Gear I DON'T Recommend Anymore From My Appalachian Trail List + My Alternatives and What Still Works

Comments · 396

• FL

  @flaskehrlenmeyer4349 · 4 years ago

  dixie, i love you so much.<br><br>so many hiking videos are about SOLO TRIP IN HARD WEATHER! or GEAR I HATE NOW or WHAT YOU&apos;RE DOING WRONG and you are so much about gracious friendly advice and i love that you revisit concepts to reevaluate.<br><br>you just talk straight to us and you&apos;re not clickbaity.<br><br>thank you.<br><br>and may your new year be full of blessings.

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• TI

  @tiffanym4202 · 3 years ago

  I swear they only make lightweight stuff, like sleeping bags, for certain body types. I can&apos;t zip my sleeping bag because my hips are very wide. And what some may call a splurge is a necessity...like an inflatable pad. :)

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• GA

  @garytobin5120 · 4 years ago

  I can listen to her for hours. &nbsp;Common sense driven by experience…her advice is good for all levels of hikers. &nbsp;We can argue with some of her choices but she considers most angles and is researches topics very well. &nbsp;Well worth the watch.

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• RA

  @randysmith6493 · 4 years ago (edited)

  Something you might add to your cold trips, and I started using this year is a Buff. They are great around the neck and like base layers, &nbsp;help a lot at personal temperature regulation, and t<br>add protection from teens and single digits of wind, you can pull it up on the chin also.

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• KR

  @krawie77 · 4 years ago

  Thanks Dixie! &nbsp;Your videos definitely helped get us through the last two pandemic years! &nbsp;Love your approach!

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• IT

  @ItCameFromTheRubenacker · 4 years ago

  &quot;I was tired of not sleeping.&quot; Literally.

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• JE

  @jeffreyjones1721 · 4 years ago

  Thanks, great video. &nbsp;I would suggest Costco&apos;s Cascade Mountain Tech trecking poles. Best deal out there. &nbsp;They are $30 for a pair of carbon fiber 8oz poles. &nbsp;They are rated for the PCT as 4th best and that at $60 instead of 30. &nbsp;I even got mine on sale for $23 at costco and bought multiple pairs for self and family. Now Coscto needs a deal w/ ULA and Big Agnes!

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• HI

  @HillbillyHiker65 · 4 years ago

  3 years ago I was rocking a 3.75 lb pack....now I use the Zpacks Nero 38 and it makes hiking so much more fun. No need to have 1/5th of your base weight in your pack alone.

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• JO

  @John_Ridley · 4 years ago

  I kinda feel like having multiple 10,000 mAh packs is better than carrying a single 20K or 30K one, because it gives you more flexibility to carry less for shorter hikes, charge one while using another (maybe charge one in the hotel room while charging your phone with another while out at dinner in town), and two separate units with two wall warts will probably charge faster than one big one. I doubt two 10K units weighs much more than one 20K unit and they&apos;re probably easier to pack.

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• IN

  @inviso1111 · 4 years ago

  I&apos;ve also had very good experiences with Anker power banks. &nbsp;I have 10k one (Astro E3) from ~2012 and have since retired that one to urban usage, but I&apos;ve picked up two more Powercore 10k banks and prefer carrying two banks rather than one for a couple reasons. &nbsp;Last I checked, the Powercore 20100 weighs 356g and two Powercore 10000s weigh 354g. &nbsp;Add in the little carrying bag and the 20k might win by a couple of grams, but it&apos;s really close. &nbsp;Note that the Powercore PD banks are a trap unless you need the higher output. &nbsp;They are significantly heavier for the same capacity. &nbsp;The same thing applies to the Powercore Lite, Slim, Redux and + models. &nbsp;Two power banks also allow me to have a much better feel for how much power I have left and makes it easier to make sure I&apos;m reserving enough power for the more critical needs. &nbsp;Finally, if I were to have a power bank fail, it&apos;s nice that I likely only lose part of my power. &nbsp;You might take another look at the 20k+10k setup that you ran for awhile.<br><br>On a related note, we got a stark reminder this last fall that electronics can and will fail on the trail. &nbsp;Carrying redundancy and/or alternatives when reasonable is a good idea. &nbsp;I thankfully haven&apos;t had a power bank fail yet, but we had the lamp burn out on a Steripen (UV light water purification) midway through our last trip. &nbsp;I&apos;m estimating it was about 20% through its expected life so it was a surprise to have it fail. &nbsp;As a group of 5 on that trip, we had planned redundancy built in so we all fell back on a MSR pump filter that a friend was using. &nbsp;Two or three liters later, the handle on the pump snapped off. &nbsp;We had a fuel reserve for boiling water and most of us had a small emergency supply of chemical treatment as well so we were not at risk, but it was a sobering reminder that a cascade of failures can change the complexion of a trip in a hurry.

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• FE

  @featherfoothiker · 4 years ago

  Thank you for suffering through watching tour old self for us! This is helping me prep for the PCT this year!

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• JO

  @johnschmalbach8243 · 4 years ago (edited)

  Great video. &nbsp;Two suggestions for the &quot;food&quot; section. &nbsp;The Humangear Gobites Duo spoon and fork combo is bomb proof and light. &nbsp;Also I am in agreement with Andrew Skurka and don&apos;t do a traditional bear hang any more. &nbsp;Unless I am required to use a bear canister I use an Ursack in bear country.<br><br>For gloves I have a pair of windproof and insulated mittens from Decathlon. &nbsp;You can flip back the &quot;mitt&quot; and you then have &nbsp;fingerless gloves. &nbsp;A thin pair of Merino liners make this a very warm combination. &nbsp;For rain gear I prefer a poncho. Because it can act as a pack cover as well as keep me dry. Keeping your stuff dry inside of the pack is great but the pack itself, unless it&apos;s made out of a waterproof material, The pack itself will absorb water and can easily gain well over a pound in water weight, especially if you have well padded hip belt and shoulder straps. Those completely act like sponges.

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