Simple things
The first is to think of it as a series of three to four day trips. A journey where if anything goes wrong you just fix it at the next stop.
Then you start realizing how little you need.
You need so much less than you think.
Gear list
This list has links to products I recommend or to instructions (like how to make a cozy for your cook pot).
- One rain jacket or ThePacka.com. Consider rain pants or a rain kilt and gaiters.
- One long sleeve t-shirt and one short sleeve t-shirt (merino wool, at least 10% nylon/spandex for improved wear). I shop mine by current price. Icebreaker. Merino Tech. So many other brands have all made me happy.
- One pair of zip-off pants. Maybe a pair of shorts too.
- One base layer (for sleeping in) and a pair of sleep socks. https://www.32degrees.com/collections/mens-baselayers for example.
- One backpack at two pounds or less (get one that fits your body). I like Hyperlite and Durston backpacks myself. Crown 60 can often be found on sale for around $100.
- Misc gear: hiking poles, headlamp, 10,000 mhA battery, wall charger, cell phone (practice using it as a camera). FarOut. Bic mini lighter. Your stove won’t light itself. If it does the lighter will eventually fail.
- Cat hole kit (bag, trowel, zip lock with toilet paper, hand sanitizer).
- Water treatment kit. Sawyer filter with connector for gravity filtering, one smart water bottle and two Evernew or Platypus water bags. One Core water bottle. Aqua Tabs.
- Buff, fleece (alpha direct), wind shirt and puffy (which is what people call a down jacket. Used as warmth when stopped not while hiking). Try a beanie for sleeping in and hiking. Some people love a beanie. Others are meh on it.
- Go to REI and try out their quiver of sleeping pads. See if closed cell foam is for you (works for 10% to 15%), otherwise you want Nemo or Thermarest. But REI lets you try them out on the floor and you can decide.
- Pick a sleeping bag or quilt. REI Magma on sale is a price/performance leader. Otherwise it is a rabbit hole of options.
- Pick a tent. For the Appalachian Trail and one person a Durston XMid Pro or a ZPacks Pivot Solo look like great choices now. Taller hikers should look at an Altaplex.
- Get a cook kit. For one person I recommend an IMUSA mug or a Stanco Greasepot with cozy, a BATCHSTOVEZ pot lid, a long handled titanium spoon and an isobutane stove by BRS or GasOne.
- Get trail runners or trail shoes that fit your feet and are comfortable for you. You want two pairs of socks to go with them. Darn Toughs (lifetime replacement policy) and Kirkland hiking socks (more padding) are great choices. Seriously consider gaiters.
- Pack liner. Practice with a garbage sack or consider Nylofume. You can get clear Nylofume bags from multiple sources. They run about $5 for two and make great pack liners.
- Underwear. Ex Officio give and go, or nylon mesh. Two pair.
- Medical kit. Vitamins. Ibuprofen and some lukotape. Toothpaste and toothbrush. Mosquito repellant (DEET, 30% or so).
- I have one stuff sack for my electronics+meds, one for my clothing, and one for water treatment gear. I use inexpensive nylon dry sacks for this or excess bags. You can just use zip lock bags or have all of these loose in your pack.
- A bear hang kit (food bag, cable and rock bag). I like Hilltop Packs bags for being able to get them individualized and LightAF for a great bag. There are so many choices. Dyneema is longer lasting and reliably waterproof.
- Personal items (like reading glasses if you need them). Maybe chapstick. Microfiber washcloth.
- FarOut. https://faroutguides.com/appalachian-trail-map/. One time there were other apps. Ones I even used. Now there is only one relevant app.
Gear often has seasonal sales or availability. For example, Senchi sells six colors of fleeces in six different sizes each. Currently all are sold out. That will pass. Timmermade has the same products, you just have to get in their queue.
REI Magma is sold year around but only goes on sale a couple times a year. Buy it then.
Training
You can do a lot of conditioning on the trail. I don’t recommend this approach for any other trail. Both the PCT and the CDT benefit from being able to do 15-20 miles a day from the start.
For the AT (Appalachian Trail) you just need two weeks of carrying your fully loaded backpack at least five miles after work every evening to get your feet conditioned and then plan on hiking about ten miles a day.
If you are in normal shape and walk five miles a day for a few months, you are good to go. That is what it will take so that you don’t have sore feet every night and are strong enough to hike ten miles a day (more once you get trail legs).
