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After two years, I’ve finally decided on what I believe is my final gear list for what I’ll be taking with me on the Appalachian Trail this year. I’ve bought a lot of gear in those two years, including: five different tents, 3 sleeping bags (and two prototype bags that haven’t even been developed yet), multiple camp pillows, stoves, pots, hatchets, foldable saws, knives, etc. What did I learn? Well, mainly that I didn’t and don’t need about 95% of the crap that I bought.

Here is what I’ll actually be taking:

Base Weight: 15 lbs, 8.5 oz
Total Weight: 30 lbs, 4.1 oz

TIP: You can easily calculate all this stuff by using LighterPack.com – it’s an extremely useful site and beautifully designed. You can even share your lists.

Big “Three” – 8 lbs, 12.9 oz

• Osprey Exos 58 Backpack, Large (2 lbs, 8 oz)
• 55 Gallon Contractor Trash Bag (4.3 oz)
• Sea to Summit Ultra-Light Packcover, Medium (4 oz) (ditched at Neels Gap)
  
• Big Agnes Fly Creek UL 2 Tent (2 lbs, 5 oz)
• Gossamer Gear Polycryo Ground Cloth, Large (3.5 oz)
• Sea to Summit eVent Compression Sack, 15L (Medium) (5.2 oz)
• Sea to Summit Micro McIII Sleeping Bag, Long (1 lb, 11 oz)
• Sea to Summit Aeros Pillow (2.9 oz)
• Sea to Summit eVent Compression Sack, 6L (X-Small) (3.5 oz)
• NEMO Zor 20R Sleeping Pad (14 oz)
• Sea to Summit eVent Compression Sack, 6L (X-Small) (3.5 oz)

NOTE: I’m ditching the factory stuff sacks for the tent, sleeping bag, pillow, and sleeping pad and replacing them with Sea to Summit eVent sacks for an extra water barrier. All my gear will then be placed inside of the 55 gallon bag inside of my backpack to try to keep all water out.

Cooking – 13 oz

2/19/15: Switched to a Sawyer Mini water filter to save almost an entire pound of weight (13.5 oz)!
2/27/15: Switched to an alcohol stove and titanium pot to cut a little weight (5.3 oz) and hopefully make it easier to find resupply fuel.

• MSR PocketRocket Stove (3 oz)
• GSI Outdoors Pinnacle Soloist Cookset (10.3 oz)
• Vargo Triad Alcohol Stove (1.1 oz)
• Vargo Titanium Pot, 1.3-Liter (5.6 oz)
• Vargo Aluminum Windscreen, Black (1.3 oz)
• Vargo Titanium Flint Lighter (0.4 oz)
• Vargo Alcohol Fuel Bottle (1.1 oz)
• Sea to Summit eVent Compression Sack, 6L (X-Small) (3.5 oz)
• Katadyn Vario Water Filter (15 oz)
• Sawyer Mini Water Filter w/ Straw (1.5 oz)
• BearVault BV500 (2 lbs, 9 oz) (ditched at Neels Gap)
• Kammok Flexipod 1 Liter Collapsible Bottles (x2) (2 oz)

Clothing (Packed) – 2 lbs, 5.3 oz

• Duluth Trading Buck Naked Performance Briefs (2.2 oz)
• Nike Pro Combat Dri-Fit Fitted T-Shirt (4 oz)
• Darn Tough Vermont Men’s Merino Wool Boot Cushion Hiking Socks (3.4 oz)
• Marmot Precip Full-Zip Rain Pants, Large (12 oz)
• Marmot Precip Rain Jacket, Large (11.2 oz)
• Sea to Summit eVent Compression Sack, 10L (Small) (4.5 oz)

