Backpacking gear
After a couple months and a couple trips, I have gathered most of the basic items I need to go on weekend backpacking trips. Thus, here’s my pack V1.
Kelty Redwing
My bag was the easy one; I’ve had my Kelty Redwing since I bought it freshman year of college for lugging around books and whatever else college kids lug around. It’s a front loader, and while certainly not as shiny and flashy as “real” backpacking bags, it definitely does the trick. Pretty rugged too, it’s still in good shape.
Tent
I got a Mountain Hardwear 2.5 person tent that is pretty solid. However, it is a bit heavy, at ~5.5lbs. It is plenty spacious, with two large doors. It takes up probably 80% of the space in my bag. I am starting to look into ultralight shelters.
Sleeping Bag
Also from Mountain Hardwear, my down sleeping bag has been great. Warm, light, compresses down to almost no volume.
NeoAir
Sleeping pad has been great. A bit noisy, as other reviews have noted, but I sleep comfortably.
Sea To Summit
Sleeping bag liner has also been very effective at keeping me warm. I like that I can just throw it in the wash and keep my sleeping bag clean.
Black Diamond ReVolt
The Black Diamond ReVolt headlamp has been pretty good. Bright and with different modes. One annoyance is that I seem to turn it on accidentally often, as the battery drained quickly. I haven’t figured out how to lock it yet (threw away the instructions, assuming it’d all be intuitive).
Platypus GravityWorks
The Platypus GravityWorks has been cool. Just scoop up water into the dirty bag and let them hang! I really like using it as an in-camp water source. It does seem a bit overkill for solo missions though.
Bush
My Bush knife is crazy sharp. Haven’t used it much, besides for cutting open food wrapping and my finger.
Snow Peak GigaPower & Titanium Cookset
Just got a Snow Peak GigaPower stove and Snow Peak titanium cookset. Only used it once to boil water, but they both seem to work well.
Serac Hammock
The Serac hammock is my latest acquisition! I hammock camped in it at Fort Bragg and had tons of fun. Incredibly easy to setup and pretty light. Some quality issues though, the bag came frayed. Serac is a young company.