Backpacking in Grand Teton NP: Gear List
So I just came back from one of the biggest trips of my life: backpacking in the Grand Tetons. As with all trips, preparation is the most important aspect. I had most of the essential gear acquired months prior but as the flight came nearer, I was starting to do last minute stuff. But everything ended up working really well. Before I speak about the trip I wanted to break down my pack and essentially talk about each item, its usefulness, and necessity. Let’s get intentional!
Items:
- Osprey atmos AG 65L bag: great for now but might replace for a lighter one
- Nemo tensor sleeping pad: great
- TT double rainbow tent: worked well and UL — the pitch is difficult though
- Zpack stakes x6: lighter the MSR groundhogs
- BA Upperslide sleeping bag (30F): need a lighter one. I don’t need 30F rating for most places
- Thermarest down pillow: not as comfortable as it used to be. Will replace.
- Bearvault 450: needed, especially with bears in the backcountry
- Zpack trekking poles: great and lightweight! *take of rubber tips or you’ll be constantly worrying if you’re going to lose them
- Tyvek footprint: great
- Black diamond headlamp: needed
- Sawyer squeeze: flow is way too slow. Replace with another 0.1 micron filter with pouch.
- TEVA sandals: replace with slip-ons as camp shoes
- Nalgene bottle: perfectly fine
- Trowel: great
- Scentless baby wipes: I used them
- Toilet paper: yes
- Trail runners: good — prefer this over hiking shoes.
- Foam sit pad: very useful
- Paracord: you need this to pitch a tent well, bring several of these of different lengths
- EDC knife: useful
- Battery charger: 10,000 mA was fine for me. I charged 3x over 4 days. It was enough. Any longer and you’d need a bigger battery
- Clothes: all my clothes were merino wool, spandex, nylon. They weren’t as NOT stinky as I thought they’d be. I brought one change of underwear, one change of socks, and one change of shirt. I think for a 4-day trip, that’s enough clothing. Not too much, not too little. I wouldn’t have done this any different
- Long Johns: They were great to sleep in. Very comfortable and felt like my relax/clean clothes after a long day.
- Patagonia Down puffy jacket: useful when it got cold evening and overnight in the 40s.
- Arcteryx Solano rainjacket: would bring again.
- Snowpeak stove: great
- MSR isopro: the 8oz can was enough for 4 days (7–8 meals +7 cups of coffee). I had probably 1/2 to 1/3 of gas left over. I was worried I would run out of gas but that was far from the case.
- titanium spork: great
- Toak mugs: I brought two and that was great. One for drinking coffee, one for boiling water
- Mountain house: I bought more lunch and dinner meals than breakfast. Next time I would buy more breakfast and dinner meals because we don’t really stop for lunch
- Coffee grinds/Aeropress: I needed this every morning because my head is addicted to coffee. No coffee=headaches. This was nice to have. Don’t bring the grinder — it’s too heavy (I didn’t bring it but just as a note).
- Bug spray/suntan lotion: a must
- Snacks: 1 snack/day is all that is needed. I found myself not really eating them that much.
- Hat: very useful.
- Microfiber towel: useful — used a lot for washing, drying my feet after going in streams.
- Toothbrush, tooth paste: yes
Next time bring: more ziplock bags, helinox chair zero (I had no where to sit; the bearvault was uncomfortable, the sitpad sometimes wasn’t enough on rock), possum socks too heavy, more compression bags, face towel, bandana
I guess I just need lighter stuff because my pack felt heavy but I wouldn’t really change the type of items that I brought on this trip.
Below are the items I wanted to talk in more depth about:
Osprey Atmos AG 65L Pack (4.8lbs/74.6oz):
I got this framed pack as a gift when I was hospitalized in August 2019 from my good friend and work colleagues. It was basically a “get better so we can go on our backpacking trip.” I’ve only used it once for one night in Allegheny National Forest in PA. Overall, great backpack with a lot of lumbar support. I love the bottom compartment to put the sleeping bag and things I don’t need to access unless in my tent. I don’t really enjoy how the hip flaps fold in — it makes it hard to put on. It fit everything I needed on the trip. However, it’s a bit heavy too. I see a few more uses until I crave a more UL backpack (maybe). All-in-all, the pack was definitely needed of course.
Tarptent Double Rainbow DW (2.6lbs/42.5oz): This is my first UL tent that I bought to replace my REI half dome, which is around ~5lbs. I had the seam seal it myself. I pitched it in my apartment using trekking poles because it has freestanding capabilities. Then I tested it out for 2 nights during a camping trip in NJ. It’s deceiving because it is not an easy pitch the first few times you do it. There can be a lot of slack on the outer fly if you don’t make the corner lines long enough. If you make it too taut, the middle of the fly doesn’t line up with the spine of the arch pole and it leans to one side or the other — this is my biggest gripe. The interior is not as spacious as I thought it would be (50 in wide) and it always feels like one side is narrower than the other after numerous pitches. The good thing is that it’s a DW and I can set it up without the fly (for hot days needing ventilation) or use the stargazing mode (which at first I thought was corny but I utilized this set up multiple times). I also used the porch mode a lot with my trekking poles. That was nice. I wish the bathtub wasn’t black because the dust/dirt is very noticeable. The grommets also don’t stay in the loop of the interior spine if attached. Overall, I thought about replacing it while on the trail because of these issues. Almost back to the drawing board and figuring out if I want a semi/freestanding tent vs a trekking pole tent. I keep doing research on the Durston X-mid 2P — not sure when I’ll pull the trigger on that one yet. I think I want a lot of internal space with head room. I don’t care much for the DW/condensation. Although it is light, it still is a bit lengthy and took one side of my pack. We shall see if this tent will stay in the arsenal.
Homemade Tyvek Ground Sheet (5oz): DIY. It was perfect. Very light. I should have made it bigger though. I didn’t realize it would shrink/crinkle that much in the wash. It did its job though. Will continue to use.
BA Upper Slide UL 20 (2.75lbs/44oz): This is the sleeping bag I’ve used since I started camping 3 years ago. Rated to 20F and mummy style. I’ve used it numerous times. It’s very warm and I like how if its cold I can stuff my entire body and face into it. However, I move a lot in the middle of the night and will feeling very constricted. The zipper also gets caught on the bag numerous times when opening and closing. I think my next purchase will be a UL/wider bag or a quilt. It’s too heavy and bulky for my backpacking trip IMO. Will look for a 1–2 lbs one. Sleeping bag — needed.
Nemo Tensor Sleeping Pad — wide regular (1.18lbs/19oz): This was a huge upgrade from my prior amazon sleeping pad. This pad is thicker with a R value of 4.2. It’s easy to inflate with the vortex pump sack (additional 2.1oz) and not very loud and crinkly. It’s warm but I noticed that in the middle of the night when I used my BA sleeping bag as a blanket, my back would get cold (it was around ~40 deg outside). I might need a liner. I won’t replace this anytime soon. Sleeping pad — needed.
Thermarest down pillow: It used to be comfy for me but during the trip stopped being comfy for me. I still need a pillow but I think I’ll be replacing this one.
Dk
