The Feathered Friends Flicker Quilt Sleeping Bag is perfect for the Appalachian Trail and the variable weather swinging from cold snow to humid heat. It functions great for shorter backpacking trips and camping adventures and that is exactly what you pay for. Sitting at a comparable price (and often lower) than other high-end premium bags, this simply performed better across a number of categories. We absolutely love how it can be opened fully like a blanket or cinched up tight like a mummy bag to hold in heat. This bag has plenty of room to move around at night and doesn’t constrict or let cold air in when it is not covering your entire body.

A more affordable option than the Magma 15 and Flicker quilt, the Bishop Pass 15 is a great sleeping bag for outdoor enthusiasts on a budget. The durable construction, warmth, and top-notch comfort make this sleeping bag a total bargain. However, there’s slightly less room in this Bishop Pass 15 with tapered ends. As it typically goes with ultralight backpacking gear, this sleeping bag weighs more than many of the lighter bags on the list. But if you want something warm, quality, and durable for a lower price, this is the right fit.

The last product on this list but definitely not the least. The WM Ultralite is actually the most expensive sleeping bag and comes with several premium features – 850+ goose fill power goose down, down-filled ground collar, zipper tape guard, and continuous baffles. If you have the budget, the Ultralite is a no-brainer. 

The Z Packs Duplex Tent was voted as the best tent by Appalachian Trail thru-hikers two years in a row. It consistently comes up in surveys as the most popular tent year after year. It is extremely light, fairly easy to set up, and provides a good barrier to inclement weather. The bathtub floor is especially nice for keeping rain and puddled water out of the bottom of the tent. The major drawbacks are the price and some reports from hikers that their tent simply did not hold up well. If this is your chosen option, be sure to take care of it and dry it out before storing it after backpacking trips. 19 ounces for a two-person tent is simply unheard of, which is why the high price. This trekking pole tent should be in consideration for your gear kit.

Big Agnes makes quality tents and the Tiger Wall UL2 has been one of the best received in its lineup. The tents are heavier because they are double-walled, but this also makes them a little easier to store and use in rainstorms that last more than one night. The Tiger Wall is durable, and lightweight for a freestanding tent and might be the best option for a 3-season shelter, although we have even been able to stretch it to 4-season usage. The dual entry points make it a great option to use with a partner, and with any freestanding tent, there is less pressure to find ground that can hold a tent stake.

The One is a great affordable ultralight option. It does not perform as well as the more expensive shelters on this list, but it is completely capable of surviving an AT hike. We recommend waterproofing it yourself and sealing it before a thru-hike or backpacking trip to give the silnylon an extra coat of weather protection before you live in it. The tent uses two trekking poles and is fairly simple to set up. It is a basic one-person single-walled shelter but it checks all the boxes for a thru-hike or AT backpacking trip. Our favorite feature is the large amount of headroom.

The Nemo Hornet is a great option for a freestanding tent. The headroom is fantastic and has a couple of interior pockets that make organizing and stowing things like headlamps and phones simple during the night. It is still fairly lightweight despite being a double-walled shelter. This tent is among the most weatherproof on the list and holds up well through the harshness of a thru-hike. If you go with the Nemo Hornet 2, it should last long beyond a thru-hike and be available for subsequent backpacking adventures.

The Big Agnes lineup is centered on freestanding and double-walled tents. This means that they pale in comparison to the single-wall tarp competitors on the weight side. But, they offer a more comfortable camping experience with more room inside and a more weatherproof design if you opt for the heavier option. Big Agnes tents also work well for shorter backpacking trips because they are adaptable. The rain fly can be left off for a view of the stars or cinched tight in rain and snowstorms. This tent weighs more than the Tiger Wall, but the design is a little better for two people It is more weatherproof and the double doors make more sense. If longevity in a versatile tent is the goal, the Copper Spur is a good option.

The Zpacks Free Duo combines ultralight with a free-standing tent. The single-walled tent comes in at an amazing 1.9 pounds with the tent poles included. This alone should land it in consideration for a thru-hike and an every backpacking trip tent. The interior room is less than the other two person tents and this tent is susceptible to more wear than others on the list.

The MSR Hubba NX 1 is a tent built to last. The freestanding design is more suited for weekend trips and longevity than a thru-hike, but it still lands on the list as a good option. It is constructed with high-quality ripstop nylon construction and added an Xtreme Shield waterproof coating. The built-in rain gutter is a unique feature and draws water away from the tent’s openings. Durability and weatherproofing are its selling point and have some of the best precision-stitched seams of any shelter on this list. It does very well in heavy winds and rainfall. It is well priced for its features and durability.

The Ultamid 2 is a great option for an early start on the Appalachian Trail or a thru-hike that may extend into winter. It has a great design, lots of headroom and is capable of keeping all types of weather out. The quality DCF construction and lightweight design does come at a high price and does not include a floor or a bug insert, although they can be purchased separately. Hyperlite tents can be seen often on the AT and we believe it is for good reason. This tent comes well-reviewed and is highly recommended.

