After bikepacking the Arizona Trail, I've made some changes to my backpacking kit for the summer. Most notable, changes to my shelter (now using a SlingFin SplitWing) and my water filter (now using a Platypus QuickDraw). Later in the summer, I'm also hoping to try out a new quilt, some new stakes
Mac’s Backpacking Gear List 2021 (v1)
I'm hoping to be doing a lot more outdoors in 2021 than I managed to do in 2020 and I'm excited to start trying out gear. To start the year off, my pack looks a lot like it did at the end of 2020, but I've made a few small changes (most notably, my cooking system). The gear list below is what I
Mac’s Backpacking Gear List 2020 (v2.0)
It's been a complicated year, but I still managed to get outdoors despite not being able to escape the country as originally planned. My gear list has continued to evolve as I continue to figure out what gear I like best and for what application I most enjoy using each piece of gear. I've
Mac’s Backpacking Gear List 2020 (v1.0)
It's the dawn of a decade and I've made a lot of changes to my three-season backpacking gear list to kick off the twenties. Some of my favorite pieces of gear are still with me and are still going strong (socks and fanny pack) while I'm trying others out for the first time (pillow, anyone?). My
Mac’s Backpacking Gear List 2019 (v2.0)
I didn't stop hiking once I left the Pacific Crest Trail this summer, and since my final PCT gear list, a number of things have changed in my backpacking outfit. After hitting the Timberline Trail, Wonderland Trail, and the Wind River Range. Fall is my favorite time of the year to hike - fewer
Mac’s Backpacking Gear List 2019 (v1.0)
There's a lot of new gear I'm excited to try this year (like this new sleeping pad from Therm-a-Rest), but these experiments will have to wait until later in the year. For now, I've gone back to what I know and made some adjustments after testing out some new gear in the Japanese Alps. Last year,
Mac’s Backpacking Gear List 2018 (v2.0)
We're not even halfway into the year and I'm already making some dramatic additions to my current gear outfit. I've got my first non-freestanding shelter (Hyperlite Mountain Gear Ultamid 2), my first bivy (Enlightened Equipment Recon), and my first quilt (Enlightened Equipment Revelation). Although
Mac’s Backpacking Gear List 2018 (v1.0)
It's a new year which means it's time for another arbitrary reason to do some swapping and upgrading of my backpacking gear outfit. I've been in New Zealand for nearly four months now (one more to go) and I've changed, added, or upgraded enough of my backpacking gear since my final Continental
Backpacking Gear List (Fall 2016)
The fall is a great time for backpacking - cooler temperatures ward off both crowds and bugs, making the mountains a much more enjoyable place. Sure, you may get yourself caught in the occasional hail or snow storm, but that's just part of the excitement of shoulder season hiking. Here is an