Ditch This Common Hiking Gear FAST!

Hiking gear you can DITCH TODAY!

Welcome to the channel! I backpacked the Vermont Long Trail in 2021 and completed NH's 48 4K peaks in 2020. I've been backpacking and hiking in the white mountains of NH and beyond since 2008 🌳

My BIG three for backpacking ⛰️

Shelter - Zpack 7x9 flat tarp
Pack - Gossamer Gear Murmur 36L
Sleep System - Therm-A-Rest Vesper 20 quilt and Nemo Tensor regular/wide insulated pad

Other Content you may enjoy 💚

👉 UL Loadout and Gear Links 👈
50 items - 8 lbs, 15.61 oz

Closed Cell Pads (1.7 oz)

1/8" Foam Pad - Mountain Laurel Designs

Clothing (1 lbs, 14.58 oz)

Beanie - Alpha Direct
Buff/Towel - OR Echo
Wool Gloves - Minus 33 Degrees
Puffy Jacket - Mountain Hardware Metatherm Down Jacket
Rain Jacket - Outdoor Research Helium II
Rain Pants - Outdoor Research Helium II
Shirt - Heat Keep Stretchy Long Sleeve Pullover
Socks -Darn Tough Mid Cushion

Cooking (4.71 oz)

Fuel - Esbit Fuel Tabs
Lighter - Bic
Pot - Toaks 550 Titanium Pot
Spoon - Sea To Summit Long Handled Plastic Spoon
Stove - Esbit Folding Titanium Fuel Tab Stove

Electronics (1 lbs, 11.82 oz)

Battery Bank - Anker PowerCore
Charging Cords
Mic - DJI TX and Mic Receiver - DJI RX
GPS/PLB - Spot Gen3
Tripod - Ulanzi Mini Tripod
Headlamp - Nitecore NU 25 UL
Phone - iPhone 14

Inflatable Pads/Pillows (1 lbs, 6.68 oz)

Nemo - Tensor Insulated Regular/Wide
Pillow - Gear Doctors

Miscellaneous (1.76 oz)

Blue Shammy
Ground Cloth - Six Moons Designs

Packs (10.4 oz)

Gossamer Gear - Murmur 36

Personal/Hygiene (7.59 oz)

Chapstick
Green Toothbrush
Hand Sanitizer
Med Kit
Natrapel Wipes (x4)
Toilet Paper (Overnight)
Toothpaste
Trowel - Backpacker's Brand Prairie Dog (no longer made)


Sacks/Bags (7.09 oz)

Ditty Bag - Skog A Kust Waterproof 5 Liter Bag
DCF Dry Ditty Bag (Medium) - Mountain Laurel Designs
DCF Stake Bag (Large) - Mountain Laurel Designs
Food/Bear Bag Kit w/ Odor proof Bag - Mountain Laurel Designs
Pack Liner - Mountain Laurel Designs

Shelters (4.96 oz)

Tarp - Zpack 7x9 Flat Tarp


Sleeping Bags/Quilts (1 lbs, 3.04 oz)

Quilt - Therm-a-Rest Vesper 20 Down Quilt

Stakes (1.92 oz)

Aluminium Stakes - 3F UL

Water Filtration and Storage (3.36 oz)

Bottle - Smart Water 1 Liter
Filter - Katadyn BeFree w/ 1 Liter Bag

#hiking #backpacking #hikinggear #ultralight #gear #backpackinggear #gearlist

Chapters
00:00 Hike Better
00:25 Item 1
01:28 Item 2
02:16 Item 3
03:34 Item 4
04:22 Item 5

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[natehikes]

Do you agree or disagree? Let me know ⬇️

[toxikliz]

Ditching the bear bag is a bad idea!!! Nobody has ever expected to have an animal problem until boom bear tears open a tent and learns people = food

[halerobert]

I’m a tea drinker. Sure I could easily make a cup or two of sweet tea but something warm in the morning is good for the soul so I’m keeping my stove. Maps. I love maps and having been camping and hiking longer than I suspect you’ve been on the earth, I’ll keep the paper map. It doesn’t run on batteries.

[shawnsears]

> Everything on this list is a bad idea at best and a terrible idea at worst.

[ericstewart]

Nate, your first two are some terrible advice.

1. Don't ignore bear safety. By your logic I could claim this rock keeps tigers away. We don't just hang our food to protect our food, but to ensure bears don't begin to associate food with people which can result in their destruction. Plus a bear bag is super light.

2. Skip brushing my teeth? To save a couple ounces? Just no.

[joano.]

I’m down for a paper map, I don’t think they’re that heavy and I’ve had too many situations where technology has failed me when I’m NOT in the middle of nowhere so definitely not willing to risk it. Your idea to cut out the section you need was solid though!!

[Outdoorshuntingshooting]

Feel like I won’t taking any of Nates advice. We don’t have bears in U.K. so no bear bag required, but the rest of the advice is not something I agree with. My stove weighs grams and if just an over nighter the smallest gas canister will suffice. A hot drink and hot porridge in the A.M. cannot be beaten.

[blakedesmond]

A pack of gum is probably the same weight as a toothbrush and toothpaste tabs? How heavy is a paper map?

[Simple_But_Expensive]

I regularly go stoveless.

