The above link is a well written discussion and guide to the trail with great seasonal notes:
All of this to say: if you are hiking the Lost Coast Trail in the off-season, be prepared for high creek crossings. Be prepared to need to cross in your hiking shoes. These are not sandy creeks, but very, very rocky and fast-flowing creeks. You’ll need to cross in your shoes, not in “camp shoes” or “water shoes” or your flip-flops. I can honestly say that some of these creeks were stronger than the creeks I crossed in the Sierra on the PCT. Of particular concern were Spanish Creek, Big Creek, and Shipman Creek.
Permethrin
For preparation we reapplied permethrin to our gear and got our bear canisters ready.
There is some pretty cool wildlife on the Lost Coast. Sea Lions, seals, toads, whales, cows, birds, turkeys, elk, and… bears! That’s right, black bears exist on the Lost Coast Trail, and the BLM requires bear canisters for this hike. We never saw signs of bears, but there have been sightings of them.
Now. For the CDT the most common pack was a Hyperlite which is a big shift from the PCT whereas other things were kind of similar (see below for the comparison).
For all gear items it is good to compare across trails and across years as so much changes across both. You can learn a lot that way.
Comparing last year to prior years was a surprise here:
Most Common CDT Backpacks
Hyperlite Mountain Gear Southwest/Windrider/Junction — 3rd place on the PCT.
Gossamer Gear Mariposa (also a big change) — not on the PCT list.
Durston Kakwa — 2nd place on the PCT.
Zpacks Arc Haul — #7 on the PCT.
ULA Circuit — PCT’s most common pack.
Hyperlite Mountain Gear Unbound — #12 on the PCT.
LiteAF Gear Curve Full Suspension — not on the PCT list.
Nashville Packs Cutaway — not on the PCT list
Osprey Exos/Eja — #10 PCT
ULA Catalyst — #8 on the PCT.
Big changes from last year on the CDT.
The links go to items but contain the Halfway Anywhere affiliate links. So someone profits, but not me at the moment.
For example the author at the link thinks that pants won’t protect you from bites or sunburn or abrasion from undergrowth. The truth in my experience is that pants protect me from biting insects, sunburn and undergrowth.
Significantly.
Pants from REI
Gaiters are a matter of your gait or the way you walk. If you need them, you need them. If you don’t, you don’t. No general rules beyond walk and see if stuff gets in your shoes.
It does for me. Gaiters have been a huge quality of life improvement for me.
Water bladders are something almost everyone grows out of. Heavy, hard to clean, hard to keep track of your use. They seem so useful. Yet everyone seems to abandon them at some point.
Underwear?!? For me it sure helps avoid chafing. Again, everysooften someone does without them successfully but I wouldn’t recommend it. Guess you can try it and see what works for you.
Winter hat? I wear caps for either protection against rain or sun. Not for warmth though they make a difference. She is right that a buff does the job well. I’ve carried beanies and baklavas.
I even do training hikes with a beanie some times. But I’ve gotten out of carrying either. If you hike in rougher weather they may well be worth it.
Hat. Not what I use now.
Socks. I like two pairs of hiking socks and a light pair of sleep socks. You can make do with only one pair of hiking socks but it just seems worth it to have two and a pair of sleep socks.
It also vastly reduces all sorts of issues if you rotate pairs of socks when you do laundry or if you lose a pair.
Paper. The trek author gave up paper journals, guidebooks, etc. I love them pre-trail for reading but I’ve never carried them on trail. If you can’t find comfort writing or reading on a phone you may need paper.
But I found it easy to transition.
Pack covers. I used them. But then I used thePacka.com. Then Dyneema (or adjacent fabric) water resistant packs have replaced pack covers for me. That said, pack liners are still important. Water always finds a way.
Dutchware Packcover.
Note that a pack cover is an easy way to add blaze orange during hunting season.
Camp shoes. I’ve hiked with and without camp shoes. I’m carrying them on the AZT. I’m not good walking around barefoot with the ticks in the Great Divide Basin or otherwise in camp and at night.
I now own both GasOne stoves, the Hilltop Bags Apex and a BRS which came in today.
Two of them are less than an ounce and two weigh almost two ounces
BRS
Now to perhaps rate them, perhaps not.
The neat thing is that they are all under $20 and at least one was under $10.
In addition to these minimalist stoves I also have a Snow Peak, an MSR and a Jet Boil. Those are all substantially more expensive than the minimalist stoves.
$179 Jetboil at REI
Flash is $145, Zip $110, Stash $165, MicroMo $179. I’m not really sure what the differences are.
