Here I am at Wolf Pen Gap Hostel with some extra time on my hands. A bunch of you have asked me privately about my gear so I decided to show you few of my favorite things.
Dirty Girl Gaiters
Like their website says “Anyone can wear black gaiters! But a dirtXy girl’s gotta do what a dirtXy girl’s gotta do! Accessorize!” These do a bang up job of keeping rain, mud, and debris out of your hiking or running shoes and they look snazzy as heck.
Ultra light Cuben fiber stuff sacks from zPacks
I have the sleeping bag sized stuff sack, the roll/lock food hanging bag, and the AWESOME fleece lined Velcro close bag that flips inside out to make a great pillow!
A sit/kneel pad that’s part of a ThermaRest Z lite sleeping pad. I just cut a regular size sleeping pad into a couple of sections and only kept one. This is come in so handy, so many times!! I keep it strapped to the side of my pack so it’s always handy for me to sit on a damp log or cold rock. It also serves as a nice space to kneel getting in and out of my tent. And it can act as additional cushioning/insulation under my sleeping pad.
The Jet Boil Sol. There are several versions of jet boil out now. I got this one a couple of years ago and it is serving me well. It still doesn’t simmer as low as I would like but it does what I need to do.
AquaMira tablets. So long this water is not murky and full of gunk, these simple to use tablets are taking care of my need for clean water.
Cho-pat knee braces. I took the advice of other long distance hikers who are my age and older and I don’t regret buying these. If I feel a little twinge in one knee, the brace goes on immediately and saves me. If I wake up feeling stiff in the morning, the knee braces go on and stay there for an hour or two until my body warms up. Love them!
Minus 33 100% merino wool clothing wow! I am totally sold on merino wool shirts now. I have two of the quarter zip long sleeve shirts, one midweight and one light weight. I have a lightweight short sleeve T-shirt and tank top. They are all incredibly comfortable and machine washable/dryable. They are a bit on the delicate side however, so be careful of snags. Minus 33 carries women’s sizes up to 3x, though I think they run a tiny bit snug.
So those are a few of my favorite things for now.
Bunny Hikes the Appalachian Trail 
Well I was going to use my old gaiters this summer at Fest, but now I see I need to look into the Dirty Girls! Since I am a driver on crew I thought of rain pants then figured gaiters would be better on the few days I might need them. I would be interested in both what you find are must haves and what you might find you can do without. Although as much as you have researched this I have a feeling you are carrying very little extra crap.