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Jim Blue's Gear List

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    • Tipi on Wb only gets in about 2 miles per day if he's lucky. 3 weeks to go 20 miles. He's been doing it for years. Your just starting out, so you're doing just fine.

      Get rid of that hammer. There are much lighter rocks you could put in your pack to hammer in those tent stakes.

      Keep going with your short hikes. But use your car as a water source and mail drop location. On the At you'd be lucky to camp right beside a water source. Some are even a mile round trip, just for water. So keep water in your car hike to it. Filter or if you want to. Keep some of your food and clothes in there too. Use it like a mail drop. Drop your dirty clothes off and grab some nice fresh smelling clothes for the next day hike back out.
      If it was me I'd make one trip with my essentials. Even if it's the mou .25 miles. Then after setting up camp, resting, and eating, I'd go back for my second load for my camp. If needed, plan a third trip back to the car on the second morning. You'll need to anyway to "filter" more water... When my wife first started, I'd make two trips. I wanted to make sure she enjoyed it so I brought extra comfort things for her. Sometimes even the stuff for her to make a scrapbook, with a table. On multiday fishing trips I've been known to make two trips. ..

      And don't worry about speed. It takes weeks of hiking day after day to get some hiking legs under you. So being a weekend warrior that'll probably never happen. Unless other home training is involved.

    • Your sun screen and bug repellent weighs over a pound. I'd find a way to cut that way back. Maybe repackage into smaller containers?
      Could you cut those handy wipes in half?
      Every lit bit adds up at the end. Works the same wether you're working on taking it out to lighten the load, or you add in a small item here and there..

    • I've also weighted everything I own. A scale Mage for weighing food works great. We use our jerky scale. I can tell you what each performance tee shirt weighs. I can tell you how much each flannel shirt I have weighs. I can tell you what is the lightest fork in my kitchen drawer. I can tell you what is my lightest pair of jeans. I can tell you what brand of TP weighs the least amount, haha.

    • JimBlue wrote:

      oh that is average grade as tracked by back country navigator. Not all up nor all down grade.
      Do you have a smartphone? If so, why don't you give "Map My Hike" app a try? It is free and it is highly functional, yet simple to use. It will track your distance, elevation, calories, and then put it on a map for you at the end. It also can be set to announce your arrival at 1/2 mile, 1 mile, 2 mile, etc.. intervals. It announces your arrival, total distance, current speed, average speed, elapsed time and calories burned. It will save unlimited hikes, with all data, including a comprehensive elevation profile. All for free.

    • LIhikers wrote:

      Dmax wrote:

      ....... Drop your dirty clothes off and grab some nice fresh smelling clothes for the next day hike back out......
      That's sacrilege! You can't call yourself a hiker unless you smell like something that died 3 weeks ago...lol... :D
      Lol, so true. Maybe we'll call it a stop at the hostel...?
      But you're absolutely right. If your hitch hiking to town and the ride pulls off because you stink to bad, you got the hiker smell"...........

    • JimBlue wrote:

      I doubt the formula is an thing but nonsense.

      Of course I doubt I'll ever carry 90 pounds in a backpack again.
      Not too long ago, it was not uncommon for us to place our loaded rucks on a picnic table, sit on the bench, slip into the shoulder straps, adjust, and then stand. Oft times we'd need assistance in standing. Our priority was ammo, comm equipment, more ammo, water treatment gear, a bit of dehydrated food, more ammo, first aid kit, plus assorted navigation gear.

      I'd see special ops folks add a weapons bag and a parachute to the above.

      Lest we forget.....


      SSgt Ray Rangel - USAF
      SrA Elizabeth Loncki - USAF
      PFC Adam Harris - USA
      MSgt Eden Pearl - USMC

    • Dan76 wrote:

      JimBlue wrote:

      I doubt the formula is an thing but nonsense.

      Of course I doubt I'll ever carry 90 pounds in a backpack again.
      Not too long ago, it was not uncommon for us to place our loaded rucks on a picnic table, sit on the bench, slip into the shoulder straps, adjust, and then stand.
      Cheaters!!!!! :D
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference

    • NoAngel wrote:

      Dan76 wrote:

      JimBlue wrote:

      I doubt the formula is an thing but nonsense.

