What's Your Favorite Gear?

[Ariadne]

So, I spend about 50 percent of my life outside -- in rain, snow, extreme heat, etc, for 8 to 10 hours at a time. After awhile, you start to learn what products work the best for you. Since there are so many hikers and the like on this site, I was curious to know what people would pick as their favorite, can't-live-without-it gear. I'm always looking for new products to make my life and work outdoors more comfortable.

My top 5 are:
Doc Marten boots with steel toe, $165 about 5 years ago
Smartwool socks, $14 a pair
Sharpie pens, $3 per box
Silva compass, about $20
Rite in the Rain bound books, $14 each

And, always by my side, my Marshalltown trowel, but that's sort of career-specific.

So what are your favorites?

 

[Ben Ruset]

I have a pair of steeltoe Doc's as well. I don't really use them for any sort of hard core hiking. I have an inexpensive US Army Jungle Boots knockoff that I use for hiking where it may be wet.

My rubber knee boots are also really important. It may look dumb to walk around in them but they keep the chiggers off, AND they are waterproof, which is great if you want to hop in a canal (as in Mary Ann Forge) and slosh around.

A good, quality mapping GPS is important IMHO. I leant mine to a friend who took it to Alaska and there have been many, many times I felt stymied in finding things because I don't have it back yet. A serial or USB cable to a laptop with mapping software is also a huge plus.

I have a nice warm canvas jacket that I wear when it's reasonably cold. I still have not found the perfect winter jacket yet.

 

[MuckSavage]

I'll agree with Ben, on the GPS. I usually have my Meridian Platinum on even if I have a good idea where I'm going. LL Bean rain jacket, Polartec fleece, Wolverine boots + LaCrosse rubber muck boots. Cabela's gore-tex boot gators (also good for keeping the chiggers off) Also, does my tried & true old CJ7 count? The winch is a necessity. Even with the 33" tires & lockers, I've used it more to help other people than I have to get myself out of trouble. Thanks for kicking off this thread. I'm looking forward to trying new things that other people have used successfully!

 

[BEHR655]

Camera! Gotta have a camera. I also like my trekking pole as it is good for poking and prodding, keeping balance and it doubles as a mono pod for the camera. Of course hiking boots for dry areas. Not brand specific, just any I can find that fit my huge feet. Hip waders (mine are now knee waders since they tore at the knee) for sloshing through bogs and swamps. Gloves. Cheap cotton garden type work just fine but I also like the leather ones with no fingers. Chocolate bar. Gives a little energy boost and tastes great too. Friends. It's ok hiking alone but it's more fun with friends. Besides, who's gonna drag my ass out of the Pines if I break a leg?

Steve

 

[LARGO]

Given the season...thermal undies are good.
And remember,bring a little bag, any one will do.
Hikers are great mediums for removing trash.

G.

 

[Teegate]

Friends. It's ok hiking alone but it's more fun with friends.

Steve

Good one Steve!

 

[RednekF350]

Anything made from Filson double tin cloth.
My great-great-grandchildren will be wearing this sh-t when I'm in the ground feeding the worms.
Scott

 

[woodjin]

Good topic!! These things always come out with me, depending on the season:

1) Old, beat up, Army issue Jacket with liner (Warm, can take a hell of a beating and has all the right pockets in the right places)
2)Knife(a pocket knife is okay, but a hunting knife is better)
3)DEET
4)Lighter/matches
5)hip waders
6)Cheap hiking boots (I wouldn't put expensive boots through the hell I put most of my boots through, I can easily kill a pair in a few months)
7)Leather and canvas work gloves
8)water
9)cell phone
10)Hand winch/chain/tow rope (slow but great last resort)

Almost always come out with me:
1)Cheap (but cool) sunglasses (so I don't poke my eyes out)
2)USGS topos
3)5' walking stick
4)camera

Jeff

 

[Bobbleton]

This list is always changing as I buy new toys that I "can't live without".

Always:
etrex legend c
digital camera
gore-tex boots (well worth the money. cheaper boots generally don't last me two months, but i can get a year and change out of a good pair of waterproof boots)
snake hook (if its summer)
binoculars
cheap polarized sunglasses
lighter
cell phone
combo led head lamp.

Sometimes:
laptop (for car navigation on bigger trips)
xtra batteries
herp/bird field guides
emergency food rations
bug head-net
inflatable boat.

