Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli: After the Backpacking Trip Gear Notes
Reflections for me following a weekend of backpacking with friends in June 2025
Note: I wrote this for me. Originally it was just going to live as a private document that I would read as a note to self next time I start prepping for a backpacking trip.
So there are lots of instances when there is no context or point of reference or explanations for the reader.
I brought way too much food.
Too many of everything. Including too much non-alcoholic beer—carried in four 12 ounce cans of them. Two steaks when I only needed one on Friday. Brought seven freeze dried meals. Ate one of them. Came home with six.
AT LEAST half of my food came home with me. This has never happened before.
I brought four healthy pressed juice shots: a ginger, cayenne, turmeric combo. Those were fantastic! Definitely bringing those again.
DID not run out of sweets, like I normally do. Even though I made them readily available to share. Came home with lots of everything. Brought twenty-plus marshmallows, thinking I'd share a lot. Came home with most of them.
Next time: bring margin food but not so much margin food. I came home with enough for two more days of backpacking. Drop the non-alcoholic beer count to one or two.
Water filtration was redundant many times over, including for me
I brought a water filter and hanging bag AND Aqua Mira chemical drops.
Next time
For just me, bring only the chemical drops. Use those and the water filters of others
For a larger group, bring my full six liter water hang bag.
Brought too much clothing.
Didn't end up using my long sleeve shirt, though it turned out to be good to have as I was able to loan it out.
Brought six pairs of socks. Used one pair of toe socks and the waterproof socks, briefly.
Brought two extra pairs of shorts, used one.
Never used the pants.
Didn't use either of the extra two t-shirts. Probably because the Rabbit holes t-shirt I wore was zero percent cotton and the extras were partially cotton.
Next time:
Bring three extra pairs of socks max — two toe socks, one waterproof maybe.
Brought too many batteries.
One of the three batteries wasn't used.
Next time, if doing string lights, bring two super batteries. If not doing string lights, just one super battery.
I went way overboard on lighting.
I brought two sets of string lights, a mini flashlight, Nitecore headlamp with extra battery, second Nitecore headlamp, and a micro pump with a built in light.
Next time:
Original Nitecore (not the one with swappable batteries)
Mini flashlight
Pump with light
My sleep system was perfect.
It consisted of a
55 degree down sleeping bag used unzipped as a quilt
Thermarest Neo Trail Something
Sea to Summit bag thermolite liner which I wrapped around the pad to function as a sheet
bivy sack in case I got cold or needed to protect bag from condensation
Enlightened Equipment inflatable pillow
No changes for next time.
It was great to have the bivy sack with me atop Black Balsam Knob, where it performed the dual function of providing both wind and sun protection. Seven ounces well spent!
Durston x-Mid 2 Tent was fantastic, again.
Lots of rain. Was poorly pitched the first night. But no issues whatsoever.
This tent continues to delight. Light, long enough for my 6’6” frame, and a range of diverse set up options. Will buy again from Durston!
I brought one extra large tarp, which we used and was great.
Brought two additional tiny ground tarps, the ones I take picnicing, and didn't use either of them. Not really useful for much beyond as a picnic blanket—and the grass atop the bald was so soft as to render them unnecessary.
Could have skipped the two pound Gossamer Gear Vagabond Jet daypack that I used as a pack frame.
But it was handy to have.
Yes, there was a definite wight penalty. But that was slightly offset by the fact that I used it as my Mariposa pack frame instead of the default sit pad pack frame.
It was nice to have around camp! I put a lot of my stuff in it and toted it from place to place as I moved my chair out of the smoke. And was an easy carry on the day hike.
Tweak for next time?:
For the dayhike, I can use my fullsize pack. They weigh basically the same.
For the around-camp-carry, I can go with a drybag, though not as nice.
Undecided.
The Ka-Bar Kukri machete was fun, but heavy and not a good tool for larger wood.
The kukri was a blast. There's a buttery pleasure to slicing through a 1.5 inch piece of wood in a single chop. Or devastating a 3" diameter chunk in 10 seconds.
But it becomes inefficient and maybe even dangerous outside of five inches.
It is also so very heavy. The kukri weighs 24 ounces.
My bombproof USA-made Sven Saw, with its 21 inch blade, is only 14 ounces. And I haven't been able to break it yet — five years and trying.
Next time: leave the kukri, take the saw — leave the gun, take the cannoli.
Note: I did love using the kukri as a spatula to flip my steak as I grilled it on a small grill over the campfire.
Gadgets Shmadgets & Extras
Kindle — was very glad to have it. Will continue to bring it in the future.
Extra book — heavy, but also great to have. Electronics can fail, so really happy to have something printed and readable. (Not really a gadget.)
Brought an mp3 player, wired headphones, bluetooth headphones, bluetooth speaker. Didn't use any of it. Realization: I like my music. Not everyone would share my tastes. So ironically a bluetooth speaker isn't always going to be the best fit for a diverse group. It was loaded with opera, jazz, classical, oldies, pop punk rock, dylan, and quite a lot more. But it doesn't matter. Never used any of it.
Printed articles are so much fun to bring when backpacking with others. Gives something short to read and can create fodder for discussion. I brought eight printed and stapled articles, ranging from two sheets to six sheets of paper.
Idea for next time: everyone brings 3-5 printed articles of their own choosing to pass around. Will give greater viewpoint diversity and seed the conversation even more.
Bedrocks Sandals were my only footwear for the weekend.
Overall I loved it.
However, my heels have some drying and cracked skin, I haven't taken care of them well, and that made for some pain and tenderness in my heels.
Update the next day: they hurt!
Next time I may again bring only sandals for a shorter, wet trip like this. However, in the lead up to the trip: exercise better foot care. Make sure my feet are as healthy as possible going into it.
This is a living and expanding post as I may have and add additional observations….