tldr; UL power bank. Light, USB-C, enough capacity. UL standard.
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Best praise vs top criticism for Nitecore NB10000
“I had some brief thoughts myself from the trip. I went with a much heavier pack owing to some different gear choices, though I was pretty happy with everything I brought. 1. I used an HX pot and wrote about it [here](https://old.reddit.com/r/Ultralight/comments/1mb9cb5/rultralight_the_weekly_week_of_july_28_2025/n63svy1/?context=3). I got a lot of boils out of it! 2. I went with a less dense meal [plan](https://i.imgur.com/CkaBPXr.png). Giant food spread photo [here](https://i.imgur.com/04qAFds.jpeg). I packed a lot of ziploc waste out, some room for improvement there. I also packed a full extra day's worth of food out. I screwed up my math on the dinners/breakfasts and had an extra of each, and I had some extra food left over from the start of the trip when I had some appetite suppression. I really liked my food on this trip, and I'd happily pack like this again. Nearly everything was from Costco too. 3. I used a Lixada solar panel (the small black one that is "rated" for 10W) and an Nitecore NB Air combo to keep my phone and watch charged, and I never even got below 40% on the phone. Some nights I would fall asleep while charging the phone and it wouldn't even matter. It was great not feeling like I had to ration anything, for less weight than a 20k bank (and comparable with a 10k). I generally used the phone just for caltopo nav and a few phone pics though, so not a crazy power user like some other folks seem to be. The whole setup was pretty sturdy and I think it only got unplugged once. 4. I was using a newer version of Jan's framed Bears Ears, which worked wonderfully for me because it moved the extra-heavy food load (25lbs!) just a little high enough so that it wouldn't sag on my back. I have an older version of the framed Bears Ears that I've used successfully with the Bearikade Blazer, but the extra-heavy 18" bear canister would sag and ride below my waist, which would've been quite uncomfortable. My enjoyment of this trip would've been significantly diminished without this pack. 5. I used some CMT ultralight trekking poles and I completely ground up the carbide tips to little nubs, just from this trip! I don't think I was particularly rough , but apparently the way that I use them while navigating on slabs and talus is just extremely hard on those tips, since they only lasted 150 miles. Fortunately, it seems I can just buy some replacement tips online for pretty cheap. It's just not clear to me if this is a carbide tip issue, a me issue, or a CMT-specific issue. 6. Piezo igniters above 10k are useless junk! Skill lessons: 1. I gained a lot of confidence moving on class 2 terrain (especially talus! this whole route was chock full of it). I'm a lot more comfortable on easy class 3 now, considering I've completely avoided it before this trip. I'm used to some of those crappy PNW volcano scree slogs so I thought I could handle class 2 scree sufferfests a little better, but moving up simple shelves with a few class 3 moves is just so”
“Alright so first things first this is the AT, not an actual wilderness hike so I wouldn’t worry too much about gear. From the looks of it you could get on there as is and be fine. Weight recommendations (and I will make recommendations) aside, my one piece of advice having done several long trails is that you need to care about fitness and logistics. There’s no such thing as logistics on the AT so just worry about fitness. Try and make 10s everyday for the first week, and then add 5 miles every week or so till you’re pulling 20s. Put some thought into who you hike with. I personally hate AT culture (it’s a bunch of wannabe hippies with trust funds that care more about smoking weed than being outside). Anyhow, now that I’m done shitting on the AT let’s get into your setup. **BIG FOUR** -You don’t need a stuff sack for your tent. (-1.0 oz) -They make cheap lighter pillows. (-2.0 oz) -X-mid pitches taut with only 4 stakes, you only need 5 stakes if you want a backup. (-1.8 oz) -Do you need the full length of the thinlite? You might be able to save some weight by cutting it some. *-sidenote: that is a really heavy quilt, if you ever want to make a major purchase you could do some weight savings here. It’s probably also waaay once you make it north in the summer. I’d recommend buying a mountain laurel designs vision quilt to mail to yourself when you get up north, and then mail your 20 deg. back home* **CARRIED CLOTHING** - You won’t need gloves in March (-1.75 oz) - Beanie, hoodie, and hooded puffy? How despicable. Get rid of the beanie. (-1.15 oz) - Get rid of the frogg togg stuff pack and the rain pants. Just carry the upper, I’m primarily an east coast hiker and I’d never carry anything more than windpants anytime of the year except winter. (-5.0 oz) -OkayOkayOkay I get it. Camp shoes are great. But 7.4 oz??? They make flip flops that weigh like 3 oz. (-4.4 oz) - What is the purpose of these shorts? You have sleep pants. You have hiking pants. Get rid of them. -(4.0 oz) -Excellent choices with the alpha direct **KITCHEN/WATER** I personally cold soak. Others may know more than me. To my eye untrained eye your cooking setup looks fine, though imjustsayingyoucouldsaveawholepoundifyoucoldsoaked. Who said that? **ELECTRONICS** -Get a nitecore NB10000 (-2.0 oz) **HYGIENE** -Wet Wipes? WET WIPES? WTF do you think this, /r/bushcraft ??? (-1.15 oz) -So I do shave my legs on thru hikes. I just do it in town, so I don’t have to carry the razor (-.3 oz) **MISC.** -Knife and scissors? Why? (-1.0 oz) -I appreciate the pepper spray. Like I said, the AT community is… special. It’s basically the burning man of American thru-hikes and attracts the exact same kind of creep. **FIRST AID** Okayokayokay. This may come as a surprise but your med kit insufficient. You need to be able to pack a wound, splint a fracture, treat minor pain at a BARE MINIMUM. Add some med-tape, gauze, and a few band-aids and you’ll be fine. **CONCLUSION** The a”
434 Reddit opinions analyzed • Last updated 2/24/2026