Camping and Backpacking GEAR thread

I have the exact same model, just in camo.

 

LOL except homeless people don't carry high end equipment to make the journey, they don't send hundreds of $$ in food in advance to key pickup spots, and they don't have to go through the struggle to get the permits!

I'm going to feel like a homeless bum after just a few days on that trail though, I can guarantee that. Dirty and smelly, living off packaged foods and the occasional trout, while doing laundry out of a collapsible bucket and fending off wild animals.

 

How many days do you plan on being out?

 

We are only going to be out for 5 days on this one. Trying to fit it around work, and the wife hasn't done a backpacking trip that long before. This will be a good test for doing more of the JMT next year.

 

I bought my Coleman single burner because I like to winter camp, and there's been times that it's been in the negative numbers during the day (and in the very negative numbers at night, lol). I didn't feel like having to worry about the regulator or the fuel freezing/slushing on me, so I shied away from the Jetboil type stoves. Butane stoves can stop working correctly (or at all) in temps as high as 30 degrees, and back when I bought my Coleman (the very early 2000's- I was still in high school) the Coleman was a tried-and-true design and the Jetboil-type stoves were a relatively new design. A white gas stove doesn't care how cold it is; it'll always light and work correctly. I've kicked myself a couple of times about the extra weight of the Coleman, but it's never let me down even when the temps have been well below zero.
Plus, the ability to burn gasoline came in REALLY handy a couple of years ago when my camping buddy and I forgot the spare fuel canister on the kitchen counter ( ), and it was over 50 miles on logging roads to the nearest store that might sell white gas. BUT....we unhooked the fuel line from his truck, flipped the key, and in about 30 seconds we had enough fuel to easily last us the week stored in a spare Nalgene that made the ultimate sacrifice.

But in the best way!

 

Yea there is a huge difference between and 1-2 night outing and a 5+ day outing. When I guided it was 8 days and 7 nights out. Super fun, but summers would come out with a stench unmatched by much lol. Longest I've spent out backpacking was 15 days 16 nights.

The value in being out for longer than a couple nights is the realization that I don't need to be attached to society and technology. That in fact it's the other way around. My soul needs to be lost in the wilderness to be balanced.

 

I'm in. Got some reading to do

 

Welcome Dereck...

 

Welcome to the obsession with the wilderness.

Nature is the oldest and most wise teacher there is

 

I agree. Just hard to fathom a 200+ miler in 5 days. Crazy!

I'm lazy haha. I like to hike 5-8 miles a day and kick back. Longest I've done is a week long trip 20 miles in / 20 out.

 

^^^Is that from demerit wear? That's great

 

I got them from here

http://churchofthehighway.com/

 

Just check that site out.

 

We're only doing 35 miles, LOL

The JMT record (unsupported, meaning he carried everything he needed and didn't get any help or resupplies except filtering his own water) was set last year in late August. The guy did the entire trail from south to north in 3 days 10 hours and 59 minutes. He did the full run from Whitney Portal (over 220 miles), which leads 11 extra miles to the summit of Whitney (the JMT technically starts at the top of Whitney). He has a full write-up of the experience and confirmed it with SPOT gps progress monitored by others. Here's his write-up:

http://www.palantepacks.com/blog

 

Badass, I'd have guessed it was Skurka! But maybe he'd have done it in 2 days flat.

 

210 mile in 5 days is 42 miles per day, you'll have to get an early start every day.

I'm impressed I assume you'll report back after the trip.

 

I don't see the appeal of speed hiking like that. The part of hiking that I like the most is setting up a camp in a scenic spot and enjoying it for a day or two.

 

I agree. Just hard to fathom a 200+ miler in 5 days. Crazy!

I'm lazy haha. I like to hike 5-8 miles a day and kick back. Longest I've done is a week long trip 20 miles in / 20 out.

Ah, that sounds much more reasonable.

 

I agree. Just hard to fathom a 200+ miler in 5 days. Crazy!

I'm lazy haha. I like to hike 5-8 miles a day and kick back. Longest I've done is a week long trip 20 miles in / 20 out.

Ah, that sounds much more reasonable.

I agree. I like to hike Yosemite. Lots of lakes. Hike to the first lake, kick back. Next day or two, hike to the next lake, kick back, etc.