Opinions about cheap gear for a cross country hike

so me and a buddy of mine are going on a cross country trek to different communes and i was just wondering how much or little and what kind of gear people have been taking.

 

definitely good shoes and wool socks. Sleeping gear, back pack and water. I think you'll find that it all depends on the situation. Seems like most people (myself included) start out with too much gear that quickly gets left behind somewhere.

 

Whatever you do, and however heavy or light you pack, don't get shit.

You've got to live with it, don't skimp, just like anything in life.

if lighter, more comfortable shoes are twice as much, get them. Of course, if it's something like a fork, I wouldn't buy a 20 dollar titanium backpacking fork, I'd whittle myself a set of chopsticks and make new ones when I needed.

A knife is one of the most basic, important tools there is, in almost any line of work or style of life. Get yourself a good sharp knife, that can hold a nice sharp edge for a good while, and that's large enough to be useful for things that need a big knife but not so big that it's cumbersome or can't be comfortably carried in your pocket. Needs a good comfortable shape, comfortable handle, etc. Get it a sharpening stone, too. And remember that serrations are hard to sharpen, and need special tools, and never end up very good in the end, and once they dull get in the way of cutting things like rope or cloth when the catch, and also give a ragged edge. Kershaw makes good knives in the US, SOG, benchmade, and similar make great knives in the US, gerber makes alright knives in china with wage slaves, and CRKT makes pretty neat stuff in korea or somewhere.

Get nice shoes, sleeping gear, clothes, and a knife. The rest depends on your individual trip. Have you considered biking?

 

ive considered it but going through the mountains with it is going to be a pain. i also thought of fixing my longboard and doin that but im not sure if it will support me and my gear, we just want to take it slow and take in all the scenery

 

I wouldn't longboard unless you want to go REALLLLY light, in that case I would be doing the superlight backpacking style stuff.

For a bike, you can go pretty light, and cargo isn't a real problem. You can go as slowly as you want, 5mph is comfortable, but it still doesn't take FOREVER. You have some degree more protection (ie. stay on the other side of the bike from a potentially aggressive dog, etc) and you do have enough cargo space that you can carry comfortable light camping supplies, such as an alcohol stove, light bedroll, change of clothes, whatevers.

Also, you can make a lot of lightweight tools and supplies before you go, and you should be prepared to stealth camp, and have the means to break up your outline and have nothing shiny or light coloured visible, so as to be invisible to drunks in pickups and law enforcement who might like to beat an apparently homeless person to death.

Of course to ride a bike, you need the proper kind of bike, a mountain bike or something is sloooow and takes a crazy amount of work to pedal, even unloaded, and may have tainted your idea of bikes, if you've only ridden them. I'd suggest looking for a while and finding an older, good quality touring bike (a road bike, but with the wheelbase, fork angles, etc, designed for a heavier load and to handle well with it) and rebuilding the moving parts. My touring bike originally cost me $2~ish at a yard sale.

Also, there's support groups on the internet for people on long distance bike rides, offering safe places to stay, grab a shower, etc.

 

you're gonna end up taking way more than you really need and getting rid of stuff. basics: knife, several pairs of socks, good sleeping bag, a tarp, and a sharpie comes in handy for making signs. also, i'd fill my backpack up with everything i'm gonna take on the trip and spend a day walking around my neighborhood with it on to test out the weight and how it feels. your back's probably gonna be sore the first week or two but you'll get used to it. i've traveled cross country countless times out of my backpack. if you take a bike, you can't hop trains easily with it....

 

If you take a bike, you want to see everything up close and personal, at your own speed, and don't WANT to hop trains, though. I mean trains are personal too, but totally different, you know?

One thing I forgot: A really comfortable backpack. Be it a bookbag or frame backpack, whatever will do what you want to do most comfortably. You don't want a blown out back in the middle of utah, or some other such mormon infested wasteland. Doesn't apply if you're on a bike, if you're on a bike ANY backpack is a poor idea, even if you have a camelback it should be possible to strap it to your rack, if you want.... or you'll regret it.

 

Modified jogging strollers are great for walking adventures. I've seen quite a few sites about guys walking across America (and around the world i.e. Walking Man Gary Hause) that use them or something similar. I've even used one and they are pretty nice and you can take more gear (especially water and food) with you than you could just backpacking. Only problem with them is that it often makes it difficult to stealth camp or get to places off the road and camp for the night. I put a sign on the front of mine and was amazed at the kindness of people stopping and giving water, coffee, sandwiches, food, etc.

oh yea. Some sort of hard candy or gum is always good to have along, and sunflower seeds.

 

u plan on going out again?

 

on my gear list i picked out either a military GI enhanced CFP-90 combat pack or a starlite backpack with 4200cubic in. which one would be better?

 

That's a really neat idea, never seen it or heard of it.

As long as it's a nice one, with low rolling resistance via good hard tires, wheels, and nice bearings, and maybe suspension, to make pushing more comfortable.

Also, especially with that much space, you could have a camo net that goes over the stroller, or even over it and you to form a tent. You can stealth camp with a bike, you should be able to with a stroller, unless you're in a salt flat or something

 

I honestly have no idea, I don't know much about bags. I just know it better be comfortable and put the weight in the right places for long walking.

There's probably backpacking or lightweight travel forums that could help you more.

 

Seems very person has a personal favorite when it comes to backpacks. Make sure its comfortable. I had a medium sized ALICE pack that was my favorite. I hope to get another one sometime soon.

I found my links to a couple cart pushers if anyone is interested.

http://imjustwalkin.com/details/

http://www.walkingman.org/

these are pretty expensive high end carts. The one I used cost around $150 new. I tore it apart took off all the baby parts and added more supportds to it to bungee cord a tote to it, waterproof !! a small cooler, tent and backpack to the top, It rolled effortlessly, was easy to manuever until you got off road with it. I'd like to get solid tires for it to avoid any flat tire problems, I never had a flat but had a spare tube, tools and patch kit with me just in case.

 

how much could u fit in the alice pack

 

I could fit everything I needed in a medium ALICE pack with a bedroll attached. I liked the pockets on it, made it easy to get to the things you used alot quick without digging through or having to empty the entire thing. Size wise I think it was about 1600 - 1800 cu in. That was a few years ago. They make a large ALICE pack but for me that was just too big. I'd just end up carrying things I didn't need in it and with a backpack, thats usually not a good thing.

Again, there are always personal opinions when it comes to backpacking and backpacks, what works or is ideal for one person may not be so great for another.

I miss my ALICE, think I'll look around and see if I can get me another for old times sake.

 

I recently did a lot of tent research and decided on the Mountain Hardware Drifter 3. I got it for 154.00 online. This company has an excellent reputation in selling top flight tents that dont leak.