Ask Darwin Q&A #32 + GIVEAWAY WINNER ANNOUNCED!

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** Stuff/Gear I Mention in this Video **

EE Revelation Quilt - https://enlightenedequipment.com/revelation/

Deuce of Spades Trowel - http://amzn.to/2g5ibDt

Sea to Summit Aeros Pillow - http://amzn.to/2xc1KQg

Awol's Guide - http://amzn.to/2xTpg3h

GutHook AT App - http://atlasguides.com

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,AZT,Arizona Trail,Backpacking,UL Backpacking,UL Gear,Hiking,Hiker Trash,Camping,Adventure,Guthook App,Enlightened Equipment,Revelation Quilt

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 the lady and I love your videos Thanks we're looking to get some new colder weather sleeping bags I've been looking into the enlightened equipment quilts I know it really depends on the wind slash where you're going but I was wondering if you had to choose one bag for fall / winter setup what temp rating would you choose that is a good question and I think it all depends on how you sleep so I personally sleep very very warm aside from my feet but the rest of me is always warm so my go-to bag for most fall / winter you know not too crazy winter is a 20 degree bag now if I was going into some really deep winter really heavy snow and crazy low temps at higher altitudes I'd probably go with a 10 degree bag down to a zero but I personally use a 20 degree enlightened equipment revelation quilt all year round and that does me fine and then if it's a night that it's really cold I just layer up I put on some tights I put on my down jacket and that's it and I usually stay pretty warm and most times I wake up because I'm sweating and I'm overheating in my quote but again it all depends on if you're a warmer sleeper or if you're a colder sleeper and exactly where you're going hey darling like from Northern Ontario here we all know you love to hike ever done any paddling portaging love the channel

keep them coming Thanks so I've never done any portaging um I've thought about doing that it's a really really cool thing to get into but I have done a lot of kayaking and a little bit of canoeing now snuggles and I have actually kicked around for years about getting a couple of kayaks and then if we were I would definitely be getting into that I know there's a lot of really good like long distance portaging trips that you can do and yeah that might be something that I might look at in the future by the way the water out there looks awesome have a killer time then a question no one wants to ask or answer what are your thoughts on the deuce of Spades trou and or what do you use slash recommend so Jason this is actually kind of a heated topic especially for me I have personally never used a trowel in like the last two years I tend to either use like my tent steak or a trekking pole or a stick or a rock to dig my cat hole now I always dig a 6-inch hole before I do my business in the woods because of good Leave No Trace policies but I have personally to this point never carried a trowel just because I think that you can take care of it in other ways now one thing that might actually surprise most people and I was gonna do a video on this later is for the PCT in 2018 I'm going to be carrying a deuce of spades trowel now the reason I'm going to be carrying a deuce of spades trowel is not necessarily because I think that I need one because again for the past two to three years I've never used one I've always been able to dig that hole in other ways but it's mainly to promote good Leave No Trace policies I think there are a lot of new hikers out there that think well since I don't have a trowel I don't need to dig a hole and that is absolutely wrong and back when I made the comment that I didn't want to carry a trowel and I didn't think it was necessary

these things are unnecessary that was personally for me because I have found other ways to dig that hole now if you can't dig a hole definitely get a trowel you need to dig a six-inch hole every single time but in answer to your question yeah the deuce of spades trial is super cool I think it weighs like point six ounces and here soon I'll be picking one up playing with it a little bit playing with it and then taking it out on the PCT in 2018 hi Darwin my name is band-aid my dog and I are planning on doing the PCT in 2019 I know you've talked about the food you take on the trail but could you talk a little bit about what you do to mix it up and what the daily meals generally consist of and how do you keep from getting bored with the same thing I love your channel keep up the great work and good luck next year hey you band-aid man so yeah I am a total OneNote joke food kind of guy I am totally comfortable with all the time eating the exact same thing out on the 80 even though that I had a choice between like noir rice sides and Idaho and mashed potatoes most nights I always ate the exact same mashed potatoes and tuna I am just one of those people that is always content with eating the same type of food now lately as you might know I've gone to cold soaking and for this Arizona Trail session that I just got back from every night I have I'm calling a ramen bean bomb which is a pack of ramen noodles without the seasoning pack and some dehydrated refried beans mixed in with that I just add water it rehydrates and then I add a little bit of taco seasoning or pesto seasoning and that's it I ate that every single night for seven nights and I was super content with that now the main thing I always do to not get bored is I always think about when I get into that next town I can get some town food I'm totally okay with being kind of uncomfortable on the trail with what I'm eating because I know when I get to a town

