Ultralight Backpacking Gear for the High Sierra (Late Summer)

hey guys in this video i'm going to be talking about the gear that i used on the super sierra high route which was basically a 300 mile off-trail backpacking trip in the high sierra that i did last summer from mid-august to early september if you're curious about that trip i will link it up here and you can go check it out but basically this gear is going to be applicable to any backpacking trip in the high sierra during mid or late summer so first let's establish what the conditions are going to be you're going to have warm sunny days the nights are not going to be too cold usually only in the 40s or 30s only occasionally dipping below freezing if you're up really high you are going to have pretty considerable sun exposure but you're also going to have little to no bug pressure and very little in the way of precipitation i think over the course of 23 days we had only one afternoon thunderstorm so with that out of the way let's dive right into the gear i have this pack loaded up just as i would if i were out hiking and we'll just take stuff out and talk about them as we go along i'll start with the pack itself this is the mountain laurel designs profit and i've used this pack a ton for thousands of miles now and i've really come to like it and view it as a durable and reliable sort of do-it-all ultra light pack it's really versatile and i think that's in large part due to its volume it's got 38 liters of internal capacity which is just enough space for me to fit my summer kit and a large bear canister which i have in there now and it carries those loads really well but it can also compress well and carry lighter loads really well too the shoulder straps and the hip belt straps are both really well cushioned and even though this pack is frameless i feel like i can carry a little bit over 20 pounds pretty comfortably which is good for a frameless pack alright now let's move on to the external pockets in the front pocket i will carry my wind shirt and i like wind shirts because for very little weight around two ounces they pack a lot of warmth and they're also more comfortable to hike in than a rain jacket this one is the mont belle tachyon wind shirt and here i'll also keep some basic toiletries a hand sanitizer dr bronner's soap and sunscreen which is essential in the sierra i will have a gallon ziploc with the maps that i'm not currently using and in here i also had a face mask which i would wear when we went to red's meadow or bishop i've also got stakes in here these are dac aluminum v stakes and i like these because they are really durable i can pound them in with a rock and not have to worry about bending them and they hold really well i've tried lighter stakes like titanium shepherd's hooks and those do bend really easily and they don't hold as well so i would rather have slightly heavier stakes that i can really depend on these i had six stakes for this trip i would also carry a day's worth of food in the front pocket so that i can access that really easily without having to open the pack every time i need food in my side pockets i'll keep my water storage and i just use smart water style bottles you only need two liter capacity in the sierra and on one of them i will keep my sawyer squeeze one more external pocket this little shoulder strap pocket and in here i would just keep the navigation materials that i'm currently using so i would have a couple of paper maps and i pretty much always carry paper maps but i think for hiking off trail they're pretty mandatory and then i've got my compass this is the suntow m3 global and this compass has some really nice features like adjustable declination and a global needle now you don't you're not going to be using your compass a ton in a place like the sierra because you're usually above tree line and you can see really far and the terrain is generally obvious but as a general rule i like to carry a compass alrighty now let's move on to this stuff inside the pack right on top i like to keep my puffy jacket so i can put it on right when i get to camp this is the enlightened equipment torrid apex jacket and i really like this jacket because it's super warm for its weight it only weighs seven and a half ounces and i also like that it's made of synthetic insulation so it's a little bit more resistant to moisture although of course that's not a primary concern in the sierra next we've got a rain jacket this is just a frogtogs ultralite jacket which is a super minimal rain jacket only weighs a little over 5 ounces but for the sierra where you're probably not going to get very much rain this is a really good choice next we've got some pants these are wind pants the body wrappers dance warm-up pants they're a really nice budget option for win pants however these are actually just a placeholder for the pants i actually had on the trip which were the mont belle versa light rain pants the trouble with those is that they're really delicate and they tear very easily and i had already used them a ton before the high route and by the time i got home they were just ripped up beyond repair so sadly i threw them away but because you don't get a lot of rain in the sierra like i've said multiple times now i think i would be comfortable using wind pants if i were to do this trip over and these would be a good option for wind pants a good affordable