Gear I Won't Hike Without

hey guys it's Darwin so today I want to talk about five underrated yet valuable pieces of gear that I won't go hiking without [Music] all right so lately I did a video called gear to leave at home during a thru-hike where I explained five pieces of gear but I would never bring on a thru-hike today I figured I would do a video talking about five pieces of gear that I always make sure that I have in my pack set up here I don't typically go into a lot of detail about but are super valuable to me and I wouldn't hit the trail without number one gaiters I hiked for years without ever even thinking about using gaiters typically I thought a gator was only good for if you were doing snow shoeing and needed a big-time snow Gator so in 2015 on the Appalachian Trail we seen a ton of people with a gator called a dirty girl now again we weren't really Gator people and had never hiked with them before after hearing tons of people talk about how much they loved them keeping rocks out of their shoes and sand out of their shoes we finally picked up a pair and let me tell you I will never go hiking again without them so because I do wear a low top shoe and don't wear a mid boot obviously rocks and sand and dirt and twigs get in my shoe so the amazing thing about Gators is they kind of put this little blockade around your ankle and make sure nothing gets in your shoes I never really realized that until I started using them and was amazed when I got to camp at night I didn't have to dump a bunch of crap out of my shoes I didn't have to stop on the trail every one small to dig a little rock out of my shoes especially here in the desert so I do a lot of desert hiking and it probably wouldn't be as possible without the Gator now getting the Gator that I use is a dirty girl Gator a really awesome company that was started by a hiker slash trail runner that started making these for ultra marathoners there are a lot of different Gator companies on the market but dirty-girl is definitely my favorite super small super compact crazy light packs down really tiny and the great thing is it has this little loop here and a piece of velcro so it attaches to your shoe and make sure it doesn't pop up so if you wear a low top hiking boot or a trail runner like I do I highly suggest trying out some Gators again you don't have to get those big clunky snow gaiters that come all the way up to your knee because now we have small trail runner gaiters that are perfect for doing it through high to keep stuff out of your shoe number two liner socks so for years I only hiked in a regular hiking sock obviously like everyone else everyone small especially putting big miles on I would get blisters usually on the back of my heel on the front of my toe and I dealt with them just like everybody else a fellow hiking buddy out on the 80 suggested that I try liner socks now my first thought was why would I wear two pairs of socks when one sock works just fine and I'm willing to deal with blisters because they're just going to happen now hi can 400 miles with her I realized she had amazing feet and never got a blister where the rest of us were constantly having to mend and pop our blisters so we got into a town and into an outfitter and I decided to give him a try so I picked up a pair of these cool max wigwam hiking socks and I will never go back so since I started wearing a liner sock number one I don't get blisters anymore if I do it's a tiny little blister for the most part I don't get those big gnarly blisters that I used to get when starting to do a long-distance hike and the other thing is I have very sweaty feet which is pretty nasty and the great thing about these is when I'm wearing them my feet don't get sweaty at all so they keep my feet cool and keep them dry which is probably another reason why I'm not getting blisters because my feet aren't as saturated with sweat aren't building up and getting those hot points and rubbing up against my shoe so if you've been dealing with blister problems for a while on the trail I highly suggest picking up a pair of liner socks again I'll never go back and never go hiking without these guys so speaking of blisters that brings us to number three which is leuco tape this stuff is amazing period now if you don't know what leuco tape is it's very similar to a product called moleskin now whenever we hit the trail in 2015 we carry what most through hikers carry which is moleskin also called second skin but essentially what it is is it's made to be able to put on top of a blister once you've healed it and mended it and popped it and got all that stuff out and then it acts like second skin to protect that and purr and ravage the problem with moleskin is once it gets wet and if you're doing a trail like the Appalachian Trail and you're constantly getting wet it peels right off so a lot of people would have to put piece of moleskin and then