SecoKiller Gear Guide

• Redundancy for key items can be a trip saver
• Multiple uses for a single item is Nirvana
• Yes this all weighs way too much

Backpacking
Clothing

• Materials:  Synthetic fabrics have superior abrasion / wear characteristics, insulate when wet, are quick drying and wick moisture better than natural materials. We use natural materials in only a  few specific cases:
• In very hot & dry weather such as in the desert, cotton is acceptable as it retains moisture and can help keep you cool.
• Leather for shoe uppers has few substitutes.
• Wool hiking socks have few if any synthetic substitutes.
• Cotton hats have a reasonably wide range of application.
• You can get by with cotton underwear briefs for quite awhile. 

• Outer
• Gore-tex? Great if you have a gift certificate otherwise look at alternative materials. Gore-tex is primarily a brand name that proved the market with a proprietary application. Others have since entered the market with high quality water proof, breathable proprietary materials.
  
• Waterproof, breathable shell jacket
• should have a hood
  
• Waterproof, breathable shell pant
• full side zips are oh so nice
  
• Trekking shirt
• Roll-up sleeves or
• Zip-off sleeves
  
• Ventilation in pits or back, note that back ventilation doesn't work well if you are carrying a pack.
• Trekking pant
• Convertible pant/short
• Water short
  
• Hat
• Full Brim, good ventilation and chin strap.
• Baseball style cap

• Mid-Layer
• Fleece skull cap
• Fleece jacket
• Fleece pant
• Fleece sock
• Fleece gloves
  
• Wool hiking sock
• Down sweater or jacket
• Specialty water sock

• Base Layer
• Cool Max T-Shirt, short sleeve
• Capilene or similar long sleeve top
• Capilene or similar bottom
• Capilene or similar underwear

• Footwear
• Hiking boot
• Teva or similar sandal
  

Trek Gear

• Primary pack
• Day pack
• Fanny pack
• Poles
• We prefer to use a single trekking pole so that we can keep a hand free, especially in technical terrain.
• Trekking poles come as a two pole set, hiking staffs are sold individually.
• Having that second pole is great for loaning to your hiking mate, otherwise you'll be spending a lot of time waiting for them.
• Patrick has an older set of Leki poles that work just fine, Jay is quite pleased with his REI Ultra Light poles.
• Shock absorbing (SA) poles are quite popular but we found them to still have some give when the absorber is turned off. SA may be good for long marches with a pack or cross-country skiing but we prefer the rigidity of non-SA poles as we primarily use them for more technical bouldering and river hiking.
  

Audio/Visual/Navigation/Tools

• Multi-Function Knife
• Letherman
• Swiss Army
• Camera
• Digital
• 35mm SLR
• Tripod
• Headlight
• Binoculars
• GPS
• Eye glass retainer strap
• Cleaning cloth
• Magnifying glass
• Watch
  

Toiletries, Health & First Aid

• Lip Balm
• Plastic shovel
• Toilet paper, half roll
• Tick removal kit
• Aspirin/Tylenol/Advil
• Imodium
• Back ache pain killer
• Mole skin
• Sun screen
  

Camp Gear

• Shelter
• Sleeping bag
• Pad / chair
• Ground sheet
  

Water System

• Purifier
• Pur Hiker or Guide or SweetWater Guardian Microfilter
• Be sure to clean filter before each trip
  
• Bladder
• Dromedary for camp water storage and extra trekking supply, 4 liter or larger.
• Camelbak style bladder systems for ready water access have not fit well into our system.
  
• Bottle
• 2 Nalgene 1L bottle
• plastic water bottles as purchased in the store (i.e. Crystal Geyser, etc.) can be used in emergency
• Reliance Desert Flask canteen
  
• Bottle holster
• easy bottle access is imperative to proper hydration practices, more problematic than accessing a bottle from a holster is returning it
• holster should be rigid enough to allow proper return
• packs often incorporate holsters but few are positioned well enough for easy return
• use belt mountable holster for regular access, pack holsters can carry second water bottle, filled, for easy swap out and liquor flask.
  
• Redundancy
• second purifier if two or more on trip
• iodine tablets for solo or ultra light weight trips
  

Food

• Gear & utensils
• Stove
• Pots & pans
• Bowl
• Cup
• Plate
  
• Food stuffs / ingredients / recipes
• Backpacking Food {Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor}
• Natural High
• Spinach Cheese Omelet - Very Good
• Alpine Aire
• Bandito Scramble - Fair 
• ??? (natural high or mountain home?)
• Country Omelet - Good
  

Spirits

• Nalgene 500 mili liter flask for Scotch
• Wine can be carried in either Nalgene or plastic water bottles 
• Beer should only be brought in cans
• Few liquids in a can that say beer on them come anywhere close to being worth drinking under any circumstance
• You can tell the few that are as they usually have a built in nitrogen charge that discharges upon opening.
• Use your camp cup for best taste

Miscellaneous

• Paper towels - several sheets of quality towel
• Zip-loc bags, freezer grade, several small & large size
• Butane Lighter
• 2 stuff sacks for clothing
• 1 mesh bag for dirty laundry