Ask Darwin Q&A #20 (Answers)

Description

** Stuff/Gear I Mention in this Video **

Osprey Exos 58 - http://amzn.to/2sY99k2

Osprey Atmos 65 - http://amzn.to/2v5225R

ZPacks Arc Blast Review - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BbUV-X-oXM

ULA Packs - http://www.ula-equipment.com

Power On the Trail Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IR7ITlIMJGs&t=4s

PowerAdd Slim2 Charger - http://amzn.to/2tB8aEV

ATC Website - http://www.appalachiantrail.org

AT Gear List - https://darwinonthetrail.com/2016/05/03/darwins-2016-at-gear-list/

*** WAYS TO SUPPORT THIS CHANNEL ***

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/darwinonthetrail

(Help Support my 2018 PCT Thru with a pledge as low as a $1/month)

Visit our Etsy Shop! - https://www.etsy.com/shop/TravelandTrail

Get some Sweet Darwin Onthetrail Swag at : https://shop.spreadshirt.com/Darwinonthetrail

*** Gear Used to Shoot this Video! ***

- Camera -

Canon EOS T6i - http://amzn.to/2kACQOU

- Lense -

Canon EFS 24mm - http://amzn.to/2mSAXSn

- Sound -

TakStar Shotgun Mic - http://amzn.to/2kMsAnM

- TriPod -

Targus 360 Trigger Tripod - http://amzn.to/2kMsU5Y

------- Music By: Thunder/Dreamer --------

DISCLAIMER: This video and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps support the channel and allows us to continue to make videos like this. Thank you for the support!

Contact information:

Website: www.darwinonthetrail.com

Instagram: Darwin_Onthetrail

facebook: www.facebook.com/darwinonthetrail

Tags: Appalachian Trail,AT,AT Thru-Hike,Thru-Hike,Hiker Trash,Backpacking,Hiking,Camping,Adventure,PCT,Pacific Crest Trail,PCT Thru-Hike,CDT,AZT,Long Distance Hiking,UL Gear,UL Backpacking,Colorado Trail,Blue Ridge Mountains,Zpacks,ULA,Osprey

Video Transcription

hey guys it's Darwin here with my weekly Q&A to answer more of your questions if you want to leave a question for next week's Q&A you can either leave it in the comment box below or send me a video question over to Darwin on the trail at yahoo.com and then next week I'll answer as many as I possibly can all right so let's go ahead and get into this week's first question what essentials should be higher quality and where does it not matter that much so good question and I'm assuming that you're talking about back packing items and backpacking gear I think where it really really matters on high quality is going to be in your big three so your pack your tent in your sleep system number one pack wise you want to make sure you have a super tough pack that's going to last the duration of the hike that you're going to be doing also make sure it's an optimal pack that has enough room enough storage and enough features for what you're needing number two your tent or hammock or whatever shelter you decide to go with needs to be amazing it's going to be your home for four to six months so make sure that it's really good quality and it's going to last it's going to go through rain it's going to go through snow it's going to go through sleet it's going to be able to handle the elements every single day out on the trail keep you comfortable keep you dry and be your home be comfortable in the shelter that you have so definitely be looking at a high quality shelter and the third one and probably the most important would be your sleep system if you are hiking every single day you're wearing yourself out so make sure you're getting good sleep at night get a good sleeping pad get a pillow if that's what you want get a good sleeping bag or a quilt make sure you are comfortable when you're sleeping you want a great night's sleep so you can get up and enjoy your hike during the day and not be dragging ass and be super tired

now obviously Footwear and clothes are also very essential items but I don't think they're as important as those big three items so really focus on the big three invest a lot not only in quality gear but also in light weight because those are the big three that make up the weight of your pack get those down and wait get those three quality items and you should have a pretty good gear setup hey Darwyn question about when you start your days on your really long through hikes as the Sun rises earlier earlier do you find yourself getting up early and earlier with the Sun or do you try to stick to getting up at the same time in starting your hikes at that time and going through the day or do you hike longer with the longer days or do in hike shorter with the shorter days just kind of curious how that all works out so regardless of when the Sun comes up and when it goes down I am an early hiker regardless I love getting up super early and putting in my miles before noon a lot of times out on the 80 I was getting up at 4 or 5 a.m. just so I could hit the trail thinking about a break trail for the first time which sometimes includes eating a bunch of cobwebs and breaking those hump the trail but regardless I love to get up early and hike and get my maximum amount of miles out before noon and then I usually hike to about 4 or 5 during the day I really like to get into camp early so I can break down my gear set up my tent eat and just kind of relax for the rest of the night because rest and sleep out on the trail are super important to me the only way I can get in those big miles early in the morning is if I get optimal rest and sweet so regardless of when the Sun comes up and when it goes down I just get up early and I hike and like I said I usually hike to about 4 or 5 sometimes so I'm really trying to hammer out a huge day I'll hike to about 6 or 7 it just depends on the trail it depends on the day and it depends on how I'm feeling on the trail what are your experiences with the trail magic I heard various opinions about it some say it kills the idea of hiking but some people love it and what do you think about it

