When preparing for my big 2020 PCT thru hiking adventure, I often went to blogs or YouTube vlogs to learn about gear. Gear reviews from hikers who had done this trek in previous years were quite helpful to me in zeroing in on what would be the right sort of stuff for me to take along. The purpose of this blog post is to provide commentary on how the various pieces of kit worked out for me on the long-distance trek and provide useful information to people who are looking at using similar gear for upcoming long-distance (or shorter) hiking treks. Hopefully this gear review can be helpful to both upcoming 2021 PCT thru hikers, as well as weekend hikers curious about current backpacking gear.

I’m going to order this post much like how I presented my PCT gear in my pre-departure gear page which can be found here. If a piece of gear worked fine, I won’t dwell much on it. If I had problems with a piece of gear, I’ll let you know what happened and what I ended up doing about it. And l’m sure if I really liked something, I’ll probably gush a bit too much about it.

The “Big Four”

Backpack: ULA Catalyst – Overall I was pleased with the Catalyst. It is a fairly light pack and has a lot of volume. Debatably more than what I needed this year. However, I liked that I could easily fit the BV500 bear canister horizontally in it. I thought that made it easier to balance the load weight in the pack. There are certainly lighter packs out there and I saw a lot of those on the trail this year. But I did see a fair amount of Catalysts (and ULA Circuits) on the backs of other thru hikers. The pack had more than enough room and held up well. On the downside, after about 2,000 miles, the load-lifter straps started to slip/loosen on me as I hiked and I found myself readjusting them often. Also, I think the internal frame must have bent in some way because the pack seemed to always lean to the left and it always felt like it was pulling more on my left shoulder – no matter how I adjusted the weight distribution in the pack.

Tent: Zpacks Duplex (spruce green) – I have mixed feelings about the Duplex. In some respects it’s brilliant, and in others, it’s disappointing. I got one small tear in the bathtub (probably from a sharp rock) which I was able to easily patch with the Zpacks-provided patch material. I would recommend using a Tyvek ground cloth underneath the tent to protect both the bathtub and also an air mattress if you use one. The zipper slides on the rainbow doors do not hold up well. I, along with four other Duplex owners I knew on the trail all had zipper slides fail on us. It seemed to be between 1,000 and 1,500 miles when those slides started failing. The good thing is that each door has two zipper slides, so chances are if one slide fails, the other will work long enough to get you out of a pinch. One guy took his tent to a gear repair shop in Bend, OR and had all his zipper slides replaced. The tent is amazing in non-rainy conditions. The tent does not do as well in humid/rainy conditions. I wish I had a double-walled tent for the Washington section of the trail. My quilt got quite wet from condensation dripping down from the interior roof of the tent. And if you don’t have a perfect pitch on the tent, you’re going to get some water flowing in from the side mesh and into the bathtub. Lastly, while there is no extra room, I can attest that this tent will accommodate two fully grown men on a super cold night when your hiking buddy’s clothing is all wet…and that’s all I’ll say about that…

Sleep pad: Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XLite (Large/wide) – I had a lot of issues with my air mattress. So much so that I had to pick up a Therm-a-Rest foam Z Lite pad in a trail town to deal with the situation. When I got to Medford, I was able to swap out the XLite for a replacement NeoAir XTherm. These air mattresses tended to lose air through the night and I would have to periodically add air. I knew about five other hikers who complained of the same thing. We thought it was likely that air was slowly escaping at the valve. Even though I put a piece of Tyvek immediately under the mattress, I still seemed to get multiple, micro-punctures – likely from thorns – along the center of the pad and in the area where my upper torso rested. You have to be uber-careful in the desert with an air mattress to keep from accidentally puncturing it. I was able to patch punctures with Gorilla Tape or mattress pad repair patches.