      Of course I doubt I'll ever carry 90 pounds in a backpack again.
      Not too long ago, it was not uncommon for us to place our loaded rucks on a picnic table, sit on the bench, slip into the shoulder straps, adjust, and then stand.
      Cheaters!!!!! :D
      I'll admit to needing the jump master' assistance in standing when it came time to hookup and I wasn't carrying the mortar baseplate.

      Lest we forget.....


      SSgt Ray Rangel - USAF
      SrA Elizabeth Loncki - USAF
      PFC Adam Harris - USA
      MSgt Eden Pearl - USMC

    • meat wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      In the Complete Walker, Colin Fletcher says we should be able to carry 1/3 of our weight. Now I'm curious to know how much weight I could carry...ignoring the comfort/enjoyment factor.
      I think "able to" and "want to" are very far apart, I'm a little more towards the "want to" side.
      The lighter the pack, the more enjoyable your hiking will be, but maybe at some small expense of your camping comfort. At any rate I see no reason why anyone's pack without food and water should weigh over 20 lbs. 20 lbs is a relatively easy weight to get to. Under 15 takes a little work and $$.
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference

    • meat wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      In the Complete Walker, Colin Fletcher says we should be able to carry 1/3 of our weight. Now I'm curious to know how much weight I could carry...ignoring the comfort/enjoyment factor.
      I think "able to" and "want to" are very far apart, I'm a little more towards the "want to" side.
      Yeah, I am happiest in that 15-25 pound range, and try not to get over 30 except maybe in the winter or a really big resupply. But I don't ever plan to get my body weight sub-100. Unfortunately right now I am working at sub-200.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Astro ().

    • Dan76 wrote:

      JimBlue wrote:

      I doubt the formula is an thing but nonsense.

      Of course I doubt I'll ever carry 90 pounds in a backpack again.
      Not too long ago, it was not uncommon for us to place our loaded rucks on a picnic table, sit on the bench, slip into the shoulder straps, adjust, and then stand. Oft times we'd need assistance in standing. Our priority was ammo, comm equipment, more ammo, water treatment gear, a bit of dehydrated food, more ammo, first aid kit, plus assorted navigation gear.
      I'd see special ops folks add a weapons bag and a parachute to the above.
      As I said, very few MOS require more than a 50 pound pack! It's the ammo....freaking ammo...

      Mortar plate....arrrrrrrghhhh.......M60 pack with ammo and extra frigging barrels....ARRRRRGHH....
      At least it's better than the Griswold bags from D-Day....eeek....

    • ScareBear wrote:

      JimBlue wrote:

      I might put a bicycle rack with a waist height platform on my car. That way I can just place it on there and buckle the pack on. No trying to stand up with a pack on.
      Honestly, if you can't pick up your pack with one hand and put it on, it's too heavy for hiking...
      Those of us with a desk job behind a computer screen had little reason to build upper body strength. I used picnic tables for a while, but I got stronger and did not carry as much weight. I grab the top loop with my left hand, the right shoulder strap with my right hand, lift with both arms, and swing my pack around, sticking my right elbow through the shoulder strap. My forearms are bulkier now than they were before I started hiking. Just don't ask me to do a push-up.

      I always look both ways before putting my pack on for fear of swinging 40 pounds of gear into somebody's face.

    • WF showed me back in the 90's how to bend over and flip it over my head. I did this ever since, until my pack weight got too light and injust didn't make sence to do it this way anymore . But, the heavier the pack, the easier it was to do. Unless you had a bunch of loose items on the pack... Come to think of it, this is how my wife still puts on her pack.

    • JimBlue wrote:

      I used to put one arm under a strap and then finish pulling it up and put my other arm in. Something like that.

      Flipping it over my head is not an option.
      I hiked a few days with a couple of Israeli soldiers who did the flipping the pack over their head thing- and they were using there military gear. Once one of them flipped his pack right on over his head and about 15 feet behind him. :D
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference

    • NoAngel wrote:

      meat wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      In the Complete Walker, Colin Fletcher says we should be able to carry 1/3 of our weight. Now I'm curious to know how much weight I could carry...ignoring the comfort/enjoyment factor.
      I think "able to" and "want to" are very far apart, I'm a little more towards the "want to" side.
      The lighter the pack, the more enjoyable your hiking will be, but maybe at some small expense of your camping comfort. At any rate I see no reason why anyone's pack without food and water should weigh over 20 lbs. 20 lbs is a relatively easy weight to get to. Under 15 takes a little work and $$.
      I don't want to carry more than I have to but would like to know what my threshold is. Thinking about packing 40 lbs and walking around the house tomorrow.

