My Hiking Gear Loadout - Summer 2023 

I carry several pairs of (over sized) rubber/latex medical gloves, super light weight. Of course, you can use them in the event of a medical issue. But, they also act as a first layer glove for rain and they also fit over my regular gloves to keep them dry and wind proof. Additionally, they work with touch screen devices. As they normally come in boxes with plently with plenty of them in, maybe worth cutting an index finger off one and having that over the index finger on your right glove to make it work with the touch screen. A rubber glove can also be used as an emergency water bladder and anything else your imagination can cunjure up!

Hi, love your loadout videos, used the silverlight socks for the Camino because of a vídeo of yours, and my feet thank you for it. I recently moved to Catalunya like you, and I’m transitioning from hiking to more mountaineering and some climbing, and I’m finding my ultralight backpacks pretty uncomfortable when I’m scrambling up the Pedraforca (for example) or for autumn-spring hiking when I need to carry more layers, and crampons, piolet, etc. I know you leave in the area so would love to see your load out for those overnighters in the Pyrenees and stuff like that 😊

Merino glove advice: Decathlon does a great merino pair that you can use your phone with. It has the special fabric on your thumb and index finger. Specifically, the Merino Wool Liner Gloves - MT500. I love them, hiked the TMB with them and they served me well. Keep using them in everyday life too and they are still perfect. Only thing that starts to wear off is the kind of rubbery layer on the palm (that's supposed to help with grip), but honestly, doesn't make too big of a difference. Hope this helps!

Chase - Speedster Stoves make a simmer ring for their burners that fit xboil burners - cheap as chips and do loads of other handy knick knacks all super lightweight My fave little thing are their silicone and magnet clips Great fro tie backs of tent doors👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

As for the pack towel, I bought a cheap synthetic chamois (for drying vehicles) and cut it into 4"x4" (100mm x 100mm) squares. Dries well and holds something like 10x its weight in water.

I like the PackTowel ultralight face towels. They are small, dry well and soak up a lot of water. Great for drying tents, bodies and dished

Love all this tips!

i have the same matt. absolutely love it. soo comfy

Great video as always. I’m working on my knee health to be able to hike longer. Thank you for all the great videos. As far as for a towel, I love the Shamwow towel or Chamois towel for backpacking. I cut it to different sizes for different trips. It’s quick to dry the body but the fabric isn’t the best on the skin. It’s best at cleaning the tent off and moving water.

Nice video, thanks for your opinion on all the Gear

I enjoy watching videos like these over videos telling me what not to use and bring. I get a good sense of the items others are bringing over someone telling me what im doing wrong when they dont even know where im going, who i am or what i need.

WE HAVE THE SAME SHOES. THATS SO COOL first time ive seen anyone wearing mesa trail shoes, awesome

Learned new stuff. Thank you

Great video! In regards to towels I tried everything (!), honestly I would recommend the Decathlon Microfibre Towel Ultra Lightweight. Costs nothing, can be cut in any size. Works at least as good as the rest and costs a fraction IMO. In regards to rain pants I recommend the Montane Unisex Minimus Nano Pull-Over Waterproof Pants, top notch. Hope it helps

Good stuff. I'm definitely not there yet, but it's nice to see if there's something to aspire to.

Absolutely stunning and impressive gear bud, you are well preserved for all trials and conditions!

I've not been thrilled with any brand of pack towel I've found. What I do like, is a small cotton washcloth. Usually it's the only item made from cotton that I bring on a trip. It's heavy when wet, but I still find it worth it for washing up with soap and water. When I'm done washing up, I dry it on the outside pocket of my pack. It does take a long time to dry.

I use a regular cotton towelling face flannel as my towel. Doubles as a body washing flannel to start and then wring out and use to dry off. Clearly not as good a a big dry towel but works surprisingly well!

Insightful!

For a towel look at matador, it’s a bit big but I brought it on a 9 month travel trip in Europe and it is a full size towel that works great and is fast drying

Nebo headlamps rock!!!

Get a Linen towel. Dummy light, super packable, absorbs a ton of water yet dries easily, and has some antimicrobial properties

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="413">6:53</a> I like Montbell. I have a couple of insulated coats I got used off eBay like 5 years ago that are still my go-to for insulated layers (one is a mid-layer, the other is more like a parka).

Hey Chase! Great to see your loadout. I think your best bet for a better towel option is a swedish dishcloth; they weigh nothing, cost very little and are shockingly durable for what they are! I'm sure you've run into them before, but if not, I'd snap up a 10-pack and put them to use. Great around the house as well.

Oh and Lightload towels are great. They dry stuff, can be washed repeatedly and are biodegradable. They do eventually wear out so you can just compost it or burn it and move on the next one. I'm still on my first towel after a good few 100 miles.

Pangea bamboo towel. Takes some work as all light towels do, but is usable.