Clothing (Worn) – 4 lbs, 14.1 oz

• Duluth Trading Buck Naked Performance Briefs (2.2 oz)
• Duluth Trading Buck Naked Performance Base Layer Shirt (7 oz)
• Nike Pro Combat Dri-Fit Fitted T-Shirt (4 oz)
• REI Sahara Convertible Pants with No-Sit Zips (12.6 oz)
• Darn Tough Vermont Men’s Merino Wool Boot Cushion Hiking Socks (3.4 oz)
• Keen Durand Low WP (2 lbs, 12 oz)
• Watch (1.7 oz)
• Compass (attached to watch band) (0.2 oz)
• Hat (3 oz)

Cold Weather Clothing (Worn March/April) – 2 lbs, 13 oz

• Army Issue Shirt, Mid weight, Cold Weather, Gen lll PeckHam, Inc (11 oz)
• Army Issue Drawers, Mid weight, Cold Weather, Gen lll PeckHam, Inc (10.4 oz)
• Darn Tough Vermont Merino Wool Mountaineering Extra Cushion Sock (6.2 oz)
• Mammut Guye Jacket (13 oz)
• Beanie (1.4 oz)
• Gloves (3 oz)

Toiletries – 15.2 oz

• Purell (2 oz)
• Chapstick (0.3 oz)
• Toothpaste (1 oz)
• Tooth Brush (1 oz)
• Toilet Paper (6.6 oz)
• Nail Clippers (0.5 oz)
• Sea to Summit Pocket Hand Wash “Leaves” (1 oz) (ditched at Neels Gap)
• Camp Trowel (3 oz)
• Lightload Towel 12×12 (x2) (0.8 oz)

Misc – 1 lb, 7.4 oz

• First Aid Kit (7.5 oz) (ditched half of it at Neels Gap)
• Bic Lighter (0.8 oz)
• Storm Emergency Whistle (0.7 oz)
• Bear Grylls Hands Free Headlamp (1.7 oz)
• Repel 100 Insect Repellent (1.1 oz)
• Sea to Summit Head Net (1 oz)
• Pen (0.1 oz)
• Notebook (7.8 oz) (ditched at Neels Gap)
• Appalachian Trail Thru-Hikers Companion (10.5 oz)

Carried Items – 1 lb, 2.8 oz

• Black Diamond Distance Z-Pole Trekking Poles (13 oz)
• Gerber Bear Grylls Scout Knife (0.9 oz)
• Duct Tape, 2″ x 50″ (x2) (1.4 oz)
• 550 Paracord Rope, 50′ (3.5 oz)

Electronics (Carried) – 5.9 oz

• iPod Shuffle (0.5 oz) (never used it)
• Headphones (0.3 oz) (never used it)
• Motorola Moto G (5.1 oz)

Electronics (Packed) – 1 lb, 2.7 oz

• iPod Charger (0.2 oz) (never used it)
• Canon PowerShot A1400 (6.1 oz)
• StickPic Camera Mount (0.4 oz)
• Extra Batteries (1.8 oz)
• SPOT GEN3 Messenger (4.8 oz)
• New Trent Powerpak 11.0 (9.1 oz)
• Stellar Boost XT Ruggedized On-the-Go 64GB USB (0.3 oz)
• USB Charger (0.8 oz)

Food, Water, Fuel – 14 lbs, 11.6 oz

• 5 Days at ~2 lbs per day (~10 lbs)
• 2 Liters of water (4 lbs, 6 oz)
• HEET (8 oz)

If you wanted to save a little weight, you could carry less food and just stop in towns more often (something I want to avoid to save money); five days of food instead of seven cuts 4 lbs from your pack. You could also ditch the following items (4 lbs, 8.7 oz):

• Compass (~0.2 oz)
• Sea to Summit Head Net (1.2 oz)
• iPod/Headphones/Charger (1 oz)
• SPOT GEN3 Messenger (4.8 oz)
• Notebook (7.8 oz)
• Sea to Summit Ultra-Light Packcover, Medium (4 oz)
• BearVault BV500 (2 lbs, 9 oz) (however, this is “required” for certain areas on the trail)