Gear Backpackers Ditch First

hey y'all Dixie here today I want to talk to you about gear that is commonly ditched either after a section hike or during a thru-hike I know some of y'all are gonna tell me know Dixie I carry such-and-such item and I insist upon having it I won't go backpacking without it well sure everyone has certain luxury items that they enjoy taking along and I'm not telling you that you cannot take any of this gear with you because obviously gear is a very personal thing and you know it's not my place to tell people what they should or should not carry but I'm just saying these are 20 items that either I saw in hiker boxes or my fellow backpacker said they thought was a good idea but in hindsight maybe not so much number one is an extensive wardrobe a lot of people end up carrying way more clothes than they need and sometimes on a section hike folks will take like one outfit for each day that they're gonna be out there but hikers usually end up pulling it down to one outfit to hike in one outfit to sleep in some rain gear maybe you know a puffy and an extra base layer at most but sure it's gonna depend on what the temperatures are like where you're hiking and how cold you sleep at night number two is an excessive med kit a lot of folks think you know what if I get hurt out there I need to carry all of these medical supplies I saw a pack shake down of a nurse who is carrying like saline solution and all sorts of stuff I've seen people carry stethoscopes blood pressure cuffs and the truth is the common injuries that you're gonna see on trail you can probably handle with bandanna or a couple of band-aids and maybe you have to make like a makeshift splint but you know excessive bandages and gunshot wound kits and and things like that just might not really be something you're gonna need to worry about and worst case you can always carry a spot device or some device like that to where you can signal for help if you need it number three is a Rambo knife when I started the AIDS he my dad begged me to take one but for what I needed a knife for it just was really too much and I felt like it would just be too heavy so I ended up toting a little pocket knife and then for the PCT I wore a neck knife that way I would have it for self-protection easily accessible and then also more importantly when I went to cut cheese not in that way and pepperoni and summer sausage things like that you know I could just pull it out use it for whatever clean it off and stick it right back in the sheets I think most people find that just a simple pocket knife is really all they need number four is a multi-tool now I know some of you guys are gonna have a hard time with this because I know a lot of folks that love carrying a multi-tool but most of the time you're not gonna need all of that stuff and you could call some weight without having to tote all of those different tools and again just get by with a simple pocket knife but to each his own you know I will not pry it away from you I'm just saying that you might find that you don't need all that number five is a saw hatchet and or X a lot of folks think well hey when I'm out on the trail I'm gonna want to be able to enjoy a fire and I'm gonna need firewood and to have a fire in firewood I'm gonna need some kind of tool to cut wood but the truth is there's so much fallen wood on the forest floor and you know even in the desert if you wanted to have a fire and there isn't a fire band you can find enough stuff to throw in a fire ring and have a fire I never needed a hatchet or an axe or I need that and I never even really saw anybody use one when getting wood to build a fire most of the time you don't want some big ol hunk of log to burn hours and hours you know you just want to have a little fire to enjoy and just sit around and talk a little while before going to bed and even if you're planning to cook on a fire you really don't need a big fire I mean I even built a tiny fire one day during lunch real quick and then cleaned it up and it didn't need anything big or excessive number six is bear deterrent gear so I'm talking like bear bells bear spray anything other than of course like a bear bag or a bear canister you know something like that some people feel a lot better going into bear country with these items and by all means I'm not telling you not to do it I'm just saying that a lot of folks end up carrying bear spray when they're only in black bear country and they just felt like it really wasn't necessary because most of the time when you see a bear you're seeing the button run away now if you're in grizzly country that's a different story but for the most part you know on the 80 the PCT and a lot of the CDT you're in black bear country only number seven is a camp chair most of the time I feel like you can find a law we rock or something like that to sit on yes they might not be as comfortable as a camp chair if you're highly considering carrying a camp sure you might look into one of those little butt pads like the little sit pad or you can cut out a square out of a closed cell foam pad you know just to give yourself a little cushion on a log or a rock instead number eight is a heavy trowel they do make a trowel that is less than one ounce and it's called the deuce of spades typically I'm digging a hole with either a tent stake or a trekking pole or Rock something like that it is a lot easier to dig a hole with the trowel but just the really big heavy ones a lot of folks end up ditching those and hiker boxes so if you're gonna carry a trowel I recommend the deuce of spades which is like I said less than an ounce number nine is an extra light source so some folks will take a headlamp but they're worried about losing that or it going out so they carry another headlamp and maybe even a flashlight but if you think about it you've always got your cell phone or a lighter in worst case scenario so for just a short stretch even if you lose your headlamp you're probably gonna be okay until you get to the next town and figure something out number 10 is a huge pack of batteries a lot of folks worry about their lights going out so if they only have one source of light they're freaking out and carry a whole lot of batteries but unless you're doing a lot of night hiking you're probably not gonna wear your batteries out as fast as you think you will I usually carry one extra set for my headlamp if I think I'm gonna be in a stretch where I'm doing a lot of night hiking but other than that I just wait until I get to town to replace them number 11 is a Kindle iPad Nook any sort of device like that I think after hiking for so long and wanting more weight off of their back people decide that you know their cell phone is a great tool especially if it's a smart phone and they can read books on there they can listen to music on there they can take pictures with it so they just try to reduce any redundancies in their pack number 12 is a fire starter and I don't mean a ladder because I actually do carry a ladder and a backup ladder but what I mean is like a Ferro rod or cotton balls dipped in Vaseline or just some other form of firestarter most the time if you want to have