      20 lbs used to be my absolute max, if it went over, stuff got removed. With an increase in my physical fitness, that has crept up a little bit.
      Lost in the right direction.

    • NoAngel wrote:

      JimBlue wrote:

      I used to put one arm under a strap and then finish pulling it up and put my other arm in. Something like that.

      Flipping it over my head is not an option.
      I hiked a few days with a couple of Israeli soldiers who did the flipping the pack over their head thing- and they were using there military gear. Once one of them flipped his pack right on over his head and about 15 feet behind him. :D
      I used to grab a strap, pull it up to rest on my hip, then put my arm through the strap. I kept bruising my hip so stopped doing that.
      Lost in the right direction.

    • Dmax wrote:

      Be sure to clean that room too. Getting your legs in shape is a good thing. But just as important is building up your core muscles. The core muscles might even be more important.....
      I should probably have one of my son's put me through one of their workouts.
      If I survived, (and was able to repeat it), I am sure my core would be better for it. :D
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General

    • Well I spent an hour or two on this... just making suggestions. Honest your big four are very vague. That is where you would never skip on weight. Pack.stove.sleep system,tent etc, I did not read the thread entirely, I agree with Scarebear.


      TENT 6 Moon Designs Scout 35oz with seam seal Currently out of stock at Six Moons. Why not Gatewood Cape and ditch the raincoats?
      ground cloth, 8' x 10', plastic ? Tyvek sheet. 3.65 oz
      8 pegs, small TI nails Choose the 1g 12cm stakes, the 2g 13cm stakes, or the 5.5g 15cm
      hammer? use a nearby rock.
      sleeping pad, blue closed cell Recommend Thermarest now more affordable 8-9oz some on close out picked one up less than $20 for Ashley.


      backpack, Jansport (which one?)2 lbs. 6 oz.


      Clothes
      3 pair underwear, wore 1 (Under Armor)
      1 pair jeans How about a tech pants on close out – less chafe.& lighter.
      2 roll toilet paper double Ziploc slide
      1 trowel
      6 handi wipes
      long sleeve shirt (Micro poly)
      boots, worn
      3 pair socks, wore 1 pair
      1 pair gloves, worn Summer?
      hat, wornmicro head net for mosquitos.
      rain gear** if you are wearing micro polyester pants and shirts – you won’t need this.
      first aid kit Suggest micro med in Alco sak
      walking sticks


      care
      skin cream & a dollop of Vaseline.
      suntan lotion
      mosquito repellent
      sun glasses, worn 1oz
      Flonaise, anti-alergy how about one a day pills?)
      diabetic test kit


      Food & cooking
      both fuel bottles Uh this needs a lot more thought.
      propane stove? no micro mix or
      matches how about a white micro bic


      7 packages cheese & crackers ? heck no.

      Triscuit Thin Crisps, Quattro Formaggio (triscuit.com)

      Honey Maid Cinnamon Roll Thin Crisps

      Quaker Snack Mix, Baked Cheddar (fritolay.com)

      StarKist Solid White Albacore Tuna in Water (starkist.com)

      Planters Harvest Dark Chocolate Forest Blend (planters.com)

      Sun-Maid Mediterranean Apricots (sunmaid.com)

      Sun-Maid Mediterranean Apricots (sunmaid.com)

      Leclerc Praeventia Dark Chocolate Chip heart-shape cookies (praeventia.com)

      Del Monte Fruit Naturals No Sugar Added Peach Chunks (fruitundressed.com)

      True North Peanut Clusters (truenorthsnacks.com)

      Nature Valley Crunchy Granola Bars, Oats 'N Honey (naturevalley.com)

      All recommended by Diabetic Living.



      Hershey Kisses do not melt as they used to and or hard round candy, suggested for emergency Sugar.


      Four 1 liter water bottles 135.25 ounces
      Two 20 oz zero ade ? (Powerade Zero Drops) 3 Fl ounces


       4 packages soup not enough KcalSubstitute Cliff or trail mix bars.
      1 package crackers 4 oz?
      bacon pieces
      1 package flour tortillias
      1 jar peanut butter, plastic
      water filter kit, 2 filters and asociated gear.
      plastic flatware; fork, spoon, knife
      3 MH entrees
      cook set, pot as a cup scratch mark inside measure instead of measure cups.
      scrubber cut in half.