Winter only:
Ski-mask (its saved me from frostbite so many times)
thermals, sweatshirt, snowboarding jacket, fat socks
gloves
ratan walking staff
mammal tracking field guide
boogie board (for the hills, of course!)


i may be way over-prepared, but i'm always ready.

-Bob

 

[Ariadne]

A good, quality mapping GPS is important IMHO. I leant mine to a friend who took it to Alaska and there have been many, many times I felt stymied in finding things because I don't have it back yet. A serial or USB cable to a laptop with mapping software is also a huge plus.

You know, oddly enough, I don't even own a GPS. I want one, but Santa never brings one. Is there a brand you would suggest?

 

[Ben Ruset]

You know, oddly enough, I don't even own a GPS. I want one, but Santa never brings one. Is there a brand you would suggest?

I am a huge Garmin fan. There are those who like Magellan. Either brand would be fine for Pine Barrens exploring.

I personally own a Garmin GPSMap 76CS. I love it.

 

[Krloucks]

Gear

Haven't gotten into the GPS stuff yet, but you all are peaking my interest. I usually just flip a coin when a fork in the road appears. As for gear, I jsust bring Deet, some Acme brand bottled water, Deet, some extra pants, Deet, my favorite snake/walking stick from Midwest Tongs, Deet, and my camera. Did I mention Deet? Too many scars from scraping chiggers from my ankles.
k

 

[BEHR655]

Haven't gotten into the GPS stuff yet, but you all are peaking my interest. I usually just flip a coin when a fork in the road appears. As for gear, I jsust bring Deet, some Acme brand bottled water, Deet, some extra pants, Deet, my favorite snake/walking stick from Midwest Tongs, Deet, and my camera. Did I mention Deet? Too many scars from scraping chiggers from my ankles.
k

Don't forget the Deet.

Steve

 

[uuglypher]

So what are your favorites?

The previous lists pretty well covered my preferences and not-to-be-forgottens. I do wish I could include "friends" - but with my hips and knees, I'm so exasperatingly slow that I've long since been left to my own devices when back-packing or climbing - so one very important item is a bright "hunter's orange" vest (big enough to fit outside my heaviest layers or winter gear) from Cabelas ... just to facilitate finding the body after the snow melts. Most of my outings involve winter camping, so a good super-size rectangular sleeping bag (my 20-stone mass precludes the mummy bag I used to favor) rated to minus 20 is essential (Coleman). And I always have two or three silvered mylar "space blankets" - saved my ass one night it got down to 15 (from a pleasant hiking 35 degrees during the day) and a badly torn-up ankle kept me a couple of miles from my sleeping gear.

Screw "snack bars" - pockets stuffed with plastic sacs of peanuts-and-raisins and jerkey (not particularly lean) provide good energy - I'll wait to get home to return to "a reasonable, sensible , healthy diet" - and a flexible watersac canteen that can be put inside clothing if it gets chilly enough to freeze. Just for fun a decade or so ago I decided to try living on "Haggis" - that Scottish oatmeal, barley, and seasoned "meats" concoction the Presbyterian covanenters and royalists lived on while traipsing after each other all over the winter highlands a few centuries ago. It was a week-long November meander in NW Wyoming - and when I got back home to a scale, I'd gained weight!
Besides the vest, my wife always insists that I carry my cell phone (charged from my truck's cigarette lighter or my dashboard solar charger) - but I'm usually well out of range or in some damned "cell phone shadow" too deep for the damned thing to work anyway.

Huh ... this turned out to be a longer list and discourse than I'd thought it'd be.

Best t'y'all-
Dave

 

[Piney Boy]

Ohhh, Methinks I smell a gear junkie, maybe we should start an awareness group
O.K., here's my top five list:

GoLite Rain Poncho-Awesome light weight and keeps you free to move as well as dry.
HiTec Apex boots-These are great for a variety of terrain and seasons. Cost me a buck fifty, but worth every penny.
Swiss Army knife-has an abundance of tools and knives.
GPS Magellan-Excellent tool, nuff said
Leki Hiking poles-Helps carry a heavy load and nothing compares the help they give on mt. terrain.
Gotta add number six: My Gregory Z-Pack. Awesome for three to four day trips and weighs just over three lbs.