a fire you can probably start one with some leaves or some kin and if you were making a fire where the ladder skills are not up to par somebody else will probably be able to step in and help you now if you're going out there without a reliable shelter or some other way to keep warm which I would not recommend then yes you might want one of these alternative fire starters number thirteen is a mess kit or extra plates bowls cups etc now I know some of y'all are already calling me a hypocrite because I have a collapsible Cup yes I do I really enjoy being able to drink coffee while I eat my food that is one of my luxury items and I sell luxury items are okay but for the most part I think a lot of my fellow hikers seem to get bad just fine with just having you know one metal cook pot and some of them do like the cook pot mug combinations number fourteen is a Nalgene bottle now I will say one of the benefits that I've heard of having a Nalgene bottle is that you can boil water fill it up put the cap on and then put it in the bottom of your sleeping bag to keep your feet warm if you are a cold sleeper but a more lightweight method I would say is get some warmer socks or potentially a warmer sleeping bag because that's not gonna last you all night anyway right but yeah now gene bottles are typically a lot heavier than what a water bottle would be or like a water bladder while now jeans are pretty indestructible I would say most hikers keep them for day hikes and on the long-distance or section hikes they just ditch them number 15 is a large camp towel yes large camp towels are going to be more absorbent if you decide to take a swim or for spills I don't know for whatever reason you might want a towel but I promise you you can rough it with a bandana and there gonna be a lot more light weight number 16 is a solar shower so you're thinking I want to smell good while I'm on trail I'm gonna feel gross if I don't have a bath for a week so why not take a solar shower they're not that heavy uh well you could and if you think you want to do that go ahead and try it but a lot of my fellow backpackers have said this is something that they just felt after a while it definitely wasn't worth the wait and they ditched it eventually you'll probably end up embracing the stink but if you just can't stand it baby wipes are a good alternative number 17 is a smaller digital camera or a GoPro a lot of folks find the their smartphone takes pretty decent pictures and they just don't need the extra weight of another camera now for those folks who like taken you know really good pictures with fancy cameras of course yours might be worth the wait team but just in general you know if you're looking to capture the experience you might find that your cell phone does a pretty good job number 18 is dry sex and stuff sex sure you might have some uses for a dry sack or a stuff sack but a lot of folks tend to overdo it so they want every little thing to have some sort of stuff sack or dry sack you know this is the electronics bag this is this bag this is that bag and honestly it just doesn't fit as well in your pack so you're not maximizing your space the best that you can so if you ditch the stuff sex you might find that your stuff fits down better into your pack and that you could maybe even go with a smaller pack and save weight just in a smaller pack size so then what do you do about you know waterproofing everything well what I do personally and a lot of folks do is they get like a black contractor bag two or three maybe months three mil but anyway stuff all this stuff that doesn't need to get wet down in there and roll it down and for your electronics and things like that you can use ziplock bags that tend to flatten things out a little bit better than a stuff sack that's all compressing it like into a ball but don't believe me give it a shot you know try packing all your stuff without it stuff sex and dry sex and see if it works out better for you number 19 is deodorant soap body wash shampoo you know all those things to make you smell good after you're on the trail for a while you're just probably gonna smell like but if you don't embrace it that's fine but you might save some weight by carrying baby wipes that's what I do I do enjoy washing off my armpits and in other regions that need cleaned before I go to bed at night but a lot of people find you know they don't even feel like bathing off sometimes even with baby wipe so my recommendation is to get out there see if you really desire having it and if you would be bathing off if you did have it and then you can always stop and pick it up in the next town number 20 is your pack brain so your pack may not have a brain but for example my Osprey aura did it's just the removable piece on top it was an extra pouch for things that I didn't need and once that cold those things on my 80 thru-hike I ended up sitting the brain home and just sending that piece of the pack home itself actually saved a decent amount of weight so those are probably the most common 20 items that I hear about people getting rid of during their hikes if you're going for a thru-hike I definitely recommend doing a pack shakedown if you're going nobo on a tee or the PCT within the first 50 miles you will hit either neill gap on the 80 or melt laguna on the PCT and i had a pack shakedown in both places and was able to get rid of some of the weight out of my pack and by that point you probably will be more willing to listen to how you can reduce your pack weight because you'll have been toting it for a while and you'll be like okay I'm ready to get rid of some of this stuff help me out and you'll probably also find that as you go and as you get more experienced in the world of backpacking you're kind of ready to let go of some of those things it's like a kid with a security blanket you know after a while they just get to where they don't need it and you'll probably find the same true about you and some of these comfort or luxury items that you're carrying with you but anyway I would love to hear what some of the items that you all have found you don't need while you're on trail that you thought you needed and maybe that'll help some of the beginners you know as I read through those comments and they're like well I really feel like I need that but if all of these people are saying they don't need it then maybe I don't either and remember if you like the work I do here you can do your amazon shopping through my amazon affiliate link which is dixie az.com it'll take you to amazon and at no additional cost to you you'll be supporting the work I do here thank y'all so much for watching and we will see y'all next time

Channel: Homemade Wanderlust

Views: 1,219,191

Rating: 4.7359047 out of 5

Keywords: travel, hiking, backpacking, hike, gear, adventure, fun, story, PCT, thru-hike, Auburn, Alabama, epic, Appalachian, Trail, climbing, canyon, national, nature, mountains, update, park, lake, trail, tents, camping, summer, University, Aubie, River, stream, Mountains, National, Scenic, hiker box, rambo knife, butt pad

Id: nvNZKjhS0s4

Length: 12min 31sec (751 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 21 2018