Quilt: Enlightened Equipment Revelation (10 degrees) – I was quite pleased with the Revelation. I sleep cold at night so I purposefully got a 10 degree quilt to make sure I would be fine down to 15-20 degrees. It is important to understand that you must have an appropriately-rated sleeping pad for the quilt to work as advertised in colder temperatures. Paired with the 6.9 R-value Thermarest NeoAir XTherm, I stayed perfectly warm on a 20 degree night during an early season snowstorm in the San Gabriel mountains just north of LA. The elastic bands that come with the quilt work well to attach it to the air mattress and are crucial for cold nights. The 10 degree quilt was overkill in the heat of the desert, and in Northern California and Oregon. But the great thing about the Revelation is that you can unzip the foot box to make it into a blanket and kick it off of you when you’re too warm.

Everyday Hiking Clothing

Columbia Silver Ridge Lite hiking shirt – A great hiking shirt overall. The stitching on the inside of the forearms broke apart after about 1,000 miles. It was likely due to my arms constantly rubbing against the hip belt pockets on my backpack. I ended up getting another shirt just like it and that one held up fine in the arms for the rest of the journey. The material was cool and breathable in hot weather and sweat buildup dried quickly. Even though it was quite breathable, the weave was tight enough to prevent mosquitos from biting me through it. I liked having the option to roll up the sleeves in warm weather. The plaid pattern seemed to hide all the dirt and stains better than a solid colored version of the shirt.

Patagonia 5″ Strider Pro running shorts – These worked well for me. Light, breathable, quick-drying and comfortable. They have pockets along the waistline that were good for my trail wallet and phone while in town. The weak areas for these was the stitching near the pleats on the outside of each leg where they started unraveling on both pairs I used. I got a second pair at a Portland REI store after the first pair got extremely faded and the stitching frayed as previously mentioned.

Darn Tough Hiker 1/4 Cushion socks – These socks are awesome! The warranty is awesome as well. I had two pairs of these on the trail so I could swap pairs and wash the other pair every day. After 1,000 miles I did start getting some holes in one of my pairs. They seemed to be from the toenails from my big toes. The great thing about the warranty was that I was able to swap out the “holy” pair for some new replacements at a store in Mount Shasta, California.

Dirty Girl ankle gaiters – These worked pretty well. The key is to get the correct size based on the circumference of your ankle. If you get too big of a size, sand and rocks can easily get into your shoes. The gaiters secure to the back of your shoes using velcro. If your hiking shoes/boots do not have a velcro patch built into them at the heel (as on Altras), you’ll have to glue/tape on a velcro strip. The stitching holding the metal tab on the front of the gaiters broke free after about 250 miles and I had to do some emergency gear repair on the trail with my needle and thread. I likely weakened the stitching by washing the gaiters a couple of times in a washing machine – it turns out the company says the gaiters should be hand-washed.

Altra Lone Peak 4 trail running shoes – I went through three pairs of these shoes over the course of the first 1,100 miles on the trail. I have dealt with plantar fasciitis off and on for several years now and I don’t think these shoes agreed with me. They have a rather thin outsole and for me, it blew out after about 250-300 miles. Even with the medical orthotics I was using, I was still having problems. So in Mount Shasta I switched to the Altra Timp 2 and those worked much better for me. They have a thicker outsole which did not blow out as quickly. I ended up going through three pairs of Timps over the remaining 1,500 miles. On the Lone Peaks, the failure point was the front rubber lip where it meets the fabric of the shoe. That began to delaminate on all three pairs after the first 150 miles. The failure point on the Timps seems to have been on the outsides of the shoes where the outsole meets the fabric sides.

UV Buff – This piece of gear is awesome! So versatile. It kept me cool in the desert and helped keep my upper body warm in the cooler sections of the trail. Great to soak in cold water and put around your neck on a hot day. Great to pull up and over your baseball hat to protect your neck from sun or to keep your hat on in strong winds. I wouldn’t go hiking in the future without one of these guys. I plan to use it on all my future fly fishing exploits as well.

Patagonia trucker hat – I prefer baseball hats when hiking but be aware that they won’t protect your neck and ears very well from the sun. I would sometimes put my bandana under the hat for sun protection or use my UV buff as described above.

