Need some gear suggestions for 2019

[Ajj828]

So I plan on trying a high hunt in 2019 or 2020 and I’m slowly buying gear I may need. I’m a new hunter and have only been hunting 3 years so I am slowly building my gear list up. I want to do a 4 day high hunt.

Important gear I know I need:
Tent/ tarp
Sleeping bag (used a $15 Walmart bag for elk hunting this year with 3 other blankets so I learned my lesson  )
Sleeping pad
Trekking poles
Pillow
Water filtration device
Stove
Portable charger

If anyone can recommend any brands to me that would be great. Not looking to buy a $600 tent or sleeping bag. Looking at about $200 max for a bag and $200-$300 for a tent. Would like to keep costs low but I do really hate buying low quality and wasting money.

[jackelope]

For a little over $200 I think the REI Half Dome tent is a great value. Also think there are deals to be had on Sierra Trading Post for everything.

[WapitiTalk1]

Take a look at these:
Tent - Nemo Hornet II (yes, you want a rated 2P tent for one person).
Bag - Consider a quilt (VIAM Outdoors make a quality product).
Trekking Poles - Black Diamond are very good but honestly, they are not needed.
Pillow - U can just sleep on a jacket but lightweight pillows are cheap, look at Klymit.
Pad - Klymit Static V Insulated pads are light, reasonably priced, and work fine.
Filtration - Look at Katadyn Pro Hiker (bombproof) or even their Base Camp Bag filter. They use the same replaceable filter.
Phone charger?  No idea, no phone service most remote places I hunt so phone stays at truck.
Just a few quick thoughts. Happy shopping 

 

[Crunchy]

If I were to be thinking of a high hunt the best rain gear I could buy would be at or near the top of the list. Then a good quality down bag.  Warm and dry are what separates an enjoyable hunt from a miserable experience.

[Jason]

Enlightenment Equipment for the sleeping bag. It’s a little over your budget but worth it, go with the synthetic fill to save a little money.
Trekking poles I have had good luck with the cascade techs from Costco, these work great and are very inexpensive and will allow you to spend more on the sleeping bag.
Sleeping pads, there are light weight ones but are generally noisy and expensive, I have the Nemo Astro lite and is very comfortable and is 3.5 inches thick and has a good insulation rating for lower temps.
Water filtration I switched over to the Sawyer gravity feed and it worked awesome and is light weight.
Tents, there are many options in you price range if you look at used ones. Go two man or you’ll regret it.

[swanny]

I'd save some money on the tent, stay in the $200 range (REI Half Dome as suggested earlier is a quality tent) and put $300 towards your sleeping bag. Get something that is quality, which will mean it's light weight, packs small, and will keep you warm. I haven't shopped every brands sleeping bags in a while, but for around $300-350 you will get a a quality 700+ fill goose down sleeping bag that will last you for 20+ years. Marmot has always been competitively priced and well constructed in their down fill bags.

I'm personally a fan of EXPED sleeping mats, full disclosure I'm the US Sales Manager for them. The SynMat XP 7 is a great, almost, all season choice for about $130. Gives you 3" of comfort, weighs less than 2lbs, and packs to about the size of a Nalgene bottle. The other mat that is a sleeper in our product line is the DownMat Lite 5 at around $115 for size medium. If you were to ever have a problem with your sleeping mat, repair and warranty is handled in house in Tacoma, WA as well.

All of us here understand having a budget for gear, especially when you are acquiring all of it. That said, spend the extra $100 where it's necessary and buy once, instead of two or three times.

[JeffRaines]

So I plan on trying a high hunt in 2019 or 2020 and I’m slowly buying gear I may need. I’m a new hunter and have only been hunting 3 years so I am slowly building my gear list up. I want to do a 4 day high hunt.

Important gear I know I need:
Tent/ tarp
Sleeping bag (used a $15 Walmart bag for elk hunting this year with 3 other blankets so I learned my lesson  )
Sleeping pad
Trekking poles
Pillow
Water filtration device
Stove
Portable charger

If anyone can recommend any brands to me that would be great. Not looking to buy a $600 tent or sleeping bag. Looking at about $200 max for a bag and $200-$300 for a tent. Would like to keep costs low but I do really hate buying low quality and wasting money.

I'm fairly new to hunting like yourself, but I was into hiking/backpacking before I got into hunting.

I am going to assume you're also new to backpacking in general... with that said, I'm going to mirror what a few others have said - buy once, cry once. This gear ain't cheap, and the cheap stuff is rarely good. Not to say cheap stuff won't last, but when you're talking about hiking miles in up a couple thousand feet of elevation every pound matters, and buying cheap heavy gear will do one of two things - either you're gonna end up with a bunch of gear you don't use anymore because its miserable lugging in 60 pounds of stuff, or you're gonna end up double buying everything because you decided you liked it and to hell with lugging 60 pounds up the trail when you can slowly buy new everything and be headed up with 35-40 instead. Not to mention the resale value on the cheap stuff isn't there. Ask me how I know - because I've been there and done it. Luckily when I got into hunting I already had UL backpacking stuff, it was just a matter of getting a solid hunting pack.

