Less than 100 things…
Lately I went to the cinema with a friend… The movie “100 things” was about two friends who developed a successful app which could be used by the industry to gain data from people to sell them stuff (sounds familiar, doesn’t it?!). Discussing about the app and consume of people started some kind of battle between the two guys: They started naked without anything and every day they could get one of their things back.
The movie pointed out that in history people had much less and they had to fight for every little thing – and they were happy. Today everyone of us has ten thousands of things, nearly everything without fighting too hard – and we are not happy at all.
During the movie I often thought about my upcoming journey and the less than 100 things I choose to live with for the next six months. How much I will appreciate all these things because they will be all I have and need…! How happy I will be….!
My hiking plans for 2019: PCT & PNT
For 2019 my special hiking goal is to finish my still missing miles on the PCT. In 2016 when I attempted a thru-hike unfortunately an early knee injury threatened my hike. Luckily I could return onto the trail after three weeks and hike the major part until Cascade Locks. But I am still missing some miles in the Californian desert section as well as all of Washington. So that’s on my list for 2019 and hopefully in a few months I can celebrate a successfull finish of the Pacific Crest Trail!
But roughly 800 miles are not enough for a “real” long-distance hiker and so I decided to plan also for a nice follow-up adventure which will be a thru-hike of the 1200 miles long Pacific Northwest Trail.
To accomplish my hiking goals for this year I spend again lots of time reviewing my current gear, replacing some stuff, doing gear maintenance and so on… The gear I used for previous hikes like the PCT 2016 or the European long-distance path E1 in Denmark is still mostly good for another hiking season and I just replaced a few items here and there – either to lower the weight or to adjust to special conditions I will encounter on the trail. In total my pack weight will be about 7,4 kg on the PCT rising about 1 kilogramm for Washington and the PNT due to additional snow and cold weather gear.
Check out my updated lightweight PCT & PNT hiking gear list 2019 for more details!
The weight given behind each item is in grams.
Gear used while hiking (total weight 1,3 kg without shoes)
| Shoes | LaSportiva Women’s Ultra Raptor |
|
| Hiking Poles | Leki Micro Vario Carbon Poles |
478 |
| Sports Bra | Icebreaker sports bra |
62 |
| Underwear | Craft Active Comfort Boxer Women |
75 |
| Hiking Shirt | Columbia Omni-Shade Shirt (Desert) Patagonia Capilene Midweight Baselayer (Washington) |
181 (164) |
| Pants | Fjallräven High Coast Zip-Off Trousers (Desert) |
300 (477) |
| Socks | Darn Tough |
50 |
| Hat | Outdoor Reseach Sun Bucket |
54 |
| Buff | Buff |
38 |
| Gaiters | Dirty Girl Gaiters |
30 |
| Watch | Suunto Vector HR |
57 |
The Big Three (Backpack, Tent, Sleeping system) – 3.899g
| Backpack | Osprey Exos 58 without brain lid |
1.072 |
| Raincover | Osprey UL raincover |
104 |
| Rain protection | Trash bag |
30 |
| Tent | MSR Hubba NX without pack |
1.260 |
| ground sheet | Hubba NX Footprint |
131 |
| Sleeping Bag | Western Mountaineering Apache MF |
922 |
| Sleeping Bag Pack | Sea to Summit Ultra Sil Dry 20l |
50 |
| Sleeping Pad | Therm-a-Rest Neo Air X-Lite W’s + Pack |
330 |
Rain Gear – 240g
| Rain Jacket | OR Helium II Jacket Women |
168 |
| Rain Pants | ULA rain skirt |
72 |
Additional clothes – 991g
