Ask Darwin Q&A #34 (Answers)

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Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2 - http://amzn.to/2zvOTFR

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AZT Section Gear List - https://darwinonthetrail.com/2017/09/22/darwins-2017-azt-section-hike/

AT Gear List - https://darwinonthetrail.com/2016/05/03/darwins-2016-at-gear-list/

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Tags: Appalachian Trail,AT,AT Thru Hike,Thru Hike,PCT,Pacific Crest Trail,PCT Thru Hike,Backpacking,UL Hiking,UL Backpacking,UL Gear,Hiking,Hiker Trash,Camping,Adventure,Arizona Trail,AZT,Zpacks,Duplex Tent,Cuben Fiber,Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2

Video Transcription

hey guys it's Darwin here with my weekly Q&A to answer more of your questions if you want to ask a question for next week's Q&A you can either leave it in the comment box below or send me a video question over to Darwin on the trail at yahoo.com

and then next week I'll answer as many as I possibly can all right so let's go ahead and get into this week's first question when backpacking do you normally pack / fold your tin up in its stuff sack or you just throw it in your bag and what have you seen other thru-hikers doing so it all depends on what tent that I'm carrying in 2015 in 2016 on the 80 snuggles and I carried the Big Agnes copper spur UL 2 and with that tent I just stuffed it I did have a stuff sack for that tent and I would just stuff in the bag

I didn't fold it I didn't roll it any of that stuff typically on tents it is better to stuff it and just because whenever you fold a tent you're putting creases and you can mess up the fabric and some of the DWR coating so it's all opinion but I've always believed that it's much better to stuff all backpacking gear now the tent that I am currently using and that I'll be using next year on my thru-hike of the PCT as the Z packs duplex cuben fiber tent and with that tent I can't really stuff it yet so I just kind of roll it I roll it kind of into a cylinder and I just put it my pack and then if it's wet and I'm breaking down camp I'll put it in my big mesh pocket on the outside of my pack and as far as what I've seen other through hikers doing I think it's just kind of all over the place there's no right or wrong way to stuff a tent or to pack it up it's just really all preference however like I said I believe stuffing is a much better thing and safer for the material do you need slash bring any knife or cutting tool during a thru-hike if yes how often do you use it if No why so yeah I carry a small little pocket knife on the 80 I carried the gerber para frame mini which is just a tiny little knife and basically all I ever use a knife for is cutting string and cheese everyone's well I might use my knife to like cut a piece of duct tape or piece of leuco tape but I've never had to use my knife to you know cut anything or anybody or any type of animal or anything so usually just a blade that's big enough to cut the most minimal of objects on the trail now I would never consider carrying a big knife or an ax or a saw or anything like that on a thru-hike just because I don't think you really need it you just need something small enough to do very small tasks and how often did I really use my knife on the trail not really that much like I said the only time I ever use that knife was to cut cheese