Seen it recommended already but packtowl ultralight is the one you want. Get's wet but just wring it out and keep going, actually takes the water off you. I love it. Leki also have expanded their range and have some great lightweight trail running/hiking combo poles now made from aluminium or carbon with the triggershark system. Check em out.

I've been using the Xero Mesa Trail's for a few months now too and they're pretty comfortable. I like the feel better than what a remember of Vivo, but we'll see about the durability. Know of someone who hiked southern utah to mexico border, mostly along the Arizona Trail and they ended up wearing through the bottom of the shoe on that trip.

Nice video, hope your doing good ✌🏻

Nice! Nice to look at 😎👍

Love the Black Diamond Ergo Cork if you're in the market for a new pole. Really helps keep wrist strain away on the push.

Very good job sir

Regarding towels, just go with an small A4-ish sized terry cotton towel. What it lacks in lightweightness it makes up for in absorption and comfort.

I use Wren quick dry towels. They come in different sizes and they absorb a good amount of water. They seem similar to the nomadix towels but I haven't tried those out.

mont-bell！❤ ありがとう😊✨

Nice!

sweet rundown! i've moved from the beautiful pacific northwest in the states to the ironically god forsaken southern states to help my family during the pandemic times & life has veered a bit, so i haven't needed to upgrade my kit in several years; but it's great seeing the outdoor gear innovations continue to move forward. also a good time to reflect on when i was starting 16 years ago & how overwhelming all the options were before narrowing it down through trial and error of the years & knowing exactly what upgrades i'll eventually do ~

Luv kit vids! Really interesting to see what people carry with them and getting different ideas, recommendations and perspectives. In regards to recommendations for towels. I’ve switched to travel towels from lightload. I picked mine up from eBay. Worth a look.🤙

Thanks for sharing. I just tried the Xero Mesa Trail for an overnight trip since I got my pack weight down to around 20 lbs. Felt great but I used insoles that had more of a cushion around the arch. Since there's no lugs or rubber around the arch, it felt a bit off with flat insoles.

I use a bamboo microfibre towel from pangea, they are a bit bigger and heavier than regular microfiber, but still lightweight and compact, and they dont leave microplastics out in nature! :D

I have the Mesa trail shoes too, and that sole is thin! I have their Terra Flex shoes for rocky terrain

Mons Royale do merino gloves which work with phones. Towel-I used a Gram Counter Gear towel last week and that was good and dried quickly, not very big but it did the job easily

Nice to see an update, thanks Chase. On your lighterpack you have the big agnes mat down as 155g, you wish ;) :D

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="530">8:50</a> I really like my nabaiji towel from decathlon. Sadly, they only make the XL (110x175cm) version with the small stripes, that one is the best. Maybe you can cut it to a size that does the job…

Try out the "Hestra merino wool" gloves, works great with ur phone and Hestra makes the best gloves hands down.

Good to see you've switched to a real sleeping mat; I remember the inflatable lilo you used a few years back.....

I came across your channel and think I heard about your channel from Tayson of Outdoor Vitals. Thanks

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="589">9:49</a> it always puzzles me why people would pay for an alcohol stove. Anyone can easily make an alcohol burner, that performs just as well, for extremely low cost or for free. My energy-drink-can stove is made from an energy-drink can I picked up from the roadside on a jog. The wind screen/pot holder is a bike wheel spoke I salvaged from an old bike wheel (I cut it in half and bent it slightly to use to rest my pot on) and a piece of aluminum flashing I also picked up from the side of the road during a run a few years ago. It weighs basically nothing (at slightly less than 53 grams including the petroleum jelly tube I reuse to store my fuel) and it was all made of reused cast-offs. If you want to snuff it out while it’s burning, you just put your pot or pot lid directly onto the stove and it goes out. I have a couple of these homemade stoves with simmer rings (Heineken penny stoves) the cans also were retrieved from the roadside on various jogs -pretty startling how many alcohol cans are on the side of the road in the US). I don’t need/want to simmer since I just make noodles or heat water to rehydrate my food.

Try a sph2onge cloth. Really soaks water up 👌👌

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The link to the tarp is from the solo version, but this this the duo, am I right? It seems like a great tarp! I love that you can choose to only take the tarp or the mesh. And that the tarp has 2 doors :)

Good day to you! I am a grandpa rider on HONDA motorcycle from Japan. Enjoying camping ,touring and upload video. Your outdoor video is so nice! Awesome! Full supported ! Have a nice day my friend!

Have you looked at the Leki flip lock, cork handled trekking poles? I've been using mine for years and still prefer them over Black Diamond. They even survived when I dislodged a rock in a tree root and went flying down the mountain trail and landed on my face and trekking poles. I tore my pants, disfigured my face from the rocks but my Lekis survived without a break or scratch! My husband had a Black Diamond pair and gave them away to replace with Leki also.

have you tried "lightload towels"? they super lightweight and you can use them "until you can't". in Europe you can bus them from backpackinglight.

