We might earn income from the merchandise accessible on this web page and take part in affiliate applications. Learn More \u203a<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The very first thing to learn about Jac \u201cTop Shelf\u201d Mitchell is that\u2014regardless of having hiked over 11,000 miles over 14 totally different thru-hikes\u2014she doesn\u2019t have a proper gear record.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI stopped doing packing lists or kit spreadsheets a while ago,\u201d Mitchell says. \u201cNow I take what I need and only what I need and I trust that that\u2019s ultralight to lightweight. I\u2019m not a gram junkie.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n I initially met Top Shelf again when she did have a gear record\u2014all of us did\u2014on the Pacific Crest Trail in 2014. For many people, it was our first thru-hike, and placing collectively a gear record was a ceremony of passage\u2014a approach to each discover weight to chop out of our kits and to visualise the hike itself, to see how each bit of drugs would match into our life on the path. (Lots of that turned out to be fantastical pondering, however that\u2019s a unique story.)\u00a0<\/p>\n Since that first hike, Top Shelf went skilled\u2014thru-hiker parlance for committing to a life-style of climbing, supported by occasional seasonal work, and residing in a van when she isn\u2019t on the path to maintain prices down. Her travels have included all the things from the well-known 3,028-mile Continental Divide Trail to the extra obscure 770-mile Grand Enchantment Trail.<\/p>\n We caught up as she was about to begin on a 700-mile part of the southern PCT and spoke about how her now huge expertise modified how she balances worth, consolation, and weight in her gear selections, and what she seems to be for when placing collectively an ultralight backpacking package.\u00a0<\/p>\n You gained\u2019t discover lots of Top Shelf\u2019s Big Three objects\u2014backpack, shelter, sleep system\u2014in REI. Six Moons Designs and Katabatic Gear are each so-called cottage gear firms, who design light-weight and ultralightweight gear for lengthy trails. For extra conventional backpackers, this type of gear is sort of blasphemous\u2014tents that use climbing poles to remain up, backpacks with no inside body, and quilts which can be open on the underside. Top Shelf had eliminated the inner body in her Six Moons Design pack for the part of the PCT she was heading out on, regardless that there have been sections the place she\u2019d want to hold sufficient water for 20 miles or extra.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s so much softer and more flexible without it,\u201d she stated. That\u2019s partly due to its working vest-style shoulders straps\u2014an uncommon function even for an ultralightweight pack. \u201cThe straps are thinner, unpadded, and wider, covering more of your chest with plenty of pockets and storage options,\u201d she stated. \u201cIt fits you like a shirt or a vest\u2014it really hugs you, which is some people\u2019s nightmare. There\u2019s definitely a learning curve in figuring out how to adjust the pack to get it to ride well. I wasn\u2019t sure it was for me when I first started using it, because I had to get used to adjusting it, and my body had to get used to carrying the weight differently.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Like numerous long-distance backpackers, Top Shelf makes use of a quilt<\/a>, which has no backside, slightly than a conventional sleeping bag, even on a shoulder season hike. To guarantee she stays heat when nights dip beneath freezing, she pairs her quilt with the Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XTherm, which, with an R-value of 6.9, gives among the finest insulation from the chilly of the bottom of any of the inflatable sleeping pads<\/a> at present in the marketplace. \u201cI don\u2019t use a pillow,\u201d she famous. \u201cWell, I use a backpacking pillow in my van, but I don\u2019t use one on the trail.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Her shelter\u2014the Lunar Solo\u2014can be a Six Moons Design. \u201cI\u2019m not sponsored by Six Moons, it\u2019s just what worked out right now,\u201d Top Shelf stated. \u201cIt\u2019s actually the first non-DCF shelter that I\u2019ve used.\u201d DCF stands for Dyneema Composite Fabric, as soon as referred to as cuben fiber, a cloth that’s in style in long-distance climbing circles because of its low weight and power. But it\u2019s not as sturdy as different supplies (for years a well-liked DCF backpack marketed itself as solely being good for a single thru-hike) and usually is available in at a considerably greater worth level than the silnylon that Top Shelf\u2019s Lunar Solo is made out of. \u201cThe Lunar Solo shelter that I have is $250 and the Zpacks Duplex that a lot of people use\u2014which is a similar footprint, even though it\u2019s two person versus one person, and is made out of DCF\u2014is over $700.