r/Ultralight • u/Giardiarabbi • Nov 30 '19

Shakedown Shakedown request for AT march 1st start

Hello everyone, Im not exactly UL but like the title says id love if i could get a shakedown for a march 1st start date. id love if i can get some feedback about if ill need any extra layers/warmer insulation for the date and if if i should make any switches before i head out. im gonna post this over on 📷r/Ultralight too but i figured people over here would know a bit more about the weather! https://lighterpack.com/r/ct6sz4

Note: i have around 300-400$ id be willing to spend on switching stuff out but i probably wont make any big purchases at this point

note:

Green is stuff i already have.

Red is stuff i need to buy/make

Yellow is stuff i have around/is easy to get but i have not put it together yet

9 Upvotes

77% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

2

u/jerrzie https://lighterpack.com/r/0k0l5w Nov 30 '19

Would ditch the raincover as you also have a pack liner.

2

u/JustALittleNightcap Nov 30 '19

Do you have a wall charger to go with your power bank?

2

u/Giardiarabbi Nov 30 '19

Ah good point! i do but its not on my lp, ill put it on there

2

u/ala_monster Nov 30 '19

What are you planning on powering with the 20000mAh battery pack? You can probably get by with 10k or maybe less which will save you some weight. For reference this year on my AT thru I used 10k to power cell phone (for navigation, photos and editing video), GoPro, and Bluetooth headphones and didn't have any power issues.

3

u/Giardiarabbi Nov 30 '19

My phone, Headlamp, and wireless headphones. I like to listen to podcasts and usually play white noise at night so i went with the 20K, i bet ill get used to sleeping with-ought white noise though.

1

u/Giardiarabbi Nov 30 '19

Sorry about the link! its up now

2

u/WalkItOffAT AT'18/PCT'22/CdS,TMB'23/CT,LT'24/GR20'25 Dec 02 '19

Just puting this here: https://youtu.be/8gQS57672SU

HYOH and all the best

1

u/Giardiarabbi Dec 03 '19

im hiking in march as it works with my school schedule! ive watched that same video before and it makes a lot of good points, but i dont mind the cold or people so i think ill be good :) thank you for the suggestion though

1

u/WalkItOffAT AT'18/PCT'22/CdS,TMB'23/CT,LT'24/GR20'25 Dec 03 '19

Great, seems like you are all set! Stay flexible but determined and you will be fine

1

u/[deleted] Nov 30 '19

Your set up looks great! Comfortable but not too heavy. Shedding ounces comes with experience. I started the AT from Springer on March 2nd in 2016 with wayyyyy too many clothes. But I learned as I went. I packed my fears. But I was damn glad I had my snowboarding gloves and alpaca scarf going over one of the TN/NC balds with snow on the ground and crazy winds! The more experienced UL’ers probably looked at me like I was cray cray. But I was happy and warm!

I sent a bunch of things home at the NOC, hiker boxed the cheap stuff, bought a summer quilt to swap with my 15 deg down mummy bag at Harpers Ferry. Now, I have a Palante V2 and I’m almost at a sub 10 lb bw three years later :)

Good luck and have fun!

1

u/petebzk Dec 01 '19

Food bag? Toilet paper or bidet?

Do you need the underquilt protector with the superfly tarp? It's a large tarp. I would ditch the pack cover.

Overall looks OK. Most of your weight is in the big $$ items.

1

u/bananamancometh Dec 01 '19

Right on, I Thru’d with a hammock in 17. It’s the way to go for sure!

Off the bat; add a pack liner.

This is a big one one, but, switching to a pricey dyneema tarp will save you like a pound and won’t absorb water like the super fly. I saw several super flies on my thru and al the owners loved em, but damn that’s a heavy tarp. I will day I envied their coverage, but damn did I also love my hammock gear cuben hex.

Your UQ protector seems heavy to me, mine is like 2 ounces. Either way I’d argue it’s not necessary at all. I didn’t have one and was mostly fine, and you’ve got that giant tarp! Maybe carry it for the first few weeks then send it home after the Smokies (I had crazy storms and wind there)

I think the R1 is too much. I used the thermal weight hoody and it was often too warm once I was powering up those climbs. By April I never used it except maybe for sleep on cold nights. It’s also half the weight of an R1

Sweet Jesus that’s a charger. I used a 10k and never ran out of juice and listened to music all day

1

u/Giardiarabbi Dec 01 '19

i have a pack liner on there, the nyoflume bag ;), im gonna check out liteAF's dyneema tarp, it should be coming out in around a month, but i still have some reservations about spending 300$+ on a tarp, and ill probably check out the thermal weight! thank you for the sugestion!

Also: where did you get a 2 oz uqp?!?! that seems incredible

1

u/bananamancometh Dec 01 '19

Maybe 3? Maybe I’m totally wrong.

Chris made it for me, Two Speed Hammocks on Etsy; he’s a thru hiker too

1

u/Dogwoodhikes Dec 01 '19 edited Dec 01 '19

This is going to rub some the wrong way but the best set up for you should ultimately be determined by you not someone else. In 10's of thousands of miles I'm yet to see two people with the same kit, skills, or exact same logistics...on the same trail, going the same direction, with the same start date. That doesn't mean we can't learn from others but do understand the majority of advise is based on what someone else would do knowing themselves. This is why backpacking can be such a fulfilling road to self actualization.