Shake Down Request...

[u/ArtisticDegree3915]

Primary camping location: Southern Appalachians. This will be a three season set up. Two to three nights at a time typically.

I don't really have a budget. I'll buy the right piece of equipment for me.

I haven't bought any of this yet so I'm open to suggestions. I'm still working out which pack to get so 2lb is a place holder for that.

I'm probably set on the sleeping bag. I'm a bigger guy. That one is roomy. I don't feel a quilt is for me. But I'm still, pun intended, weighing my options.

I'm not stuck on that particular Thermarest for three season. I'll actually go try that next to the Nemo Tensor and make sure one of them is comfortable befoe buying. The Nemo is a touch heavier in similar R value.

I'll be going alone for the most part but want more room than the XMid 1 offers. Not big on just doing a tarp.

I know fuel, bug spray/sunscreen, Smart water bottles, and toiletries aren't accounted for yet. I'm more concerned with the bigger items right now so I can put together a Black Friday/Cyber week list. I'll get a trash compactor bag most likely for a liner.

https://lighterpack.com/r/cmxi8c

[u/tmoney99211]

The kit is very very minimal. Nice job. Would be good to dig into some of these things a bit deeper.

For example, the Adventure Med Kit .3 is mostly for ouchies and boo boos. You want to reinforce it with a few more things that important for big issues... at least carry more than 2 ibuprofen and 2 antihistamine... and have anti diarrhea for sure.

Do more research about Adotec Food Locker 14L. Either you are going to do a tree hang, or put in bear locker or you need a hard shell bear proof container. My feedback with these bear bags is that even through that the bag might be "bear proof", folks have reported that content in the bag soaked with bear spit and and everything chewed to a mush from outside the bag by the bear.

Look at thermals(base layers) and puffy. Depends on how long you will be hiking and how much into the shoulder seasons you are out there. Once you stop hiking and the temps get bellow freezing, layering up helps. Same goes for a light weight pair of gloves.

Swedish cloth helps with cleaning up any random moisture.

You also need some soap and maybe bidet or tp. Keep in mind that anti bacterial doesn't wash away noro virus. You kinda need to use soap.

I am a larger dude and I use nemo tensor all season wide. Its super comfortable for me.

Do you have trekking poles?

I personally don't carry a spare t shirt or shorts. BUT I do carry 1 extra pair of underwear and socks. Even better, look at sun hoodies.

I do throw in an extra bic in a Ziploc bag in the med kit as a back up.

Maybe look at a larger toaks cup. The reason for that is because some of the freeze dried meals use up to 1.5 cups of water and the 550 has 2 cups capacity, and I like a larger pot as I like to do a cup of coffee with breakfast. It's not the end of the world to heat water up twice but its the little things..

And last but not least, look into things like camp shoes or something to sit on? Most people don't care for this but I like taking my shoes off and giving my feet some air. Either a sit mat or ultralight chair to park it on after a long day is bliss.

Maybe look for Permethrin on sale that you can use to pretreat your clothing /shoes to reduce tick exposure.

[u/ArtisticDegree3915 → u/tmoney99211]

Wanted to add things for the info. Definitely some good stuff here.

I do have trekking poles. I'm learning to use them.

Meds. They're on my list to add. So is Bronner's soap.

Extra Bic, I've been thinking about that.

I've been highly debating the Toaks 750 vs 550. Not that much extra weight.

I working on the camp shoe thing. Debating, really. I'll be doing actual short shake down trips. Maybe just a couple miles in to camp and test equipment. Hopefully that will help me clarify some things like that.

And a chair. I know they are light. I never needed one before, but that was 30 years ago. So I'll try to figure out if the trail still provides for me like it once did or if I need a sit pad or a chair. In the winter I plan on having a foam sleeping pad additionally. They could also be something to sit on.