I had like a block of cheddar cheese or something I would use that to cut me off a slice and that was it so you don't need much of a knife on a thru-hike in your opinion what is the lightest and roomiest one-person double wall tint I'm getting ready to start section hiking the 80 and want the lightest and roomiest Cribb possible and not have to deal with condensation issues so the tent that I would suggest looking at would be the Big Agnes copper spur ul - that's the tip that snuggles and I carried on the 80 in 2015 and on the 80 in 2016 it has a ton of room it's really lightweight it is double walled you can actually set it up without the tent just as a tarp shelter it does really really well with condensation it sheds water it's a phenomenal tent so a lot of people use that tent as a one-person tent so they had plenty of room to lay out and sleep but then a lot of room next to them to be able to put their pack and any other gear that they had and if you do have two people it's nice because it's a double vestibule and a double opening so you're not having to stumble over each other every time you're getting in and out of the tent now I'm sure there are a lot of really great double walled two-person tents out on the market but that is the one that I would suggest check it out my question I have a couple of questions so you can decide which ones you want to go with but my first question was how did you get your trail name I remember watching a video about how snuggles got her trail name and I was curious about how you got your trail name so that is a great question and I don't think I've actually ever answered that so how I got my troll name was on the 80 in 2015 the second I was on the trail I was sitting around a campfire and pretty much trying to think of a trail name for everybody I was just really dead set on giving people trout names looking at what they were doing who they looked like the things that they said to try to correlate that with a trail name so because I was trying to give people names and because of the beard and I just got done racing triathlon pretty seriously and was talking about being super fit survival of the fittest a certain couple that I was trying to give a true name gave me the trail name Darwin because Darwin named a lot of species because obviously the survival of the fittest and because of the beard at first I didn't really dig the trail name but after a while it caught on I got used to it and well here we are what are the advantages and disadvantages of through hiking as a couple so that is a very very good question there are a lot of disadvantages and advantages of through hiking as a couple just to name a few you know if you're staying in a hotel or a hostel for the night sometimes you can get away with splitting a bed and not having to pay so much if you're like me and you have a beard and you might look creepy out on the trail and you're hiking with your wife or girlfriend it's easier to get a hitch if you have a woman with you and obviously someone to always be by your side and someone you can talk to and lean on at the end of a hard day on the trail and some disadvantages would be you know everyone hikes a different pace so you're not really hiking your own hike you're hiking your hike you know a couples hike so one person always has to kind of change their pace for another person so that can sometimes kind of become hard and you have to make decisions as a couple so if one person wants to take a zero one day and the other person doesn't and wants to hike a twenty mile day there has to be some sort of compromise no snuggles and I have talked about doing a whole video on hiking as a couple and we will be working on that in the future so keep an eye out for that video my question for you is have you ever done a day hike or a multi-day hike or an over overnight that has turned out to be not what you were expected such as trails not being there too much bushcraft needing to be done to get to where you're needing campsites not being available or non-existent

how do you handle that do you pursue on or do you stop and find another way any help would be appreciated in this yeah all the time so many times I go out for a hiking or a backpacking trip things don't go as planned it happens all the time sometimes I have to do a reroute sometimes I have to dry camp sometimes the place that I want to go backpacking or hiking in I just can't because they've closed it off because they're doing something like a controlled burn so yeah all the time things happen and how I deal with it is I hike on I press on I get the job done I adapt to the situation try to figure it out and make the trip the best that I can possibly make it one big thing that I've learned with hiking and backpacking and planning trips as nothing ever goes as planned so keep yourself open to it keep yourself flexible adapt to it and hike on do you do any winter backpacking if so what do you use for water filtration how low fiber filters are susceptible to freezing so I'm curious and what your alternative was so as you kind of said in your comment I always use a hollow fiber filter either I'm using a Sawyer squeeze or the hydro blue versa flow and if it's cold outside whether it's winter or right now in the fall I sleep with it in my toe box of my quilt I keep in a ziplock bag I put it my quilt just to make sure that it doesn't freeze out of all the different elevations and temperatures that I've hiked in I've never had a problem with a filter cracking yet but yeah I don't use any other type of filter I'm a total hollow fiber filter guy all right guys last question of the week do you ever take any money credit cards or any personal papers with you when you go hiking haven't seen any wallet or anything like that when you present your gear I can't imagine that you can walk long distance trails without any form of identity papers or money so where and how do you keep it so that's a good question in 2015 and 2016 I carried a small little trail wallet which was essentially just a little cell nylon zipper pouch and that's what I carried all my money in I would keep it in the hood of my pack to make sure that if it was gonna rain it was nice and sealed in there to where things wouldn't get wet now I just use a ziplock bag so I usually carry a small sandwich double zipper ziploc bag and I'll put my ID I'll put my credit card an insurance card and a little bit of cash and that's it that is my trail wallet it's easy it's cheap you can find them anywhere so if it rips if it tears if it gets wet if I lose it I can just find another one in a town and I got a new wallet alright guys so if you want to ask a question for next week's QA you can either leave it in the comment box below or send me a video question over to Darwin on the trail at yahoo.com and then next week I'll answer as many as I possibly can if you haven't had a chance yet go over and check me out on Instagram I've been posting a lot of new photos lately of some of the things that snuggles and I have going on throughout the week plus some pictures of some past hikes if you found any value in this video go ahead and hit that like button subscribe to my channel if you haven't already and as always guys thanks for watching [Music]

[Applause]

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