Gear
I have been remiss on the topic of my gear. Warrior Hike truly does everything it can to help the veterans it selects. They provide us with all the gear and support a long distance hiker could want; shoes, pants, shirts, cold weather gear, wet weather gear, backpacks, resupply, cell phone apps, and even a digital camera. I have found myself content knowing my biggest problem will be hiking 2200 miles and the rest is taken care of.
Prior to arriving in Georgia at the end of March, Warrior Hike shipped us what I call our initial issue, the basic "fitted" items we will need the next 6 months. The day I was notified that my shipment was in the mail it was like waiting for a new toy. In my case, a whole box of toys. I was eager to lay hands on the Warrior Hiker uniform.
It never fails though, when you are waiting for something, whether it's work to end, traffic to move, the doctor to see you, or a package in the mail, time stands still. Even worse, when the time comes and you expect work to finish, the doctor to see you, or that package to arrive....it doesn't. Here's the kicker... my brother who lives 12 miles from me got his box of goodies and I didn't.
My mind imagined every scenario it could as to why my package didn't arrive. Was it lost, stolen off my porch, mislabeled, who knows? All I knew is that I expected to be dancing around my living room with literally all the clothes I would have for the next 6 months and it was looking like I would be doing this naked now. Stress is something we feel when our expectations aren't met. In my case any deviation in my plan does mental voodoo on me and the result isn't pleasant. It's a byproduct of my PTSD. Three days later the world was in balance again and I did receive my package. I heard bad weather in Kansas is what caused the delay....weather has been a nemesis of mine before but I got my package, so all is well.
We got pants, shorts, socks, shoes, jackets, etc. How about I just do a video blog about it. Visit my YouTube page to view my video blog.
If you are interested, I copied the full list of equipment us Warrior Hikers will receive in totality below. It will all serve to help me become "a Lane more traveled... "
Backpack: (1) Granite Gear Nimbus Trace 70
Pack Cover: (1) Mountainsmith Rain Cover
Tent: (1) Big Agnes 1+
Ground Cover: (1) AntiGravity Gear Tyvek
Sleeping Bag: (1) Big Agnes 15
Dry Sacks for Bag: (1) Granite Gear 18 liter eVent Sil Compression Drysack
Sleeping Pad: (1) Big Agnes Hinman Pad
Water Bottles / Bags: (2) Nalgene Ultralite Wide Mouth Bottles / Camelbak Antitode
Water Filter: (1) Sawyer Squeeze Filter System
Stove with Pot: (1) Jetboil Zip
Lighter: (1) L.A. Electronic Lighter with LED Light
Spoon: (1) GSI Pouch Spoon
Poles: (1) set Leki Corklite
Trail Guide: (1) AT Guide
Phone Maps: (1) Guthook App
Headlamp: (1) Petzl Tikka
Sunglasses: (1) Oakley SI
Camera: (1) Fujifilm FinePix XP80Camera with SD Cards
Multi-tool: (1) Leatherman Micra Tool
Dry Sack for Electronics: (1) AceCamp 10 liter Dry Bag
Cell Phone Case: (1) Travelon Clear View Waterproof Pouch
Power Pack: (1) Anker Astro E3 Battery Bank
Dry Sack for Clothes: (1) Ace Camp 15 liter Dry Bag
Cold Weather Hat: (1) Peckham Fleece Cap
Hot Weather Hat: (1) Tan Boonie Cover
Bandana: (1) White Sierra Bandana
Rain Jacket: (1) White Sierra Trabagon Rain Jacket
Cold Weather Jacket: (1) White Sierra Peak Jacket
Gloves: (1 set) Gordini Stash Lite TouchGloves
Base Layers: (1 set) Sekri Poly Base
Long Sleeve Shirt: (1) White Sierra Kalgoorlie Shirt
Short Sleeve Shirt: (1) WSIFB Moisture Wicking T-Shirt
Pants: (1) White Sierra Trail Convertible Pants
Shorts: (1) Soffe Dri Running Shorts
Socks: (2 sets) Point 6 Hiking Tech Light and Medium Crew
Shoes: (1 set) Ahnu Moraga Mesh, Merrell MOAB, Keen Durand
Sandals: (1 set) Crocs Clogs Classic
Dry Sack for Food: (1) Seal Line 10 liter Mac Sack
Freeze Dried Meals: (2 per day) Backpacker Pantry
Snacks: (2 per day) Snickers, Health Warrior, Picky Bars
Energy Bars: (1 per day) Honey Stinger, Further Fuel
Electrolytes: (1 tube) Pep Pods, Fuel -100
First Aid Kit: (1) Adventure Medical Kit .7
Baby Wipes: (1 package) Adventure Medical Kits Travel Wipes
Insect Repellant: (1 bottle) Uncle Bens 100% DEET
Ibprophen: (1 bottle) Advil
2 Toms: (4 packages) Sports Shield, Blister Shield
Sunscreen: (1 bottle) Multi Sport SPF 32 3oz
Leukotape: (1 package) Leukotape