I dehydrate my own meals. It has large up front costs, but major savings down the road, so only do your own dehydration if you hit the trail often or have really gnarly food allergies.

When I package my meals, I use mylar bags with an oxygen scavenger, and I tuck in an MRE heater pack (sold without the MRE on line). The heater weighs something like 1 gram.

Cold soak the dehydrated food starting about 2 hours before you plan on eating.

When you are ready to eat, tear the top off the heater pack, add a little water, then wrap the (no longer) dehydrated meal and the heater pack in a reusable piece of aluminum foil. Wait 5 minutes and you have a warm meal.

I include a small baggie of protein powder and multivitamin tablets in my dinners (it helps my body repair overnight), and a small baggie of instant coffee in my breakfast pack (I know it sucks, but backpacking requires embracing the suck). I drink that cold. I guess I could switch that out for caffeine pills, but that would suck even more.

Lately this has become the only way to camp in California unless you are car camping. If you are on trail, wood or even twig fires are illegal just about everywhere. Most places, alcohol, solid fuel, and gels are also illegal. The way the rules are stated, you can only use a stove, and your stove must have a method of throttling/shutting off the flame. This leaves butane (propane canisters are too heavy for backpacking).

California just made it illegal to sell butane canisters in the state. You can still use them, just not buy them.

That leaves cold camping as the only solution, although I have a friend who is experimenting with a lightweight fresnel lense setup. The problem with that is it only works in sunlight.

Since many of the places I hike require a bear canister, I just tuck my meals into a BV425, (or a BV450 if I am going to be out longer). Be advised, many trails in California require canisters, and consider bear bags to just be bait bags. This is due to the reversal of the bear decline experienced in the 1950-1980 times. There are more bears around, so there are more bear encounters, and the bears are more aggressive about getting food. They won’t come into your tent (unless you are stupid enough to get food near your tent), but they will come into your campsite if they smell food. That is why I cook amd store my food way over there.

I didn’t used to worry about it, but I have had encounters with animals large and small trying to get my food. Everything from mice to bears, and even a camp robber bird going after the gorp I had stowed in the top pocket of the backpack while I was wearing it.

Putting it all in a bear canister solves that. It is excess weight, but if you are in an area that requires them, you better be able to show one to the ranger when they ask (and they do).

As far as a toothbrush and toothpaste, or any other toiletries, I go to the air travel section. They sell collapsible toothbrushes and tiny tubes of toothpaste. I use a Thai soapstone for deodorant. Works great and no residual smell.

As far as paper maps, I would rather ditch the tech. Paper maps don’t fail.

I agree on pack covers. That is why I pack an army surplus poncho.

[JanGelfand]

Whilst at the end of the day, if this style of backpacking makes you happy then go for it. Still only agree with about 20% of what you said. Maps are pretty prudent, nice to eat a good meal - not sure why you need to eat terribly just because you are living out of a backpack.

[karjunkitty]

I wonder how much weight is added when you don't use a pack liner and get rained on. How much water does your pack fabric hold? In the Pacific Northwest, when it rains frequently, I start the trip with the integrated rain cover on the pack... where is the raincover irrelevant?

[BackcountryForward]

Great onscreen presence. Precise scripting. Engaging edits. Good thumbs.
You’re going places my man. Keep it up!

[nickyl]

Nonsense
I always carry a compass and paper maps bc I know how to use them and in the case of paper maps, I can write on them ' try writing on your GPS toy
Two reasons that I always carry a stove
* In the event of a close encounter with hypothermia a stove allows me to warm up a liquid in order to bring up my core temp
The other reason is that a stove allows me to have a hot gourmet meal at the end of a long day on trail

[TorianTammas]

My Rucksack has an integrated back cover and it actually works. It never even crossed my mind that one would get a backpack without one.

[gregmortonoutdoors]

I agree with the bear bag but it depends where you are. I stopped hanging my food on the AT in North Carolina but started again in New Jersey. I had two bear encounters in that state, one being a bear huffing around my tent one night. If you are hiking above 10k in black bear country, you do not need to hang your food. Bears are kind of lazy and don't travel above that altitude for food.

One thing I'd add to your list is using a backpacking umbrella instead of a rain jacket. You'll actually stay dry instead of wetting/sweating out your jacket. Plus the umbrella also covers part of your pack, keeping it dry, too.

I have a friend that hiked stoveless. No cold soaking just ate cold, premade food. Not my thing as I enjoy coffee in the morning and a hot meal at the end of the day.

[davidsquall]

Agreed with most things but i don't use gps and maps essential.

[sinisterbuthappy]

You can leave your stove at home, I'm having a nice cup of tea! I am English though.

[shawnsears]

#3 ...And just suffer your mornings without hot COFFEE!

[glenloewen]

Odor locking bags don’t work in heavy bear country. Those guys can still smell it from a considerable distance.

[tullochgorum]

Some bad advice here - odour proof bags don't work, period. I know a guy who did a test with his puppy. He's a lab technician and filled the bags with forensic care - far more care than you'd use in the field. The puppy found the hidden food in seconds. A brown bear's nose is 10 times more sensitive than a bloodhound's - it can smell your "odour-proof bag" from miles away.

There's a reason why park authorities don't certify these bags for use in bear areas. Learn the proper, research based strategies and don't rely on bro-science like this.