I’ll get on training for other trails separately when I make recommendations for those trails. Suffice it to say I recommend much more training for other trails.
Food
Get used to thinking four thousand calories a day on trail. Start planning in terms of breakfast, second breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner.
Long essay on how much you will need to eat.
Another long essay on food. Worth reading to get a better idea of food and the trail.
I’ll note that most hikers end up eating a lot of Honey Buns, bars of various types, Ramen, Stuffing Mix, Knorr Sides, Mashed Potatoes, and “spare calories” (eg gummy candy, Swedish fish and the like). There are also many types of nuts, bagels, peanut butter and tortillas/pita bread. Pop Tarts and Cliff Bars often get eaten so much hikers start looking for other food.
The simpler, the better. If it takes more than five minutes to prepare you might want to reconsider. Cheese, jerky, and hard sausages are favorites for this reason.
Most people end up with one hot meal a day—dinner. Some also heat water for oatmeal/grits and coffee in the morning. But if you plan on oatmeal (or grits), map out just how much “other” food you need to get to a thousand calories for breakfast when the standard oatmeal had 150-170 calories.
Places to shop
I’m a fan of https://geartrade.com/ for some products (that is, whatever they have in stock).
Amazon.com is a great place for specific items.
REI.com has Magna bags/quilts (great deal when on sale). It also sells many other things like Thermarest pads and socks and trail runners.
https://durstongear.com/ for Durston products.
https://www.garagegrowngear.com/collections/ultralight-backpacking-gear-accessories/category_pack-liners-covers for Nylofume liner bags.
https://hilltoppacks.com/ for custom food storage bags.
Notes
I like a rain jacket I can rely on. There is a lot of rain on the AT. Alpha direct fleece when worn under a 1.7 ounce wind shirt will really keep you warm. A puffy is for camp, not hiking and some times for sleeping in if it gets really cold.
Socks fit differently depending on the shoes you wear. I loved REI’s house brand socks. No compression and really padded/cushioned. Perfect with the shoes I was wearing. They gave me blisters when I changed shoes.
A tyvek ground sheet or polycro rainfly can be very useful in a shelter to protect from splinters or from wind borne rain.
For the Appalachian Trail I recommend titanium shepherds hook tent pegs. Generic. Light. Easy to use. Cheap on Amazon. I’d use the heavier DAC aluminum MSR Groundhogs for other trails.
Gloves for the trail is an entirely different essay as are hats for hiking. I have essays on those.
If your backpack is waterproof you should still use a liner. If it isn’t, I’d use a pack cover too if I wasn’t using https://www.thepacka.com/.
Shakedown hikes
I really advise some shakedowns. An easy place to do that is in the Shenandoahs. That link takes you to a description of how to do a four day easy hike. That way you can practice your gear use, get a feel for ten mile days and have a pleasant time.
An alternative shakedown if you have more time is Springer to the NOC in early October and then starting your through hike at the NOC next spring. As long as you finish before October it counts as a thru-hike.
Things you don’t need on the Appalachian Trail
- Sunglasses. I wouldn’t do other trails without them but they are superfluous on the AT.
- A knife. Ok. Maybe a tiny one for cutting cheese but you can also use your spoon handle for that.
- A sun hoody. I live in one on other trails. But not the AT.
- A compass. Paper maps. Again, I own and carry both on some other trails. The AT has a lot of people, is well blazed and has a great tread.
- Apps besides FarOut. I use a number of Apps on different trails. For example https://trails.colorado.gov/ is great and it’s free and it is Colorado only. So useless for the AT.
- Lots of water capacity. Yes. On the PCT and CDT I’m prepared to carry lots of water. On the AT my longest carry was seven miles.
- A Sawyer Mini. Friends don’t let friends get the mini. Get the standard or Micro instead.
- A multitool. Just no.
Links
https://thetrek.co/appalachian-trail/top-backpacks-on-the-appalachian-trail-2024-thru-hiker-survey/
Exactly 50% of hikers had between one and seven nights of backpacking experience prior to their AT hike.
Note that the gear surveys are basically what people started with, not what they wished they had used. Still, they are useful.
Last and most important—InsectShield.
https://www.insectshield.com/pages/insect-shield-your-clothes
The product. Do your socks. Pants. Shirts. Base layer. Sleep socks. The one way to avoid ticks.
It is the best way to apply permethrin though you can self apply it and reapply it about every six washings. Self applying is probably best for section hiking. Insect shield is reliable and will last the whole trail.
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