so trail magic is amazing any hiker that doesn't like trail magic is not a hiker at home sometimes the big hiker feeds like whenever someone sets up a camp and they're feeding a lot of people I guess I could see where that kind of takes away from the trail a little bit but trail magic is really really special to me and special to a lot of through hikers when you're out there every day and you're going through the motions you're hiking you're hot you're when you're doing all these things it's really beating you down not only physically but also mentally whenever you come upon like a cooler and it has like a couple Coca Cola's in it or maybe some oatmeal cream pies there is no better morale booster than trail magic it really just lifts your spirits it makes you feel good and it kind of gets you out of that funk that you might be in on the trail that day so I have personally had some really amazing experiences with trail magic not only the small like feeds like beer or coke or cookies or something like that but also trail magic as in getting a ride into town someone taking me in for the night and giving me a shower being at a grocery store and someone just handing me a $20 bill and and tell me that they they really think it's amazing for what I'm doing and and by dinner on them like that is so cool that people care and things like that in this world that you know we constantly hear all these bad news reports of shootings and and bombings and war and stuff like that it's little things like trel magic that kind of give you faith in humanity again and let you know that there are a lot of really great good amazing people out there so as far as I'm concerned trail magic is amazing on all different types of levels hey darlin I'm Chris and I'm Lena and we are new to your channel really like the videos keep keep them up great job I have a couple of questions first I went through and watched all your Q&A today and the 11 or 12 episode of your question and answer somebody had talked about a permit while hiking the PCT I don't know if I misunderstood or if you actually have to have a permit to hike the PCT or do through hikes and if so can you elaborate on that a little bit and the second question I had is about trekking poles I've never done it through hikes

I've never done anything more than a day or two and on a day hike I just take my backpack if you're doing a day hike somewhere in like the Blue Ridge or doing like a small section of the 80 and it's only going to be a day or three days or five days would you take your trekking poles with you and it's so why anything

keep up the great work thank you Thanks so yes you do have to have a permit to hike the PCT whether you're going northbound or southbound you are required carry a permit and not just a permit to hike the PCT but also something like an open fire permit the reason that they do that is they really want to limit the amount of people hiking the PCT they don't want to put as big of an impact on that trail like the 80 now over the last handful of years the ATC is actually been starting a voluntary permit system and most of us figure they're going to eventually go to a permit system where you have to file for on now most hikers will start filing in February and it's pretty much first-come first-serve and the whole point of it is to limit how many people are starting on one given day I believe it's something like 50 to 60 don't quote me on that but I think it's about 50 or 60 people that can start on any given day on the PCT and that way they keep down those huge numbers of hikers impacting the trail at one time now I personally think that is an amazing idea I think it really helps keep that impact on the trail down to where it's not overcrowded and natural resources aren't just getting trampled and destroyed a lot of that has been happening out on the Appalachian Trail and like the last ten years and ATC is finally starting to buckle down on that and try to limit the impact on the trail one of the most important things I think that we can do as hikers is help protect our trails so we can hike them in the future so the permit system is a-okay with me now as far as trekking poles I use trekking poles for every hike that I do for a lot of reasons number one the tent that I use is a trekking pole tent without trekking poles I couldn't set the damn thing up so I absolutely need trekking poles but the other reason is descending a lot of those mountains on the East Coast on the Appalachian Trail in the Blue Ridge Mountains you get some really really steep descents and having trekking poles to kinda lessen that weight and lessen that speed as you're coming down and controlling it really helps out your knees and whenever you're doing something like a thru-hike and you're constantly going up and down up and

every single day taking a little bit of load off of your joints is amazing so even when I do a thru-hike like here in the Sandia Mountains I still use my trekking poles not only are they good for that but they're also good to push things out of the way they're great for creek crossings so trekking poles are super useful and super valuable to me now to each their own there are some people that do not like trekking poles and have never hiked with them I personally don't know how people do it without trekking poles I absolutely love mine and I suggest trying them out for sure non hiking related question does the ink on your right forearm represent any mountains in particular or is it just because you love the mountains so good question I think I've covered that in a QA before but it's not here it is again this is actually a representation of the Blue Ridge Mountains starting from the Smokies and going all the way to the Shannon doe is I absolutely love the Blue Ridge it is my favorite mountain chain and I've spent a lot of time in those mountains

