It's no surprise that - compared to the average human - I have a lot of camping gear. While I'm not one of those folks who always has to have the latest and greatest - in fact, I'll generally go for the simple, tried-and-true option - I have found that having the right gear can make camp life much more pleasant. A fridge, a nice Exped air mattress in the tent, and a down puffy have been just a few of the bits of gear that I've really come to enjoy over the years.
But one thing's for sure - all the gear I have is aimed at car camping. Very little is the lightweight gear that one would want for overnight backpacking trips. And that's been fine, because as I mention frequently, I'm not a fan of carrying weight on my shoulders.
In fact, while I did a lot of backpacking in my days as a Boy Scout, I've only spent one night away from the Tacoma in all the years I've been out exploring as an adult. It was a night in Death Valley's Panamint Mountains at Panamint City, and it was miserable.
Everything I had for one night in sub-freezing temperatures. It was not enough.
The misery was a result - mostly, I think - of not having the right gear. The sleeping bag was my wife's, and not long enough or broad enough at the shoulders for me to fit inside. The sleeping pad - an old Therm-a-Rest - was state of the art in the 1980's, but at ¾" thick and unable to hold air for more than an hour, it didn't offer much comfort on the freezing ground. And of course, my Jansport backpack - which I'd used on a daily basis 25 years earlier to take my books to class - worked, but was definitely not ideal.
Is Everything About to Change?
I have no idea if I will look back at 2025 as a turning point in my approach to exploration, but I know that things are bound to change over the years; this has happened already. It used to be that trips were about driving. Pushing along seldom-travelled roads, bumping over rough terrain and picking lines through obstacles that would have previously turned us around. But, in the last five years that I've been exploring with the Tacoma, I've found that I'm most happy when I'm out hiking. I still enjoy a technical, remote road, but they have become a way to arrive at a trailhead.
And perhaps my goal to hike Grand Gulch - and the realization that to do that, I'll need to spend multiple nights backpacking away from the Tacoma - will signal another pivot in my mode of exploration. At the very least, it will be a gear-gathering experience, and who doesn't love buying new gear? 
What I'm Starting With
This first gear review will largely be about acquisition and why I purchased some piece of kit. Then - assuming I continue to use the gear - impressions and long-term reviews will follow as part of the existing Product and Rig Reviews I already do. As with everything, we'll see how it goes, and I'm always happy to hear what you think, or suggestions you have!
Most of the stuff I'm carrying on my first trip. ~35 pounds. (and my companions are carrying the rest)
TL;DR - If I'm going to give backpacking a shot, I'm going to do it with the lightest, most versatile pack on the market today.
The ULA Ultra Circuit won a bunch of awards that I don't know anything about, so it must be good.
TL;DR - If I've discovered one thing sleeping under down comforters and on an Exped Megamat in the rooftop tent, it is that being comfortable when you're sleeping is important. Don't skimp on sleep.
The Western Mountaineering Alder MF should be the first and last bag I ever buy.
TL;DR - I love my Exped Megamat in the rooftop tent, so I'm getting a lightweight version for backpacking.
Have I ever mentioned that I love my Exped Megamat? Yes, yes I have.
TL;DR - I'm a little worried we got the wrong tent. We couldn't pass up the price (at 50% off), but it's not entirely freestanding, so may be harder to use on impermeable surfaces, like slickrock.
Hopefully this tent works out.
TL;DR - We got a small Jetboil because we plan to have all of our cooking be for rehydrating meals. It seems spectacular for boiling water.
Two cups of boiling water in two minutes.
TL;DR - I got a high-quality water filtration system a few years ago and never used it; we will definitely be using it this time!
Everyone needs water.
TL;DR - In prioritizing weight, we wanted to find high-calorie, tasty meals to eat for dinner. Reviews suggested that Peak Refuel would fit that bill, so we tried a few. They were all tasty.
Fancy Ramen noodles!
TL;DR - To maximize our breakfasts, we decided on Quest Protein Bars. They were all filling, none were terrible, but Crispy Cookies and Creme was far and away the best.