\u201d<\/p>\n At one level in our chat, I observed that Top Shelf hadn\u2019t included a puffer jacket on her gear record, regardless that it was a shoulder season hike.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOh yeah,\u201d she stated. \u201cI do have a synthetic Enlightened Equipment one.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Like Katabatic Gear, Enlightened Equipment is a cottage gear firm specializing in light-weight quilts, however they\u2019ve additionally expanded in recent times to incorporate some attire, together with rain gear, wind shirts, and puffer jackets.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s OK,\u201d stated Top Shelf. \u201cIt\u2019s warm enough. It\u2019s compressible enough, but it just doesn\u2019t fit particularly well, the fabric of the shell doesn\u2019t have the greatest feel. For me, all that really adds up when you don\u2019t have a closet full of jackets where you can just pick another one.\u201d<\/p>\n Currently, her solely down jacket is from Uniqlo, a Japanese life-style model that thru-hikers have lengthy seemed to for price range puffers and base layers. But their clothes is primarily geared towards city style\u2014it\u2019s barely practical for alpine situations not to mention shoulder season ones. \u201cFor years and years, I had a Feathered Friends ultralight down jacket and I just wore it till it fell apart,\u201d she advised me. \u201cI want it so bad, but I need to be working again to get it.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s a saying in thru-hiking that \u201cpounds are cheap, but ounces are expensive.\u201d When you begin reducing weight out of your package\u2014swapping out your previous four-pound tent for a two-pound one, upgrading from an artificial sleeping bag to down\u2014you will get a variety of bang to your buck. But when you\u2019ve upgraded the largest objects in your pack, it turns into dearer to chop weight, as you begin to tinker with the smaller odds and ends or change to dear supplies like DCF or 900fp down. This all goes double for any gear that you simply put on in your bodily physique, which can inevitably have to get replaced, generally a number of occasions on the identical hike. For instance, even best-in-class path runners usually solely final between 500 and 700 miles\u2014it\u2019s widespread for PCT thru-hikers to undergo 4 or extra pairs in a single hike\u2014so Top Shelf wears New Balance, which may normally be discovered on sale. \u201cI\u2019ll give a little disclaimer that if there\u2019s a piece of gear you ask about and I\u2019m like, \u2018well I\u2019m not selling this as the best for me or the best for this particular route or conditions\u2019,\u201d she stated. \u201cBut it\u2019s what I have right now because I\u2019m not Jeff Bezos.\u201d<\/p>\n One instance of that’s her selection of REI-branded rain gear over different lighter\u2014and dearer\u2014fashions. In her expertise, ultralight rain gear\u2014just like the Outdoor Research Helium, is inappropriate for severe rain situations, as the fabric wets out in something greater than sprinkles. \u201cIn the shoulder season, carrying heavier gear that actually is wind and waterproof is more than worth the extra weight because it keeps me from becoming hypothermic,\u201d she stated. \u201cBut the reason it\u2019s REI brand is it\u2019s the most affordable GORE-TEX that I found that also is somewhat light. It\u2019d be great if I could afford Arc\u2019teryx GORE-TEX but that\u2019s $600 compared to $300 for the REI two piece.\u201d<\/p>\n She advised me that her largest expense, by far, wasn\u2019t any single piece of drugs: It was meals. \u201cI avoid restaurants as much as possible and really lean into grocery stores but, with inflation, food right now is more expensive than it\u2019s ever been in my lifetime.\u201d Thru-hikes usually result in excessive weight reduction\u2014earlier than and after images<\/a> might be harking back to a fad weight loss plan commercial\u2014just because it\u2019s virtually unimaginable to hold and eat as a lot as you want whereas on the path. \u201cI\u2019ve looked a bit into how many calories I need a day, and it\u2019s around 5,000,\u201d stated Top Shelf, \u201cbut I eat about two to three thousand. I\u2019m usually running at a couple thousand calorie deficit every day.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, one of the simplest ways to maintain prices down is to decide on gear that’s each light-weight and might stand as much as the trials of 10,000 miles\u2014however even cottage firm gear designed for long-distance backpackers usually can\u2019t do this. \u201cI\u2019ve used my Six Moons Design backpack on several hikes and I just this week sewed a bunch of holes in the pockets, which are always the first spots to go,\u201d she advised me. \u201cI could at least keep using it for the rest of the PCT this year.