Prescription Sunglasses – I chose not to use contact lenses on the trail because I was concerned about eye health in the dirty, dusty outdoor environment. I would use prescription sunglasses with a Cablz lanyard during the day. Then I would swap out to my normal eyeglasses in camp, or when the sun went down. I went to ZenniOptical.com to order both pairs of glasses and I used sport frames for both the clear lenses and the sunglasses because I thought they would hold up better on the trail. I had no eyeglasses failures on the trail.

Additional Clothing

Smartwool Merino 150 wool base layer shirt (short sleeve) – Not much to say about it. It’s a short sleeve wool undershirt and it kept me warm when layering under my hiking shirt. Most of the time I used it as sleepwear. In the Sierras I swapped it out for the long sleeve version of this shirt for sleeping and also added the VOORMI River Run Hoodie as a hiking layer – I was pleased with both of those shirts. Remember, you want to go with wool and not cotton for backpacking. As the old saying goes…”cotton kills.”

Smartwool Merino 150 base layer leggings – Great base layer! Used these for sleeping and as a layer under my hiking shorts when it was really cold – usually in the morning. Then I would shed them off as soon as I warmed up. They held up quite well.

Zpacks Goose Down sleeping socks – I will never go backpacking without these things! They are super lightweight and kept my feet really warm while sleeping in the colder sections of the PCT. For me, I have a really tough time sleeping if my feet get cold and so these ensured cold feet were not a problem at night.

Patagonia Down Sweater Hoodie – Worked well and packed down small in my backpack. A dry, down puffy (and a dry sleeping bag) is your life insurance policy on the trail if you get wet while hiking in cold temps. I lined my backpack with a trash compactor bag to keep those items dry even if the pack got soaked from rain…or a dunk in a Sierra stream crossing. I never hiked in the puffy. It was only used when in camp and while sleeping during really cold nights.

Zpacks Vertice rain jacket and pants – These are expensive items but I thought they worked quite well and were extremely lightweight. However, once you get soaked with enough Washington State rain, even these get completely water-logged. Then your hiking clothes underneath will begin to get wet as well. The pit zips on the jacket are great for venting. This clothing works AMAZING for mosquito protection. In heavy mosquito-infested areas, I would often put the pants on over my hiking shorts to protect my legs from getting bitten. Also, the jacket and pants are excellent wind protection. I ended up using the pants a lot more than the jacket and they now show a lot of wear at the base where they were probably rubbing up against my gaiters and shoes.

Zpacks brushtail possom gloves – They were warm but did not hold up well. They shedded material and began to thin out, eventually getting lots of holes in the fingers. Now I did wash them in a washing machine a couple of times so that may have caused premature breakdown too. I had to purchase a new pair of Smartwool 250 gloves, but those too began to get holes in some of the fingers. I have yet to find a good pair of gloves for backpacking.

Outdoor Research fingerless sun gloves – I used these all the time and they eventually wore out. The stitching around the wrist failed and the rubber grip dots on the palms started to delaminate. They work great in the sun and I’m glad I had them with me. Also seemed to prevent calluses on my hands when using trekking poles all day, each day. I tried using the REI brand version of these and they were noticeably inferior quality.

Smartwool beanie hat – It’s a beanie hat. It worked fine. It kept my head and big ears warm. I used it hiking sometimes, but it was mostly used when in camp and while sleeping.

Cook System

MSR Pocket Rocket Deluxe stove – This stove was pretty good. I tested it at 4,200 feet elevation and it took just over four minutes and .6 ounces of fuel to boil one liter of water. Only issue was that I couldn’t ever get it to light with the built-in igniter when at higher elevations. It seemed like when I was above 10,000 feet I always had to resort to using my Bic lighter. I suspect it had something to do with the air pressure and the pressurized fuel canister.

