I'm spending 4 nights on the Teton Crest Trail in late August and would appreciate any feedback on my gear list. I'll be solo. Unfortunately the park now requires bear canisters, which adds 2lbs, but at least they rent the solo version of the bearvault... Thanks!

Item Brand/Model Oz
Packing
Backpack ULA Conduit 17.0
Trash Bag 2 Ziplock Bag (gallon) 0.8
Pack Liner Hefty trash compactor bag 2.6
Bear Canister BearVault 450 33.0

Shelter
Shelter SpinnTwinn Tarp w/ stakes 12.4
Stuff Sack Small Orange Air Bag 0.3
Bivy Titanium Goat Ptarmigan 7.2

Sleeping
Sleeping Bag Marmot Helium 29.0
Sleeping Pad Thermarest NeoAir 14.3
Pillow Dual Flex Air 1.2

Kitchen
Caldera Keg Heineken Can 5.5
FB Cozy x 1.4
Utencil Long Titanium Spoon 0.3
Lighter Mini Bic 0.4

Clothes
Insulating JacketMont Bell Down Inner 8.2
Extra Socks Darn Tough 1/4 Wool 2.4
Extra Underwear Exofficio boxers 4.1
Base layer tops Patagonia Capilene 8.5
Base bottoms Patagonia Capilene 7.3
Rain Jacket DriDucks Rain Jacket 6.2
Rain Pants Marmot Precip 7.9
Wind Jacket Patagonia Houdini 4.4
Fleece Gloves Black Diamond 2.7
Fleece Hat Mountain Hardware 2.2
Bug Headnet w/ small stuff sack 0.6
Stuff Sack Orange Med AirCore 0.8

Hydration
Water Bladder Platypus 2L w/ hydration tub 3.4
Water Bladder Platypus 2L for camp kitchen 1.2

Emergency
Survival Kit flint,firestarter,mirror,whistle2.4
First Aid Kit bandaids, pills, leuko tape, 2.9
Headlamp Petzl e+LITE w/ extrabattery 1.0
Knife Mini Swiss Army knife 0.7
Bandanna x 1.0

Toiletries
Soap Dr. Bonner's 0.5
Toothbrush travel toothbrush 0.4
Toothpaste paste 1.0
Sun Block Dermatone 45 spf (2.5oz) 2.8
Hand Sanitizer Purell 0.8
Pack Towel x 0.7
Bug Repellant 100% DEET 1.7
Toiletry Aloksak x 0.2
Stuff Sack x 0.2

Navigation
Compass/Map Silva 0.8
Map(s) Trails Illustrated Tetons 3.3

Luxury Items
Camera Cannon SD 1000 5.1

Base Weight 13.2 lbs (11.1 w/o bear canister)

Edited by mseeley on 08/13/2009 11:52:04 MDT.

bump. Any thoughts? Thanks!

Mark, I think the reason you're not getting much in feedback is that the list looks pretty solid. Quibbly kind of personal difference stuff.

I might replace the two ziplocs with a single sil sack. For 4 days you don't need a change of underwear. I'm personally not of the mindset to carry both a windbreaker and a hardshell, but some people swear by the system. Toothpowder in a tiny ziploc or a couple pieces of foil is really light, like .1oz or so. Honestly, your heaviest thing is still pretty light for what it is... your sleeping bag at 29 ounces. Any chance you could swap for something like a 19-20 ounce 30-ish bag and plan to layer? Tend to sleep warm or cold?

If you changed all those things it would save you about a pound. Not sure if those changes are worth it to you or not.

good list :) a few minor possible tweaks

ditto on toothpowder
DEET you can repackage and carry less
sunscreen you can repackage and carry less

tenths of oz vs oz's- not a lot of savings but some :)

helium is a great bag, but for late august (and considering the clothes your carrying and bivy) you could probably get by w/ less bag (unless you are a very cold sleeper)

Ditto on the sleeping bag, especially with the down inner. Low currently is averaging around 40 degrees and highs in the 70's. If you keep the bag I would lighten up on the clothing. I would probably drop the down inner and the wind shirt. The DI will be too warm to sleep in with the helium and too warm during the day. Might be nice to have as a camp jacket but at 1/2 lb. I personally wouldn't take it and the helium.

Your first aid and survival kit at 5.3 oz. seems like a lot. You have a mini bic listed under kitchen. I would just go with that and a book of matches and eliminate the flint and firestarter.

I would also replace the second 2L platypus with a 20 or 32 oz. gatorade bottle. This way you have something easier to drink out of at camp.

A neoair small would save you 5+ ounces.

Nitpicky but your compactor bag at 2.6 is heavy. You could take an ounce off that.

Edited by NomadJack on 08/14/2009 22:37:27 MDT.

Guys, great feedback. I actually have a Marmot Hydrogen that would save me 6oz over the Helium. I orginally was thinking the Helium, because the ranger told me it will get into the 30's at night at the elevations I'll be at (mostly 9,000 - 10,000 ft), but I suppose I should still be fine with a 30 degree bag PLUS the down inner.

I'll toss the extra underwear to save another 4oz. And I agree that there has to be a lighter compactor bag out there. Frankly, I was suprised by the weight when I got it on the scale.

I think I'll keep the wingshirt/hardshell combo. The versatility of that combination has always been worth the extra ounces to me.

Between these changes and shedding some more out of my survival kit, I should be able to save close to 12 oz!

Great thoughts guys - Thanks again for the feedback!

glad to offer feedback... your list is great.

that makes sense to go with a lighter bag and keep the DI.

for a compactor bag I have been using a brand called "homelife". They come in a box of 10 so you won't be stuck with a lifetime supply, just 1/2 life. I got them at a Jewel-Osco but the company that owns them also owns according to their website:

ACME®, ALBERTSONS®, bigg's®, BRISTOL FARMS®, CUB®, FARM FRESH®, HORNBACHER'S®, JEWEL-OSCO®, SHAW'S/STAR MARKET®, SHOP ‘N SAVE® and SHOPPERS