\u201d<\/p>\n But there are two objects which were in Top Shelf\u2019s pack for the reason that starting: the MSR Pocketrocket\u00a0 and an Ibex 250-weight merino baselayer. She couldn\u2019t inform me what the mannequin of the Ibex was, nevertheless it turned out to probably not matter: Since she bought that piece, Ibex shuttered, was opened below new administration, and moved its manufacturing abroad. \u201cTheir stuff just isn\u2019t as quality as it used to be,\u201d she stated. \u201cBut this piece doesn\u2019t have any holes in it, it\u2019s as thick as ever. It\u2019s the best piece of clothing that I\u2019ve ever purchased or owned.\u201d<\/p>\n The MSR Pocketrocket is an isobutane range that\u2019s identified for its simplicity, sturdiness, and reliability (I additionally nonetheless have my authentic Pocketrocket<\/a>). While MSR has since upgraded the design of the Pocketrocket to a barely lighter model, Top Shelf advised me that she is \u201cobsessed with the original. The only reason I haven\u2019t used it on every thru-hike is that sometimes I\u2019m cold soaking.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n But Top Shelf doesn\u2019t suppose that different backpackers ought to exit of their approach to monitor down an authentic MSR Pocketrocket for his or her gear package. \u201cThe MSR Pocketrocket is a great stove, but if you don\u2019t enjoy it\u2014like if you love using a Jetboil and you\u2019re settling for a Pocketrocket, your experience is going to be poorer over time. Your morale is going to be lower over time,\u201d she says. \u201cSo just looking at grams and ounces and ultralight is much too reductive.\u201d<\/p>\n Top Shelf has quite a few standards for what she places in her pack past its weight. First and foremost, it must perform. \u201cI feel like there\u2019s a lot of manufactured strife on the trail because it\u2019s dramatic and interesting,\u201d she stated, \u201cwhere someone could have avoided being out of water for the last twelve miles by carrying an extra Platypus bladder.\u201d She sees this as an issue that even skilled hikers have, both as a result of they underestimate the extent to which their wants are altering, or as a result of they’re \u201ccreating drama for drama\u2019s sake.\u201d<\/p>\n But she additionally thinks that nice gear ought to fulfill our emotional wants: \u201cWhat if the down jacket that fits and feels good on my body and makes me happier is two ounces heavier? To me, that\u2019s a no-brainer. Mental and emotional health and morale really adds up over the course of weeks and months. And we\u2019re talking about an endurance activity that depletes and demands so much. You need to refill your cup in any way possible.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve heard people in eating disorder recovery talk about how food isn\u2019t just to fuel your physical body, it\u2019s also to fuel your emotional body and your heart and soul and spirit. So this idea that diet culture has fed us, that emotional cheating is bad, period, is untrue. Nobody needs to eat a Christmas sugar cookie, but can a Christmas sugar cookie feel good? Can it add to a social experience or interaction? Can it make your heart feel full or help you bond with someone while you\u2019re making them? Yes, and that has value. It\u2019s not just calories in, calories out. So that\u2019s an analogy for how I think about ultralight.\u201d<\/p>\n For Top Shelf, long-distance climbing as a sustainable lifestyle is about extra than simply good monetary selections in what gear she chooses. When situations are lower than splendid, having the correct gear for her\u2014gear that she each trusts and loves\u2014makes all of the distinction, and it\u2019s what provides her the psychological and emotional house to cycle by way of thru-hike after thru-hike.\u00a0While Top Shelf hasn\u2019t stored a pack record available in years, she threw collectively an up to date one for me upfront of our dialog.<\/p>\n Shelter and Sleep System Apparel and Outerwear Kitchen and BathroomThe Big Three<\/h2>\n
\u201cI\u2019m Not Jeff Bezos\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Why Ultralight Is Too Reductive<\/h2>\n
<\/strong>Six Moons Designs Minimalist Backpack<\/a>
Trash compactor bag<\/a> (pack liner)
Six Moons Designs Lunar Solo Tent<\/a>
Polycryo groundsheet<\/a>
MSR Mini Groundhog tent stakes<\/a> (6)
Katabatic Flex 15 quilt
<\/a>Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XTherm<\/a><\/p>\n
<\/strong>New Balance path runners
Darn Tough socks<\/a>
Brooks working shorts
Patagonia underwear
Patagonia sports activities bra
Vuori T-shirt
Buff
Trucker hat
Ibex merino base layer high
REI merino base layer pants
<\/a>REI GORE-TEX rain shell
<\/a>REI GORE-TEX rain pants
<\/a>Beanie
Smartwool merino gloves<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Evernew Ti U.L. Pot 900<\/a>
Humangear Titanium Uno
<\/a>MSR Pocketrocket
<\/a>Fuel canister
Food bag
SmartWater water bottles
Victorinox mini pocket knife
<\/a>Sawyer Squeeze water filter<\/a>
Iodine tablets
First assist package
Petzl Zipka 200-lumen headlamp
<\/a>Toiletries (toothbrush and toothpaste, Q-tips, chapstick)
Poop package (child wipes, Ziploc bag, Deuce of Spades trowel<\/a>)<\/p>\n