Preparing for a 4 day coastal backpacking trip

Well, hello there. I'm getting ready to leave on a four-day, three-night coastal backpacking trail. This goat's not happy about it, apparently. I'm just going over my gear. I haven't even really fully packed yet. I'm sure you can see some of my stuff here out in the open. I'm going to use this video as a packing and telling you about my gear video. but not just telling you about my gear but packing myself for really the first time properly for this trip so yeah i have a few things that i'm not sure of just yet of what i'm going to be wearing clothes wise but the rest of my gear is pretty straightforward so get into it basically i'm going to be doing a coastal trail uh 65 kilometers long and this is up hey bud uh Lake Superior Provincial Park so very rugged terrain we're not going to be walking on a flat Algonquin type portage or backpacking trail it's going to be boulders it's going to be sand it's going to be on the coast windy wet so it is calling for rain two out of the four days we're there i'm going with buddy doug which you might have already seen his gear video for so let's dive into the backpack this backpack is my Fall River Free Loop 55. it's 55 liters i have used this thing for years now i got it from doug actually uh i want to say three maybe three ish years ago four years ago i've been using it ever since i've used on backpacking trips canoe trips great backpack Fall River is not sponsoring me i have uh tried many times and they won't even reply to me so this is my unbiased opinion i love this backpack even though i'm not happy with the color raven so on the very outside i have nothing yet and that will change i'll have my map and i'll I'll have my sit pad on the outside. This stretchy pocket is very useful. I'll also be putting wet clothes or something like that in there down the line. So I've got my tent poles on the outside. There's my plane. The tent poles stay on the outside in this large generous pocket. I can also fit a water bottle into the same pocket if I need to, but they're out of the way. I can strap them in with this side strap. Wow, it's noisy. But yeah, they're not going to go anywhere. I've done it like this lots i don't really have anything on the other side yet again like i said i haven't packed completely yet in the very top in the lid part there's an inside pocket and i have my possibles pouch in there i'll go through what's in there in a minute here so again this stuff's just thrown in this is part of the reason i'm doing this video let me just dump her out that's everything what i'm really probably going to be using for the very first time on this trip for this backpack in the bottom of the backpack it actually has a rain cover an awesome baby blue rain cover because you know sweet colors red and blue but that will go over my pack when I need to it's just gonna stay in the bottom and right there until then blue and red like I don't see what the big deal is all right that's that I have a trash compactor bag that I'm going to be lining my backpack with as well just for extra assurance that my stuff will stay dry so what do need on a camping trip your basic necessities you need a shelter which in my case I don't want to be building obviously I'm walking 20 plus kilometers a day I need to carry my stuff with me this isn't bushcraft this is carry camping so I'm gonna need a shelter I'm gonna need insulation from the ground I need insulation from the top like a sleeping bag so you already have a tent you have a sleeping pad you have a sleeping bag you're gonna need food you're gonna need water or means to get water and in this case you're not carrying water right maybe a liter at a time but you need means to get water and that's not boiling because you're drinking tons of water a day right completely put bushcraft out of your mind this is a backpacking trip so you need a filter or drops for water or some other means of doing it quickly you need something to cook your food in which in my case i'm doing all one pot meals you need something to cut firewood with if you're having fires or to cut fuel with if you're using a twig stove so i've got i've got all these things in my head as i'm go as i'm packing like for my trips right like i pack so many times it's just i know what my necessities are i need boom boom boom boom shelter insulation food water and then after that it becomes more of situational is it going to rain is it going to be cold are there going to be bugs is it going to be snowy um things like that wind is a big thing too um temperature so all those things come into play after and they're not as important as your main things they are very important sorry i guess they are just as important they're just not the same every time right so you'll be switching those things up periodically maybe with the seasons so i did end up if you guys watch my five day solo trip you'll you'll know that i was not happy with that Marmot negative one celsius sleeping bag that i bought um i had used it on that trip and then one trip prior i brought it back to the place i bought it at which was Sale Outdoors in Cambridge and they were super good it like stunk i didn't have my receipt um yeah any or even the bag i came back with and i told the manager that and he's like bring it in he's like uh if you say it's not what it's what it's supposed to be then it's not and then they let me exchange it for this and this is a Mountain Hardware Phantom Spark negative two celsius bag and this bag is tiny it's even smaller than that marmot somehow and it's i've had Mountain Hardware bags before they hold up i'm not concerned about this one so i'm bringing this on the trip and uh yeah we'll see but look at that sleeping bag guys this is my sleeping pad compared to it this is a Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XTherm look at my sleeping pad look at my sleeping bag that is awesome that really cuts down weight and bulk very much so so sleeping bag sleeping pad off to the side those are going to be used for sure in every single backpacking or canoeing style trip