In the second installment of our look at the Continental Divide Trail Thru-hiker Survey, we are taking a deep dive into the gear hikers on the Continental Divide Trail used this year. This includes not only what CDT gear was the most common, but what CDT gear performed best over the course of the
Katadyn BeFree Water Filter Review
When I first started using the Katadyn BeFree I thought to myself, "By the beard of Zeus! This thing is absolutely amazing. I can't understand how it hasn't already driven all other lightweight water filters out of business. What was I doing not using this thing before?" However, after a month of
The CDT Gear Guide: Class of 2017 Survey
In an effort to maximize the utility of the Continental Divide Trail Thru-hiker Survey, I have done a deep dive into the gear that hikers used on the trail this past year. The results detailed here should help to give an idea of what gear made hikers successful and what gear hikers realized was
The Continental Divide Trail Thru-Hiker Survey (2017)
Hello and welcome to the results of the 2017 Continental Divide Trail Thru-hiker Survey! Now that I've hiked the Continental Divide Trail, I feel it's a good time to begin disseminating free information on the internet to make the CDT more accessible to people who will ultimately end up ruining
Big Agnes Copper Spur 2 Platinum Tent Review
The Big Agnes Copper Spur 2 Platinum is a lightweight, freestanding, two-person backpacking tent that's for anyone willing to spend $600 on their miniature house for the outdoors (or as I like to call it, my palace). I got this tent just before my Continental Divide Trail thru-hike and have spent
Hyperlite Mountain Gear 3400 Southwest Review
The Hyperlite Mountain Gear 3400 Southwest came with me on my Continental Divide Trail thru-hike (what's essentially the most grueling test on Earth for any piece of gear) and it performed exactly as I hoped it would - spectacularly. It's currently my default pack and I've been using it since with
Continental Divide Trail Gear List (Post-Trail)
As was to be expected, my Continental Divide Trail gear list at the end of the trail did not match up exactly with my pre-departure CDT gear list. There's no better way to test gear than to take it thru-hiking, and there's no better thru-hike to test gear on than the CDT. I've divided this post
Montbell Tachyon Jacket Review
I've never owned a wind shirt/jacket before and so the Montbell Tachyon Jacket was a new and exciting thing for me to test out. This jacket was a part of my Continental Divide Trail gear, and it accompanied me the entire length of the trail. I used it extensively at high elevations in Colorado
Montbell Torrent Flier Jacket Review
Rain jackets and I have an interesting relationship. In a perfect world, they would be completely unnecessary, but the reality on the Continental Divide Trail is far from perfect and so I brought along the Montbell Torrent Flier Jacket to protect me from all the water (frozen or otherwise) I