TOAKS 1300 ml titanium cook pot – The volume of the pot was the right size for me and worked well for cooking a two-serving Mountain House meal. The lids on these pots don’t stay on very well and tend to tip down into the pot. Looking back on it now, I would have preferred some type of cook pot with a screw-on, sealing lid so that I could cold soak if I wanted to. My friend Black Market had a pot like that from Vargo which he really liked.

Sea to Summit collapsible mug – This ended up getting booted from my kit. I was initially making hot coffee in the mornings and putting it in this mug. But after a while, I decided to just shake up cold coffee in one of my SmartWater bottles and ditch the mug, allowing me to cut down on a bit of weight. I do like how this mug collapses and is easy to pack away.

Reflectix pot cozy and cook pouch – I learned about these DIY pieces of kit while watching some YouTube videos. The concept is that you will use less fuel by bringing the water to a boil, turning off the stove, adding the water to your dehydrated meal, and then using the reflectix cozy or pouch as a makeshift oven. I found that the utility of the cook pouch did not outweigh the additional weight and so I ditched it. I did like using the pot cozy. If I were to do it again, I would have taped the pot cozy together using Gorilla Tape instead of the foil tape which did not hold up well.

Zpacks bear bagging food storage kit – I never once hung a bear bag on the PCT. Inevitibly, whenever I was in high bear activity locations, I either had a bear canister with me, or else I was at a campsite that had a bear locker. I used this bag for overflow in the Sierras when I couldn’t fit all of my food in the bear canister. The bag eventually started getting holes in it. I think it may have been from my spoon or food packaging rubbing against the inside of the bag.

Water System

SmartWater bottles (1 liter size) – Most PCT thru hikers use this type of bottle for water. In the Southern California desert section of the trail I used three bottles. In that way, combined with the CNOC bladder, I had capacity to carry five liters of water for those long, waterless sections. I recommend using sport caps since they are easier to manipulate as you’re hiking. They also can be used on the Sawyer Squeeze if you choose to connect your bottle directly to the Squeeze. I purchased a water bottle storage sleeve to attach to my right shoulder-strap on my backpack. This allowed me quick, easy access to my water as I was hiking.

Sawyer Squeeze water filter – This was one of my most important pieces of gear. I was very pleased with the Squeeze. I used a gravity feed method to filter my water. I would fill up the CNOC Vecto bladder with “dirty” water. Then I would connect the Vecto to the Squeeze using the rubber tubing and connection fittings seen in the photo above. A SmartWater bottle was attached to the output end of the Squeeze using the blue, threaded fitting seen in the middle of the tubing in the photo above. The whole assembly was hung from a tree branch or some other natural hook and the water would gravity feed through the Squeeze and into the SmartWater bottle. In that way, I could start filtering and do other trail or camp tasks as the water filtered. It took about three minutes to fill a one liter bottle in this fashion. I purchased a hose filter at a big box hardware store and replaced the rubber washer inside the Squeeze. The hose filter worked well when I was filtering particularly muddy water with lots of sediment in it. The Squeeze can get clogged up easily in such situations and so the filter was good at preventing that. I would back-flush the Squeeze periodically to clear out any sediments in the filter. The sport caps on the SmartWater bottles work well for back-flushing the filter.

CNOC Vecto 2 liter bladder – I have mixed feelings about this water storage bladder. It is a brilliant concept and a lot of thru hikers had Vecto bladders on the trail. It is so easy to collect water using the wide opening on one end. Then, the threaded opening at the other end fits perfectly to a Sawyer Squeeze or the fittings used to gravity feed. But the bag has a tendency to develop pin-hole leaks. Every single person I knew on the trail who had a Vecto experienced leaks. The holes always seemed to develop near the threaded opening. It may be from the increased pressures the bag experiences when hikers squeeze on it to push water through the Sawyer Squeeze filter. I did have some success patching the holes by using dabs of super glue as recommended on CNOC’s website.

