Continental Divide Trail Gear Review

Backpack: ULA Circuit 68l

The ULA is my homegirl. What a comfortable ride. We initially reduced the weight of the pack by taking off some of the additional unnecessary accessories. This pack was a dream throughout. It carried the weight of up to 7 days, extremely well and not once did it falter. The capacity is ideal, the storage compartments on the front, sides and hip belts are just right for a hikers needs. On our return it is showing limited signs of ware, unlike some packs which only last one single thru-hike, this bad boy is resting up just waiting for the next one. (The planning for which is already underway).

I strongly recommend this pack and can see why long trails are so littered with them.

Cost £185.88

 (Less if, as we did, you ask about cosmetic seconds!)

Pad: Thermarest Z Lite Sol

You may remember me whingeing and whining about the absolute bane of my day (every day) on the Pacific Crest Trail being the entire minute I’d have to spend blowing up the inflatable Termarest NeoAir Xlite before bed.

I bought this Z-Lite as an alternative to that horrible, horrible rigmarole.

Possibly, quite likely and very seriously the best decision I’ve ever made. This pad ranks as my top piece of kit. Rather than the once a day, use an inflatable mat gets, this Z-Lite sol was dispatched (in less than a minutes) a minimum of 4 times per day for 146 days to maximize comfort on breaks. Not to mention it was a respectably comfortable, warm sleeping pad throughout. Probably twice I felt the cold underneath, but, given we camped above the snow line multiple times, that’s pretty darn good.

We did have to retire both of our mats at the end of the trail, but for the £39.10 this will set you back (compared to the £120 for the neo air), I’ll definitely be getting another.

Cost: £37 – £39

Sleeping bag: Zpacks Classic 900 fill

(aka – ‘frog’)

This was possibly my biggest weight saver, after retiring my lumpy Mountain Equipment Classic at 1.25kg we moved into a new world of the hoodless sleeping bag, a step I, being a cold sleeper, was somewhat nervous about taking.

At 545g I knew I was making big changes to my pack weight which I would easily notice.

This bag was immediately like an old friend. I didn’t miss the hood, with a good hat on I felt the bag could be cinched up to cover all.

The zipper has an incredibly ability to never get caught up on anything as you zip up or down, for a tired, bandy, achy body moving about at night, this is a huge plus.

I slept warm all but about two nights, which, again, given the temperatures and snowy conditions, this was incredible.

Cost £283 Discounts possible on bigger purchases, we bought two, you see.

Tent: Motrail Tarptent

This tent is almost a pack of crap.

There are, like any item above, many to choose from. When we balanced price, with weight, and with sacrifices we were, or were not prepared to make (space, durability, bug protection, comfort, water/wind proofing) we landed on this…

This tent is not free-standing, it is erected using hiking poles, and, once up is surprisingly sturdy, but did take some getting used to. In the desert winds we had to add some additional guy lines, front and back, for structural support thus, adding weight in extra pegs, as well as the lines them self.

It’s a single walled tent, and the first of this kind I’ve used. This means you wake up to moist walls, whether it has been raining or not. Unfortunately this two man tent is not big enough for two people to lay in it comfortably and not touch those moist walls. We were waking up to wet sleeping bags which is less than ideal.

The tent is grey, which makes life dark all the time, this may sound trivial, but, it isn’t. spooky Noodle nicknames the tent Loch Ness’ probably for its slender gray serpent like appearance, or because it’s bollocks.

It was pretty faffy and never quite looked erect or properly taught.

Cost: £204.82 (Less if, as we did, you ask about a cosmetic second)

Big Agnes tiger wall ul2

Loch Ness was retired after New Mexico and shipped to New Jersey as punishment. After some research we replaced it with the BA Tiger Wall UL2, not just because of the hella cool name, but also because it was orange, which was agreeable to me.

At 1130g it was only 120g heavier than Loch Ness, and that was a price we were willing to pay for a free standing (would stand erect without pegs) spacious, light (in colour) new home.

We immediately feel in love with it, easy to erect, pockets for both of our personals inside the tent, the orange colour was a mood lifter and most importantly we were dry in even the wettest of storms.

I’d always heard good things about Big Agnes, and I’m pleased to report, with regards to this tent at least, they were all true.