More satisfying than we expected; still a bit like sawdust.
Other Stuff
There's obviously a lot more I'm bringing on the trip, but it's all gear that I've already got. A lot of these are covered in my annual Gear Roundup.
- Pants and a lightweight, SPF hooded shirt
- Socks and underwear
- PJ bottoms and top
- Shoes and lightweight gaiters
- Sweatshirt and wind breaker
- Sunglasses, a hat, and sunscreen
- Washcloth, toothbrush+paste, and plastic bag for dirty socks, underwear
- Water bottles - we're using some cheap 2-liters of soda for light weight and large capacity
- My lightweight Camelbak Venture Lumbar Hip Pack for side trips to rock art and ruins
- Canon R5 Camera Body
- Canon RF 24-240mm lens
- Canon RF 15-35mm wide-angle lens
- Four (4) LP-E6NH batteries
- MeFOTO Roadtrip S Tripod
- Lenovo Tab M8 FHD 8" Android Tablet for GPS navigation and waypoints
- iPhone for backup navigation and camera
- Two (2) 10,000 mAh battery banks
- Garmin inReach Mini
- Binoculars
- Kindle Paperwhite
- Exped Mega Pillow
- FLEXTAILGEAR Zero Pump for Exped gear
Looks like you off to a good start. I never much cared for the driving, if I had to go off road to get a trail head then so be it. I always loved hiking first and backpacking for a couple of nights to a week or so as second. I went from a Kelty (I lived near their store/HQ) frame pack to an internal frame pack years later, one that put more weight on the hips, chest and waist belts, more comfortable and cartridge stoves work well. Sleeping bag is very important and I'd probably get a different tent. Places we went were often rocky so didn't want to be trying to drive any stakes. Will look forward to how things work out with your gear on overnighters.
Yep to all of that! Of everything we got (and of course, I'll try to put together more thoughts on all of it shortly here), the tent is the only thing getting returned. Definitely want to go with a completely freestanding one, for better functionality on slickrock (which is SO much nicer to camp on than the sand/dirt).
Looks you've already acquired most of the backpacking gear you need, so this comment may be a little late to the game. But if you get a chance, check out Paria Outdoor Products. Their gear is top-notch quality, reasonably priced, everything ships free, and their customer service is second to none! Too bad they are not better known. You might find a few ideas there for saving weight. I have several of their products and I couldn't be happier!
Awesome, thanks for the tip Joe! I'm off to check out their site now, I always love a good impulse purchase! 😉
Was wondering how long it would be before you admitted it to yourself. Lol.
Light is good, to a point. But I'm OCD about that myself so I get it.
There are alternatives to prepackaged meals if you don't mind the prep work. I used to make dehydrated beef stew. I can easily handle the same meal(s) every day for days on end, so that would be dinner for a week. Never got tired of it.
Lastly, best wishes on that being the last sleeping bag you'll ever buy. Maybe it will work out for you but I've never gotten more than 10 years out of one before it became obviously degraded. Have learned that lesson the hard way. In full agreement about good sleep being vital, if if looks like it's dying, time for a new one.
Have fun, love your narratives!
I hear you on the repeat meals. Personally, I'd have no problem eating the same thing every day for a month. My companions don't fall into that same bucket, so variety is the name of the game for us, especially on this first trip!
Side story 1: Growing up in the Bay Area, we had a favorite burger joint that we'd go to on a pretty regular basis - we were on a first name basis with the woman who ran the place and all the rest of the staff. At some point (when my brother and I were in high school), my dad bet us that we'd get tired of it if we ate it for a week straight (dinners only).
After eating there for a week (2 burgers, fries, and a chocolate shake) every night, we were all ready to go back for day 8!
