Post Pinhoti Trail Gear Thoughts & Failures

Description

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

Pinhoti Trail Gear Video - https://youtu.be/EsCCh6nGwlM

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

EE Enigma Quilt - https://enlightenedequipment.com/enigma/

Zpacks Cuben Food Bag (w/line)- http://www.zpacks.com/accessories/bear_bag.shtml

Ass Pad (Z-Seat) - http://amzn.to/2pehLOR

Vargo Ti 700 BOT - http://amzn.to/2DLhU25

Zpacks Vertice Rain Jacket - http://www.zpacks.com/accessories/wpb_jacket.shtml

Zpacks Vertice Rain Mitts - http://www.zpacks.com/accessories/mitts.shtml

EE Copperfield Wind Pants - https://enlightenedequipment.com/copperfield-wind-pants/

GorillaPod Action Tripod - http://amzn.to/2E1DHGa

Sawyer Squeeze Water Filter - http://amzn.to/2iQjuqy

ZPacks Duplex Tent- http://www.zpacks.com/shelter/duplex.shtml

Pinhoti Trail Part 1 - https://youtu.be/bZhEg7_Gt5E

Pinhoti Trail Part 2 - https://youtu.be/qzxZ2tAGv4k

Pinhoti Trail Thru-Hike Part 3 - https://youtu.be/FCFQxsWeHmY

Pinhoti Trail Gear List -

https://darwinonthetrail.com/2018/02/11/darwins-2018-pinhoti-trail-thru-hike/

*** WAYS TO SUPPORT THIS CHANNEL ***

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/darwinonthetrail

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Visit our Etsy Shop! - https://www.etsy.com/shop/TravelandTrail

*** Gear Used to Shoot this Video! ***

- Camera -

Canon EOS 77D - http://amzn.to/2zf5OQ9

- Lense -

Canon EF 24mm IS USM - http://amzn.to/2zeJuWU

- Sound -

TakStar Shotgun Mic - http://amzn.to/2kMsAnM

- TriPod -

Targus 360 Trigger Tripod - http://amzn.to/2kMsU5Y

------Intro & Animation By: BlackStrap Media------

https://blackstrapmedia.com

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Tags: Pinhoti Trail,UL Backpacking Gear,UL Hiking Gear,Pinhoti Trail Thru Hike,UL Hiking,UL Backpacking,Zpacks,Zpacks Duplex,Enlightened Equipment,Revelation Quilt,Enigma Quilt,Zpacks Vertice Rain Jacket,Hiker Trash,AT,Appalachian Trail,PCT,Pacific Crest Trail,PCT Thru Hike,Thru Hike Gear List,Gear Failure,Vargo Bot,Long Distance Hiking

Video Transcription

hey guys it's Darwin so as most of you know I just returned from my 330 mile thru-hike of the pen hodie trail now I used some old gear and some new gear so today I want to talk about gear that worked gear that didn't work some gear failures and gear that I'll be switching out before I hit the PCT next month [Music]

all right so first off if you haven't checked out my gear list for my pin holy trial thru-hike I'll put a link up here in the corner and a link in the description box below go check that out to see my full gear list of everything that I carried today I want to talk about some of the gear that didn't really work out for me so I'll be switching it out before I hit the PCT next month I want to talk about some of the new gear that I tried out for the first time and some gear that I just had straight-up gear failures and didn't work at all in the field for me first up let's talk about some of the old gear that I'll be switching out before my PCT thru-hike number one is a piece of gear that's pretty big for me and I had been debating switching it up for quite some time the pin holy TRO put the final nail in the coffin and I'm gonna be switching it up and that is my enlightened equipment revelation quote now as some of you know this is one of my favorite pieces of gear I got this guy back at the end of 2015 it has been on 600 miles of the Appalachian Trail it's been on all of my sections of the Arizona Trail it's been on the Continental Divide Trail and now it has been on the pen hodie trail I love this thing the only problem that I've ever had with my revelation 20 is I have very cold feet so at night from my waist up I can be pouring sweat but my feet will be freezing cold so with the revelation because it does have the option to open up the foot box you have a zipper on it and you have this kind of little hole right here where it cinches together so it can let a little bit of draft of cold air in now I had been debating for a while on switching to a quilt that had a closed foot box when I was out on the pen holy trail I got cold feet quite a lot so I've decided to finally switch out my revelation 22 an enlightened equipment enigma 20 so the Enigma is gonna have a full closed foot box so hopefully that will help in keeping my feet a little bit warmer at night and overall I just think that that quilt is gonna work a lot better for my thru-hike of the PCT the next piece of gear that I'm going to be switching out is my Jovie action

