The Backpacking Gear OF Highline
Carrying 15-20 lbs of camera gear meant we had to keep our survival necessities below 20 lbs including food and water. Yes...you read that right. Shelter, clothing, food, water, EVERYTHING had to be under 20lbs. We had one resupply, on day 4, but we still had to carry 7 days of food for the last stretch. Luckily we live in a day and age where you can do that without making much of a sacrifice.
THE BIG STUFF
BACKPACK
SLEEPING BAG
BACKPACK
Most of us carried the Zpacks Arc Haul (weight 23.3oz)
The nifty arc frame design offers a substantial amount of support which Chris pushed to 43lbs on the longest stretch (7 days) without any issues. It's also large enough to fit tons of camera gear, tent, sleeping bag, etc. And yes, it fits the Bearikade weekender bear canister with room to spare.
TENT
SLEEPING BAG
BACKPACK
The Uinta Mountains were known for serious storms, so we carried tents that were both strong, reliable, and light. The single person Zpacks Plexamid (15.3oz) and 2 person Zpacks Duplex (19oz) tents were easy choices. Both are storm worthy, fully enclosed for bug protection, and remain breathable.
Some of the guys preferred the larger Duplex, but honestly the Plexamid is plenty big for one person with room to spare.
SLEEPING BAG
SLEEPING BAG
INSULATION LAYER
The 23.7 oz Zpacks 10 Deg Classic was Chris and Gordy's sleeping bag of choice.
Thought more UL guys like Joe Valesko and Matt Favero (Who actually work for Zpacks) prefer the 19.3oz 20 Deg Classic.
Both weights above are based on size med, standard width. Note that these bags don't have hoods, which isn't an issue if you wear a parka or warm beanie to bed on cold nights.
INSULATION LAYER
INSULATION LAYER
INSULATION LAYER
Chris and Benny's favorite insulation layer is a custom parka made by GoosefeetGear.com They're a small cottage gear manufacturer that makes super high quality down products that seem to defy physics. Chris's orange parka (pictured) is 8.5 oz total, with 5 ounces of 850fp downtek fill. Crazy warm!
FRONT POUCH
INSULATION LAYER
FRONT POUCH
In search of the best camera case for backpacking, Chris tested a dozen options from the LowePro Top loader to the expensive Peak Designs capture clip. By far, the best was the lighter, more affordable and compact Zpacks Multipack at only 2.9oz! It’s floppy, but that’s easily solved by adding a piece of reflectix or even an old padded Amazon mailer envelop inside. See above. The Reflectix curls along the bottom to provide good protection and rigidity for only .5 oz. Make sure to carry a gallon zip lock just in case of heavy rain.
Other necessities
Storage:
Pack liner dry bag 1.8 oz
Smaller dry bag for toiletries .49 oz
Shoulder Pouch .49 oz
Medium dry bag .71 oz
Top side pouch .49 oz
Side belt pouches .74 oz
Food Storage 3.4 oz
Water and Cooking:
Sawyer Lightweight water filter 2oz
BeFreeLightweight filter with better flow 3oz
Water Storage (Just use smart water bottles, or gatoraid bottles) these're cheaper, lighter, and seem to retain less icky smells compared to Nalgenes.
Soto Windmaster stove 2.3oz
.6 liter pot 3.3 oz
Cooking Pot Stuff sack that fits perfect .14oz
Other stuff:
Sat Phone that saved our butts 7.1 oz. This GlobalStar phone is fairly affordable, has great battery life, and worked reliably for Chris in the Uinta Mountains, Sierra Mountains, Colorado, Oregon, and many other places.
Black Diamond Headlamp 3.25 oz.
Tent stakes .3 oz ea
Tent stake bag .09 oz
Sit Pad 1 oz Most of the group used these. Though Chris didn't need it. The world is his sit pad. ;)
Cordage .5 oz Made by a small cottage manufacturer called Lawson Equipment.
Thermarest Neo Air Xlite Mattress 12oz. 4.2R value. Pretty standard these days for backpackers.
Clothing:
Super warm BlackRockGear UL Beanie .5oz (As seen on Benny's head during the film)
Best UL rain pants Only 3.4oz!
Vertice UL rain Jacket 6.2 oz
Another rain jacket option if you dont mind the extra $70 4.4oz
Palisade hiking pants Chris used and swears by (expensive though) 10.6oz
Smartwool T-Shirt Chris used but kind of hates 5oz-ish These don't last long. Looking for a better option.
Thermal Weight Baselayer Hoody - Chris used the MEC T3 which is now discontinued. This Patagonia version is basically the same thing. He uses this as an active warm layer or under a shell for wet conditions. 7.7oz
Thermal Weight Bottoms - same story as above. You can get these instead. Bummer Patagonia costs so much more. 4.7oz
Best socks ever 1.9oz. Defeets last long and have good odor resistance too. Much better than Smartwool or Darn Tough.
Underwear 2.3oz. These Arcteryx underwear are light and dry fast, but they're pricey and not amazing.
Best wind jacket 1.7oz
Neck gaiter 1.1 oz Can be worn as a neck warmer, face cover, used as a bandana, etc.
Chris's favorite sun shade hat 2.8 oz. Though others preferred this Zpacks trucker hat at 2.4 oz
Shoes:
Everyone's feet are different, so it's harder to pick a "best" item for that. Here's some notes that may or may not be helpful.
-Chris loves his Brooks Cascadia 12 trail runners. (now discontinued, but he stocked up with 10 pairs). They held up well and he had no blisters on the hike.
-Gordy hated his Brooks Cascadia 12 Gortex edition. Ironically, the breathable waterproof gortex made his feet sweat so bad he developed many bad blisters.
-Some of the others used the Brooks Caldera's, which were destroyed by the rocky Uinta terrain.
-Benny and Matt love their Altra Timp 1.5's.
Hygene:
Tiny UL disposable toothbrush thingies .1oz Though some of the others like Redbeard preferred this instead.
Nifty disposable baby towels .1 oz each. These are stronger than paper towels. Not as big though.
Soap: A brand called Basic H2 is Chris's favorite. It cleans well, and doesn't leave residue like Dr Bronners.
Toilet paper: Just use your sleeve. It's ultralight and reusable.
