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As the title states...I am wondering if I am prepared enough for my 1st backpacking trip, a solo one at that. I spent time in the boy scouts as a kid growing up and have done plenty of hiking and camping through out my life. Also spent close to 6 years in the marine corps with close to 3 of those years being out in the field, so I feel as though I should be very well prepared physically and mentally, but am I prepared enough gear wise? After looking at my gear and set up if you have any advice or helpful hints, please chime in with them!

My first trip would only be a 3 day trip. Have all gear planed out for the trip and is as follows:
Deuter Futura Pro 42 Pack, Big Agnes Sunnyside tent w/foot print and fly, Alps Mountaineering sleeping pad, Big Agnes horse thief 35* down sleeping bag, Marmot sharp point softshell, waterproof poncho, 2 pairs bxer brfs, 2 pairs hiking socks, 1 pair hiking pants, 2 thermal shirts, Underarmour cold weather gear top & bottom, fleece gloves, first aid kit, Nikon monarch bino's, Katadyn water filter, alcohol stove with wind screen, 700ml Ti pot & spork, PT headlamp, Fenix flashlight, GPS & extra batteries, lighter, and knife. Also have other small stuff packed such as toothbrush & toothpaste, digicam, butt wipe, baby wipes, and 2 Nalgene bottles.




Figured I would pack a sammich in with me for lunch the first day and then the menu looks like this for the following 2 days.



Tent went from humongous looking thing in greenish yellow bag to this





All my clothes minus jacket fit into the sleeping bag compartment along with my compressed sleeping bag.





Everything all packed and arranged neatly in the pack.





Finally to test it out and see what it weighs out at. Not bad.....28.4 lbs. Figure strap on my hiking boots and some full water bottles and I should be close to 32 - 33 lbs.

You look setup, organized and ready to go. I would save the lasagna for the last night, my spoon is usually half covered in cheese after eating it.

I would look into getting a different sleeping pad eventually. Many roll up into the size of a smaller stuff sack now. Be careful in brushy areas not to catch the pad and puncture it with it being out side your pack.

Enjoy!

35F sleeping bag...pick somewhere below 3500 feet. You have plenty of gear...have fun!

I'd recommend you eventually consider getting a MSR dromedary bag for toting extra water to camp, I have one and so far it's great...my Platypus water bag only lasted about 18 months until the seams gave way. I also agree w/ Davis, thorns are hell on inflatable sleeping pads...most I've observed last less than 6-8 trips.

Tips section:
-For the lasagna cheesy spoon effect: Eat the lasagna first, then eat ramen. The process of eating the ramen will get your spork clean again, plus it adds a little flavor to the ramen
-Use one of your stuff sacks for hanging food at night, no need to carry an extra stuff sack...lots of ground rodents in Arizona but few squirrels, ringtails are you only true enemy most of the time
-I don't see any rope so hopefully you'll find a good enough tree to hang food from...maybe bring 30 ft of paracord if camping in bear country...it is small, light, and has endless uses.
-Bring an extra ziplock bag for garbage if you aren't camping where you will have a campfire.
-Oh and if you don't know the terrain well bring a paper map in a ziplock bag just in case that GPS drops out of your hand.

you can unroll that pad inside your pack, like a concentric circle. then put everything inside the circle, sleeping bag first. heavier items toward your back on top of that. then lightest and most needed things on top like first aid/windshirt.
repack those non-burning messy foil Mtn. House packs into freezer ziplocks. (must be freezer bags) and cook just like you would in the foil pouch. Much less mess, and easier to keep knuckles clean.
consider that the BA Horse Thief is designed to accept a mummy shaped pad. yours will work, but consider for future. (a t-rest prolite 3 or similar Insul-Mat brand are great, half the weight)
you NEED a hat. That bag has no hood. A hat will retain the 40% of the freshest, warmest blood heat that travels to your brain and leaves your skull. A good watch cap or fleece balaclava will make a 5-10 degree difference in comfort.
as always, tell someone where you are going and expected ETA. even a neighbor... someone.
have a ball. the world is your oyster. (whatever the hell that means ;) )