      SPORK?
      5 small trash bags grocery plastic? .18oz each t=9 oz
      pocket knife, in pants pocket What kind? Leatherman Squirt recommended.
       4 nesting plastic measuring cups. Huh why?


      cell phone, on backpack belt in a shock proof container, 7.6 oz
      cell phone charger 2.75oz cable and 2 amp charge Apple or Samsung,
      compass Hmmm,
      maps, 4 sheets paper
      flashlights, 2AA batteries or less. Recommended
      headlamp, 1 AAA battery???? Hope it’s a micro Stinger.

      (REPLACE) Headlamps may be your only way to bug out in the dark good ones have two or three AAA


      emergency flasher
      sport cam? oz? the Apple and Samsung 7 cell phones are fine.
      radio battery & 2 meter Baefong.I took one and found it not worth bringing… Go ahead.
      ibuprofen, Imodium, Pepto tabs,
      watch, worn

      Personal Hygiene

      towel Micro or cut up sham-wow.
      soap Dove or small hotel bar. (Dove floats)

      Toothbrush & some past


      Left in Car



      12 volt 2-3 amp charger for phone. do not use knockoffs your phone will charge slow.
      1 gallon of spring water
      snacks /6 pack beer/

      Some spare cash
      shirt/underwear/fresh socks or sandals.
      several zero-aide, 20 ounce

      Foot powder
      Be wise enough to walk away from the nonsense around you! :thumbup:

    • I'll have to use my computer to reply to most of this.

      Most of that is beyond my means to pay fore. The clothes I mean.

      Some bran things I have to avoid due to my 'roids.

      Most apricots contain sulphur dioxide which is a laxative for me. It also is an industrial pollutant.

      Pepto. tabs don't last. I have to use the liquid.
      --
      "What do you mean its sunrise already ?!", me.

    • Now I can open two windows on my computer and give more details and see what I am replying to.

      Jeans; i typically just take a pair. I wound up needing them this past weekend. Otherwise i wore a pair of Dickies shorts, probably too heavy for hiking.

      Underwear; I go through underwear.

      Toilet paper, always zip locked.

      I think I have a micro poly shirt, got it on sale. I would have to look through my stuff. Shirt, not short.

      the gloves are to protect my hands.

      I have two baseball caps, one is orange. Or a straw hat with about a 4 inch brim good for sunshine but not rain.

      I can get chilled in the rain, so I prefer rain gear.

      Small red plastic first aid kit. I added some bandaids to it. Water proof and tight closure.

      Zyrtec doesn't help my allergies but Flonaise does.

      Campmor small box of waterproof matches and a red/orange plastic waterproof match holder.

      The crackers are Lance type packages. 6 pair of crackers with peanut butter between each pair. They don't weigh much and I like them for variety. I ate 3 of them, and took more, this past weekend.

      Some of the food suggestions make me physically ill, and affect my insides. So I'll have to not do those.

      Granola bars bad for my 'roids to.

      I found powered Gator Ade, but it has high levels of sugar. So two bottles, one per day, of Zero ade would be better for me.

      The saltine crackers are one tube out of a 4 tube box.

      Cook set, is marked in ounces, but when I'm tired I forget how many ounces in a cup or half cup, etc. The measuring cups are part of a thin plastic set from dollar tree.

      My pocket knife is a swiss army one with scissors, small tools, and regular knife blades.

      Tested all of my cell phone chargers this past weekend as I keot running the battery down checking messages and playing music on youtube, yeah I get bored when it rains. Talking with someone would have helped. The iHome ones, overheat and don't fully charge my Galaxy S4. My PocketJuice charger was great ! And didn't over heat.

      Headlamp is a DeWalt and uses 3 AAA batteries. It lasts the longest 1.5 hours.

      No money for new phone, the GoPro I have is very light, and uses a 32 gig MicroSD card.

      Have Glide and a small bottle of Gold Powder.

      Have a pair of sandals, finding them...
      --
      "What do you mean its sunrise already ?!", me.

    • I took lots of stuff this past weekend and had to refrain from doing anything as I didn't want to walk in the rain. And there is a new tick borne disease that is very bad in this area.

      I hope to hike some this year. My sister and I started walking and life got in the way.
      --
      "What do you mean its sunrise already ?!", me.