Note: This blog was originally posted on The Trek

As an avid backpacker and gear nerd, I’ve spent the last few years refining my backpacking gear list. I’ve hiked countless miles through the White Mountains in New Hampshire, and hiked the 100 Mile Wilderness section of the Appalachian Trail in Maine. Most of the gear on this list is items I’ve had for over five years, but some of the items are new for my John Muir Trail (JMT) thru hike this summer. 

In the past few years, I’ve made a bigger effort to try to support smaller businesses with my gear choices. There’s a lot of wonderful companies run by current or former thru hikers that have really well designed gear. I spent a lot of time browsing through Garage Grown Gear, as well as looking for wisdom in the depths of Reddit. 

This is the gear that made the final cut for my JMT thru hike! I am hiking this trail with a friend, and flagged shared items in our list.

Big Three (Backpack, Tent, Sleep System)

• Backpack: Hyperlite Southwest 55
• Tent: Durston X-Dome 2
• Quilt: Katabatic Flex 22
• Sleeping Pad: Nemo Tensor Insulated
• Pillow: Sea to Summit Aeros Ultralight Large Pillow

I have a Hyperlite Southwest 55 backpack. This backpack was a huge upgrade for me in 2024 and replaced my aging (and heavy!) Osprey Aura AG 50. I bought this backpack for a few reasons:

• Waterproofness. The Southwest 55 is made from Dyneema Composite Fabric (DCF), which is a waterproof material. Additionally, Hyperlite is one of the few gear companies I could find that seam seals their backpacks, which further increases waterproofness. 
• Rolltop Design. I wanted one backpack to rule them all, from winter dayhiking, to weekend overnights, to thru hiking. The rolltop design makes it easy to compress down the pack when it’s lightly loaded.
• Volume. The 55L pack size with a rolltop works really well for me. It’s enough space for all my gear, and leaves me with options for packing bulky items like a bear canister.

For my tent, I will be sharing a tent with my friend! She owns a Durston X-Dome 2. We chose to bring the X-Dome on this trip because it pitches fly first. With most double wall tents, you insert the tent poles into the mesh inner, then put the rainfly on top. With the X-Dome, the rainfly is pitched first, and the mesh inner hangs from the rainfly. This means that in bad weather, we can pack up all of our gear under the rainfly including the tent inner, and maximize our ability to stay dry. 

Next, on to my sleep system. I have a Katabatic Flex 22 degree quilt. This is a new item that I bought for the JMT, and it replaces my Big Agnes Torchlight 20 sleeping bag. While I love the comfort of my Big Agnes, it is very heavy and bulky. I’ve gone on backpacking trips where I had to carry both a bear canister and the Big Agnes, and I couldn’t get my pack to sit comfortably. The Katabatic Flex is significantly lighter, and is made from a higher fill power down (850 for Katabatic, versus 600 for the Big Agnes), which means it will compress smaller, saving me weight and volume inside my pack. I used a quilt when I hiked the 100 Mile Wilderness, and absolutely loved it! I think this is the piece of gear I’m most excited to use on trail. For my sleeping pad, I have a Nemo Tensor Insulated. This is an inflatable pad that I’ve had for over five years and it is super comfortable! I also use a Sea to Summit Aeros Ultralight Large Pillow. At first, I thought this pillow was uncomfortable, but then I realized I was overinflating it. Now, I inflate the pillow about 60% of the way, and it works well for me. 

Cooking & Water

• Stove: MSR Pocket Rocket
• Pot: Toaks 650mL
• Spoon: Toaks Long Handled Spoon
• Coffee Cup: Sea to Summit Collapsable (discontinued)
• Water Filter: Sawyer Squeeze with Coupler
• Dirty Water: CNOC 2L
• Water Bottle: 2 x Smartwater 1L
• Extra Water Storage: Platypus 2L
• Cold Soak Jar: Talenti
• Bear Canister: BearVault 500

 

My friend and I will be sharing a cook kit. We’ll be using my trusty MSR Pocket Rocket stove. This is the first and only backpacking stove that I’ve bought, and it’s been great! For a pot, we’ll use the Toaks 650mL pot. The only downside of this pot is that for two people, we’ll have to boil water twice for dinner. However, the Pocket Rocket boils water so quickly that it won’t be an issue.