Pegs: MSR Mini Groundhog

These pegs were an ideal match for the plethora off ground types one encounters on a trail moving through many different biospheres. They proved more rugged than the Terra Nova pegs I’d previously used, and did not falter. We may have misplaced one along the way, but made up for this by finding two. The generous addition of the luminous strips on the chord makes them easy to find when pitching or breaking camp in the dark.

Cost: £ £16.99 (6pk)

Rain resistors: Montbell versalite

My Mountain Equipment Mansalu jacket was replaced just before departure for this little number. The Mansalu was far too heavy and expensive to have taken it on trail where it would be undoubtedly ruined by my carelessness.

Nothing can ever really be waterproof. There is a big hole right through this jacket in which one puts oneself – thus leaving it open to penetration. However, if you’re looking for an incredibly lightweight tissue thin layer which will do a damn good job of trying, this is the jacket for you. And I would advise on a jacket with ‘pit zips’ (Zips in your pits) as it gets hot while raining and you’ll be extremely grateful for the opportunity to not drown in your own sweat. This jacket has those.

Match this jacket with an umbrella and you have yourself a winning combination.

The Versalite is WAY cheaper than anything on offer (in the same weight and performance bracket) in the UK. If you shop with Montbell US rather than Montbell Euro, you’ll save yourself some pennies too.

Weighing only 165g (over half the weight of the ME jacket I was thinking of taking) its an incredible weight to price ratio, while performing well.

I’ve previously vowed never to spend more than about £150 ish on my next jacket as I don’t believe it’s truly worth it. They all have a lifespan, none of which are very long and ultimately if it’s really, really raining, you’re going to get wet.

Cost: £159 

Berghaus GoreTex Packlite over trousers

I’ve had a few pairs of these. They remain pretty effective after a few years use. Fairly lightweight, even by international standards at 185g. We could have gone lighter purchasing the Montbell Versalite rain pants saving 100g, but I have already spent a lot on gear and I didn’t feel the need to replace these trusty friends of mine.

Many of our chums hiked without rain pants, deeming an umbrella and a rain jacket to be sufficient protection. There were enough cold mornings, dewy wet, sideways slanted rain storms to make me feel extremely grateful for carrying these.

Cost: £95.5

Puff: Montbell Superior

Montbell products are held in pretty high esteem. Another US product, unbeaten by anything in the UK for it’s warmth to weight ratio, bar one exception (Mountain Hardware Ghost Whisperer – which Snake Legs chose to take with her).

I shopped around a lot in the UK and nothing came close to this 217g jacket with 800 fill down.

It’s super warm, and I’m cold, most of the time. I had a hard time believing just how warm I was, the density of the superior felt like I was wrapping myself in kitchen towels. Given the apparent tissue-like nature of the jacket, I was also surprised to see how well it’s lasted the thrashing I gave it throughout. It completed the trial entirely un-patched and unscathed and lives on today.

I love this jacket.

A lot of people are using the Mountain Hardware Ghost Whisperer on long distance hikes. Dubbed: “The world’s lightest full-featured hooded down jacket”. It’s lighter than the superior at 219g (so not by much) also with 800 fill down. Some people LOVE this jacket. I bought and tried two, but found it had a really, really weird fit – resulting in a terribly unflattering blob shaped me. This was a common review from a lot of women.

Cost: £165.32

Thermals: Helly Hansen Warm Ice Crew

Good quality thermals were a must for me. I already had this thermal top and knew it was a super warm option, though, quite heavy – it was certainly worth every once. Sliding my filthy, salty corpse into this each night was an instant pleasure. I’d take it again, if it would come, as it’s one of the few unscathed items of clothing that actually still smell good after a wash. We also each took a pair of Helly Hansen Merino Lifa pants, which I don’t particularly rate or recommend for warmth or durability, which, given the price, is disappointing.

215g

Cost: £60

Shorts: Montane Claw

Where oh where they get some of these names from I know not.

I love these shorts.

They lasted the duration of the hike, granted they needed a stitch or two in the crotch after a couple of thousand miles, but, they pushed on until the end. Which isn’t bad for all day every day use for 146 days.