Ya your'e certainly more prepared than I was on my first backpacking trip (also solo). You've also got a leg up on me with the BSA and Marine experience. As nonot said try and pick something below 3500 ft because your definetely not prepared for 20s (or lower) with the bag you currently have. Also I second that you should bring a traditional map. Personally I like maps better anyway and doubt I'll ever spend money on a GPS unless I start getting into really offtrail backcountry stuff. Other than that have fun out there and stay safe.

nonot wrote:Tips section:
-For the lasagna cheesy spoon effect: Eat the lasagna first, then eat ramen. The process of eating the ramen will get your spork clean again, plus it adds a little flavor to the ramen
-Use one of your stuff sacks for hanging food at night, no need to carry an extra stuff sack...lots of ground rodents in Arizona but few squirrels, ringtails are you only true enemy most of the time
-I don't see any rope so hopefully you'll find a good enough tree to hang food from...maybe bring 30 ft of paracord if camping in bear country...it is small, light, and has endless uses.
-Bring an extra ziplock bag for garbage if you aren't camping where you will have a campfire.
-Oh and if you don't know the terrain well bring a paper map in a ziplock bag just in case that GPS drops out of your hand.

Have 100ft strand of paracord packed and will have a few extra zip lock bags. I have no paper maps, pretty reliant upon my GPS as it is shockproof and waterproof and I have had that thing under dense cover and never lost a satellite. Still unsure of where I will be going, in the early planning stages so hopefully by the time I figure out where I am going I will have some paper maps and a proper compass to take along with me.

te-wa wrote:you can unroll that pad inside your pack, like a concentric circle. then put everything inside the circle, sleeping bag first. heavier items toward your back on top of that. then lightest and most needed things on top like first aid/windshirt.
repack those non-burning messy foil Mtn. House packs into freezer ziplocks. (must be freezer bags) and cook just like you would in the foil pouch. Much less mess, and easier to keep knuckles clean.
consider that the BA Horse Thief is designed to accept a mummy shaped pad. yours will work, but consider for future. (a t-rest prolite 3 or similar Insul-Mat brand are great, half the weight)
you NEED a hat. That bag has no hood. A hat will retain the 40% of the freshest, warmest blood heat that travels to your brain and leaves your skull. A good watch cap or fleece balaclava will make a 5-10 degree difference in comfort.
as always, tell someone where you are going and expected ETA. even a neighbor... someone.
have a ball. the world is your oyster. (whatever the hell that means ;) )

I actually have a thermarest prolite 4 that fits the pad sleeve on my bag like a glove so more than likely I will be using that pad. I was lazy and had the a-m pad out already so attached that one. The bag does have a hood but still will have my Underarmour balaclava to wear.

Good point on using freezer bags, will help provide more pack space I think.

is the Horse Thief hood a new idea? I just looked at the website, and the photo still shows the old, hoodless style.

te-wa wrote:is the Horse Thief hood a new idea? I just looked at the website, and the photo still shows the old, hoodless style.

actually you are correct, I was mistaken, there is no hood.

that's ok. the reason the horse thief has no hood is why its only a 35° rating. It has 9.5oz of 750+ down, so it should come in somewhere in the 2-2.25 inch loft. That would normally be a 25° rating, if loft is your only calculation. (down density plays a much larger role here)
anyway, with your layering system you should be find to below 30, as long as you eat that chocolate and nuts before bed. You may already know that Carbs=hiking, Fats=sleeping. Keep that furnace stoked and well hydrated and you will be a-ok.
also, site selection is key, in this weather you can lose 10° by camping close to water especially in a deep canyon. Stay up on a bench, or better yet, on the eastern face of a downward sloping hill.