option i've got a fleece neck gator and i really wouldn't wear this during the day i would only wear this at night to pull over my eyes and nose to keep my face warmer or if the moon was really bright it would be easier to sleep with this i've got an extra pair of socks these are just thin nylon dress socks and i like these a lot for hiking because they're thin breathable and they dry quickly and they are also cheap and durable all right here we have a head net just a bug head net and i know i said there was pretty much no bug pressure and that's true there were basically no mosquitoes so i didn't bring this to wear during the day i brought it because i had no bug protection in my shelter system and so i had this just in case there were some bugs at camp like maybe some ants crawling around or something and i wanted just some really minimal protection just for my head now we've got a couple of ditty bags or accessory bags one dcf stuff sack for my electronics and then one ziploc for my other stuff try to go through this stuff quickly so it doesn't get too boring this is a garmin inreach and this is the regular size version this is something that i think is pretty important to have especially if you're hiking off trail or in remote places just as an added safety net this is the regular sized version but i would actually recommend getting the inreach mini because it has basically all the same functions as this one but for half the size and weight i just haven't gotten around to upgrading yet i've got my power bank this is an anchor 10 000 milliamp hour battery a whole bunch of usb cords so i can charge multiple devices at once i've got actually it's not too many i've got two micro usbs and one lightning cable and a dual port wall charger and a little ziploc bag that i use for my wallet when i'm hiking in this bag we've got a toothbrush i know that it is ultra light sacrilege that it's not cut in half so you'll have to forgive me some floss for flossing and also you can use it for sewing for repairing gear in this little bag i have like a pretty minimal repair and utility kit i've got various kinds of tape in here i've got duct tape luco tape which is really good skin tape i have some dcf tape tenacious tape and some patches for my sleeping pad as well so every kind of tape you could ever want i also have a mini bic lighter and a needle for sewing i've got some neosporin which is obviously an antibiotic but it's also pretty good for chafing got some basic meds some aleve and benadryl and imodium i've got my pocketknife which is a knox classic and a couple of tiny things an extra bottle cap and an extra washer for the sawyer squeeze if you've ever used a sawyer squeeze i can almost guarantee that you've lost one of these so it's not a bad idea to carry an extra one all right now moving on to some more interesting stuff this is the shelter that i used it is the split wing tarp from sling fin and it's basically an a-frame tarp with a closed foot end and some beaks on the front so it's a little bit more protective than just a regular a-frame tarp it is super light it's only eight ounces and it is a little bit minimal on its own but you're probably not going to have many storms or probably any storms at night during the sierra in mid or late summer so a shelter like this is absolutely perfect really i only pitched it about half of the time and that was usually just for wind or condensation protection uh here we've got a just a plain old polychrome ground sheet that i paired with the tarp now for everybody's favorite item the bear canister this is an unfortunate necessity of doing any long backpacking trip in the sierra there's pretty much no way around it this one is the bv 500 this guy weighs around two and a half pounds so it's a pretty big chunk of my base weight i've also got some other food related stuff in here this is a cold soaking jar because i didn't bother cooking on this trip i would just rehydrate food in here there's also a plastic spoon in there this is a gatorade powder container in case you're curious this is a sort of a supplemental food bag this is a nyla fume bag here we've got my sleeping quilt this is an item that i've gotten a ton of use out of thousands of miles and hundreds of nights this is an enlightened equipment revelation 20 degree quilt and for knights that were usually in the 40s and 30s and i think only dipped below freezing once or twice a 20 degree quilt was a conservative choice and i was pretty toasty on most nights here we have my sleeping pad this is the neoair x-lite women's version and i prefer the women's version because for the same weight as the regular it is actually quite a bit warmer now it is a little bit shorter but if you are five eight around five eight or less you can still use it as a full length pad so that's pretty cool lastly we have my pack liner this is just a trash compactor bag and i know there are some lighter options for pack liners but i still like using these because i think they're a bit more durable i've used this one a ton i think i had this one when i was on the cdt in 2019 you can see it's got a couple of patches in it but they hold up really well and i actually like that they're oversized because there's more material there to roll it over and really waterproof the pack oh and one more thing about the sleeping pad if you're thinking that it's a little bit sketchy to use an