Did the night shift last night and it was pretty busy.  So, I slept most of the day today.  No matter, the rain has continued.  I did mess around in the garage with my equipment and made a trip to REI.  I bought a Z-seat Pad and some Body Glide.  Both just weigh grams and will help keep my backside and feet comfortable.

Today’s featured equipment is my backpack.  To many, this is the most important piece of equipment for a thru-hiker.  It’s hard to disagree, considering I will spend months walking many hundreds of miles with this on my back.  I originally was going to purchase an Osprey Exos 48.  I hiked with an Osprey pack near Lake Superior last summer and was very happy with it.  However, when I found this pack on sale and looked into it’s features, I couldn’t resist.  The only issue is that the pack isn’t made any more.  I got one of the last ones. 😦

Mountain Hardware Thruway 50

It’s a frameless pack and there’s a sleeve along the back for a foam pad.  The cool thing is that a Z-Lite Sol Sleeping Pad will fit into the sleeve and serves as the “frame” and “pad” for the pack.  Nothing’s better than finding multiple uses for gear, especially big items.

Today’s equipment is my sleeping set-up.  It poured down rain immediately after I set it up and all inside stayed reasonably dry.

I have a 1.1 oz double layer Warbonnet Blackbird Hammock and Edge Tarp; they weight in at 18 oz and 11 oz respectively.  I added Whoppie Slings along with my own DIY spectra webbing straps and shoft shackles.  Here are the two packed and then out of their bags.

The hammock is hanging below, still in it’s Snakeskins and then out.  The spectra sling is around the tree with an extender and soft shackle.

And here’s the whole set-up.  My home for the next 3 months.

Two weeks until I hit the trail (Saturday, June 27th).

Exchanged my Superfeet insoles today – copper for green.  The copper ones molded to my feet in ways that were just creating hot spots, as I found out yesterday in Forest Park.  Thanks to the staff at the Alpine Shop who were helpful and understanding.

Today’s featured equipment is my cook set (Evernew Titanium Pot and Trail Designs Sidewinder Stove).  Here it’s all packed up along with my titanium spork, silicone spatula, and 8 oz alcohol flask.  In the other pic it’s out of the bag along with the stakes used to support the pot.  The top doubles as a fry pan.

Below it’s set up in wood burning mode.  The alcohol burner is in front of the stove.  The stove will also burn solid fuel tablets.  The whole set up without fuel and utensils weighs in at just 11 ounces.

Did another training hike in Forest Park today.  Meandered around and through the park in 95 degree heat.  Even walked through the zoo and saw the new polar bear habitat.  Covered 7.5+ miles and managed to find some sore spots on my feet.  Here’s a shot of a statue at the zoo.

I’ve also decided to feature one piece of equipment on every post until I leave in 2 weeks.  Today’s feature is my MSR bowl and DIY cozy.  The bowl weighs 60 gm and the cozy 33 gm, totalling out to 93 grams, about 3 1/3 oz.  That’s not instant oatmeal in the picture below, and it cooked right in the bowl with boiling water.  The cozy keeps the contents hot for a very long time, and it’s perfect for rehydrating food!

Going through final equipment check and decided to practice hanging a bear bag.  It seems like the black bears are more aggressive these days.  Their population is growing and civilization is encroaching on their habitat.  So here’s what I’ve got set up, and it seems to work well.

My food bag is a Sea-to-Summit 8L Ultra-Sil Dry Bag.  Along with the bag I have 50 ft of 1.75mm spectra line with a velcro strap; eye splices and soft shackles are on each end.  The whole set-up weighs just grams.

   

Step one is to find an appropriate branch to hang from.  It should be about 20 ft off the ground and have a spot at least 4 ft from the tree trunk, 6 ft is better.  Here’s a great branch in my back yard.

Then attach a weight to the end of your line (I used a stick) and throw the line over the branch.  It can take several tries unless you’re a major league pitcher.

   

Retrieve the line and attach the food bag to the end of the line.  The free end of the line should pass through the soft shackle as well.

Haul the bag all the way up to branch.  Then reach as high on the line as you can and tie the stick back onto the line.  Let the bag back down until the stick stops at the soft shackle.

    

The bag will then be hanging 10 plus feet off the ground, taller people will hang the bag higher. 😉

Good luck with that, Yogi and Boo-boo…

Before anything else, preparation is the key to success. – Alexander Graham Bell

Click this link to see a video on how it’s done, including an alternate method when the ideal branch can’t be found:  YouTube Bear Bag Video