put a piece of duct tape which also came off and then we discovered lugo tape the amazing thing about leuco tape is it's crazy thin so it's not real thick like moleskin and it stays on forever now back when we started the Appalachian Trail when we got to Neils Gap I had a huge round blister on my heel so obviously I did what everyone does I popped it I treated it and a friend of mine gave me a piece of leuco tape I put it on top of the blister and it was on my heel for two weeks now the only reason it came off is because I took it off so it lasted two weeks hiking in the rain taking showers my feet being sweaty and hiking every day for two weeks this stuff is amazing it essentially bonds to your skin and it doesn't go anywhere so instead of moleskin or band-aids I just carry a little bitty role of leuco tape and use it for everything because man does it stick to your skin so if you're going to be doing a thru-hike like the Appalachian Trail I highly suggest this over any other product just because you're going to constantly be wet and this stuff will stay in place the number four piece of gear that I wouldn't go hiking with out or do most traveling or even like go to work or the store is my buff ah the buff if you haven't got a buff yet you're not hiking with a buff or a similar product man you're missing out the buff is one of the greatest pieces of gear ever created and it's something I always make sure I have with me sometimes I even carry two so the buff was made as a garment to be able to put around your neck as a neck gaiter or to be able to put around your ears if it's cold outside but the buff has multiple multiple uses which is why I would never leave this guy at home so not only do I use it as a bandana I use it to cover my ears when they're cold I can use it as a face mask if it's super dusty outside or Wendy I can use it as a net Gator use it to wipe off sweat I use it to pick up my pot from this so they use it as a washcloth I use it as a Kleenex I use this thing for everything this one piece of gear probably replaces like ten pieces of gear that I could have in my pack it's super light it's super versatile I would say the buck is one of the greatest pieces of gear that I wouldn't go hiking without it looks so simple and something that you could think that you would never really need but trust me if you haven't got a buff or a similar product get one and find out for yourself how useful this piece of gear really is so number five is my rain jacket I absolutely love my rain jacket I bought that thing back in 2014 and it has been with me on every trip since not only through hikes section hikes bike packing trips it is always in my pack regardless if I think that I'm going to need it or not and not just because it's a great rain jacket just in case I get caught in a rainstorm but also because I use it for everything it's a little chilly outside I'll throw it on if I'm doing a thru-hike and I'm doing laundry I'll put just that on so I can still roam around town while I'm trying to clean all my clothes I've used it as a pillow sometimes I even throw it down on the ground just to keep my ass clean when I'm sitting on the ground to have a snack or take a break I use my rain jacket for everything and it is such a valuable piece of gear if you look at pictures from 2015 on the 80 2016 my three write of the Arizona Trail my section hike of the CDT anytime I go to a national park you will see that jacket on me about 90 percent of the time even here in the city I use it to commute in if it's a little cold or a little rainy outside I always have that thing stuffed in someplace and whatever type of bag I'm caring whether it's through hike whether I'm commuting on my bike but I'm going for a day hike or going to a national park and is one of the most valuable pieces of gear that I own alright guys so what are some pieces of gear that you won't go hiking without leave me some comments in the comments section below and let me know your favorite pieces of gear general going to change it go over and check me out on Instagram and posting a lot of new photos lately of some of the things that snuggles and I have going on throughout the week plus some pictures of some past hikes so go check those out if you found any value in this video go ahead and hit that like button subscribe to my channel if you haven't already and as always guys thanks for watching [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Darwin onthetrail

Views: 725,471

Rating: 4.8941026 out of 5

Keywords: Appalachian Trail, AT, Thru-Hike, AT Thru-Hike, Backpacking, Hiking, Adventure, Camping, Hiker Trash, PCT, Pacific Crest Trail, PCT Thru-Hike, CDT, AZT, Long Distance Hiking, Bikepacking, Dirty Girl Gaiters, LeukoTape, Outdoor Research, Helium ii Jacket, Liner Socks, Wigwam CoolMax

Id: kIFz4jhh-3s

Length: 9min 48sec (588 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 29 2017