Gear Gear GEAR

We decided to start gathering gear. It was a fun shopping spree of soon-to-be crucial items.
Here's some shots:

1. Ditty Sack from REI.com by Outdoor Research--- 2 packs for $56. Various sizes. I'm confident they will come in handy as a compressor and initial waterproofing shield for various items.

2. SteriPen from Amazon.com---- $70. Kills 99.9% of bacteria in moments. Forget loading a filtering pump all over the place. 6 oz before 4 AA's.

3. Outdoor Aluminum Mess kit for 2 people from Amazon.com ---- $24. Only 12 oz after taking out the cups it came with. Might hang on to the cool ladle it came with. We're going to keep our stove in there with it.

4. Eureka Scenic Pass 3XT plus Footprint from Amazon.com ----- $170. Did a lot of looking. We loved the color. We loved the space. We compromised on the weight. Most three person tents were gonna be a little heavy. But Chaser, Lindsay, and me are gonna do fine. 8.6 lbs but I'll take the heavier part. Linds will get the stakes. Super easy to setup and take down. Comfortable and can't wait to call it home for 6 months.

5. Red Diamond Trekking Poles from SunnySports.com----- $68. These are mine. I love them and can't wait to go test them out. They feel durable and for a decent price.

6. Komperdell Trekking poles from SunnySports.com---- $78. These are for Lindsay. The color is nice but, personally, I'm not so sure it'll make it 2100+ miles. They just don't feel sturdy to me especially for the price. Good chance we'll be sending them back and getting something more trustworthy.

7. Those two sacks: Thermarest Compressible Pillows from Amazon.com---- $48. When you first uncompress it's a little iffy. Give it 5 minutes and suddenly it rules. Great buy. Compacts nicely and I need a good pillow. Weighs 9 oz each. It'll be worth it.

8. Two Port-a-Bowls from Amazon.com---- $10. For Chaser. He'll be carrying those. They look like they'll do the job nicely.

9. Canon Vixia HF M41 from... don't get me started---- Too much($800ish in the end). Weighs 12 oz. But I'm guessing after a couple batteries, memory cards, external light, mic, and lenses, I'm gonna tack on another pound to pound and a half. I've had fun testing it out but much learning to do on it.

10. Two Large Micronet Towels from Amazon.com---- $19. They are a good size and compress small. 9 oz each. A little heavy for towels but half of it is the holder. Might drop those.

11. Alcohol Stove from Amazon.com---- $24 dollars. Tried desperately to make my own from beer cans but I was not getting the results I wanted. This thing boils 1 cup of water in under 4 minutes. Sweet. And the stand right there went to a burner I got at Academy for 6 bucks. It works perfect. 7 oz together. Can't wait to use them in the field.

12. Cocoon Travel Sheet---- $18. Just one for Lindsay. It feels great. Pretty much a liner for our sleeping bags or just a light blanket to put on top. 1 lb. I assume the weight will be worth it. Comfort is crucial.

13. Suisse Sport Adult Mummy Sleeping Bags from Amazon.com---- $56. Super comfortable and compacts tightly. I'm not the biggest fan of mummy bags because it confines my feet. But I believe it's gonna be okay. They both weigh 3.2 lbs. Slightly heavy, yes. But great bang for the buck. Actually, many AT vids we watch have at least one or two of these sleeping bags in it. Makes us feel a better.

14. Alps Mountaineering Lightweight Regular sized Self Inflating Sleeping Pads from um... Can't remember where at the moment----- $70ish, I believe. They are very very comfortable. Couldn't be happier. A tad short in width but we'll live. 2.5 lbs each.

15. Kelty Red Cloud---- Mine $90 and 6lbs. Linds' $130 and 5.9 lbs. Not the lightest packs but certainly not the heaviest. They are super comfortable and we love them. They will be our closets.

16. Chaser's Pack----- $45. It fits okay. I can see us needing to get another one half way through the trip but maybe not. Good sized packs on each side and waterproof. It should do the job. Chaser loves it.

17. (Not featured) Platypus 2.0 Liter bags from MooseJaw.com----- $60ish. Love the company. They threw in all kinds of goodies. Will def get more from them. Before water weight 5 oz each. They fit in a slot of our back pack that I'm excited to use. Might need to order a couple accessories with it like cleaning gear and nozzle replacements. I've always wanted one of these. Glad to have it!

18. Makala Ukulele from Buy.com---- $45. Super fun and easy to play. 1 lb exactly(before some sort of waterproof case). I'm praying the effort to carry this along with us will be worth it. If deemed not, it'll head back. I don't know how hiking 12 miles effects the feeling of playing music.

19. 6inch Tambourine----- $9. Gotta have some percussion with the uke. Despite the size, it's one of the best full sounding tambourines I've ever heard and she knows how to shake it. 2 oz.

20. Books we'll be studying, cutting up, and carrying.

In addition, we purchased a vacuum sealer. I've been watching a ton of make-your-own-meal videos and decided this a great way to get meals together to send to ourselves.

Slowly but surely we are collecting food that has a long shelf life.
I'm gotta dehydrate all kinds of ground meat, chicken, and veggies too add to our meals. Vacuum seal them all together with instructions. Can't wait for that part!

Prefood, prewater, pre a couple other things, Lindsay is currently at 18 lbs on her back and me 22.5 lbs. Manageable so far. Before long, clothing and shoes.

All so exciting and as always, thanks for reading!

Oh and...

...Chaser loves you