By the end they were pretty much a skirt, but that worked. Chafe was limited and the super thin, lightweight fabric meant they were cool and quick-drying, suitable for all my lake dipping needs.  

Cost: £40 new, or, go and stress the cashiers at Go Outdoors for a better deal.

Shirt: Columbia Bahama PFG shirt

I wanted this shirt in Royal Blue, but, no such luck; so I went for this odd vomit colour which I quite like. It worked well in the desert and beyond, lightweight, cool and quick-drying, the pockets made for wonderfully useful storage compartments. Unfortunately by mid-Colorado not even the hottest, longest wash (with double detergent) would remove the smell from the entire shirt. I could have pushed on a little further, but Snake Legs was at her love limit.

We found a rather dashing grey shirt by REI for $10 in a consignment store in Leadville. The handy pocket compartments weren’t available in this new shirt, but Snakes and I left with our relationship intact, so I guess it was worth it.

Cost: £17 on Amazon but the price keeps reducing as they rid themselves of old stock -Columbia make a lot of PFG shirts.

Socks: Darn Tough Shorty

We switched out our socks a lot on trail, they were easily and unsurprisingly quick wearing. While we each continued to carry a pair of Darn Tough socks, we quickly fell in love with a recommended purchase of these Injinjis.

Unlike Darn Tough, the Injinjis don’t come with a lifetime warranty, but, I never had a blister wearing them, so that was worth giving up the bright pretty patterns of Darn tough for.

I recommend Darn Tough, they are hard wearing and the lifetime warranty makes them attractive, but they are no match to the blisterproof Injinji, though inevitably they both wear.

injinji: Cost: £12.85

Shoes: Altra Lone Peak 3.0

Altra are the very best shoe I’ve found for thru’ hiking. While on trail I saw many a model and decided to try out a few.

Two pairs of Lone Peaks, the 3.0 being more hard wearing than the 4.0, one pair of Altra Timps, (pictured on my feet opposite) which only lasted about 300 miles, weren’t up to the ruggedness of the trail and were my least favourite, though still comfortable; and then the Altra Olympus, (pictured worn out opposite) which is hands down the best trainer I’ve hiked in. Its like the Hoka Speed Goat and The Altra 3.0 had a baby, comfort, space, durability, I’d love to say style too, but I just cant as it is certainly the ugliest of all the Altras, looking somewhat like a correction shoe. I’d also love to tell you it doesn’t matter hat you look like while hiking, but we all know that to be a lie. Nonetheless the unflattering design of this shoe did not prevent me from getting through two pairs and looking to buy another post trail.

I think the extra space for foot splay in the Altras meant my feet didn’t grow as much as on the PCT where I ended up wearing 3 sizes bigger than normal.

Altra Olympus Cost £77.99

Gaiters: Dirty Girls

I wore these every single day for 146 days. even when they were no longer necessary. I loved them, they became like old friends (I had a lot of old friends with me). Where it mattered, my feet remained surprisingly clean (well, dust and mud free) and largely without any blisters, helped considerably, compared to the PCT by these little triangles of protecting fabric.

You can buy them from about two stores in the UK, both were out of stock when I wanted to purchase them, We had them shipped over from the US, and I’d do it again too.

Cost £14.46

Gloves: Sealskinz Winter Cycling Gloves

After watching many gear guide videos and reading far too many blogs on gear, I decided I should take my Sealskins, pretty much because everyone else was taking thick (as well as thin) gloves.

This proves nearly pointless. I do suffer with cold hands, and on a few occasions I wore my thinner Black Diamond gloves, but these ones were overkill and actually, not that warm. I bounced them in mail boxes most of the way up the trail.

Cost: RRP £40 / £19.99

Hat: Quicksilver Beanie

As far as hats go, this one is pretty heavy, but, I just love him and he didn’t let me down, not once.

Cost £15 ish

Sun hat: Kuhl Uberkuhl cap

I love this hat, I really do, but a good friend of mine sent us a mail box on trail, the contents of which saw this chap replaced by something a little cooler.

