Gear Review

This page will be upated as and when I experiment with my gear, but below is what I know so far. I haven't listed every bit of kit I'll take with me on the OCT, instrad I've tried to either focus on the most important items, or lump things into categories.

Rucksack : Osprey Aether 70l

I like this rucksack, at 2,14kg i know it is heavier than most of what the average PCT hiker is carrying, but I am very happy with it so far. It is extremely comfortable for a start, which is essential given I will wear it day in day out over my 5 month ordeal, and also it is big enough and robust enough that i will use it for whatever more conventional backpacking comes after my PCT adventure. So the pros of this bag are that it is comfortable and big enough for whatever I have to deal with. The cons are that it is relatively heavy. I know the ULA circuit is about half the weight of the aether, which is a considerable difference, and being bigger it means I am more likely to fill it unnecessarily, but given my size I should be able to handle the extra weight without too many problems, and if I'm disciplined enough I should be able to avoid filling it unnecessarily.

Sleeping bag : Softie 9 Kestral

I bought this sleeping bag during my years at the MSUOTC, and haven't regretted it. I know at 1,5kg it is heavier than the norm but it is a great piece of kit, and I didn't really want to fork out another 150+ euros or pounds buying a lightweight replacement. The cons of this sleeping bag, as already mentioned are that it weighs about 500grams more than the norm.

Sleeping bag liner : Rab silk sleeping bag liner

I've never used a sleeping bag liner before, but given that I'm going to use my sleeping bag pretty much every night for 5 months, I thought a liner would help to keep the bag clean. The extra layer will also add a few extra degrees of warmth on cold nights.

Shelter : Contrail Tarptent

As I write this I haven't yet received my tarptent and probably wont receive before I start PCT thanks to the incompetence of Chronopost, but in theory this tent should do the job. It the lightest  1 man tent I could find, and given my bag and sleeping bag are so heavy, I thought I shouldn't scrimp on the tent, so I got the contrail. One of my prime reasons for getting it is that I know thjat a lot of PCTers use it, so even though I won't get a chance to test drive it before the start I know that it is a trusted brand.

Cooking system : DIY beer can alcohol stove, Primus titanium pot.

I have decided to go with the lightest cooking system possible, for the least amount of money. this means a DIY alcohol stove and a titanium cook pot. I anticipate 5-7 days between resupply so should be able to pack enough fuel without it getting too heavy. Another reason for choosing this configuration is the fuel is available in most small stores and petrol stations. I didn't want to rely on gas cannisters which might be difficult to get hold off without going into specialist camping shops. The accompaniment to my lightweight stove is my 1l Primus Titanium pot. This was pretty expensive, but again given as I al carrying some heavy items I thought I should try my best to make up the difference where I could. The main pro of a titanium pot is that it is incredibly light, 126grams for a 1l pot including the lid. The downside is that it is relative expensive and although strong, could be bent out of shape pretty easily if I don't take care to load my rucksack correctly.

Hiking system : Saucony shoes, insoles and hiking poles.

I've decided to go with what I know in terms of footwear. For my marathons and half marathons I've worn Saucony Proguide 4 running shoes with Sidas high arch insoles in them, and barring the breaking in period, I seem to not get blisters, so I've decided to stick with what I know rather than trying out anything new. I hope that running shoes will be sturdy enough for the initial desert section. The priority for this section is footwear that is light and that can breathe. I have also bought my shoes a size bigger than what I usually use, as I've been told my feet will grow permanently as they adapt to life on the trail. I'm hoping the running shoes will last up to the Saufleys' Hiker Heaven, or maybe up to Kennedy Meadows. At Kennedy Meadows I'lll probably change my running shoes for something a bit sturdier for my crossing of the Sierra Nevada but that is a long way in the future so I'm not worrying about that too much. For the moment I haven't got any hiking poles, as I they'll be cheaper in the US, and I might have a problem flying with them. I'm going to attempt the 1st week without them and hopefully, will buy a pair when I get to Kick Off. I'm not generally a fan of hiking poles, and have never used them before, however given the length and duration of my PCT trek I'm going to give them a go. They should help with power on the ascents, and will help take the some the shock off my knees on descent. They will definitely help when i'm in the Sierra Nevada crossing snow fields and melt water rivers.