Electronics

iPhone 11 Pro and OtterBox case – I was really happy with these items. I used my iPhone for darn near everything. It was my sole device for navigation, communication, photography, videography, journaling, blogging, podcasts and audiobooks. See my blog post here for a discussion about how I used my electronics on the trail. I did drop the phone a couple times and I recommend using a heavy-duty case such as an OtterBox to protect the phone in the wilderness environment. I purchased a Zpacks shoulder pouch which I attached to the left shoulder-strap of my pack. That way I had quick access to my phone for navigation and photography as I hiked.

Garmin inReach mini – This device is AMAZING! It (and the service) is a bit expensive, but if you can afford it, I highly recommend it. I signed up for the unlimited texting service during the time I was on the trail. It allowed me to stay connected with family and friends along the way, even when I was in the middle of the wilderness. Text messages are limited to 160 characters. I also used the tracking function on the device to populate “bread crumbs” of my path on a map. My family and friends could then follow along near real time on my password protected Garmin MapShare webpage. Paired with the Garmin Earthmate App on my iPhone, I was able to accomplish all of my text messaging, and this App gave me a second option for topo maps and navigation. Lastly, and most importantly, the device has an SOS button for use in an emergency situation. While I never had to use it, I knew one hiker who did have to “push the button” and he said the process was quite smooth.

Garmin D2C wristwatch – The watch worked just fine. I used it initially in the hiking activity mode to get an idea of my hiking pace in different terrain situations. I liked how I could recharge it using a USB cable connected to my battery pack.

Black Diamond Iota headlamp – I liked how this headlamp could be recharged with a USB cable. While this is a lightweight, compact headlamp, I had trail envy of other hikers’ headlamps. It lacked the brightness I would have liked for night hiking and it did not have a red light filter to be used in camp or in my tent. Given all this, it still worked just fine for me.

Anker PowerCore Essential 20,000 PD battery pack – This battery pack worked great for me. The PD system is great for faster recharging and the pack has two output ports for dual charging – one USB PD port (I normally used for my iPhone) and a standard USB port. This battery pack had more than enough juice to get me through a seven to eight day hike with conservative electronics usage.

Anker PowerPort PD2 wall adapter – Worked well for recharging my battery pack as well as other electronic devices when I was in a trail town. I liked how the outlet prongs folded into the adapter so as not to poke other items in my backpack. There was an extra USB port on the device so I could simultaneously recharge a separate device while I was recharging my battery pack with the PD port.

Additional Gear

Black Diamond Trail Ergo cork trekking poles – Good poles overall. I ended up removing the wrist straps after the first week because I felt they just weren’t necessary and were bugging me. I wrapped a short section of Gorilla tape around each pole just below the foam area of the handle so I would have tape available to me for trail repairs. I did have a lower section on one of the poles bend quite significantly on me near the end of the hike as I was climbing over a downed tree blocking the trail. I probably torqued the pole too much with my body weight and I don’t think it was due to any real problem with the pole.

Zpacks sun umbrella – I thought this was a very useful piece of kit. It’s quite lightweight – I used it in the desert portion for sun protection and it came in handy in the North Cascades for rain/snow protection. Be careful in windy situations in the desert that it doesn’t get blown inside out. I had it with me until Kennedy Meadows South. Then I used it again in Washington.

Therm-a-Rest Z-Seat sit pad – This worked well as a sitting pad whenever I stopped for a break or when in camp. When I got a Therm-a-Rest Z Lite foam sleeping pad in Mount Shasta, I unloaded this sit pad. I then used the Z Lite during breaks so that I could lie down and rest (and elevate) my feet and legs.

Sea to Summit Aeros pillow – I have a hard time sleeping on the trail without a pillow so this was a necessary “luxury” item for me. The only issue I had with it was that nearing the end of the journey, somehow the air bladder inside rotated a bit and the shape of the pillow when inflated no longer aligned with the outer cloth layer.

MT Knives neck knife – I had never used a neck knife before – but I’m sold on the concept now. It’s very handy to pull the knife out quickly from the sheath which hangs by parachute cord around your neck. The sheath is really great at holding the knife secure, but then it is quite easy to remove the knife with a quick tug. I added a wrapping of parachute cord to the knife handle for better grip. There are “how-to” videos on YouTube for doing this wrapping.