Khul Cost £20

Sungalsses: B’Twin Roackrider

These sun glasses are really cheap. BUT, my firends made fun of me wearing them before I left, so, I endedup taking a pair I bought while on holiday in Croatia for 6 Euros. It said they had some kind of sun protection ingrained, but for 6 Euros, I’m not sure that was true…

Cost: £3.99

Pot: AlptKit 900ml

This titanium pot is a small pot for two, or a big pot for one, I used it solo! 900ml titanium (lightweight and strong). I could just about get everything I wanted to eat into it each night, and it made for a giant cup of tea.

Weight: 94 g (+26g with the lid which we didn’t take and replaced with a doubled up sheet of tinfoil.

Cost: £27

Spoon: Sea to Summit titanium spork

Another titanium, lightweight product. This spoon had been in my life for a while, and did the trick until Wyoming, when, overly conscious about bears and other troubling elements, I left it on a hill side after dinner.

We shared a spoon for a good while before I availed MacDonald of one of theirs. Two actually, as I wasn’t about to go spoonless again. This new additon saw me through, and turned out to be rugged and comfortable once in ones mouth. I’ve kept both and will use them again without hesitation.

12g

Cost £11:00 or, free if you go to MacDonald’s, which I wont recommended other than for spoon collection.

Water filter: Sawyer Squeeze

This filter is a pack of crap.

Weighing a mere 85g it is lightweight, but the least time efficient water treatment system. Though inexpensive it’s neither easy nor versatile.

After its been nose to nose with any amount of particles its relatively useless until you can back flush it, which you can only do with filtered water.

We took one filter to use between the two of us, and, in the desert where we were sometimes needing 4 litres of water each, we used up more than the desired length of our breaks straining to push a trickle through this bunged up tube of crud; more if you count the discussion time spent deciding who’s turn it was to filter.

Luckily we also carried chemical treatment, which we only intended to use in the desert, but carried and use this over the filter all the way through until Canada.

The only time you’d really need to filter water is if its filled with visible crap, and, if it’s filled with visible crap this thing just cant handle it.

Bleach saw us through.

Cost : Around £40ish

Bleach (Scrounged from bars and motels): Free

Stove and fuel: MSR Pocket Rocket w/gas

I’ve had this Pocket Rocket for years. It’s reliable, lightweight and fast. It took a battering and didn’t complain once. 85g

Gas canisters seem pretty easy to come by on the CDT, we were never in a position to have to cold soak through lack of gas, and, I wasn’t fearful enough of bears to want to go without hot food. No sir.

Cost: £28

*Also pictured opposite, that trusty MacDonalds spoon*

Smart water bottle 1L x 2

Yeah, they were great, what can I say, couldn’t have done it without them. Recycling in most states in the US seems unheard of, on my next hike I think I’ll carry a reusable bottle (I know this one is technically reusable, but they get pretty manky, pretty fast).

Cost: Who cares

Head net: Sea to Summit

We didn’t use this, but, I would never recommend not taking one. we were on the verge a few times, but managed to light a fire quick enough to avoid madness.

Bugs are probably in the top three most annoying things that could have happened on the CDT. Yes, we didn’t end up using it, but, it may well have prevented us killing ourselves so I think it was probably worth it. But only probably. It is 11g afterall.

Pictured opposite is possibly our worst night regarding Mosquitoes, Maps is sporting her head net and this picture was taken just before I dived into our tent to hide – they paid no attention to the fire, but seemed to enjoy flying through the flames to bite us like tiny little beasts from HELL.

Phone: Honor 7x

This phone is HUGE, but I own it, so it’s came with me.

It has a dual camera, which took pretty nice pictures at 16mp.

It made calls, and free ones from abroad.

We run the CDT ‘Guthook’ map app off it, which worked almost flawlessly.

I’ll played music when I wanted it to.

215g

Cost £229.99

Battery: Anker Power Core

I didn’t use my phone enough to ever need to charge it more than once on any given section, so I never really got the chance to see how much power this thing could have given me, but, for what I needed it for, it worked a treat.

Cost £21.99

Wallet: Zpacks Passport Zip Pouch

9.4g to keep all the essentials waterproof and secure throughout. I do enjoy a tiny bag. And, I didn’t loose it.