Side story 2: Maybe 10 years ago, while @mini.turbodb was in swim lessons, we'd go get burgers at a place up here in Seattle. I'd found out about this place through work, and once again, we knew the folks who owned/ran the place. One day I asked if I could pre-purchase 100 burgers (I was still eating two at a time) and they could just keep track of how many I'd eaten. The owner - a little younger than I was at the time, so perhaps early 30s - was a little hesitant at first, but then really got into it. He made up a punch card and loved storing it under the register. I'd come in, and pretty soon everyone who worked there knew to punch off a couple burgers. I ended up buying a second punch card and polishing it off too!
Dan, I have done a hell of a lot of desert and mountain hiking, on trails or mostly off in the Grand Canyon. This experience has led me to be skeptical of ultralight products: they are not made for the real or my world. Rocks are rough and sharp! Wind gusts can be high! Who would have guessed?. I was with friends who were using a very high end Big Agnes tent for the first time. One gust and a pole broke, and then it ripped through the fabric. Light packs are rapidly trashed, in my experience. Since you obviously like the desert, my experience may be helpful to you.
I own top quality water filters for trekking in the Himalaya, and other literal sh!tholes, but I'd never take them to Grand Gulch or the Grand Canyon. Tastes differ, but I don't mind Iodine, and it is an excellent solution, that weighs almost nothing.
Thanks Anthony! I hear you on the durability issue; it's one of the things I'm hesitant about. The tent, especially, seems quite fragile.
In general, I'm very "easy" on gear, even with the rough places I find myself spending the night, so hopefully things like the pack, sleeping bag, and pad will work well for years to come. The tent, we used for one night and then returned it to REI; as a semi-freestanding tent, we realized that it wasn't "right" for us - we need something that can setup on slickrock, and that wasn't it.
The filter was fantastic. Do you use iodine in Grand Gulch b/c you don't have to worry so much about taste there? Or because the contaminants are different? Just curious.
There are at least four ways to purify water with iodine:
1. Adding tincture of iodine to water. Horrible taste
2. Iodine pills (available from REI). Tolerable taste, even better if you add a vitamin C tablet *after* the iodine has done its work
3. Supernatant solution. Iodine is very slightly dissolvable in water. If you fill with water a small bottle that has a gram or two of Iodine in the bottom, after a while, the whole bottle will be full of a fully saturated solution of water, and the crystals not visible changed. This is the principle of the PolarPure system (once?) sold by REI. To use, you would put a capful or so of the saturated solution into your litre bottle of water, wait 20 minutes, and you were protected against viruses and bacteria. Of the three methods, I thought this had the least objectionable taste. I used this system extensively in the Grand Canyon, and throughout the West.
Finally, 4, another way to get Iodine is dissolve a measured quantity of Iodine in an appropriate amount of ethanol. A chemist I knew who led treks in Nepal would do this, and give every hiker a little dropper bottle. Four drops per quart of water was perfect, and the best tasting solution, but you'd need a chemist to be sure you got the right concentration. This was my favorite method, but my friend is dead, so no more little dropper bottles.
I also own two types of Katadyn filters, which aid workers use in the worst shitholes in the world. I don't like using them because it is hard work to force water through sufficiently fine filters to be safe. Plus, the filter itself is delicate, and if it cracks, perhaps because allowed to freeze, no more safety.
I know the Iodine method #3 works as I have used it with terrible water in rural Asia and South America. Never sick once.
I didn't see any toilet paper ha ha. UJ
lol, we had plenty, just not in my pack since I was far from the "majority user!" And of course, we carried out all that we brought in - no leaving anything in the Grand Gulch but footprints!
A couple of 1L. soft bottles, like Platypus, are nice and don't take up much space when empty. I like to have a Gatorade bottle to drink out of, too, because they are tough. Electrolyte packets are tasty. Beef jerky and nuts are great trail food. Starbucks makes some good single serve instant coffee packets. Seasoned tuna pouches with a mayonnaise pack are good and nice to have for some real food. Single serve Spam pouches are good if you like that. I always carry a good quality folding saw. It's a little heavy but well worth it if you're having campfires. Darn Tough wool socks. Small first aid kit. I could go on.