No-nonsense gear and survival advice from the author of 55 Pounds of Regret.
Stop carrying 60-pound packs. This is your definitive guide to West Coast Trail weight management, tactical gear tear-downs, and thermal coastal defense. Learn what gear survives the mud bogs and what fails on day two.
Big Agnes Rapide SL Insulated Review: The Backcountry Orthopedic Bed 1. The Thrasher Cove Triage By the time I dropped my ridiculously overloaded 55-pound backpack at the Thrasher Cove campground on Day 1 of the West Coast Trail, my middle-aged joints were in full revolt. The ladders had destroyed my quads, the mud bogs had … Read more
Osprey Exos 58 Review: What Happens When You Load an Ultralight Pack with 55 Pounds of Regret? There is a golden rule in the ultralight backpacking community: you do not buy a 2.8-pound precision-engineered pack just to stuff it like a Thanksgiving turkey. The Osprey Exos 58 is built to float on your back, utilizing … Read more
If you spend enough time researching gear for the West Coast Trail, you will inevitably stumble into the weeds of West Coast Trail Pack Weight and the “ultra-light” hiking community. These are the astute, experienced hikers who debate the necessity of every single piece of gear. They possess a fascinating subculture of ounce-counting, where every … Read more
The Portrait of a 280-Pound Sloth West Coast Trail Trekking Poles: Picture a 51-year-old man who is six-foot-five, weighs 230 pounds, possesses zero core strength, and is carrying a 50-pound pack. Now put him in the mud. My gait is slow. And I don’t just mean slower than average. I mean that my progress is … Read more