Chums lightweight camping wallet – It’s a wallet and it kept my cash and cards secure. I usually kept it in an interior pouch in my backpack. It fit well in the pockets of my hiking shorts when I was in a trail town.

Rawlogy cork massage ball – Another “luxury” item but this one doesn’t take up much space and is quite light. I mainly used this to roll out the bottom of my feet since I suffered from plantar fascittis almost the whole time. It is also quite useful for rolling out sore muscles all throughout your body.

High Sierras Gear

CAMP Corsa ice axe – This is an extremely light axe, but certainly not a very heavy duty axe. But then, I don’t think you need a heavy duty axe for PCT travel in the Sierras during summertime. The axe is mainly there to provide an insurance policy as well as extra grip when transiting slippery, steep sections of the trail covered in snow or ice. It was a very low snow year in the Sierras so I didn’t need to use the axe except for a few short sections as I summited Mt. Whitney. I created a lanyard from parachute cord to make sure I didn’t lose the axe.

Katoola MICROspikes – They were easy to use. I used them just a handful of times – a few short sections summiting Mt. Whitney and a couple times as I came down the north sides of passes in the High Sierras. They provided great traction and paired with my trekking poles, I had a lot of confidence as I went through slippery sections.

Snow baskets for trekking poles – These were handy when going through snow-packed sections on the trail. Debatable as to whether I really needed them this particular year. Not much else to say about them.

BearVault BV500 bear canister – Well, at least it makes a good camp chair. I didn’t like having to carry a bear canister – it’s an extra two pounds in your pack, but it’s a necessary evil. It’s required in several National Parks along the PCT. I picked it up at Kennedy Meadows South and carried it all the way to South Lake Tahoe, although most hikers unloaded their bear cans at Kennedy Meadows North. It is easy to use, however, I found it was hard to stuff more than about five days of food in it. Several times, I had to use my Zpacks food bag for overflow. The only bears I encountered in camp were when we we were in heavily-used campgrounds where the bears have learned they can easily find food.

Polar Buff – I am now a huge fan of buffs. I initially thought I would need this buff for the Sierras. But my UV buff was more than sufficient for the summertime temps in that section. So I only used the polar buff in the North Cascades in Washington as I started to deal with colder fall temperatures. It worked great.

Showa 281 waterproof gloves – I only used these in the North Cascades while hiking through rain showers. They work well for keeping hands dry. I would normally wear my brushtail possom gloves underneath for added warmth. I tucked the gloves inside of my rain jacket to prevent water from leaking into the gloves.

Sea to Summit mosquito head net – I absolutely detest mosquitos. My blood must be quite tasty to them because they always attack me in hordes while there were some hikers who seemed to be barely bothered. The head net worked great, especially paired with a hat. I would make sure to have one of these starting at Kennedy Meadows South on a northbound hike.

Tenkara USA “Sato” fishing rod – I am an avid fly fisherman and I wanted to take a fly rod with me in the Sierras. This Tenkara rod was perfect for backpacking. It’s lightweight (3 ounces), compact and it can be fished at three different lengths giving you flexibility for the small streams and larger lakes. I discussed fishing the High Sierras with this Tenkara rod in a blog post which can be found here.

Additional Gear I Picked Up on Trail

The only piece of gear I added to the setup were the NRS HydroSkin 0.5 wet socks. I wore these in Northern Washington during the rains. I would put on my Darn Tough hiking socks and then put these on over the top of them. Your feet will definitely get wet when it rains. You just have to embrace the fact that your socks will be completely soaked. But I thought these neoprene socks did well to keep my feet warm even though everything was soaked. They seemed to help make a warm layer of air between the hiking socks and the neoprene socks. The one thing I didn’t like about them was that the excess material bunched-up in my shoes and didn’t feel very comfortable.