Comparing PCT Gear from 2016 to 2024

By popularity

Table of Contents

Backpacks

Left is 2016. Right is 2024. Listed by popularity.

ULA Circuit. ———- ULA Circuit
Osprey Exos. ———- Exos
Zpacks. ———- Hyperlite
Osprey Atmos. ———- Kawka
ULA Catalyst. ———- Mariposa

I really like Hyperlite and because I have to deal with a bear canister I love the horizontal carry of a canister the Kakwa offers.

Tents

Fly Creek. ———- Duplex.
Copper Spur. ———- Durston x3*
Duplex. ———- Tiger Wall
Hexamid. ———- Copper Spur**
REI Quarterdome.

*three different Durston tents make up 2, 3, 4th places. ** the highest rated.

The Fly Creek tent is a front entry that is slightly lighter. Its place for backpackers has been taken by the Tiger Wall. People pretty much quit using front entry tents.

Three 2016 tents have basically dropped off the charts. In 2024 four of the tents now popular were not even around.

Sleeping bag/quilt

Zpacks. ———- Enlightened Equipment x2
EE. ———- Katabatic
Western*. ———- REI Magma

*Western Mountaineering bags are still used, and highly rated. Cheaper bags are more common. Lots of quilts are seen on the trail where they weren’t used before. They have pluses and minuses.

Feathered Friends sleeping bag airing out.

Pad

Thermarest. ———-Thermarest. No change through the years. In the past I’ve given different estimates but I think about 10% of hikers would be happy with closed cell pads and about 1% with doing without.

There are more pad alternatives now and you can try them out at any REI. They have a box full of pads for trying out.

I recommend that people try them out before buying. I use a Thermarest.

Stove

MSR Pocket Rocket. ———-Pocket rocket
Jetboil. ———- BRS*
———-———- Soto

BRS is a Pocket Rocket clone. For comparison in popularity the CDT survey has Pocket Rocket -> Soto -> BRS, so very similar results. You can’t go wrong with any of those three stoves.

Filters/water treatment

Sawyer Squeeze. ———- Sawyer Squeeze
Aqua Mira. ———- BeFree

Note Aqua Mira is still used and highly rated but down to 1.37% of backpackers. BeFree and its “clones” (Hydropak and its authorized copycat that does test marketing) are making inroads. They filter water faster and are great except for high sediment water sources.

Hydropak Filter. Same as BeFree but faster.

Aqua Mira tabs are lighter and faster than the drops. Great to carry as a backup.

Aside from the Sawyer Mini you can’t go wrong with any of these or their variants.

I’ll note that tests by the Gear Skeptic (a YouTube channel) show that backpacking filters other than Sawyer or Katadyn/Hydropak do not filter as well. The current filter standard is woefully inadequate and a Sawyer filters about three standard deviations better than the standard.

Notes

Over the years more items have been added to the survey.

The Fly Creek tents is still sold but just not used by anyone on long trails. REI tents were the ones used by those not following the mainstream. That group now uses other tents, notably Durston tents.

On the Appalachian Trail gear choices are getting more like the PCT. Which gear is most popular does shift and sometimes there are differences.

For example. You can use a hammock instead of a tent on the AT. You really can’t do that for the PCT or CDT.

Sometimes one trail or the other will lead in a gear choice like Altras or Topos being used or the most popular.

Shoe ratings for the AT:

Rank Brand Responses

For the PCT:

Altra
Hoka
Altra (different Altra)
Brooks
Topo

Note this is popularity which is different from satisfaction.

For the CDT:

Altra
Hoka
Topo (highest rated)
Altra
Brooks Cascadia.

Brooks were a lot more popular, then the company fixed them (made them narrow). Everyone quit using them. Brooks finally course corrected. Their shoes are coming back.

Or tents.

CDT vs AT popularity is

Duplex ———- Durston
XMid ———- Big Agnes
Copper Spur ———- Zpacks
Plex Solo ———- Nemo
Gossamer Gear The One ———- Tarp Tent
———-———- Gossamer Gear
———-———- REI

The AT gets a lot more rain.

What this means

First, anything used by a lot of people year after year will probably be ok. Take the satisfaction ratings with a grain of salt, but something popular will probably not be a catastrophic fail.

Second, things change, often without anything being wrong with the past.

Third, the surveys miss a lot. Between surveys the questions are often not the same.

Aside from the meaning of the questions, some groups that used to do surveys quit publishing the data and replaced it with recommendations that differed from the survey results but made for better affiliate marketing links (and they would say better recommendations).

I’m not designating or pointing out any of those groups.

Fourth, many, many, many, gear choices are strongly individual. Packs and shoes, for instance, have a fit. What fits one person comfortably and “just right” might not fit another the same way.

So the surveys are useful for information but are better as a starting place than an ending.

Your experience may vary.

Caveat. As of the writing of this essay I don’t have active affiliate marketing because I’m too lazy to keep an account active and edit all the links. However, you should treat all my recommendations as if influenced by such links.

I will probably have them some day.