Well done young man! I am a Philmont veteran, avid backpacker and a leader taking a group out to Philmont this summer. I thought your gear selection and choices were great! However, ultralight backpacks are not for everyone and trail runners do not give you the same level of ankle support as traditional hiking boots. I think your comment about a sleeping bag vs backpacking quilt is spot on. We all sleep differently and I agree with your thoughts about a Scout not taking one to Philmont due to the temperature swings one can find over there. I have partnered a 45 degree bag with a "Sea to Summit Thermolite Reactor Extreme" bag liner. Like you, I would rather have enough insulation for at night than not enough. Again, nicely done.
This video is very well done. Great recommendations. I went to Philmont 30+ years ago, and you would laugh at what we carried. My back hurts from the thought of it.
Great video. I was impressed by the research you did. Great insight from a scout that has been to Philmont and made corrections. I am departing for Philmont in a matter of days but I already have A lot of backpacking experience. I would totally agree with the logic behind the gear choices, "only use gear that can have two purposes." I only have a couple critiques for this Awesome scout. I am an ultra light backpacker so I use the lightest but most effective gear I can get my hands on. Instead of the recommended 75 liter pack I would opt for a 50-65 liter pack. I would also not use a pack cover even if your pack is not "water proof" (no pack is truly waterproof due to the seems in the material.) My personal favorite pack is The REI Flash 55. It is a 55 liter pack and weighs very little. It has an extremely efficient design and has many outer pockets. The only downside to the pack is if your above 6'0 it is out of question due to REI not making large enough sizes. Kudos to this scout. Great work!!!
Yes, I agree that the philmont recommended pack size is very large. A 50 liter would be more ideal for those who have small enough gear. I can get away with a 35 liter for weekends since I have ultralight gear. A longer trip like philmont I may need a little more space.
I'm preparing for Philmont this summer and have been watching a lot of gear videos, but yours is definitely one of the better, more useful ones. I'm still on the fence deciding between boots and trail runners, but your video gives me a better sense of determining criteria. I probably will still stick with boots because I suspect that I will end up with 40-50 pounds because of troop gear. Your video is well researched, well done. Kudos to you.
Boots vs trail runners: As a former long-distance hiker I started with boots and as I replaced foot ware, I ended with trail runners. Looking at the trails at Philmont, they seem very well trodden, so one can go either way. My advice for Scouts and Leaders: Consider your ankles. Have you ever had problems? If the answer is "yes" consider more ankle support in the form of something more like a boot. Also, consider your feet. With trail runners you will feel the ground more. If your feet hurt after shakedown hikes with trail runners or running shoes, consider a boot or something more substantial. One consideration: Do your feet hurt before or at the end of the day after a vacation to a city, amusement parks, etc. . .after standing all day in running shoes? (Mine do) Maybe a boot would be best.
Thank you for the nice video. All future Philmont-bound scouts and leaders should watch and listen to your video. Technology has really helped lightening the load a scout has to carry. I took my troop (Troop 130 Maynard MA) to Philmont 3 times in 1986, 88 and 90. In those days, everything weighed a lot more than today's. As the adult leader and Scoutmaster to the scouts whom I lead, we were prepared and had pre-inspection before leaving for the trip from Massachusetts. I also carried 35mm SLR camera with 200mm telephoto lens and 20+ rolls of 36 exposure per roll. The parents loved the slideshows I brought back from the trips. Digitized version of the pictures will be shown at the Troop's 40th Anniversary later this month. Many of the Scouts and Leaders will be in attendance.
Thank you for the kind words and I’m glad you enjoyed the video. I didn’t know back when I made the video how many people it would help and it is so gratifying that people are finding it useful! Those slideshows must have been wonderful!
Loved your recommendations and especially encouraging our local cottage industries. Will try out the trail runners and great suggestion about rain-mitts, Thank you!
This was a very useful video. I was concerned that all the materials would not fit in my backpack, but your storage methods were very helpful. Thank you so much, I look forward to my trip!
Great job. I’ve been backpacking regularly since my trek got canceled in 2018. (Already had the equipment. Why not?!) tried again in 2020… all of what you speak of is spot on. Since my trip was canceled I’ve been slowly investing in lighter gear. I’ve got my base weight to just under 16pounds to be comfortable down to the teens. About 12 pounds for warm weather base weight. I am going to Philmont in September barring any other issues. Can’t wait. It will be my first time there. Thanks for your excellent video!
I can’t remember if I used something similar, but I cut out a lot of extra stuff and ended up just carrying 8+ liters of water. My pack weighed almost 60 pounds, but it was definitely worth it because we always had enough water (This is in addition to my regular gear)
4L of water weights just over 8 lbs. Check your trek and see how often you will be near water and if you happen to be near water most of the day I would not hike with an extra 8 lb of water.
Great job of putting the video together. As I was watching the video, however, I was trying to do some mental arithmetic to determine how much this trip to Philmont was going to cost. Plane ticket, round trip; cost of gear; Philmont cost, etc. My initial thought is that we are talking thousands of dollars. Am I wrong?
Sorry, for the delay in the response. My bag was roughly 12 liters. If you’re looking it waterproof you pack with a pack liner a clothing bag may not be necessary. I however just had one for organization. A good way to measure the volume of gear it to set it in a box and measure the the dimensions of the box using the height of the gear in the box at your heigh. LxWxH then converting to liters. It should give you a good idea of what sized bag you need.
Great video! I have a quick question. I have the kelty tuck sleeping bag and the stuff sack that comes with it is pretty big. Do you know a sack that can compress my sleeping bag to make it smaller?
In the video the compression bag that my sleeping bag is in is a Sea to Summit compression dry sack although I have noticed that over time the waterproofing has become less effective. There are lots of compression sacks on the market and they come in all different sizes. There are also some roll top bags that you can get if you don't like the compression strap system.
Philmont offers tent rentals and that is what I did when I went. Scouts are required to have a tent buddy so the weight of a 2 man tent will be split between them. You can bring your own tent if you’d like, but for scouts it has to be a 2 man shared between 2 scouts.
For myself I like the MSR pocket rocket. I don’t know how well it would work for the massive pots at philmont though. For as much water as you’ll be boiling, probably quite a lot of fuel. Good news is you don’t have to carry all of it from the start and can restock on the trail at some locations.
Great video Patrick! I do have a question and as I am an adult I will ask it here instead of an email (Safe Scouting). Your pack looked rather full so how did you pack your Philfood?
noticed you wear contacts as do i. I was wondering if you ever had problems about dry eyes and just general maintenance with wearing them while out there. Did you run into any problems with them and if so what did you do to mitigate those issues. Thanks
I never have really had any problems with contacts while on the trail. I do bring a few extra pairs of contacts as well as some eye drops just in case.
Billy Lemons this all depends on what trek you’ll be doing and what kind of elevations you expect to be at. I would say the absolute coldest to expect at the highest elevations would be low 20s at night. Most people won’t see temps below freezing. Hope this helps.
I wouldn’t be concerned. I wear dailies and I just make sure to clean my hands well before taking them out or putting them in. If you are concerned you can take a backup pair of glasses.
I don’t have a full cost. A lot of the items have prices in the list you can find in the description. The things that will cost the most are your sleeping bag and backpack.