that i do um next up i have my pillow which i don't think i'm going to bring i always bring this little thing it packs down to extremely small and i can fill in the cracks of my backpack like the gaps of where the gear is not with this but i don't i'm not going to bring it because it's going to be relatively warm at night and this primloft jacket doubles as a pillow and you just zip it into its own zipper on the inside i'm not going to do the whole thing but then it zips shut and you can use it as a pillow i don't think i'm going to have to be using this at night and if i do once i get into my sleeping bag i'll be fine it's not going to get anywhere near negative two celsius at night while i'm there it's going to be like negative nine or not even sorry positive nine positive six at night so i'm not worried about it this will be my pillow slash jacket if i need it so i've already got rid of this thing that weighs nothing which is awesome um next up i have my cook kit and this cook kit is tried and true again this is a uh snow peak spork snow peak 900 titanium cook set and inside it is my bush buddy twig stove you just interrupted my video making it's doug it's doug on the phone yeah i gotta go push pause now okay doug wanted to just inform me that the weather has changed what are you doing go on bud and uh we might be getting a little bit more rain than anticipated but that's okay so anyways like i was saying got my bush buddy here this is my cooking kit Doug will be bringing the same one it's a tried and true very good cook kit so that's going to go in a little silk nylon bag with my spork and then so food i guess food i have to because we're going through driving through the states driving through the U.S. i'm not allowed to bring meat through so i have to stop and get my um my my lunch meat and my salami and stuff there but i basically have dehydrated meals oatmeal some bars some trail mix and stuff like that not nothing too out of the ordinary but that's my food there other than some lunch meat and a bag of jerky or like a salami so that's not too bad weighs like i don't know eight pounds or so um i do have Silky Gomboy for wood processing and doug's going to bring a small hatchet like a Gransfors mini hatchet i believe my tent itself is the Big Agnes Fly Creek UL1 this is the tent body this is the tent peg poles and pegs i've used this tent uh probably three or four years as well got this from buddy Dustin um yeah it's going strong this thing is awesome i love this tent a whole lot i'll show you all this stuff set up when i'm when i'm camping obviously neoprene socks for camp these are gonna be my camp shoes quote unquote so when i get to camp i can air out my feet dry them out because i'm sure they'll be wet all day long um and then if i do need some protection from bugs for my feet or from the cold or just want to wear these around camp i can do that they're smaller than like a pair of Crocs or something i don't know why i put quote unquote Crocs they're smaller than a pair of Crocs um they're just me my camp shoes i might try something more different later on but they've been working for me pretty well a luxury item i do have is a this pack towel a ShamWow style packs down pretty small but i feel like if it gets super buggy and hot one day i might want to dip in the Lake Superior and that's going to be super cold so i'll want to dry off uh even my inside of my tent to dry it off and stuff if it's been raining it's just i like having it my my luxury item i do have a rain jacket this is an Arc'teryx rain shell it's just a jacket i'm not bringing the pants uh it packs down this small it's kind of bulky but it's necessary i use that on my Algonquin trip my my five-day solo trip almost every day so um okay so as far as clothes I haven't made up my mind yet if I'm going to be wearing these Rab I'll tell you why These are Rab brand Nylon pants And they have this cinch cord at the bottom Which is almost a necessity for me I don't want to wear my Fjällräven pants So I need the cinch at the bottom for a couple things For making them not so baggy They rub on each other And get the pants wet all the way up From dew or whatever So bugs can't fly up it And so that I'm not sloppy You know I don't want baggy bell bottoms out there So it doesn't make sense lots of pants lots of outdoor brands that give you these wide Pant bottoms and it just doesn't make a lick of sense to me so these Rab ones have the cinch I like them. I've been using these for since last spring on canoe trips and stuff I just I don't know I don't necessarily like the way they fit They're kind of baggy and saggy, but they are good pants They are small nylon and they dry off quickly. There's good things about them. I just got these new ones these are from Mountain Equipment Co-op and they're the same style basically but they don't have a cinch at the bottom they just have this elastic which is fine and it'll hug my my cup as well and they're a little bit thinner a little bit more form fitting and quick dry as well nylon so I might bring these I really haven't made up my mind they're not as small as the other ones but it doesn't really matter because I will be wearing them I don't plan on packing them I'm not bringing a second pair of pants so the decision still has to be made on the pants one of these two Rab or Mountain Equipment Co-op my boxers gonna be my Under Armour boxers like normal and my shirt is a just like a merino wool t-shirt my socks I'll be wearing are Darn Tough ankle socks they're made of wool as well or wool and something else my shoes are my old trusty old Montrails I've been wearing these ever since I started backpacking they're wearing out but they give me good ankle support and this will probably be the last year I wear them I'm gonna be bringing one hiking pole because I'll have my DSLR in my hand. I'll be carrying my DSLR in my big camera in my hand the whole time. So just one trekking pole and I'm sure I'll need it. It's going to be slick and bouldery. The rest of my clothes I should go over. Oh, and my hat. Sorry, I got an Outdoor Research hat