The award-winning Lunar Solo from Six Moon Designs is a very good tent especially when considering the price. It firmly sits in the budget realm, but outperfoms that designation. It also lands on many lists of the best budget gear list for the Appalachian Trail. The Lunar Solo is simply competent enough to last the entire trail and keep you dry. The tent should be additionally seem sealed and waterproofed on top of the factory settings to assure maximum weather protection.

The NiteCore NU25 is one of the lightest headlamps on the market weighing just under 1 ounce. We find it very bright for its small size and it’s super easy to operate. There are four brightness settings – 360, 190, 38, and 1 lumen, respectively and you can get up to 5 hours runtime at 190 lumens. 

There aren’t any drawbacks to this headlamp except that it has no dimmer.

The Petzl Actik Core Headlamp has several attributes we value in a headlamp – lightweight, easy to use, good performance, and durability. We also like that it’s easy to operate when wearing gloves and that a single button is needed for operation.

The high mode spot beam is very bright and can shine an impressive 90 meters down the trail which is up there with the best headlamps on the market. This headlamp doesn’t come cheap, but it’s a quality light. But overall, we recommend finding a more affordable option. 

If you are looking for a budget headlamp, look no further than the Petzl Tikkina which is just below $20. It has better construction and performance than most headlamps in the same price range and the 62-meter beam is very impressive for the price. 

While the Tikkina has slightly below-average flood beam optics, it’ll meet the needs of most thru-hikers and backpackers. At $20, we deem it a good bargain headlamp for thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail. 

Comfortable, rechargeable, lightweight, and bright, the Coast FL1R has everything you need in a headlamp, although some backpackers and thru-hikers may desire more. Coast claims this headlamp is weatherproof and we found it to withstand light rain.  

The main drawback is the battery life of just a couple of hours. It is not ideal for someone on a backpacking trip, but can be pulled off with a portable charger. 

Our Thoughts:

The Osprey series of packs is very popular among backpackers and thru-hikers on the Appalachian Trail. The Exos combines affordability with durability and a great support system to move the weight off your shoulders. If it is your first thru-hike and replacing a backpack in the middle of the AT sounds like a nightmare, then the Osprey Exos is a great option. If you have more of a budget and think it is worth the weight savings, the other backpacks may be a better fit.

Our Thoughts:

The G4-20 is one of the most affordable packs that is ultralight for an AT hike. The design is uniquely asymmetrical, with one side pocket being much taller than the other. The Mariposa shares this design and through using on a number of trips, we found this pocket actually quite useful for stowing a wet tent, shelter, or ground sheet along with the associated poles. There is less storage space in this pack than the others on the list, but if you are frugal with your gear, this is a good choice for maintaining a level of ultralight on your thru-hike.

The Sawyer Squeeze is among the most popular backpacking filters. It is compact, simple, lightweight, easy to use, and attachable to store-bought bottles. The versatility makes it great to depend on for months at a time. Using the provided bag to filter into a container or drink directly through the filter is possible and can make the Sawyer products more versatile. 

The Sawyer filters adequately remove bacteria and protozoa from your water. However, the same can’t be said for viruses. But this isn’t often a concern in the backcountry. 

What we like

• Reliable, inexpensive, simple, and easy to clean
• Packable and durable
• Versatile: can squeeze through or drink straight from the filter
• Instantly treats water

What we don’t

• Rubber O ring falls out with over-tightening
• Can freeze and crack in cold conditions
• Provided pouches do not perform very well
• Not effective against viruses

Aquamira uses the chemical chlorine dioxide to treat water and kill pathogens. The two small bottles are very lightweight and easy to use. Aquamira treatment simply requires mixing eight drops from each bottle and then adding it to the untreated water. Then it takes 20 minutes for the Aquamira to kill all the maladies.

Contrary to other methods on the list, Aquamira is effective against viruses. It’s an inexpensive method costing only $15. However, the waiting time can be a frustration in dry areas. The Aquamira kit also does not remove sediments. 

What we like

• Simple to use
• Kills viruses
• Small and compact
• Cheap

What we don’t

• Takes 20 minutes to work effectively
• Slightly changes the taste of the water
• Difficult to monitor the quantity left in the droppers

Sawyer created the Micro to be a lighter alternative to the original Sawyer Squeeze but with a faster flow than the Mini. The Micro is lightweight, reliable, and easy to use but still falls short of our top pick from Sawyer. 

The Micro has a noticeably slower flow rate than the Sawyer Squeeze and seems to clog up easier but it is also a faster and more efficient filter than the Sawyer Squeeze Mini.

What we like

• Lighter weight and versatile
• Easy to clean and backflush
• Affordable and durable

What we don’t

• Slower flow rate than the Sawyer Squeeze
• Poor quality bag included from Sawyer

The Platypus Gravity Filter System has two bags and an inline filter. There is a bag for the dirty water (yet to be treated) and gravity forces the ‘bad water’ through the filter and into a clean bag. It is a simple set it and forget it method available in 2 and 4-liter capacities.

The Platypus Gravity Filter is great for groups and has a good flow rate. But, it’s heavy and bulky. The best feature is that the Gravity Filter does all the work.

What we like

• Efficiently filter large quantities
• Little work/effort required

What we don’t

• Heavy and Bulky
• Takes time for gravity to move the water through the system