Water : Sawyer Squeeze & Bleach

There are lots of dangers involved when attempting a 4000km thru hike. I will probably meet rattlesnakes, bears, poodledog bush, nile virus carrying mosquitos, suffer from exposure, cross raging rivers, glissade down mountains and much more. But I reckon the biggest threat to my health, and therefore my hike, is a water borne parasite called Giardia. This bug is dangerous and seriously debilitating should you contract it somewhere remote like the Sierra Nevada or the Cascades where medical attention is a long way off. In some cases it even causes death. All this means that water from any unknown source has to be treated in someway. The options are : 1 - don't treat the water and take the risk, and some hiker do decide not to bother, crazy! 2 - boil the water, not an option for me given the fuel required to do this. 3 - kill the bugs with some sort of tablet, or 4 - filter them out. My primary water treatment option is going to be a filter. I've read a lot about the Sawyer Squeeze and reckon it's just what I need. It usually comes with 3 pouchs/bladders which can be used instead of bottles, the biggest of which I plan to use as my dirty water bladder. The plan is that whenever I need to filter water, I fill up the bladder, attach the filter and use that to fill up my water bottles. With this method I should hopefully avoid any cross contamination of my water bottles. Using the bladder in this way also means I'll be able to carry an extra couple litres on top of the bottles I'll carry with me. With this set up I hope to not carry more than 6 litres at any one time, when it comes to the really long waterless stretches, I'll change my schedule so I avoid the hottest part of the day and in doing so avoid carrying more water than what is absolutely necessary. The Sawyer Squeeze, if well maintained is supposed to have an unlimited shelf life, but in the event that it breaks, I'm going to need a back up. My backup is going to be a small bottle of standard bleach. A couple drops of that in a litre of water is enough to kill off anything that might be in there, but although tastes unpleasant, it is not enough to cause me any harm.

Navigation : Halfmile Maps, Yogi's guidebooks and a traditional compass

I have decided against taking any technological navigational aids such as a GPS device or SPOT messenger with me on the grounds that they are expensive, heavy, unnecessary and  are just another piece of electronic kit that might run out of juice or break. The PCT is well known and well maintained, the route is clear and most of the time I'll be hiking with other people so I'll be fine with the traditional map and compass. I've never found navigation difficult, any I don't envisage any major dramas on the PCT, it's not like I'm attempting to cross the South Pole in winter. The only problem I think I'll have with navigiation is actually logistical problem. I've decided my principal navigational aid will be the Halfmile maps. Halfmile is PCT legend who mapped out the entire PCT (who I will hopefully meet at Kick Off this year!), and made it freely available to anyone wanting to hike it. Log on to http://www.pctmap.net/ to download any section of the PCT that you wish, you'll also see a google-earth overlay which will allow you to get an idea of the scale of the PCT. When reading my journal, the distances mentioned at the beginning of each post refer to the Halfmile maps, so you should be able to follow my progress quite easily using the maps and the google-earth overlay as I make my way north  towards Canada. In addition to the route, Halfmile has added a plethora of indispensable trail  information to make a PCT hikers life easier including water warnings, resupply hints, major trail features and much, much more. 

As well as the Halfmile maps I'll be using the Yogi handbooks (the planning guide and the town gudie) for general advice by former PCTers, and more specific advice about trail towns and trail resupply. Yogi is another PCT legend (who again I should meet at KO) who put together the guides after realising that nothing similar existed elsewhere. The planning guide has definitely help me plan out my strategies for tackling the trail, and the town guide has helped me get an idea of what I can expect from towns I visit along the way, and how best to go about resupplying from these towns. The town guide is especially useful to me as I won't have someone sending me resupply boxes along the route, I'll be resupplying as I go along. So with the maps and guidebooks I'm not worried about navigation or resupplying. There is however, a negative with not going digital and that is weight. The Halfmile maps, as the moniker suggests (and being produced by (i assume) an american) are measured in miles and have a scale of 1:31,680 which is more than enough for accurate navigation on foot (although the imperial units fry my brain a little everytime I use them as I'm used to French and British metric maps) but it means there are a lot of them. I've printed them in A4 colour double sided and they weigh in at 1.3kgs. Add the Yogi townguide to that and I'm looking at over 1.5kgs! There is no way I'm going to be able to carry all that with me, so I've decided to keep the bulk of them in a bounce box that I'll send myself along the route, and take only the current section with me. This seems to be the only way I can get around this issue, although it does leave me at the mercy of the USPS, I just hope they're better than Chronoposte.