Below is what I am taking on my upcoming thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). It is common for bloggers to post their gear list before beginning a big hike, but I’ve noticed they are often not very detailed. I wanted to show the nitty gritty, down to my toilet paper and tube of chapstick.
Except for food, this list represents every single item that will be in my pack or on my body. Nothing more, nothing less. (Convieniently, I can use this post as my packing list). I think this gives a more realistic picture of the minutia-level planning that goes into preparing for a thru-hike. Each and every item has been carefully considered, weighed, and tested.
50 ft Ultralight 1.3 mm Z-Line Cord with mini carabiner
0.9 oz
Pot rag
Thin cloth
0.3 oz
Clothes
Worn Clothes
Item
Description
Weight
Hiking shirt
REI Sahara Long Sleeve shirt
7.2 oz
Shorts
RBX 5″ running shorts
4.4 oz
Sports bra
Jockey Seamfree Mid Impact Sports Bra
1.8 oz
Underwear
Exofficio
2.5 oz
Socks – 1st pair
DarnTough Run UL crew
1.7 oz
Hiking Shoes
Topo Althletic Ultraventure 3
19.5 oz
Custom orthotics
inside shoes
2.3 oz
Sunglasses
Generic, with Croakies strap
1.0 oz
Sun Hat
REI Sahara Hat
3.1 oz
Packed Clothes
Item
Description
Weight
Fleece – cold weather only
Decathalon Quechua MH100 Hiking Fleece
9.1 oz
Sleep Top – cold weather only
Under Armor Base 2.0
6.4 oz
Sleep Top – warm weather only
Lightweight T shirt
2.8 oz
Sleep Bottoms
Patagonia Capilene midweight
5.3 oz
Underwear – 2nd pair
Exofficio
2.5 oz
Socks – 2nd pair
DarnTough Crew Lightweight Athletic
2.0 oz
Socks – 3rd pair
Injinji toe socks
1.5 oz
Outerwear
Item
Description
Weight
Synthetic Down Jacket
Enlightened Equipment Torrid Jacket
8.3 oz
Warm Hat
Army issue black fleece hat
1.1 oz
Raincoat
Frogg Toggs Ultra-Lite top
6.0 oz
Rain/Wind pants
North Face
5.3 oz
Gloves
Klim 2.0 Liners – wind/water resistant
2.1 oz
Buff – Halfsize
Bandana/headband
0.5 oz
Bug Heat Net (not pictured)
Sierra section and on
0.6 oz
Electronics
Item
Description
Weight
Phone
iPhone 14 in UAG case
7.4 oz
Satellite Messaging Device
Garmin InReach mini 2
3.8 oz
Kindle
Paperwhite
6.7 oz
Headlamp
NiteCore 25 (with shockcord headband mod)
1.3 oz
Headphones
Apple corded earbuds
0.5 oz
Powerbank
Anker 6,500 mAh
4.4 oz
2 Micro USB cords
For charging powerbank, Kindle, and headlamp
0.7 oz
USB-C cord
For charging InReach
0.5 oz
Lightning cord
For charging iPhone
0.5 oz
Wall charger plug
with 2 USB ports
1.0 oz
Toiletries
Item
Description
Weight
First Aid Kit
1 oz Dr Bronners soap, Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Benadryl, Anti-diarrheal, Caffeine pills, Melatonin, Water purification tablets, Neosporin, Alcohol wipes, Vaseline, Leuko Tape
4.0 oz
Massage Ball
Body Back Foot Star
1.5 oz
Toothbrush
Travel toothbrush in case
0.4 oz
Toothpaste
travel-size tube
1.0 oz
Earplugs
Foam disposable
0.1 oz
Chapstick
0.3 oz
Sunscreen
SPF 70 in 1 oz tube
1.3 oz
P Style
for peeing standing up
0.6 oz
Potty Kit
Quart ziplock bag: The Deuce trowel, toilet paper, wipes, hand sanitizer
5.0 oz
Menstrual cup
Diva Cup
0.5 oz
Stuff Sack
Roll top
1.1 oz
Miscellaneous
Item
Description
Weight
Gear repair kit
2 extra O rings for Sawyer filter, Gear tape and patches, sleeping pad repair kit, dental floss (heavy duty thread), mini sewing thread spool, match book
2.1 oz
Knife
mini Swiss Army knife
0.9 oz
Trail wallet
DCF zipper wallet with ID, 1 credit card, 1 debit card, some cash
nifty app that scans horizon and names the surrounding peaks
0.0 oz
Total Base Weight
The base weight is the weight of the pack without food or water. Per convention, I also haven’t included the weight of constantly worn items and consumables such as toilet paper, fuel, and sunscreen.
Warm Weather
Cold Weather
Sierra
13 lbs, 9.9 oz
14 lbs, 6.6 oz
18 lbs, 9.1 oz
The additional pack weight will vary greatly. Depending how much food, water, and snow gear I’m carrying, my pack could range anywhere from 14 pounds to 40 pounds.
The whole mess. (This is a much more realistic gear picture).
I’m looking forward to putting the gear into action!
This article originally appeared on The Trek, which you can read here.
7 thoughts on “Pacific Crest Trail Gear List”
Betsi
The tub of vaseline next to the ear plugs for scale is very illuminating.
I love my Toaks pot! I have a little silicon mouthpiece that goes on it so I can drink coffee or broth out of it, but I guess you’re not doing hot drinks as part of your system? I couldn’t live without an evening hot drink!!!!!
I have a spare mouthpiece… it was a 2-pack! Want me to send you one? It probably weighs <15 grams.
I love my cute teeny tiny tub of vaseline. And I love my toaks pot too! It lasted the whole AT and is still good as new. I’ve seen those silicon mouthpieces! I don’t generally drink hot beverages though. My morning routine on the AT was to dump instant coffee and 2 envelopes of Breakfast Essentials into my gatorade bottle and drink it while I hiked the first few miles. (That’s why I specifically carry a gatorade bottle, btw… for the wider opening to pour in instant coffee without making a mess). If I end up changing my routine on the PCT and start enjoying hot beverages, I think the mouthpiece would be a great addition.
The tub of vaseline next to the ear plugs for scale is very illuminating.
I love my Toaks pot! I have a little silicon mouthpiece that goes on it so I can drink coffee or broth out of it, but I guess you’re not doing hot drinks as part of your system? I couldn’t live without an evening hot drink!!!!!
I have a spare mouthpiece… it was a 2-pack! Want me to send you one? It probably weighs <15 grams.
I love my cute teeny tiny tub of vaseline. And I love my toaks pot too! It lasted the whole AT and is still good as new. I’ve seen those silicon mouthpieces! I don’t generally drink hot beverages though. My morning routine on the AT was to dump instant coffee and 2 envelopes of Breakfast Essentials into my gatorade bottle and drink it while I hiked the first few miles. (That’s why I specifically carry a gatorade bottle, btw… for the wider opening to pour in instant coffee without making a mess). If I end up changing my routine on the PCT and start enjoying hot beverages, I think the mouthpiece would be a great addition.
So excited for you Kirby, best of luck and have fun!! Gerard would be so proud!
Thank you!!
so excited to see the journey! Martin and I are going to be rooting for you!
Wow! I am shocked that you can get all that under 40 pounds! I will look forward to reading about your adventures over the next 6 months!
Wow! I am shocked that you can get all that under 40 pounds! I will look forward to reading about your adventures over the next 6 months!