Looks like your more prepared then I've ever really been, I'm sure you'll be fine, solid gear selection

i wanted to say this earlier, but I forgot:
once you get a feeling for the gear you need, and put it through its paces so it has a home in your pack, you are likely to find some of the gear that you dont need keeps coming along on your trips anyway... this is prolly the easiest way to "bond" with your gear, and you will find redundancies are just wasting space and weighing you down. Once you feel more comfortable, I am confident that one light source will suffice, you will figure out a minimal clothing system and shelter/bag system, and learn the benefits of things like leaving those heavy expensive nalgenes and filter at home. Aquafina bottles are (basically) free, and MicroPur tablets weigh like 1gram each.
simply put: we all overdo our first several hikes until we source the finest in our gear closets, and then the pack weight starts to diminish. Some of us have packs that let us enjoy the backcountry experience more, and worry about the heavy pack on our backs less. Its the basis for the UL philosophy. You're doing much better than I did on a first hike. My first year was with a 40# pack.

I'll echo the advice to bring a map of wherever you are going. The GPS will eventually fail-lost, batteries, signal, something-and the map will be quite comforting.

I skimmed over this, maybe I missed it, but do you have some moccasins, flipflops, Tevas or Chacos to change into?

Only once in the past 15 years have I left camp shoes at home to save weight. I was miserable without them. I was so miserable I can tell you exactly where I was camped--at bottom of Tanner Trail, about 3/4 mile downstream from where the trail hits the river, by the big bend there. That is how memorable that was! Clumping around camp with my boots untied was very unpleasant, and getting up in the night when having to "use the facilities" and having to slip my feet into my boots was also not fun. Ugh.

So, I take a cheap pair of Tevas, the cheapest ones because the more expensive ones are actually a lot heavier. I have seen sneakers, moccasins, cheap flip flops, etc. on other people in camp. Just something so you can get out of what you have hiked in all day!

Also make sure whatever you sleep in is kept very dry in winter, not to be worn on the trail. You will be warmer with this plus sleeping with the "beanie" on your head (what the rest of you call a stocking cap is called a beanie in AZ's White Mtns.)

Elizabeth

I'd recommend 4 pairs of socks for a 3 day trip. Putting on dirty hiking socks for another full day's use is no bueno.

azbackpackr wrote:Also make sure whatever you sleep in is kept very dry in winter, not to be worn on the trail. You will be warmer with this plus sleeping with the "beanie" on your head (what the rest of you call a stocking cap is called a beanie in AZ's White Mtns.)

Elizabeth

I think Beanie is a more common term for it these days. I do know however that most older generations want to call them Toboggans (....I know same name as the round sleds). Never heard it called a stocking cap though ><

I grew up with them being stocking caps, watchcaps (still common I believe) and toques

Course, that was in Wisconsin. It's always interesting the regional dialect

JamesLyding wrote:I'd recommend 4 pairs of socks for a 3 day trip. Putting on dirty hiking socks for another full day's use is no bueno.

I have to disagree heartily with that. No more than two pairs, no matter how long the trip. That's especially true in AZ, where used socks dry fast hanging from your pack.

azbackpackr wrote:Only once in the past 15 years have I left camp shoes at home to save weight.

Camp shoes are great if your boots are heavy. With light enough boots, you might not feel the need. If there are many water crossings, though, I usually bring Crocs or flipflops.

dysfunction wrote:I grew up with them being stocking caps, watchcaps (still common I believe) and toques

Course, that was in Wisconsin. It's always interesting the regional dialect

Ya ya'll seem to get the funky almost Canadian seeming dialects there......ehhhhh : P

bring as many socks as you feel comfortable with, I guess. I mostly find a destination with water nearby so I can wash my socks every day or so if going for longer than a weekend. That's what the thru-hikers do!
I like the name "watchcap" but have always used "beanie".

What?! No MREs?!