with mesh on top. The rest of my clothes that I'll be bringing, not wearing, but bringing for extra. These other pair of longer Darn Toughs. I'll probably be sleeping in these or changing out if I have to. I have my Costco Long Johns, an extra pair of Under Armour boxers, a small Merino wool Icebreaker's toque or beanie, an old, old Mountain Equipment Co-op Merino wool long sleeve, and this one actually has a hoodie. So that's going to be my warm clothes along with my Primaloft. I'm bringing this neck buff just in case it gets too hot or sunny. You can dip it in the water, put it on my neck. It'll protect me from bugs too on my neck i have a thin nylon belt some Tylenol a secondary little stuff sack for my food in the day so i don't have to reach into my bag dig out my whole big food bag i can put this small one in the top section of my backpack in the uh the lid put my lunch for the day in it and uh be easy access a sit pad and i have my bag that i will be putting my my dry clothes in it's just a stuff sack Outdoor Research i do think i'll also bring my piece of Reflectix so that i can um sit on it if it's raining or whatever uh let me stop to give myself a little bit more more room than just this for my butt so my reflectix can lay out and i can lay my legs on it uh sitting in front of the fire drying off i won't i won't be getting all wet and muddy um i do i don't know if i mentioned it the trash compactor bag will be lined it it lined inside my backpack to protect it from getting wet well all the important things from getting wet my camera stuff as always i got a ziploc bag full of batteries chargers for my dslr and my gopro i'll be bringing my gopro session as well this thing saved the video on my five-day trip because it was raining all the time if i didn't have this i would have had less than half the footage uh so i got it on this little Joby pod and then i'll also be bringing my chest harness oh i got sd cards too all right my possibles pouch, baby wipes, toothpaste, medical kit, Gas-X pills, cheap bug net, Suunto compass, headlamp, water purification, first aid again, pills, pills, body glide, extra battery for my headlamp, bug spray, sunscreen, hemorrhoid cream, extra GoPro stuff, And then a bear-hanging, I'm on a paracord, bear-hanging bag, I'm on a paracord. And in my pockets of my backpack, I forgot, I have my Swiss Army Ranger. I got this from Buddy Malcolm. It's got a saw, a knife, a bunch of other things. So this will stay in my belt pocket, my backpack. And in my other one, I have my water purification, which is my Sawyer Squeeze. So I have two things for water purification. I have the drops and the Sawyer Squeeze just in case one fails. Those are convenient in there. I don't have to mess around to get to them at all. Okay, I've got everything I need now. I've got my Reflectix out here too. So this is how she's going to go. I'm going to pull my Reflectix so that it fits into the back, right down the back of it. Okay, now my trash compactor bag is going to go inside with a liner. And I don't necessarily need to put all of my things inside the trash compactor bag, But things like the tent, sleeping bag, my sleeping pad, my sleeping pad in first, my sleeping bag in first, then my tent, my sleeping pad next to it, then I'm going to keep my rain gear near the top, probably put my food, sorry my cook kit down, then I'll put my food, the food's going to try to go in the middle, closest to my back, clothes in there. So my compression lock is going to go stuffed down in the cracks to fill in the gaps. It's not really taking up too much room. My rain gear, actually, you know what? I can close all that off. I just put my possible pouch right in the top. This traction packer bag gets folded down. The rain gear goes right in the very top. Put my chest mount right next to it. And I think that's it for the main compartment. Oh, sorry, my little booties. Those booties should have went in first. But that's okay. down there the closure on this is pretty cool so you've got a couple clasps that's a drawstring obviously and you got your clasp that goes there then i have to put this will be my food stuff for the day and then this gets buckled to this let me scout we've got two buckles on the front to get the lid down nice and cinched my blue foam pad i should have done this before i buckle it down is gonna go in the front pulls on the side we're done oh pull the joe pull the joe let's put this down in here too all right i won't be bringing my large tripod that i have the camera on right now the thing is i do have to have room in case it rains or when it does rain for my DSLR to go inside my backpack and then that's when the GoPro comes out i'll probably end up just strapping this GoPro on the outside of my bag or something you know so i can get to it easy yeah then that's it guys my shoes my hiking pole my hat the clothes i'm gonna wear so this backpack weighs 22 pounds i believe i weighed it inside so i'm gonna say after i get the rest of my food in maybe if i do carry i do have this i haven't decided if i'm going to carry it for water or get a powerade bottle to put on the side just so that i can carry water if i do need to if we're at some spot where we're gonna be hiking for a while where there's not the coast right right uh beside us which 90 percent of the time it is so i won't have to carry water i can just fill up and drink as i go but nonetheless i have this platypus or i will buy a gatorade powerade bottle and put it in the side after all of that i think i'll be topped out at 25 pounds which is pretty good i can handle 25 pounds um yeah that's it this trip is coming up soon i'll be excited when i can actually finally go on it it's been a long time i haven't backpacked since the last time i backpacked with doug and that was years ago and i think he was saying the same thing so should be good looking forward to camping with Doug again hope you guys enjoy this hope it was informative hope you stick around and watch the full video on it thank you very much have a good day and I'll see you in the next one let's go inside bud