have no skills in the backcountry.
I’m uber impressed by your base weight! Maybe your pack liner can double as avant garde laundry day couture?
2 questions: 1. Tell me about your choice to use recycled bottles instead of commercially available (Nalgene or bladder types) 2. How do you feel about your cheapo trekking poles? I know I swear by my high-end ones, but perhaps that’s because I’m carrying a heavier pack (with packraft stuff, for example) and/or traveling over rougher terrain (tundra, glaciers, or no trails). I can’t afford a break or joint failure!
Thanks! The SmartWater bottles are much lighter than Nalgenes and still remarkably durable. I’ve been using the same ones for several years and multiple trips and they still have lots of life in them. They also thread perfectly on to the Sawyer water filter so that’s really handy. One bottle is the dirty water bottle (with filter screwed on top) and the other is the clean-water-only bottle.
The cheap trekking poles are aluminum and are very sturdy, though they are heavy. Because I always am hand-carrying them I don’t mind the weight (nor do I count toward pack weight). I’ve heard a lot of complaints about the medium-grade trekking poles bending or breaking. It seems for sturdiness you either want the cheap heavy ones OR the high-end ones, but nothing in between. My previous cheap aluminum pair lasted from 2014-2022 with no bends or breaks. I trust them. I only recently replaced them because the tip broke off.
I love the clarity that comes with years of iterating a system. Sometimes the cheapest stuff really is the best! We have a (not very nice) joke around here that if someone shows up with all brand-new, top of the line gear, assume they have no skills in the backcountry.