not only on vacations and weekend hikes but obviously also hiking the 80 I love mountains out here in the West they're huge massive 14 or mountains but there's something to be said about the Blue Ridge this massive collection of mountains as far as the eye can see and the cool thing is if you've ever been at the top of the Blue Ridge at night and the Sun starts setting down it gets this nice blue haze which is where it got its name so yep that is the Blue Ridge Mountains I am in love with those mountains snuggles and I hope to return to Virginia and 2019 to spend some more time in these guys I cannot wait to get back there hadar own TJ from Chicago here

my question for you is I'm looking for a new lightweight backpack to do some through hiking with what are your thoughts on the Osprey XL 58 or do you have a different suggestion for an ultralight backpack also my ultimate goal is to hike the Pacific Crest Trail in 2020 I was thinking about doing a long or shorter hike in 2019 my two options are the JMT or the Colorado Trail what are your thoughts about those thank you so much love the channel and keep hiking hey TJ so great questions man number one pack wise there are of great ultralight packs on the market as far as the exos goes that is a awesome backpack I know a lot of hikers that carried that in 2015 you seen that pack a lot out on the trail and from what I understand Osprey is actually working on a new version of that that's supposed to be even lighter and even more minimalist so I definitely suggest checking out Osprey I carried the Osprey Atmos 65 in 2015 and 2016 on the 80 which wasn't necessarily their lightweight pack but I absolutely loved it and can't say enough good things about Osprey packs now what I'm currently hiking with is the Z packs arc blast backpack which I just did a gear review on that on Sunday and I love that pack now obviously it's a lot more expensive but it is ultra lightweight and I highly suggest checking those out but there's a lot of really great pack companies out there on the market that make good lightweight packs another great company to check out packs from that are ultra lite and don't break the bank or ula they make some really really great stuff and I almost bought a ula pack last year before deciding on the Z packs pack so definitely check those out always some links in the description box below to all those packs and all those companies that I just suggested definitely go check them out but you can't go wrong with the EXO's man there's a really awesome pack now as far as what trail should you hike next year if it was up to me I would probably hike the Colorado trail number one you're going to be hiking the JMT during your PCT through hike anyways so save it for the PCT and go hike the Colorado trail and from what I understand getting just a jmt permit is really hard so it'd be much easier for you to go out and do the Colorado trail plus I hear that's an amazing trail it's definitely on my list within the next few years to thru-hike so check it out and good luck on planning for your PCT through hike man what do you use to keep your camera's and other gear like that charged up so James I use a little-bitty external battery pack in 2015 and 2016 on the 80 is what's called a power add it's just a little bitty lipstick power charger actually did a whole video go on power on the 80 I'll put a link up here somewhere if you want to check that out if you don't need to charge a whole lot I definitely suggest picking up one of those little power ads they're super cheap they don't weigh much they don't take up a lot of space in your pack and they're great for charging your gear but lately because I have upgraded my trail camera equipment I've needed to upgrade my power source so right now I'm actually testing out a brand new power pack I'm not going to tell you guys what it is just yet but keep an eye out for that because I am going to be doing a full gear review on the new battery bank that I am caring and so far I've really been digging it it's really been great and optimal for all the charging that I need lightweight and it works great so again I'm not going to spoil that yet keep an eye out for that review but in the meantime go check out that video I did on Power on the trail I think it's alright alright guys so last question of the week comes from Daniel and Daniel asked do you stuff or roll your tent while on the trail what about for long-term storage

I've heard that stuffing is better for the tent body and I'm concerned that the clips and buckles might cause damage to the mesh so good question I sir am a stuffed guy I always stuff my gear whether it's my tent my clothes my sleeping bag any of that and the reason is is when you fold your gear you actually make little seams in the gear especially your tent fly that has usually been treated with some sort of waterproofing or seam sealing so folding that is causing little cracks and little seams to eventually break down so I always stuff my gear now I used to fold my gear but after watching different videos and reviews and hearing other people's comments I started stuffing it the other great thing about stuffing your gear is obviously it helps your breakdown camp faster you can just grab the bag cram it all in there throw it in your pack and take off to where you don't have to make these nice neat little folds now it's obviously all up to you and definitely do your own research on that but yeah man I am a stuffer I always stuff my gear alright guys so if you have a question for next week's Q&A you can either leave it in the comment box below or send me a video question over to Darwin on the trail at yahoo.com

and then

next week I'll answer as many of them as I possibly can Kevin gotta change it go over and check me out on Instagram I've been posting a lot of new photos lately of some of the things that snuggler than I have going on throughout the week plus some pictures from some past tags so go check those out if you found any value in this video go ahead and hit that like button subscribe to my channel if you haven't already and as always guys thanks for watching [Music]

you

[Music]