Leave the ten essentials and all other impedimenta behind – Yvon Chouinard
Being a bit of a gear head it should come as no surprise that we were going to have an installment all about the kit we were going to be using. Part of the boots on the ground training purpose beyond the obvious physical and mental prep, is to pressure test and dial in the equipment. How important can this really be you ask? Very, is the answer.
Shoes, are in my mind at least, without a doubt the single most important choice you need to make. I haven’t pulled the trigger yet on which shoes I plan on using for this escapade. My choices are: Brooks Cascadia’s, which I have a long history with. Nnormal Tomir’s which I have started doing my regular runs with. Brooks Caldera’s which is a new shoe, and one that I haven’t even really tried in the heat of battle yet. Both the Calderas and the Tomirs are a much more cushioned shoe than I typically run in.
Socks are second on my list of importance. The lads seem really hyped on these new fangled toe socks. Although I haven’t tried them, I can’t really see those working for me.
The pack you chose is third. There are a wide variety of features that one needs to look at in this decision. Comfort obviously is one thing. Another is size. You want the pack to be able to carry all you need, but also you want it to not to be able to carry more than you need. This is for two reasons: the first is the pack weight itself, the second being, if you have excess capacity you will end up using it, thus adding additional unnecessary weight. You need the pack to be compatible with whatever hydration systems you will be using. Lastly, because of the premium we are placing on minimizing stopping you want the pack to have features that make accessing frequently used items easy, and preferably without having to remove the pack. Things such as food, liquids, camera, and poles.
Unless you are an elite trail athlete there is a very good chance you are gonna be spending some amount of time in the dark on the R3. The amount of time is going to be a factor in the type of light you need. Because of our decision to do the bulk of the crossings in the dark I opted for a heavier, yet more powerful and longer lasting option, than I would’ve otherwise. I have purchased a Black Diamond Distance 1500 to add to my growing quiver of head torches. Unfortunately it’s a rechargeable type, and the spare battery…. which you absolutely need, is expensive.
We all plan on taking poles. We also each have the same design and brand, with the only difference being that mine are carbon. My regular readers might recall that I reviewed mine, Here. Caleb shared with us an excellent pro-tip regarding poles. This being, to wrap some duct tape around one (or both) of them to use for field repairs when (not if) one breaks.
Another item that is of prime importance are hydration systems. There are a number of options and mostly it comes down to personal preferences. Each of us is going with some combination of flasks and bladders. My current plan is to take one 1.5l bladder and one 500ml flask. I will also carry a spare 1.5l bladder as a backup. Part of the hydration plan is to additionally have a BeFree water filter, as there are multiple locations to filter from natural water sources if the need arises. This ability to filter water is an important safety factor.
Anything can happen out there, so a small amount of emergency gear is in order. But not a lot. A small knife, some tape, moleskin, painkillers, and a personal locator beacon is about it.
Clothing will be a bit of a game day decision depending upon weather conditions. More than likely just shorts and a long sleeved sun hoodie. Wide temperature swings are normal. We should expect a mean range from a low of 1C to a high of 33C. The coldest times will likely be when we are approaching, and descending from the north rim. It’s not likely that we will be stopping or dawdling here, so no need for too much clothing. The only thing would be if we had some sort of emergency and needed to hunker down for a bit.
You might recall that we sort of joked about not taking a camera, as a weight and clever time saving tactic, but at the end of the day it’s always nice to have a photographic and video record. I will be bringing my GoPro Hero 12 to capture all the…. ‘Hero’ shots.
The trails for the crossing are really straight forward and there is only one spot where a small amount of attention is needed to avoid a disastrous wrong turn. Because of this we are taking no standalone GPS device and will rely on our watches and dead reckoning.
I like metrics as I’m sure you have all figured out if you have been reading my stuff for long enough. So what does that fun fact have to do with gear? Our GPS watches should capture any metrics that I might want with the exception maybe of heart rate. The watch itself does an ‘okay’ job for that, but not as accurate as a chest monitor. So, I’m just pondering whether to wear a chest strap or not. My current leanings are to not, for the simple reason that I am not going to use the resultant heart rate data to change anything up in my training.
It’s early days still, and as sure as shooting, there are going to be some changes as we continue with planning, training, and testing. Stay tuned….
Between the wish and the thing the world lies waiting – Alfonsa