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Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Gear Forum :: AT gear survey
 
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billconner
04/07/2020 05:59PM
 
Wally13: "Bill,



Thanks for posting. I do like to see what lightweight equipment serious backpackers are using. No where is carry weight more important than hiking the 2,200 mile Appalachian Trail.



I had hiking the entire AT on my bucket list for Spring 2020, but I ended up having both knees replaced (Feb 6th and March 18th). Fell in a ground hog hole and tore all the cartilage in my right knee back in 1988 and just too much running I guess wore out my left knee.



I doubt I will ever do the AT as these new titanium knees do have a limited life ... but I feel I should now be better able to handle the many rocky portages in Quetico."

I was planning on this year but instead of dumping business I decided to finish projects, all under construction since early 2019. All but one should be complete by end of this year - a casualty (delay) of the pandemic. Soback on my calendar for 2/1/21. I hope to get up to 75 or more miles a week on trails around here by end of this year.


Or not. Not going to get crazy.
 
billconner
04/06/2020 05:41PM
 
Found this interesting. Top gear
 
OCDave
04/07/2020 09:45AM
 
BandanaDan: "I was most surprised at the low number of hikers using alcohol stoves. I thought they were much more popular with the AT crowd."


I have a few different styles of alcohol stoves but, not one has ever made the cut when packing for the trail. My MSR Micro-Rocket (precursor to the Pocket-Rocket 2), provides more heat, more controlled heat and minimal weight penalty compared to my alcohol stoves. >>> Disclaimer: Never hiked a mile on the AT. My hiking trips are typically 7 days or less.


I do like the Survey of actual hikers as a guide to gear selection in contrast to "Backpacker Magazine's Gear of the Year" type list.

 
singlebladecanoe
04/07/2020 03:00PM
 
BandanaDan: "I was most surprised at the low number of hikers using alcohol stoves. I thought they were much more popular with the AT crowd."


I have alcohol, canister, and white gas (multi-fuel) stoves. I think why a lot of people shy away from the alcohol stoves is that they don't produce the same amount of heat and they take longer to cook with compared to the other options. A lot of people also seem to have issues with them during windy/breezy conditions.
I had seen an article a while back that compared the different options. That particular article claimed that the amount of fuel needed for an alcohol stove compared to a canister stove did not warrant the weight difference for long distance hiking.

 
BandanaDan
04/06/2020 09:15PM
 
I was most surprised at the low number of hikers using alcohol stoves. I thought they were much more popular with the AT crowd.
 
Wally13
04/07/2020 07:01AM
 
Bill,


Thanks for posting. I do like to see what lightweight equipment serious backpackers are using. No where is carry weight more important than hiking the 2,200 mile Appalachian Trail.


I had hiking the entire AT on my bucket list for Spring 2020, but I ended up having both knees replaced (Feb 6th and March 18th). Fell in a ground hog hole and tore all the cartilage in my right knee back in 1988 and just too much running I guess wore out my left knee.


I doubt I will ever do the AT as these new titanium knees do have a limited life ... but I feel I should now be better able to handle the many rocky portages in Quetico.
 
Jaywalker
04/07/2020 07:08PM
 
What I find interesting, other than the surprisingly high percentage of hikes who start with canisters, is that it looks like most of those who change en route change from canister to having no stove at all. I recall reading posts from one of the popular thru-hikers who advocated just soaking dehydrated/freeze dried food rather than heating it (most foods say boil 1.5 cups water and soak 10 minutes, but soaking in tepid water 60 minutes or so seems to also work).


I am surprised alcohol stoves were not more popular. I know that per ounce (weight ounce) it has fewer BTUs, but it’s also cheap and readily available which are two popular traits for thru-hikers. I
 
billconner
04/07/2020 04:48AM
 
I could be wrong about shipping, but I wonder if being able to ship the isobutane canisters and not ship liquid fuels is a part. It was stoves that led me to it and after reading this and a half dozen "best stoves" I decided to stick with my Dragonfly and/or Whisperlight. BTW, the MSR Pocket Rocket and Jetboil Flash seemed to jockey for "best".
 
Wally13
04/07/2020 09:41AM
 
Here is another excellent ultralight gear site.


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