MSR Windburner System
MSR Windburner is $199. Happy6 and I have the standard pot, the 1.7 liter pot and the frying pan. We also have an extra, non-MSR frying pan.
Apex Giant Micro Stove
The Hilltop stove is aluminum based instead of titanium.
GasOne has a titanium and a steel stove.
The details on their stoves have shifted. Our first one was below an ounce and is the same color pattern as the one listed as steel.
The steel one weighs more and the one I just bought looks like the titanium stove.
All of the stoves have vents (burners at the top) that look different from each other.
I’ll report more if Happy6 and I find time to test them.
Stoves I don’t have
I don’t have either of the pocket rocket stoves. I don’t have a Soto WindMaster (differs from the Windburner).
Pots
I have the Windburner system and the Jetboil system which include integrated pots.
Stanco Greasepot
I also have the Stanco Greasepot and the IMUSA mugs. The titanium mug I had I gave to my brother.
Titan and other pots
Above is a picture of my collection of pots, frying pans, mugs, etc. A Talenti cold soak jar, Titan and other titanium pots, etc.
Bottom line
I’m not sure. It has been fun to experiment. Happy6 and I have a couple months to go before the Arizona Trail and plenty of time to make decisions.
Other Preparations
We had our first rabies shots today. More immunizations to come. Too bad they aren’t covered by insurance.
Mexico is tempting for medical tourism but there is also a lot of fraud. Given the rabies reports from Arizona we have decided to be safe.
Note that the GasOne seems to outperform the BRS. The Apex does as well and they share the same burner design (and they are all different from the older BRS design).
First on their list was REI Sahara pants. I like those pants. They get changed up every year so it is ok to list them. ✔️
Hybrid fleece. I’m not big on those. I think alpha direct + wind shirt weighs less and is warmer. But fleeces are pretty situational. The one they endorsed is for use into single and negative digits—times I don’t hike.
Voice activated lantern. Car camping gear. Heavy as well.
Oatmeal bars. Meh.
Kahtoola Microspikes Ghost, new, lighter, 6.8 ounces but solid. A worthwhile suggestion. ✔️
Osprey Talon/Tempest 33. Not my niche or style.
Rab Downpour Light Jacket—middling waterproof scores. But comfy around town. Another not my cup of tea.
Gregory Paragon 60—I prefer the Kakwa 55.
Argali Alpine 20 (a sleeping bag). 850 down. Pass. This far into their article they’ve exhausted the good will the Sahara recommendation got them. $595. So not a price/performance leader.
Durston’s Iceline Poles — not a bad call. ✔️
Sea to Summit Ether Light XR — “There are lighter and warmer pads out there…”. Enough said.
And I lost interest.
Kakwa 55 pack with bear spray.
Bottom line, they got lucky and made two decent recommendations and one very good one (✔️ noted).
My picture for this entry is something that should have been on their list.
My thoughts on the best new for 2025 gear
Tents: the Zpacks Pivot tents. Note for 2024 I’d put the Durston Pro tents. Both the Zpacks and the Durston tents are great tents, just different years. Note that these tents won’t show up on surveys until 2026 or beyond.
My Kakwa 55 with Bearikade Weekender
Rain gear: obviously I’m in favor of gear that handles a downpour well and is light rather than gear that is heavy and only good around town. I’m not listing for 2025 since there isn’t anything new, though prior years generated some great gear that is still sold.
Possum wisdom
Fleeces: I’m still positive on alpha direct. But that is pre-2025. Nothing new for 2025 that is better.
Other: there really isn’t that much new for 2025. I like the way the Kakwa was updated this year. The slightly bigger belt pockets are great. I’ll bet the 2026 slightly larger volume will be great too.
The thing that stands out about Happy6 and my gear choices and updates this year is how little new for 2025 gear was on our list.
I do like, but think it is too soon to tell about these two items that broke out in 2025:
Hydroskin NRS gloves
These gloves could be a good crossover from another sport to backpacking that came up this year.
And:
Jimmies Camp Shoes (weight in grams)
These may well be lighter and better than flip flops yet useable to walk in a pinch. They may be great camp shoes. Time will tell.
I read though so many very bad lists this last week.
Most of them are pure affiliate marketing kickback setups. So bad I’m not linking to them or analyzing them.
The alternative to “best” lists is to look at surveys.
There are real weaknesses in looking at surveys of what is used the most. But the CDT survey’s results were better recommendations than the top twenty “best gear” posts that I found.
Today is the day to officially start serious training for the Arizona Trail. I’m currently at six miles carrying 25 pounds. Next week that goes up to ten miles.
I’ve gained my holiday weight and now I need to start losing weight. March is coming soon.
