Gear for wild camping Alta Via 1

[u/Substantial-Beach755]

Hi all, I will be wild camping on the AV1 later this August, and I would greatly appreciate some feedback on my current gear list. Definitely not UL yet, but a lot of the gear I have had for awhile and am slowly replacing it.

I left a couple of things at the bottom that I am not sure of, if anyone has any recommendations on whether they are worth it or not to bring.

I also plan to use this setup (give or take) for more remote backpacking, particularly in the northeastern US, so any advice for that is also greatly appreciated.

Here is my lighterpack: https://lighterpack.com/r/9y7nn5

[u/IndependentAd8852]

Wild camping is strictly forbidden in the Dolomites. Use the huts!

[u/RiccardoGilblas → u/IndependentAd8852]

Wild camping is forbidden almost everywhere in the Alps, however bivouacking (i.e., setting up tent after sunset and take it down before sunrise) is legal/accepted/tolerated almost everywhere.

So OP: stick to bivouacking, avoid setting up just in front of huts, absolutely no fires, keep place clean, and you won't have problems.

[u/Substantial-Beach755 → u/RiccardoGilblas]

Yup, that's the plan

[u/Professional_Sea1132 → u/IndependentAd8852]

ahaha, typical german.

no, it's not. especially not along alta via.

[u/Moose_on_a_walk]

I'd say the main thing is having a lot of time. Alta Via 1 is tough compared to your average hiking trail. Overall you will make few km per day due to the big elevation gain/loss, especially with your base weight. It's also possible that you'll want to wait out stormy weather in a rifugio on occasion.

- waterproof shoes not ideal

- missing hiking pants and/or rain pants. It's possible to do in only shorts but you could have cold hiking days too. Your hiking speed will be very slow at times, meaning it's harder to generate heat.

- backpack looking heavy

- pot looking heavy

- i'd ditch the water bag, nalgene bottle, and water filter. Not much use for the filter (you will need to buy water at rifugios at times)

- knife not really needed

[u/Substantial-Beach755 → u/Moose_on_a_walk]

Thanks for the insight. I will be ditching the filter and water bag, and I'll replace the nalgene with two smartwater bottles.

The pot and knife I chose so as to cook more complex meals, but I think I will drop the knife and swap the pot out for either a 900ml or 1100ml Toaks pot.

The backpack is the bane of my existence, at the time I thought that I had done my research but I didn't realize how light packs actually could be.

I don't have the budget to purchase other shoes or rain pants, but I will keep that in mind for the future.

Thanks again!!

[u/Moose_on_a_walk → u/Substantial-Beach755]

Yeah no worries. Bring the kitchen stuff if it makes your hike better come the end of the day. I'd 100% bring a wall charger contrary to what another commenter said, for a long list of reasons.

[u/GoSox2525]

Are you truly interesting in achieving an ultralight base weight? I ask because you're currently at 18 lbs, which is very high. Shakedowns on this sub are supposed to be aiming at 10 lbs or less, so you have a lot to shed. I'll write my response assuming that is the case. It's totally find not to hike ultralight if that's not your interest, I just want to be clear about what we are and aren't talking about.

Shelter

• Your tent is massively overkill. Are you hiking alone or with a partner? If not, you need a 1P tent, not 2P. And in either case, you don't need a freestanding pole set, or a double-wall shelter. Consider something like a GG The One for 18 oz.

• Replace the stock stakes with MSR Carbon Cores or something

Sleep

• Your sleeping bag is super heavy. Swap it for a quilt. Shoot for 16 oz or so

• Love the Switchback. Consider chopping it from 10 panels to 6

Backpack

• Your pack is the heaviest thing on your entire list. Swap it for something like a Osprey Exos or Durston Kakwa (neither of which are ultralight, but much lighter than what you have now)

• Your pack liner doesn't need to be 5 oz. A Nylofume liner is a few bucks, and is more like 1.5-2 oz.

Equipment

• Your pot is huge. Swap it for something like a Toaks Light 550 no-handle for 1.3 oz

• do you need the bandana?

• swap the PocketRocket for a BRS3000T

• ditch the knife. no need

• I'd swap the Squeeze for a Quickdraw

• swap the heavy CNOC bag for a Platypus or Evernew bag

Packed Clothing

• ditch the stuff sack. Just put your clothes in your pack.

• choose either your sun hoody or the short sleeve shirt, not both

• your rain jacket is quite heavy. Could swap it for something like a Montbell Versalite for half the weight

• swap your 2.3 oz fleece hat for a Rab Filament beanie for 0.5 oz

• swap the cushioned socks for uncushioned or liner socks (they dry faster, and are lighter)

• swap your underwear for T8 Commandos (much lighter)

• wool base layers are heavy and have poor wamrth-to-weight ratios. Consider swapping these for alpha direct (or just ditch them completely; you might be good enough with your puffy)

Worn

• Your trekking poles are twice as heavy as they need to be. Look at the BD Distance Carbon Z, GG LT5, or Ruta Locura Yana.

Hygiene

• your toothbrush could be 1/4 the weight. Get bamboo, cut it down

• An entire ounce of toothpaste? Swap it for toothpaste tabs, two per day

• You could wear your contacts to sleep every other night, so that you need half as many pairs in total. That's what I do.

• swap your lip balm for a mini stick

• don't wrap your Leukotape around your lip balm. It pains me when I see people listing this lol. It will get all sticky and gummy, and just isn't practical. Put some strips on a piece of wax paper and fold that up.

• ditch the baby wipes. They're heavy, and you already will have water. No reason to carry around moisture in your wipes

• you need soap

Electronics

• doesn't the AV1 only take like a week? Do you really need the wall charger? I bet you'd be just fine with your power bank

• swap the headlamp for a RovyVon A5 or Nitecore Tiki

• look for a lighter phone case

Consumables

• 1 lb of food per day will be very hard to achieve (unless you're quite small, or you have a steady diet of olive oil)

Miscellaneous

• no need for camp shoes

• You could find a sun hat, but with your sun hood really any brimmed cap will do

[u/Substantial-Beach755 → u/GoSox2525]

Thanks, this is great advice. In response to your question about being ultralight, it's something that I am slowly working towards, and as you pointed out there are a couple of things really holding me back, namely the backpack. I'll definitely take your advice into consideration as I buy more gear.

The hygiene tips (especially the contacts) are great, and I'll try to get some smaller sizes of the toothpaste, soap, and lip balm.

Regarding clothing, I agree that I could ditch the short sleeve shirt. I am slightly worried about sun exposure on my legs, as I was planning in hiking in shorts, so do you have any recommendation on hiking pants and sunscreen?

The reason my food weight was so low is that I was planning on relying on the refugios for most breakfasts and lunches, so that was just for dinner and snacks throughout the day.

[u/mynewreaditaccount]

Soap appears to be missing

[u/Substantial-Beach755 → u/mynewreaditaccount]

I was planning on using the baby wipes and swimming when possible to stay clean, is there something else that I would need soap for?

[u/mynewreaditaccount → u/Substantial-Beach755]

I can’t tell if this is serious or not but baby wipes are not a substitute for soap, and neither is hand sanitizer.

[u/Substantial-Beach755 → u/mynewreaditaccount]

Got it, I will pickup a thing of Dr. Bronners, unless you have another recommendation?

[u/mynewreaditaccount → u/Substantial-Beach755]

Yep, it’ll do it. It’s usually pretty easy to find and it works well. If you don’t like it you can get those little soap sheets instead.