For water filtration, I use a Sawyer Squeeze filter with a CNOC 2L as my dirty water bag. I also have a coupler that can be used to directly connect a Smartwater bottle (or any standard bottle with 28mm threads). This enables me to backflush my filter with my water bottle, and it also lets me set up my Sawyer Squeeze as a gravity filter, which is awesome at camp! I’m also bringing my Platypus 2L soft bottle so both my friend and I have 4L of water capacity. We like to be able to filter a lot of water at camp so we don’t have to go back and forth from our campsite to our water source after a long day of hiking.

Clothing

• Sun Hoody: Jolly Gear Triple Crown Button Down
• Hiking Pants: REI Trailmade Pants
• Hiking Shorts: REI Trailmade Shorts
• Underwear: 1 x Decathlon Simond Trek Merino Wool Underwear, 2 x Icebreaker Siren Hipkini
• Bra: 1 x Icebreaker Lotus Bra, 1 x REI Take Your Time Bra (discontinued)
• Socks: 2 x Darn Tough Micro Crew, 1 x Injini Midweight
• Hat: Cotopaxi 5 Panel Tech Hat
• Toque (Warm Hat)/Headband: Merino Wool Buff
• Puffy: Enlightened Equipment Torrid Pullover
• Fleece/Sleep Shirt: Senchi Alpha 90 Hoodie
• Sleep Shirt: REI Merino Short Sleeve Shirt
• Sleep Pants: Magnet Designs UL Alpha 90 Joggers
• Rain Coat: Outdoor Research Helium
• Rain Kilt: Zpacks Vertice Rain Kilt
• Mittens: Zpacks Brushtail Posseum Mittens
• Rain Mittens: Zpacks Vertice Rain Mittens
• Camp Shoes: Luna Mono Sandals
• Hiking Shoes: Altra Lone Peak Hiker 3
• Gaiters: Golong Gaiters
• Sunglasses: goodr

Highlights from my clothing list include my Jolly Gear Triple Crown Button Down sun hoody, which narrowly makes it to the top of my favorite sun hoodies list. I also love my Cotopaxi 5 Panel Tech Hat. It’s super breathable, and I like it so much I have it in multiple colors. 

I’m also excited about my new rain gear, the Zpacks Vertice Rain Kilt and the Zpacks Vertice Rain Mittens. While I own rain pants, I’ve never found them comfortable for hiking. Wearing my regular pants size restricts the range of motion in my hips, and sizing up results in a baggy, uncomfortable fit. The rain kilt seemed like a good balance of keeping me dry without feeling restricted. I’m also excited about the rain mittens since I have poor circulation in my hands. The combination of my regular mittens plus my rain mittens should keep my hands warm and dry!

Electronics

• Headlamp: Nitecore NU25
• Battery Bank: Nitecore 10000 mAh
• Watch: Garmin Instinct 2
• Phone: iPhone
• Satellite Communicator: Garmin inReach Mini 2

Both the Nitecore NU25 and the Garmin inReach Mini 2 are new pieces of gear for this trip. The Nitecore headlamp replaces a Petzl battery powered headlamp that I’ve had for about ten years. I didn’t want to worry about carrying extra batteries, and figured it was easier to move to a rechargeable headlamp. Since the JMT is a lot more remote than the hikes I do in the northeast, I figured it would be worth it to invest in an inReach. 

Hygiene

• Kula Cloth
• Tooth Brush
• Tooth Paste
• Sun Screen
• Hand Sanitizer
• Soap: Dr Bronner’s
• Bidet: Culo Clean Bidet + Hydrapak 350mL
• Trowel: Tentlab The Deuce #3

This trip is the first time I’ll be putting my backpacking bidet system to the test. I have a Culo Clean Bidet which I’ll attach to a Hydrapak 350mL soft flask. I used this on a shakedown hike, and really appreciated having it. I’m also bringing some Dr Bronner’s soap in addition to hand sanitizer for cleaning my cold soak container as well as for hand washing.

Miscellaneous

• Trekking Poles: Black Diamond Trekking Poles
• First Aid Kit: DIY First Aid Kit
• Knife: Swiss Army Knife Mini
• Pack Liner: Nyloflume
• Water Bottle Pocket: Chicken Tramper Gear Water Bottle Sleeve

I’ve had my Black Diamond Trekking Poles for well over ten years, and I think they are my oldest and most heavily used piece of gear. I’m pretty close to replacing them, but I think they will survive one more thru hike! My DIY First Aid Kit contains a smorgasbord of first aid items, including ibuprofen, allergy medication, leukotape, Body Glide, and Lactaid. 

And that’s it for my gear list! After my trip, I’ll post a full review of all the gear I used.