| Insulating Jacket | Arc’teryx Atom LT Hoody |
313 |
| Extra Socks | Darn Tough |
50 |
| Extra Hike Underwear | Craft Active Comfort Boxer Women |
75 |
| Pajama Top | Woolpower Zip Turtleneck 200 |
200 |
| Pajama Bottom | Icebreaker Women 260 Tech Leggins |
195 |
| Gloves | Montane Prism Mitts – Size M |
55 |
| Waterproof Shell Gloves | Montane Minimus Mitts – Size M |
46 |
| Warm Hat | Mammut Merino Beanie |
57 |
Stuff Sacks for Protection & Organization – 129g
| Stuff Sack (Food) | Sea to Summit Ultra Sil Dry 13l |
44 |
| Stuff Sack (Clothing) | Sea to Summit eVent Compression Sack |
69 |
| Stuff Sack (electronics) | Sea to Summit Nano Dry Sack 2 l |
16 |
Cooking Gear (Yes, I go stoveless…) – 293g
| Water Filter | Sawyer Squeeze Point One |
83 |
| Water Bag | Platypus Softbottle 2 Liters |
39 |
| Water Bottle | 2x 1 Liter Smartwater Bottle |
60 |
| Cooking-pot | plastic “pot” for rehydration |
74 |
| Cooking-spoon | Esbit Titan long handle spoon |
21 |
| Small bottle | Small Nalgene bottle (for olive oil) |
16 |
Bathroom stuff – 316g
| Towel | PackTowl Nano Gr. S |
18 |
| Trowel | MSR Blizzard Snow Stake |
33 |
| Toilet Paper | wet toilet paper |
60 |
| Handsanitizer | Liquid Hand Sanitizer |
55 |
| Toiletries | Toothbrush, Toothpaste, Sunscreen |
150 |
Electronics – 950g
| Headlamp | Petzl Tikka R+ + cable |
131 |
| Camera | Olympus Tough TG-4 + cable |
292 |
| Phone | iPhone SE 32 GB + cable |
150 |
| Phonecase | Otterbox Defender |
50 |
| USB Travel Adapter | Anker Power Port 4 |
132 |
| External Portable Battery | RAV Power 7800 Ah + cable |
195 |
Miscellaneous – 478g
| Knife | Victorinox pocket knife |
21 |
| Rope | Parachute Cord 5m |
30 |
| Mosquito Head Net | Sea to Summit Nano Headnet |
13 |
| Sunglasses | Oakley sunglasses & case |
85 |
| Money I | Passport, important documents |
64 |
| Money II | money, credit cards |
35 |
| Repair-Kit | fire starter, duct tape, repair kit mat, needle&thread |
80 |
| First Aid | personal meds, blisterpads, Ibuprofen, Buscopan Plus, Band Aids, Tiger Balm |
150 |
Additional Gear for Washington – 697g
| Compass | Suunto M3-G |
50 |
| MicroSpikes | Katoola Micro Spikes |
337 |
| Additional clothing | Mammut Polartech Stretch Fleece |
310 |
Additional Gear for the PNT (bear hang equipment required!) – 273g
| Bear proof food sack | Ursack major (replaces food stuff sack) |
215 |
| Bear hang equipment |
50ft 2mm Z-line slick cord (replaces cord) |
48 |
| Bear hang equipment |
small carabiner |
10 |
Will this gear get me thru…?
I hope so! My gear is well selected and proved itself before on previous hikes as for example the Alpine Crossing. Therefore I hope the gear mentioned in my updated PCT & PNT hiking gear list 2019 will get me to Canada on the PCT and later from the Continental Divide to the Pacific Ocean on the PNT!
Stay tuned!
If you have any recommendations – especially if I missed anything I would definitely need on the PNT – please let me know in the comment section at the end of the page!
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Looks pretty good. Hope you made it. Only suggestions would be OkSak food bag inside the Ursak to completely mask odors in bear country. Did they make you have a bear cannister anywhere?
Hello Greg, thanks for your feedback. I carried an OPSak as well for some time but the seal breaks very fast. And to be honest you can never avoid smell and be 100% steril while on trail. My best recipe was to carry food that doesn’t smell too much and to trust the bears! On the PNT you have to carry a bear can along the coastal section. I rented mine from Forks Outfitters. Best place to do so!