Great video ! It's always inspiring to watch. What kind of container is it that you use for peanut butter ? Looks kinda leakproof and i've been looking for something like that for like an eternity 😅 Thank you 😊

Thanks for all these ideas. Out of interest, what's the benefit of using the Salomon filter over the Katadyn one that it would have come with?

If you find some good trekking poles thats not to heavy give an update :P My Fizan Compact are great at 158g each.. but I always tend to have to adjust em every few km because I smash em shorter.

Great video as always!! Totally unrelated question but how do you store your pack and trekking poles when on a plane? I've heard of people putting their packs in duffel bags but obviously carrying that around on the hike is really bulky and heavy.

granted, it's just a rumour, but I heard from a bloke who was told that you can get shorts with pockets now

We have a lot of the same gear. 🙂

The moving water around towels are the worst .Why do they make those? Try a microfiber towel used for janitorial its perfect.

You can place a coin on your alcohol stove instead of a simmer ring Also recommend the Decathlon towels.

I live in Spain and have no idea where to get the tyvek ground sheet. Any tips? Also I think that little shovel is aluminum, I have the same one. I found it decent for digging, and for hard ground I flip it and use the handle side to dig in, then scoop the soil out with the other side

H9w do you find the tent handles wind? Every time I go camping it's either gale force winds or rain.😂

€659 ($703 USD) for the pyramid shelter… that’s a steep price. But I just did a bit of a search online and that is competitive for a comparable DCF pyramidal shelters.

Thanks a again for sharing all your stuff. How do you overcome sweating in your sleeping bag and the pain of sticky legs against the insulation of the sleeping bag?

Do you find it necessary to hang your food while hiking in Europe? Curious to hear what your solution is for this. Thank you for all the great vids!

Hi , there is a swiss company, who does Merino Gloves with the possibility to use the phone . It is called : the heat company Maybe it helpes. Thanks for ur videos.

Use a J-cloth for ccndensation. I'd like to see all the stuff in the bag and what the bag looks like packed and you carrying it with everthing there, plus all, the water bottles filled and 5 days of food. I'd like to know the weight before food and water and after adding food and water. I think the drone would max me out so much i wouldn't being it. Is the whole right side a control pannel? Or it's charger? Surprised dji doesn't have the controls in an app on your phone. I've used their gimble and the app is on my phone. It was pretty glitchy tbh, and surprising considering it was the 6th edition of the device. I returned it cause it was too frustrating to use. I'd rather just stick my phone to my trecking pole with velcro or with a moded phone clip

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lightload towels

Outdoor companies are clever. Only they can charge for <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="550">9:10</a> where a simple plastic bag would do :)

I do the opposite for my water and use a befree on one of my Salomon water bladders hahaha

Would be great to know which items are gifted and which you would actually buy with your own money.

Is that the Mesa Trail 2, or version 1? Why not just use a tarp or get a poncho tarp if you don’t need the bug net?

How do you deal with musquitos/bugs if you have only have a tarp?

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="495">8:15</a> "sawn-off toothbrush" does this mean it increases the spread of your toothpaste?

Must be bad when it rains with that tent.

The powerbank is 15 or 20000map? Thank you ✌️🙌

Would you consider upload a video of your map route planning and what software you use? I try to find your recommended app for an interactive map with red lines and dots but i cannot find the video any longer and replies will never be notified on RU-vid so i'll likely never see your reply either.

Since so many people rely on smartphones these days, which phone do you consider the best for (ultra)lightweight backpacking?

Out of curiosity, what hip belt are you using? I will keep watching your videos!! 👍

what size is you Backpack? 45 , 50 or 55 Liters?

Nitecore lamps the sh**… better than Black diamonds imo

I absolutely love bd gear, everything technical i have is from them. But their clothes... I've ruined my alpenglow in ONE hike, had to spent two days with needle to salvage it for city use.

Just the fly and tyvek floor? Are you not afraid of bugs or snakes while you sleep? Do you have like another means of deterring them or something? Just trying to learn

What is the brand of the blue jacket your wearing in this video?

not a big thing but Tyvek is not polycro, it's spunbonded polyolefin.

I like the Tyvek ground sheet - what does that weigh vs a cheap tarp? I’ll have to see if I can find some locally, it’s definitely cheaper per square foot, but you usually have to buy it in a huge roll which is just way too expensive for a small use like this.

Sound in the video is very low.

Mons Royale do great merino gloves that allow you to use your phone! New Zealand company

should probably replace that passport lol

no bear spray or gun ?

greetings from Ukraine! thank you for buying products made in my country, this is especially important during russian aggression.

dude, you should take off the label on the water bottle. saves a bit of weight there :P:P:P:P

lite lode towels

Shame everything is polyester

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="88">1:28</a> - youtube search -- Cruelty of Down