Throwing out my first list for critique, because I'm as bored as I am curious. This is a budget-minded, on trail, no-cook, 3 season hiking (as opposed to mountaineering/scrambling) list, one that I used pretty extensively this summer. The only "new" item is the Costco Down Jacket, which I have used for one weekend trip and I'm super happy with it.

I'm not completely sold on the floorless shelter... had one night where I was invaded by frisky crickets, nearly drove me insane haha


http://www.geargrams.com/list?id=9762

I never use floored shelter

I must admit that a couple times a spider or whatever crawled over me in the night. And a couple times maybe a field mouse? If I wake up to notice it I just shoo it away (to be honest, a fairly vigorous shooing)

Yeah, the spiders get thwacked. I'd be a liar if I said I didn't give a little girly "Ack!" when I woke up with a large (and harmless) spider on my face.

The mice are only a problem in popular campsites (or so I've found). I've had em run over my bag, I don't really mind them except that I worry they will chew my stuff up. I always hang my food, so I hope it never happens.

Now marmots chewing up my trekking pole handles, that is another matter... I wonder what a Whistle Pig Pie would taste like.

Yeah IMHO those frisky crickets are just the beginning of your problem. Let me stipulate that I have to read myself to sleep and so use a headlamp in "bed". In a floor-less shelter, after dark, that headlamp attracts every species of horrible insect known to man or woman. And then of course there are ants, ants everywhere. And just to add icing to the miserable cake, hantavirus-ridden mice that just love to scurry over your face. Oh, and have I even begun to discuss making a mistake in your pitch, and then the rains begin? No your experience and intuition are right, get a floor. Or maybe a bivy, that will keep the insects and vermin out.

I agree on the reading light- it does attract every creepy crawly within 100 yards. However, hantavirus is not a serious concern (or really, a concern at all) on the western side of the state. The "deer mice" that carry it live much further east (I work with the county medical examiner, this is per our conversation on the subject). Also, I have had this shelter in heavy rain, and I was impressed by the coverage, but whether or not you have a true floor only matters if you were sloppy in site selection. Even so, I figure a bivy or net inner is in my future, more for simplicity sake than anything else.

Sell the Circuit and get a 8-15oz pack, that is way overkill because last I heard bear canisters are not reguired.

Throw in some spare rope, nix the deodorant.

I really, really like the circuit. Being a student and a MYOG dude, when I build a sub 16oz pack that I'm happy with, I will replace the circuit, but not until next year.

NCNP is not like other parks, with blanket regulations regarding bear canisters. They are required some places, but not in most. I didn't carry a canister all year this year, which was nice.

The other thing is when the wife comes (which was on over 150 miles of backpacking this summer), I carry a two person shelter (lunar duo) and a stove setup for freezer bag cooking (jetboil sol). Also, I use the circuit for mountaineering, where I can carry 10 lbs or more of additional gear.

Spare rope other than the bear line? I don't have deodorant...?

Edited by PorcupinePhobia on 10/02/2012 22:39:44 MDT.

Yawwwwnnn. Nothing like sleeping a couple feet of the deck in a hammock with a bug screen. Like going from the trailer park to a mansion :)

I once put my pants on to find a big spider running up my tummy. I did a full-on girly-man dance! [enter Three Stooges noises]

Some friends got us a two person Eno hammock for our wedding. We used it to lounge around in on our last boat camping trip, really liked it. I may make a hammock for backpacking and try it out, although I think I would have dreams about being a bear pin~ata!

If you sew, a hammock is super easy to make. The tarp needs to be on the large size compared to ground tarping. Insulation is the sticky part. If done properly, you can't beat it. I think hammocks and PNW weather and terrain go together. Make sure you have long tree straps!

Edited by dwambaugh on 10/03/2012 13:18:21 MDT.