I can get something like a burger I can get pizza I can get ice cream I can get all this amazing town food so it makes it that much sweeter but as far as what I do to mix it up I don't typically mix it up man the only thing I really get burned out on is probably snacks so bars I ate a lot of Clif bars on the 80 in 15 and 16 I cannot eat Clif bars anymore I've just I've had my fill of them after a while they all taste the exact same and there's nothing you can do to find a different flavor isn't the end they all taste the same so I do like to mix up my snack

here and there but usually I can go like a month two months without changing up anything and just eating the same thing so yeah I'm a pretty OneNote joke guy but good luck on planning your hike man all right so there are a lot of questions in here I'm going to answer one in particular and that is what do you do for breaks or no breaks at all is your hiking style different when it's really good weather compared to really rainy weather or even snowy so it really all depends on what trail and what type of hike that I'm actually doing the Arizona Trail section that I just got back from there were some days where I didn't really take a break I usually get up at about 6 a.m. I like to start hiking by 7 or 7:30 and then I hike to about 5:00 p.m. every single day that's kind of my style now I will stop for lunch and when I stop for lunch I like to typically take my shoes off let my feet breathe so that way I'm not getting any weird swamp foot and getting any blisters but that's about the only break that I take at all during the day aside from that I just hike now if I'm hiking with other people like snuggles or if I'm out just hiking with other hiker trash then I meet on the trail yeah I'll typically take more breaks throughout the day and I think that's just because when I'm with other people I'm a little more social when I'm by myself I'm a little more in the zone and it's just about hiking to me I like to just hike get lost on my thoughts and it kind of becomes a little bit of a meditation for me so I don't typically take breaks in those situations and as far as hiking in bad weather versus good weather

I just hike whether it's really nice outside it's raining snowing I hike I always know that I need to get to that destination need to get to that next camp so I just get up and I embrace the suck I just put in my miles I get over it and then when I get to camp if it's rainy I can dry out I can get inside of my quilt and get warm Yemen I just hiked you guys see that like the light keeps changing it keeps getting dark and then it keeps getting bright really crazy out here today

hey darlin its Metro coming to you from preachers rock off the Appalachian Trail love your channel had a quick question for you

as I've been on several hikes you know I've never seen anybody fall and get hurt and I was wondering if you have ever seen someone fall get hurt and if so what you do did you call someone to help them out what was your situation I love your channel thanks for taking my question so yeah I've definitely seen people fall on the trail not necessarily get hurt maybe fall and just kind of bust their ass for a second and what I typically do is yeah I'll stop we typically laugh it off for a second I've never been in that situation where someone's fallen and really gotten hurt so usually they'll fall they'll bust their ass we'll all laugh about it and then yeah I'll usually give a helping hand and help get that hiker back up off the trail in particular last year in 2016 when snuggles and I were on the trail we're actually coming down from Mount Greylock and we were coming into that next town I can't remember the name of it and snuggles actually slipped on a really slick e Rock because it had been raining and it was really moist and she actually took a tumble and smacked her head into a tree and got this big goose egg on the top of her head again even though she got hurt she started laughing I started laughing I've never been in that situation where someone has gotten seriously injured but if someone was in that situation and I was there yeah I would definitely stop take my pack off help him get up call for help help them get to a safe spot because you know that's obviously the thing to do but as far as what I've done usually we just laugh it off I helped him get back up and we keep on hiking to things that aren't really talked about a bunch but I think are really important first how important is sleep compared to getting miles and how should I ration water I love lots of sleep and water but I'm getting ready for an Arizona Trail thru-hike that is a good question I think sleep is super important and my rule of thumb when I'm out hiking is like I said not too long ago I like to get up at about 6:00 a.m. I like to start hiking at about 7:30 and then I hike till 5:00 at 5:00 p.m. no matter where I'm at unless it's a you know that certain situation I stopped hiking I stopped hiking at five I make camp I eat and I get rest first all relax a camp a little bit relax my body stretch out and then yeah I will go to bed I think sleep is super important because if your body's worn out from hiking all day and you don't get proper sleep that night you're not gonna have a good day of hiking the next day so it's super important to let your body rest and get good sleep that's why I like I'm a big advocate of the blow-up pillow even though it's a really stupid luxury you can totally use a closed bag or your jacket or something I think the pillow is important because it supports my head and it gives me better sleep at night since I started using a pillow I get better sleep whenever I use a blow-up pad versus like a little closed cell foam pad I get better sleep so to me those trade-offs are really important I rather have the luxury items in my sleeping kit and make sure I get good sleep compared to anything else because I know that if I get good rest I'm gonna have an awesome day of hiking as far as rationing your water

