pct · gear
My PCT Gear List, Checked Against the Receipts
My 2021 PCT kit: a Hyperlite Windrider 40 from Idyllwild on, a Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL1 Bikepack, a Sea to Summit Trek TkII 18 bag with an Exped Synmat HL Winter pad, an MSR PocketRocket Deluxe with a 750 ml titanium pot, a Katadyn BeFree, Injinji socks and Hoka Speedgoat 4s from Reno north. The receipts show what changed and where.
The short version
I didn’t start with a perfect kit. I started with a big blue Osprey and too much stuff, and the list changed on the way north. The pack changed in Idyllwild, the sleeping pad in Acton, the bear storage and the shoes in Reno, and the tent got replaced under warranty in Northern California. Everything below is what I actually used, checked against my REI receipts and order emails from 2020 and 2021. Where I don’t have a receipt, it’s my word.
| Item | What I used | Where it came from |
|---|---|---|
| Pack | Hyperlite Windrider 40 (after an Osprey to Idyllwild) | Bought in Idyllwild, day 10 |
| Tent | Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL1 Bikepack | REI Sacramento, Aug 2020, replaced under warranty in July 2021 |
| Sleeping bag | Sea to Summit Trek TkII 18 | REI order, March 2020 |
| Pillow | Sea to Summit Aeros Premium | REI order, March 2020 |
| Sleeping pad | Exped Synmat HL Winter | 2 Foot Adventures, shipped to Acton KOA, May 26 |
| Stove | MSR PocketRocket Deluxe | REI Sacramento, Aug 2020 |
| Pot | 750 ml titanium pot | REI Sacramento, Aug 2020 |
| Spoon | Sea to Summit long spoon | My word |
| Water filter | Katadyn BeFree | My word |
| Shoes | Altra Lone Peak, then Hoka Speedgoat 4 | Altras in Julian, Speedgoats at REI Reno, day 69 |
| Socks | Injinji toe socks | REI orders, March and August 2020 |
| Rain shell | Montbell Versalite | Arrived by UPS, June 4 |
| Base layers | Smartwool | My word |
| Bear storage | Rented BearVault BV500, then Ursack AllMitey | Can from Triple Crown Outfitters, Ursack at REI Reno |
| Messenger | Garmin inReach | My word |
| Watch | Garmin Fenix 5, logging every day to Strava | My word, and the Strava log |
| Knife | Opinel No. 6 | REI order, April 2021 |
Pack
I left Campo with a big blue Osprey. By Idyllwild my feet were taking a beating, so Fly did a shakedown on my gear. I bought a Hyperlite Windrider 40, the shop’s last one, and mailed the Osprey home with my microspikes and a wool layer, about nine pounds. Most of my best photos from the rest of California have that white pack in them.
Shelter
My tent was the Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL1 Bikepack, bought at REI Sacramento in August 2020. It was the tent I slept in from the first night in the desert. In July the zipper broke. REI took it back, I mailed the old one home from Etna, and my dad sent the new Copper Spur ahead to Ashland, where it beat me there. I finished the trail in the same model.
Sleep
The sleeping bag was a Sea to Summit Trek TkII 18 with a Sea to Summit Aeros Premium pillow, both from an REI order in March 2020. On top of Whitney at dawn I ate breakfast wrapped in that bag.
The pad changed in the desert. In Wrightwood I ordered a replacement from 2 Foot Adventures, the shop I’d used in Julian. I’d asked for a Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XTherm, they didn’t have it, and they sent an Exped Synmat HL Winter instead. It was delivered to the Acton KOA on May 26 and I used it the rest of the trail.
Kitchen
I generally cooked, so I carried an MSR PocketRocket Deluxe and a 750 ml titanium pot, both from the same REI receipt in August 2020, and a Sea to Summit long spoon. In Kennedy Meadows I bought an MSR IsoPro canister at Triple Crown Outfitters.
Water
I filtered with a Katadyn BeFree, the kind that screws onto a soft flask.
Feet
My first shoes ended in Julian. I was getting heel problems, so I ditched them and walked out of town in Altra Lone Peaks, bought at 2 Foot Adventures. At REI in Reno on day 69 I switched to Hoka Speedgoat 4s, and they were my favorite shoes of the trail.
I wore Injinji toe socks and never had a blister. I still wear them day to day.
Rain and layers
My rain shell was a Montbell Versalite. It came by UPS on June 4. I said it later on Reddit: “I used the Mont Belle Versalite. Great jacket for a great price.” Base layers were Smartwool.
Food storage
In Kennedy Meadows I rented a BearVault BV500 from Triple Crown Outfitters for the Sierra and returned it at Kennedy Meadows North. Then a bear got both our food bags in Desolation Wilderness, because we left them in the tent vestibule, which was our mistake. A few days later at REI in Reno we bought Ursack AllMitey bags, and we never had a bear problem after that.
Watch and tracking
I wore a Garmin Fenix 5 the whole way and recorded every day to Strava. That log is where every date, mile and leg boundary on this site comes from. I got that watch in 2017 and wore it until about 2023, when I upgraded to a Garmin Epix 2.
Safety and small stuff
I also carried a Garmin inReach. After the bear night I used it to set a pickup time with my dad at a road crossing. My knife was an Opinel No. 6 from an REI order a few weeks before the start.
Where the food fits
This site is about eating vegan on the trail, and the gear is what made that work. A stove and pot meant I could make hot dinners. See the vegan PCT resupply guide for what I bought town by town, and mail drops for what went in the boxes.