Cost £7.88

Blister Care: Leukotape

Some amazing human on a blog years ago gave me this incredible advice. I’m not madly prone to blisters, but I do have abnormally soft feet and they inevitably happen. I never got on too well with blister specific plasters. This tape is designed for sports injuries, which, I suppose qualifies a blister? It’s mega sticky, zinc oxidey, breathable and super strong. Weight depends on how much you take, I wrapped a length of it around my journal pen and sent more in a resupply box up the trail. Snakes ended up practically eating the stuff, so we eventually carried the whole thing, its bloody good.

Cost £9.80

Repair tape: Spinnaker tape

This tape is terrific. Another tip, from chap in a van somewhere near reading. It’s used in sailing for sail repair, supposedly temporarily but I’ve used this on sleeping pads, waterproof and down jackets, tents and ALL SORTS – it’s super-duper sticky and really strong. As long as the surface is clean and dry. I took a small length of it and never really used it as, I found some ‘Tenacious Tape’ in a hiker box.

I’d heard good tings about Tenacious Tape and wanted to give it a try. By the end all my things had a small square of green tape on it, patching me up.

I rate both tapes, very highly.

Note the small squares of green on my waterproof opposite.

Cost £6.48 for 4.5m – mega deal

Dry bags: Osprey / Sea to Summit

I’ve no regrets taking these over a bin bag or refuse sack. Treated with a small batch of care and they are bomb proof. Though I think a couple did earn their own patch of green tenacious tape too. Through killer storms our essentials remained waterproof.

Shade: Euroschrim Liteflex Trekking Umbrella

I think we can all agree, this umbrella has a stupid name. However, it’s become one of my top peices of kit. Never to go out into the wilds again without one. It offered shade where there was none, and offered shelter when my waterproof had had enough. I absolutely give this my most prize recommendation.

Cost £38.99

Water: Platypus 3L

I never ended up taking this. I was dubious about the level of faff and cleanliness. I opted for 4x Smart water bottles where water was limited and 2x or 2.5x where it was more abundant. I’m pleased with my decision not to take it, though Snakes opted to take the Osprey Hydraulics 3L Reservoir and loved every second of her interaction with it. She found it faffless and kept it super clean, but that’s what she’s like.

Cost: £19.79

Poles: Leki Sherpa XL Speed Lock

These Sherpa’s performed well throughout. Weighty enough to stop my arms from completely atrophying, but not so heavy that I noticed the weight. I had to replace one of the tips in Montana, but, that was easy enough to do. i’d never hike without poles, to me there are essential.

181g each.

ANTI CHAFE: BODY GLIDE

Chafe was kept at bay quite nicely on this trail, though when I felt even a slight sore spot coming on I rubbed this all over the affected area, it did the job quite nicely and I never really had too bad of a time. 22g

COST: £9.99

REHYDRATION: NUNN SALTS

This was mostly to avoid dying. Especially in the desert. These were ranked as one of the top ten hydration salts by some guy on some website I found. That’s the kind of hard evidence I like to work from.

I took one a day in the first two weeks in the Bootheel and collected another 10 in a mail drop just before the Great Basin Wyoming. I’m not sure how much worse off I would have been without them, but I certainly didn’t suffer in the heat having taken them.

COST 9.99 x 20 tablets

POOP SPOON: THE DEUCE #2

In order to save the 17g weight of this little essential, people will profess that digging a hole (to poop in) with a pole, shoe, rock or other completely inappropriate object would be the way to do it…. If someone made a bet, (and why the hell would they on this increasingly boring topic) I would place real money on anyone not carrying one of these not dealing with their waste correctly. The hole should be 6″ and wide enough to house your turd, no matter where you sit on the Bristol Stool Chart.

An essential piece of kit, sturdy, sharp and effective, though lost after a session wit it in deepest Montana Somewhere in the Bob Marshall Wilderness….

Cost 20.99

SOS: SPOT GEN 1

The SPOT GEN 1 is the most basic tracker offered (in fact no longer offered) by SPOT. It successfully sent our loved ones our real-time GPS location, though with the introduction of smartphone being free to use in the States, we barely sent any messages.

It pretty much acted as a: ‘when the shit hits the fan’ back up to our phone, though thankfully we never had to use it, I was always glad we carried it.

Cost: £60 on eBay in 2012 – no longer manufactured but still supported by SPOT additional service plans must be purchased for around £170