gorillapod now this is something that I was pretty adamant about bringing on the pan hodie trail and for the PCT because I just thought it would be worth it to carry a nice tripod to set up better shots I was out there for 18 days I probably used this thing about 10 percent of the time I was out there it just kind of set in my pack I never really grabbed it most times I just grabbed my camera real quick take the shot that I needed set it up on a rock put it on the trail in the long run to me it's just not worth it so I will be switching this out of my pack and I'm not gonna replace it with anything I'm just gonna use my hand and maybe halfway through the PCT I'll change my mind and I'll have snuggles send me another tripod but for now this guy is not coming with me for my thru-hike of the PCT the next piece of gear that I'm gonna be switching out is my Z packs Cuban fiber food bag now I have had that food bag since 2014 and it has a ton of miles on it and sadly it's just wore out there are multiple times in the morning on the Pinho trail where I would go to get my food bag out of a tree and the inside of the bag would be soaking wet all of the seam sealing and all of that over time it just breaks down so it's just time to get rid of the old food bag and instead I'm switching out to a brand new Z packs Cuban fiber food bag so I still absolutely love these food bags it is my go-to and my preferred food storage for the trail so the old ones gotta go and this one is coming with me on April the 3rd the last piece of gear that I'm gonna be switching out is a pretty sad one for me and unfortunately the second to last day on the pin holy trail I lost misplaced it ran away whatever you want to call it my beloved ass pad I have had that one in particular probably since 2014 I loved that pad but I misplaced it or ran away because it just couldn't take it anymore

but I did pick up a brand new therm arrest Z seat which is probably a good thing because my old one was about as flat as a pancake and wasn't really offering cushion at all so I will be taking this with me and hopefully I can put as many miles as I put on the last one on the new guy alright guys so that was some of the old gear that I'm definitely gonna be switching out before I hit the PCT but I also used some new gear for the first time on the pin holy trail so let's talk about a few of those items

first up is my Vargo titanium box you guys know that I love code soaking but you also might know that from time to time I also like cooking now for the pen holy trail I was gonna be taking my 20 screw top ice cream jar to cold soak and I was also gonna take my snow Peaks 700 titanium ugh because 50% of the time I wanted to cook and fitch percent of the time I wanted to code so right before I went out on the pin holy trail I picked up one of these BOTS 700s essentially what it is is a titanium cook pot that also has a screw top lid with a seal so you can cook it with it on your stove and use the top as a lid but if you want a cold soak you can also put your food in add your water and then screw the lid put it back in your pack and cold soak and food will be ready when you get to camp so overall this seemed like a much better option for me instead of carrying two pieces of gear I could carry one piece of gear that could do two jobs now the Bott 700 does have a couple little quirks and a couple things that I'm not too jacked about I'm not gonna go into those here in this video but I will be doing a full gear review video in the next coming weeks on the Bott so keep an eye out for that but overall just the convenience of having one thing that can do two jobs is definitely worth me taking it with me on my PCT through that alright so the next new piece of gear that I used on the thin Holi trail is my Z packs virtus rain jacket now to be fair I did use this before I went out on the pin Holi trail I had it on my rim too

