If you read my previous backpacking guide post, here’s my personal gear list I use. I love my gear and I love gear shopping and researching so I’d highly recommend the products I use… amongst so many others of course 🙂
I’m always open to new product recommendations so if you have anything really awesome for me, comment below!
Tiff’s Backpacking List —
- Backpack: Osprey Aura 50 AG (silver streak color)
- Sleeping bag
- 3 season: Mountain Hardwear Hyperlamina Spark 32°F Synthetic
- 4 season winter: Feathered Friends Murre EX 0°F Women’s Down
- Sleeping pad
- 3 season: Klymit Static V & Big Agnes Q-Core SLX
- 4 season winter: Thermarest NeoAir XTherm (rectangle size)
- Tent: Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2
- Water Bladder: Camelbak Antidote Reservoir 100 oz / 3 L
- Headlamp: Petzl
- Bear canister: BearVault 450 bear canister (when required)
- Towel: Sea to Summit DryLite Towel
- Hiking boots: Lowa Renegade GTX mid hiking boots & Adidas Fast Mid GTZ-Surround Hiking Boots
- Pocket knife: Kershaw Leek Folding Knife
- Clothes
- Rain shell: Marmot Essence
- Down Hoody: Patagonia Ultralight Down 800 Fill
- Down Jacket: Eddie Bauer Cirruslite Down 650 Fill (I only pack one down)
- Synthetic Insulated Jacket: Arcteryx Atom LT
- Base Layer: Nike Pro Women’s Training Top & Lululemon Swiftly LS
- Mid-layer fleece: Adidas Outdoor Terrex Stockhorn Fleece Jacket
- Pants – I like to wear leggings as opposed to hiking pants. Here are some of my current favorites.
- Hiking socks (& sock liners): I love Smartwool & Darn Tough, and I always bring extra clean pairs
- Scarf / buff/ neck warmer / balaclava / neck gaitor… whatever you want to call it
Tiff’s Go-To Food List —
I have this fear of starving on the mountain, so I always over-pack with food (which is pretty bad cause you should be cutting down weight.) It’s something I’m still working on.
- Breakfast: banana or Asian bread pastry
- Lunch: sandwich, either salami and bread, tuna packets and avocado… or turkey (only for the first day) and maybe a hard-boiled egg (boil it at home!)
- Dinner: ramen is always nice for comfort food… but I really like MREs from Backpackers Pantry (Pad Thai & Fettucini Alfredo with Chicken are my favs) and Trailtopia (I love that their flavors are unique and I feel like they have the best protein/carb ratio).
- Other MRE brands I’ve enjoyed are: Mountain House, Good-to-Go, Wild Zora (paleo and you can taste it), Peak Refuel
- Snacks:
- Turkey jerky
- Protein / Granola bars:
- PowerCrunch protein energy bar
- Clif Builder’s protein bar,
- Nature Valley granola bars,
- Granola, raw unsalted almonds, dried cranberries
- Clif’s energy shot blocks (I like the tropical punch flavor cause it tastes good & has caffeine – these things can be a life saver when you’re struggling on the trails!)
- Snickers, Oreos, Cheetos, fruit snacks (I know this is so unhealthy, but I figured I deserve it and when you’re out in the wilderness and possibly struggling, it’s good to know there’s something undeniably yummy to keep you going… plus I get random craving)
See my other Gear Guides:
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You continue to amaze our hiking members with your extensive knowledge and tips—you should write a book about your adventures over these past years; you are an amazing adventurer! WOW!! -ray moench with HikeMasters
Aw that’s so sweet Ray, thank you. If I can inspire or help just one person… I’d be a happy camper. I think my adventures are better suited for a blog for now… but maybe I’ll consider a book far down the road. 😅
Great insight…thanks for sharing this and helping me decide where to hike next and what to bring. I’m curious, when you hike do you bring a GPS?
Thanks Mary! I don’t bring a gps although I probably should. I do run a gps app tracker (mapmyfitness) which maps my location but the map doesn’t load unless you have reception… so it doesn’t help all the time. However, it does let me see if I am on my same trail hearing back for our and back trails. I try to do as much research before I hike so I’m very prepared though… since I know I don’t have any gps. But let me know if you find a good one worth investing in! 😉
Tiffany,
If you decide to use GPS on hikes (very useful for cross country and snow travel), you can easily turn your phone into a nifty gps using apps like Gaia,
Regarding a 4 season pad, I can highly recommend the ThermaRest X-Therm pad. Even for a side sleeper it’s still pretty comfortable. While you can use it alone in winter, I’d still recommend doubling it with ccf pad.
If you find the X-Therm interesting, we can work out a deal for you as it’s price point is on the higher end of the spectrum.
Happy hiking!
Kevin
Thank you for all the wonderful advice, Kevin! I will look into it!
Hooray for Snickers, Oreos and Cheetos!!—–just remember, if John Muir were alive today (of just bread and tea fame), before going on one of his treks he’d stop over at a 7-11 and pack some Mountain Dew and a bunch of Twinkies…….Ray with http://www.thehikemasters.com
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Hey Tiffany, found you here from instagram. What’s your typical
base weight? Or do you even concern yourself with it? I’m trying to reduce my uphill fatigue over that Sierra granite haha. Also, thank you for sharing so freely and putting time in to link everything. I’m sure everyone appreciates it as much as I do.
Hi Sasha, my current typical base weight can actually be found on my Ultralight Gear Guide but I don’t concern myself with it much since I’m not planning for any long thru hikes at this time. Hope this helps!!
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