Home Ultralight Budget Gear List $800, 6.7lbs
People often think that ultralight hiking has to be expensive. You can definitely spend a lot, but there are genuine options out there that work extremely well for minimal investment.
This list is Thru Hiking worthy, and I would be happy to stand at the southern terminus of the PCT with everything on this list. There are other pieces of gear out there that are cheaper, but I have only included high quality items that I would use.
I decided to develop this article as I have seen other budget gear suggestions that are either not feasible or blatantly unsafe (e.g. including a cheap tent that will either leak, or just break in a storm). To counteract giving misleading advice, I developed a core outlines that I used for this gear list (and price was not even in the top 3 considerations):
No sacrifice to quality or usability
Value for money
Items that I would use
Price
Weight
Packability
Note: This is the companion to My 6 lb Gear List . There is also a traditional gear list The Ultimate 9 lb Gear List , and its companion Thru Hiker’s Budget Gear List .
Overview:
Weight (lbs)
Weight (kg)
Cost (US$)
Backpack
1.3
0.6
$165.00
Shelter
0.7
0.6
$215.00
Sleep System
1.8
0.8
$230.00
Clothing in Pack
1.3
0.6
$89.00
Cooking Equipment
0.1
0.1
$6.00
Water Treatment / Storage
0.3
0.1
$17.00
Electronics
1.0
0.5
$59.00
Random / First Aid
0.3
0.2
$17.00
Total
6.8
3.3
$800
Backpack System:
Company
Item
Comments
Wt (oz)
Wt (g)
Cost (USD)
Gossamer Gear
Gossamer Gear Kumo 36
Frameless
18.5
518
$165
ULA
ULA Circuit
Full Frame
$235
Trash Bag
Trash Compactor
Use as an internal bag liner
1.5
42
$2
20
560
$167
Shelter System:
Company
Item
Comments
Wt (oz)
Wt (g)
Cost (USD)
MLD
MLD Grace Tarp
Cat cut, Silnylon
8.1
227
$140
TarpTent
TarpTent Protrail
long and skinny
$225
Borah Gear
Borah Gear Tarp
5.5×9 Silnylon Tarp
$54
Tyvek
Tyvek Groundsheet
6
168
$10
S2S
S2S Nano pyramid
supprisingly durable, can be left at home
3.2
90
$50
MSR
MSR 4 Groundhog tent peg + 2 titanium shepard hook
Bigger stakes for 4 corners and smaller stakes for the others
2.7
76
$15
10.8
560
$215
Sleeping System:
Company
Item
Comments
Wt (oz)
Wt (g)
Cost (USD)
UGQ
UGQ Bandit
20F / -6C, 800 Fill Quilt
18.8
526
$200
Thermarest
Thermarest Zlite, 3/4 length
Resonably comfortable foam pad
10
280
$30
Gossamer Gear
Gossamer Gear 1/8in foam pad
Extremely lightweight
$18
28.8
806
$230
Clothing System:
Company
Item
Comments
Wt (oz)
Wt (g)
Cost (USD)
Frogg Toggs
Frogg Toggs Ultra Lite 2
Cheap, dispoable and most breathable in its weight clase
6
168
$20
Generic
Microfleece
Find one on discount
7.5
210
$25
Dance Nylon Warm Up Pants
Dancing nylon warm up pants
Really useful to keep warm when moving, great for laundry cloths
3
84
$18
Generic
Generic fleece
Can be found online for cheap
1.5
42
$10
Generic
Generic fleece beanie
Can be found online for cheap
1
28
$10
Runner
Synthetic
Runner
Second Pair
1.5
42
$5
Generic
Use under hat to block sun, use as a drying towel
1
28
$1
21.5
602
$89
Cooking System:
Company
Item
Comments
Wt (oz)
Wt (g)
Cost (USD)
Generic
Lexan Spoon
As durable as titanim at a fraction of the price. From REI
0.5
14
$1
Heavy Plastic Bag
Stuff Sack
Heavy Plastic Shopping Bag
1
28
$0
Westcott
Westcott 1.5 inch Titanium Sissors
Basic, all you really need
0.5
14
$5
2
56
$6
Water Treatment and Storage:
Company
Item
Comments
Wt (oz)
Wt (g)
Cost (USD)
Aqua Mira
Aqua Mira
Chemical Treatment
3
84
$15
Bottle
Smartwater
2 total
1.3
37
$2
4.3
121
$17
Electronics:
Company
Item
Comments
Wt (oz)
Wt (g)
Cost (USD)
What you already have
6
175
Aniker
Aniker 10,000MA
7.1
200
$30
Generic
Generic
Look for 2 Amps
1.4
39
$5
Generic
Generic
1/2ft or 1ft
0.3
8
$4
Pezel
Pezel e-Lite
Extremely light and compact, only good for emergancy night hiking
1
28
$20
15.8
451
59
Miscellaneous:
Company
Item
Comments
Wt (oz)
Wt (g)
Cost (USD)
ZipLock
ZipLock Freezer
Waterproof, resonably durable
0.3
8
$1
ID and Cash
0.5
14
Chopped down for convinient storage
0.2
6
$1
1oz travel size
1
28
$1
1oz travel size
1
28
$1
Ben’s 100% Deet, 1oz travel size
1
28
$3
10 x Ibeprofen, tenasious tape, needle, floss in a hard plastic case
1.5
45
$10
5.5
157
$17
Leave a comment with your awesome budget gear suggestions!
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