- rim hike of the Grand Canyon I had it for my small backpacking trip in Sequoia National Park but I never really had it in the rain right it's a rain jacket it needs to be tested in the rain I knew the penalty trail was gonna be a super wet rainy nasty muggy trail so I decided to take this instead of my own Outdoor Research helium - and overall I love this jacket typically within like the first hour of hiking I would totally be pouring sweat and would have to take my rain jacket off not with the virtus it breathes so well that I wore it most every single day on the trail and I would wear it all the way up until lunch when it started getting hot outside I was really surprised by its performance in the rain and just as an overall jacket and its breathability so this guy is definitely gonna be my rain jacket of choice for the PCT along with the Burtis rain jacket I also got the virtus rain MIT's I didn't really ever use them in the rain so I can't really speak to the overall rain protection that they give but what I did use them for is on really chilly mornings I would put my liner glove on and then I would put this glove on top of it so I had an extra layer against the cold chilly wind and they did great for that and that's really why I picked him up only weighing like one or two ounces for the pair they're definitely coming with me on the PCT if anything just for an extra layer of protection from the cold for my hands all right last but not least is another new piece of gear that I used on the pin holey trail for the first time and that was the enlightened equipment wind pants these are a 7d fabric wind pant I don't really like hiking in pants so I like hiking in shorts with some tights under them but just in case I got a morning where it was extra chilly and I need just a little bit more layer over my tights from the cold wind that's why I picked these guys up I didn't use them a lot on the penalty trail out of the 18 days that I was on the trail I maybe used them for two days however the days that I did use them they were a great wind barrier against chilly winds on the higher ridge lines and stuff they weigh just over an ounce I think like an ounce and a half for the whole pair of pants so I'm definitely gonna be taking these with me on my through hike up the PCT especially once I get up into the Sierras above treeline I think they'll just be good to have an extra layer of wind protection against that chilly Alpine air so the enlightened equipment wind pants are coming with me all right guys so we talked about old gear that I'm switching out we talked about new gear that I'm gonna be taking with me going forward let's talk about gear failures number one is gonna be one that I've gotten a lot of questions about and that was my Sawyer filter if you guys watched my videos of my Pinho Tetreault thru-hike you'll know they had to get off trail for the day I had to go into town and find another one of these guys because my solar filter took a dump on me to be honest I have no clue what happened I went to filter water the night before I tried pushing water through one side of it didn't get a drop out of it I tried to back flush it didn't get a drop out of it I did everything for about an hour trying to get water to push through this thing and nothing happened it just stopped working it was like it was plugged up with something what I ended up finding out later is that if you back flush your solar filter with tap water tap water has a lot of calcium in it and I think what happened was my old Sawyer filter had a bunch of calcium buildup in it the last time that I used it before the pin holy trail was during my rim to rim to rim hike of the Grand Canyon and that was back in December so when I got off the trail I back flushed it and I threw it in my gearbox I think that for a couple months it just sit there and that calcium corroded on the inside of it and when I went to use it for the first time on the pinho tea trail nothing was happening it was kind of my fault it wasn't really the piece of gear necessarily I definitely should have checked it before I hit the trail so make sure if you have an older Sawyer filter that maybe your back flushing it with bottled water and then also make sure you're just checking your filter don't take a piece of gear out on the trail before you check and make sure it works or you'll end up like me you'll have to get off the trail you'll have to get another filter the next piece of gear that completely failed on me was my Joby Gorillapod so not only am I not going to be taking it with me on the PCT because I didn't use it much but also because all of the legs broke in eighteen days of being on the truck as I told you earlier in eighteen days I used it maybe two days and just out of using it for those two days being on my pack it hitting the ground all the legs snapped off now I know this is a common thing with these Joby Gorillapod it's just something you kind of have to deal with that eventually these legs are gonna break but all three legs all three legs and eighteen days that's nuts so this was a huge gear failure um now I know that I could probably get a hold of Joby and they would replace it and give me a brand new one for the PCT but if this is a common problem and this happens a lot it's just not worth it for me I would love the convenience of having a nice tripod to be able to set up good shots but if I know that this is gonna happen later on down the road and then I'm gonna have a dead weight piece of gear sitting in my bag and something that I can't use it's just not worth it for me so this thing is not coming with me on the PCT and I'm just gonna stay away from tripods because that is ridiculous alright guys the last gear failure is one that you have blown up my comment sections my inbox on my email my Facebook page my Instagram post everybody keeps asking about my Z packs duplex if you watched my videos you might remember on day two I said this then they're storming pretty bad out a lot of water came in last night don't know how much filming I'm gonna do today so I woke up and the inside of my tent was completely flooded out with water and I felt like I was floating on a raft I keep getting tons of comments and questions and emails and everything asking me what happened to my z packs duplex tent because they had the same one and they're worried it's going to fail and flood and fill up with water it was not a gear failure there's nothing wrong with my Z packs duplex tent I was out there for 18 days I only had one day where the inside was wet and it was not a gear failure it was a user failure so what happened was toasted toad and I got into camp really late it was dark we did a little bit of night hiking and with our headlamps we were looking around for the flattest spot possible to set up our tents place that we thought that was very flat was actually not flat at all we set up our tents in a bit of like a bowl a dip and then on the other side of that dip was a water shed that came down from the mountain that night it thunderstorms and a ton of water came down the water shed and filled up the little spot that we were camped on so not only did my tent flood out but so did toasted toads tent and we both woke up floating on our air mattresses in water so it wasn't the tents fault it was our fault for not really noticing where we were make sure that you're not setting up on a drainage area from a mountain because no matter what tent you have it's gonna flood out it's gonna fill up with water that was a really really dumb thing to do but mine is fine and it's definitely coming with me on the PCT I have no doubts that it will keep water out from here on as long as I don't set it up on a pond or a lake again so what are some pieces of gear that you've recently switched out what are some new pieces of gear that you're trying out in the field right now and what are some huge gear failures that you've had in the last couple of months leave me something in the comment box below and let me know your thoughts if you have another chance yet go over and check me out on and - gram oven posting love new photos lately of some of the things that snuggles and I have going on throughout the week plus some pictures from some past tags she 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

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