inflatable pad with only a polychrome ground sheet it's true that it's a little bit more vulnerable to punctures compared to like your typical tent floor but what i would do if i thought that the ground looked particularly pokey is i would sandwich my pack liner and my frogtogs jacket between this and the ground sheet for an added layer of protection and that worked very well alrighty so that's everything inside the pack now let's move on to the stuff that i would be wearing here we've got a sun hat this is just a regular hat with a brim and a neck drape for extra sun protection sunglasses which would be on my face quite a lot of the time but sometimes would be on my hat these are sun gloves which were a new piece of gear for me on this trip these are outdoor research sun gloves and i generally like them it was nice not to have to put sunscreen on my hands all the time i wish they were a little bit more durable they're starting to get a couple of little holes in them but uh overall i like them a lot they are very lightweight so you don't really notice them on your hands we've got a watch this is just a plain old casio watch that just tells the time nothing fancy you could get a an altimeter watch if you wanted so that you can look down at your wrist and know your elevation which is handy for hiking off trail my friend had one on the trip but it's not mandatory you can definitely get by with a plain old watch another pair of socks these are the same ones as before just thin nylon dress socks and i would rotate those two pairs a long sleeve shirt like a thin polyester long sleeve shirt the long sleeves are for more sun protection and i would also try to find one with a collar for added sun protection previously i had been using the outdoor research echo but i needed to replace it and i wanted a cheaper option and this one is from decathlon a pair of running shorts and i know you might be thinking i've been talking about sun protection so much why would i hike in shorts but i just it's way more comfortable to hike in shorts than in pants and i just am not a big fan of hiking in pants so unfortunately i have to put a lot of sunscreen on my legs in a place like the sierra anyway these are just running shorts with a liner these ones are from decathlon as well and i like these a lot because they have a lot of pockets along the waistband which are really good for storing snacks and we've got a fanny pack here and the fanny pack is mainly for holding my camera which i'm shooting on the camera is a sony a6600 in here i would also have my phone a tripod for putting the camera on some chapstick and my flashlight this is the night core tip okay couple more things these are my trekking poles these are the black diamond alpine carbon poles and this is another item i've gotten a ton of use out of i've used these poles for thousands of miles and they've held up great they're not the lightest poles but they are pretty light and they're very durable and that's what i like about them and i think that makes them a good choice for hiking off trail where you're generally going to be putting more stress on the poles all right lastly let's talk about the shoes finding shoes that work well for me for off trail hiking is a little bit of a challenge because i have really wide feet and i've always been a fan of ultras but the problem with shoes like that for hiking off trail where the terrain is uneven and you're gonna have to do scrambling and stuff is that you want shoes that are generally offer more stability and are more secure and the wide toe box of ultra can be a little bit sloppy under those circumstances so what i tried first i tried two different pairs of shoes on this trip i started with the la sportiva bushido which is really good for this kind of hiking they offer a ton of stability and the traction is really good but unfortunately the toe box was just a little too tight for me and it was not comfortable to wear all day so part way through the trip in bishop i switched to these shoes which are the ultra king mountain and they were good in different ways my toes were more comfortable and the traction was just as good unfortunately the fit was still a little bit too sloppy and so i felt a little bit less stable on the uneven terrain and when scrambling so yeah unfortunately i don't yet have the ideal shoe uh for off trail hiking for people with wide feet but hopefully this summer i'm able to get out there again and try out some other options and maybe i'll find that perfect shoe for platypus feet alright so that's everything if you've got any questions about this stuff then leave them down below and i'll do my best to get back to you if you like the video please give it a thumbs up and if you generally enjoy my videos or find them useful then please consider subscribing if you haven't already thanks for watching and i'll see you in the next one [Music] you

Channel: Dan Stenziano

Views: 19,720

Keywords: ultralight backpacking, thru-hiking, ultralight backpacking gear, backpacking fanny pack, backpacking gear, hiking, mountains, pct, gear list, hiking gear list, backpacking gear list, MLD prophet review, sierra high route gear, sierra high route, super sierra high route, Enlightened Equipment Torrid, SlingFin SplitWing, Enlightened Equipment revelation

Id: eU05_i3rjiE

Length: 18min 37sec (1117 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 03 2021