I'd take this year, and maybe next, and turn into a granola cruncher and hike your tail off. Well, maybe not literally turn into one, but before you start dumping cash why not see if its something you enjoy at all? If you don't enjoy hiking in and spending the night out in the wilderness, you're probably not going to enjoy hunting in it either. You can spend a little renting gear or borrowing some stuff to see how you like it. If its something you like, you're gonna feel better about buying the good stuff to begin with... which is what you should do. Not only that, but you can get your feet wet in figuring out whats comfortable for you before you go crazy buying stuff you think you need. Not to mention the benefit of doing all that hiking - it'll get you in shape.

[jackelope]

I won’t backpack hunt without trekking poles unless I forget them, which I have done.

[MerriamMagician]

I'm also gathering backcountry gear at a rate of about 1 new item per month. For portable charger I bought an Anker Power core 2 which claims it can recharge an iphone 7 times. This is important to me as I use my phone a lot for digiscoping and Onx navigation. I might also get a smaller ultra compact one for backup.

[highside74]

Are you short or tall? Are you a mummy bag person or do you need room to sleep?

[brandon.b.sanders]

Most gear they issue the military is garbage, but the ECWS 3 sleep system is the extreme outlier. I've litterally slept through a tornado in Arkansas, spent several winter's out in the field, and trained in February at Ft Drum in Northern New York...most of my gear was junk 30 years behind modern backpacking technology, but sleeping bag was and still is amazing. It's warm and dry and you can pick them up pretty cheap now.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

[jackelope]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but you’d need a separate backpack/Sherpa to haul that sleeping back system right?? I kid, but I don’t believe it to be backpacking trip friendly.

[Boss .300 winmag]

I’ve got two these, if your not packing in they are the bomb, can’t be used in a heated space. I’ve slept in them in 4 degrees, and believe me no clothes required except skivies.😉

[jackelope]

TMI, Boss!!

[Ajj828]

So I plan on trying a high hunt in 2019 or 2020 and I’m slowly buying gear I may need. I’m a new hunter and have only been hunting 3 years so I am slowly building my gear list up. I want to do a 4 day high hunt.

Important gear I know I need:
Tent/ tarp
Sleeping bag (used a $15 Walmart bag for elk hunting this year with 3 other blankets so I learned my lesson  )
Sleeping pad
Trekking poles
Pillow
Water filtration device
Stove
Portable charger

If anyone can recommend any brands to me that would be great. Not looking to buy a $600 tent or sleeping bag. Looking at about $200 max for a bag and $200-$300 for a tent. Would like to keep costs low but I do really hate buying low quality and wasting money.

I'm fairly new to hunting like yourself, but I was into hiking/backpacking before I got into hunting.

I am going to assume you're also new to backpacking in general... with that said, I'm going to mirror what a few others have said - buy once, cry once. This gear ain't cheap, and the cheap stuff is rarely good. Not to say cheap stuff won't last, but when you're talking about hiking miles in up a couple thousand feet of elevation every pound matters, and buying cheap heavy gear will do one of two things - either you're gonna end up with a bunch of gear you don't use anymore because its miserable lugging in 60 pounds of stuff, or you're gonna end up double buying everything because you decided you liked it and to hell with lugging 60 pounds up the trail when you can slowly buy new everything and be headed up with 35-40 instead. Not to mention the resale value on the cheap stuff isn't there. Ask me how I know - because I've been there and done it. Luckily when I got into hunting I already had UL backpacking stuff, it was just a matter of getting a solid hunting pack.

I'd take this year, and maybe next, and turn into a granola cruncher and hike your tail off. Well, maybe not literally turn into one, but before you start dumping cash why not see if its something you enjoy at all? If you don't enjoy hiking in and spending the night out in the wilderness, you're probably not going to enjoy hunting in it either. You can spend a little renting gear or borrowing some stuff to see how you like it. If its something you like, you're gonna feel better about buying the good stuff to begin with... which is what you should do. Not only that, but you can get your feet wet in figuring out whats comfortable for you before you go crazy buying stuff you think you need. Not to mention the benefit of doing all that hiking - it'll get you in shape.

I’m one of those guys who will not buy cheap gear if possible. I hate wasting my money and I know there is a huge difference in gear. I’ve bit the bullet and got some Sitka cloudburst rain gear this month and I’m slowly purchasing one to two items a month. I think I will really enjoy back country hunting. I love to hike into the nasty terrain during deer season and go where other hunters won’t go. I don’t like hunting southwest Washington because of all the logging roads and clearcuts it’s just not my style of hunting because it feels like I’m not really in the wilderness. I’ve always loved camping and the outdoors so this should be a good experience for me. I think I’ll start small and try 1 night in the woods hunts and work my way up to 4 day hunts so I will get a feel for it before buying more gear. I’m not too worried about buying camping gear and nice quality gear because I need it anyways because I go camping a lot