that's all up to you I'm a bit of a camel so what I do is whenever I come to a water source I'll drink like a liter of leader a half of water I'll get the water that I'm gonna carry and I just barely sip on it for like the next five miles six miles even when it's crazy hot outside or humid I just don't drank a lot of water when I hike I'm able to really camel up that water and then I wait to that next water source to drink a bunch more so that's kind of a personal preference thing and that is one of the things that you have to do on the Arizona Trail because water is so stretched out so you definitely have to learn to conserve your water years old upon I we are going on a section hike of the Appalachian Trail next summer and we were wondering how long are the Smoky Mountains because we'd like to do a section that's about five to 14 days long and if if the Smokies don't fit into that timeframe what other sections would you advise for us to do and also how how many meters in a bag should I have for that section and I'd like to do another section with my friend than two years but I was looking between 55 litres 58 litres and 65 litres so I'd love to get your input on that thanks for thinking about my question and I love your videos keep it up hey Jonah man yeah the Smokies are an amazing part of the Appalachian Trail and I highly suggest doing them if you're gonna be doing a section hike snuggles and I took five days to actually get through the Smokies I can't remember exactly how many miles the section of the Smokies is on the trail but since you said five to 14 days that's a pretty wide spectrum I would actually suggest hiking from Fontana Dam which is kind of where the smokey start it's on the North Carolina side start there hike through the Smokies go by Standing Bear which is a really great hostel on the 80 maybe stay for the night and then actually hike to Hot Springs North Carolina so you actually go from North Carolina to Tennessee to North Carolina again that would be an awesome section to look into and hot springs would be a really great spot to end your hike but in 14 days that would totally be doable to go from Fontana Dam to Hot Springs and then you'll get the entire Smoky Mountains in the middle there so yeah definitely do that section do your research check it out maybe pick up a walls guide or download the gut hook the Appalachian Trail gut hook app and that way you can see exactly where your start point would be and where your end point would be but yes highly highly recommend as far as leaders for a bag I think it all depends on what you're caring in 2015 and 2016 I carried a 65 litre bag hiking the 80 next year for the PCT I'm gonna be carrying a 50 liter bag and then I just got back from a section of the Arizona Trail and was carrying like a 35 liter bag so it really just depends on what you're caring what your kid is how much food you want to carry that's all up to you man but have a crazy fun time on that section until the Smokies I said hello all right guys last question of the week and then we're gonna get to what you've all been waiting for which is the announcement of the giveaway winner I'm currently planning my thru-hike of the 80 for 2020 my question is I hear many 80 vloggers talk about getting to the next shelter and their plan for the day's hike when you and snuggles did you're through hikes did you all do the same and base your mileage per day to try and get to this shelter or the one after that did you just hike until a shelter popped up or an opportune time for a tent site presented itself so that is a good question it all depended on the day that we are doing most days when snuggles and I woke up or whenever we were in our tent at night we would look at our guide book and kind of plan we were wanting to do a 15-mile day so then we would kind of look at the mileage look at where we were at and look at where the next shelter our tent spot would be in 15 miles now most times we would just kind of go with the flow and if we were feeling a little bit wore out before we got there and we seen a place that we wanted to stop we would just stop and set up camp sometimes yeah we would just hike to that spot and other times if we got to that spot in 15 miles and we still had a ton of energy and wanted to keep hiking for the day we would just continue to hike for the day until we found a good stealth camp spot and set up our tent on the side of the trail so it really just all depended on the day but I would say that most times we set out with a plan to get to that next shelter within the miles that we wanted to hike for that day now there's tons of different ways that you can hike the 80 that's personally how we like doing it but there's some people that just go out and they get up in the morning and they start hiking and whenever they feel like stopping they just stop and they set up camp and you can totally do that in most sections but the biggest rule of thumb for me is always trying to find a camp spot where there is some sort of water source so I don't have to dry camp good luck and planning your through hike for the 80 and 2020 alright guys so if you want to leave 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 so last week when I was out on the Arizona Trail I posted a giveaway video to give you guys a big old box of swag and I got a ton of comments and entries into that thank you so much for all the kind words that you guys put in the comments I read almost all of them and they were great because I got so many comments I used a random comment selector and let it select ten different comments I've taken each comment I put it on a little slip of paper and I'm gonna put it here in my sock hut we're gonna do this old-school I'm gonna shake it up and I'm going to select one winner of the grand prize of all that super sweet swag that I put in the box alright so the grand prize winner of all the super killer funky fun mega awesome swag you actually get one here is Atlanta guy Atlanta guy congratulations you are the winner of the box of swag with the ass pad the super cool socks the t-shirt the Darwin on the trail patch and all the other goodies that come in that all right Atlanta guys so if you will send me an email over to Darwin on the trail at yahoo.com with your address and I'll get that awesome box of swag sent out to you thanks again for everyone for leaving the awesome comments and entering in the contest I will be doing more of these in the future so keep an eye out for that you haven't had a chance yet go over and check me out on Instagram I'm 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 from some past hikes plus a ton of pictures from the Arizona Trail so go check those out 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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