Recently I took a trip to Nantahala National Forest and hiked the 24 mile Standing Indian Loop over two days. With lows in the single digits, but no precipitation (thankfully) here is what (and how) I loaded up my Stone Glacier Solo:

Hipbelt:

1: 1L Nalgene in Mystery Ranch Bottle Pocket — most convenient and fairly lightweight Nalgene carrier I’ve found. If it was a bit bigger and the elastic on the top a bit looser I would store my Snow Peak Trek 700 in there and the Nalgene nested inside it.

2: Stone Glacier Medium Hip Belt Pocket — I keep my Canon Powershot ELPH camera here.

3. Benchmade Saddle Mountain Skinner — I don’t go light on knives. I consider this part of the first aid/survival kit as well.

4. Garmin Foretrex 401 — To Afghanistan and back, after over five years of getting beat up, this little guy is still going strong.

5. Stone Glacier Medium Hip Belt Pocket —Fits 3 Honey Stinger Waffles, lip balm and a Suunto MC-2 Compass perfectly.

Top Pocket:

The Solo doesn’t have a traditional lid, but it does have a small pocket on exterior near the top for larger essentials.

1. Bic Mini lighter — Reliable and pretty much indestructible.
2. Princeton Tec Quad Tactical headlamp — Used for work as well. My favorite part about this headlamp is the push button (vs slider) operation and the screw that holds the battery cover in place.
3. 1: 24,000 Topographic Map from MyTopo.com — These guys are awesome. Fast service and customized overlays depending on what you want.
4. Toothbrush and Toothpaste — I keep them handy because if you bury them it’s that much harder to brush your teeth at the end of a long day.
5. Sea-to-Summit Reinforced Nylon Pocket Trowel + PX brand baby wipes— Surface mines are a violation of the Geneva Conventions and several United Nations statutes. Don’t lay them.
6. Joby Gorillapod Original — How else do you think I take all those sweet selfies when I go solo?

Interior Pocket:

The Solo has one interior pocket about halfway down the main compartment.

1. UST Para 325 50-ft cord — For bear bagging. Weighs less than 550 cord.
2. Tent Stakes for my Tarptent Double Rainbow — I keep them separate for added peace of mind that they don’t poke through anything. It was 6 x Easton Nano Nail stakes, but I broke three of them on the last day (they froze into the ground overnight and I couldn’t even dig them out in the morning.) Going to replace with MSR Groundhog stakes.
3. First Aid Kit — I have three objectives with my first aid kit: start a fire, stop major bleeding/splint a limb and purify water. So all I carry is matches, MSR Aquatabs and a neckerchief (pulls double duty and is packed in the cooking kit.) The band aids and Ibuprofen (Vitamin I) are for minor bumps and bruises and are convenience items.
4. Extra batteries — I suppose I could get away with not bringing extra headlamp batteries and just making sure I have relatively fresh ones in it already, but I don’t. The Foretrex goes through a pair of alkaline batteries in about 12 hours or so. Lithium batteries last longer. I generally carry a pair of batteries for each day I’m going out because I like to track my treks.

In the Main Compartment:

The large U-zip opening of the Solo really makes packing easy. With the tent and a large compression sack I make a nice table that everything else sits on. Little odds and ends stuff down in the open spaces.

1. Sea to Summit Ultra-Sil Compression Dry Sack (10L) — This is a winter specific addition. I use it to keep my insulation and weather layers handy on the top of my bag.
2. Platypus 2.0L Big Zip LP hydration bladder — Honestly, I like Camelbak bladders better, but this pulls double duty as my clean reservoir for the 2.0L Gravity Works filter I carry (not pictured; stuffed down in the pack.
3. Cooking Set — In warmer conditions I can nest my stove and fuel in here too, but this time I took the MSR Whisperlite.
4. DIY Reflectix FBC Cozy — Keeps food hot while it rehydrates.
5. Tarptent Double Rainbow — Weighs 43 oz. I got the carbon fiber pole (saves 2 oz) but added the breathable liner for condensation (added 4 oz).
6. 2 x Nalgene Canteen 32 ounce collapsible bottles — For carrying water back to camp after filtering. With my setup, I can have 7L of water available (5L clean, 2L dirty) in camp, which is more than enough for dinner, breakfast and water for the day for 2 people (depending on weather).
7. Sea to Summit Compression Dry Sack (30L) — Everything that I only pull out once we get to camp (sleeping system, camp layers, etc.) goes in here. Makes a nice platform to stack things on.
8. MSR Whisperlite stove — Brought this because the forecast called for temperatures to be in the single digits. Fuel bottle is stuffed down the same side of the pack as the tent. After watching a homemade alcohol stove boil 2 cups of water in 6 minutes in temperatures in the teens I’m making the switch.

Inside the Layer Bag:

1. Outdoor Research Axiom Jacket — I’ll switch back to the Helium II Jacket in warmer temperatures, but when things get cold, I want a Gore-Tex shell.
2. Outdoor Research Foray Pants — The best part about a full Gore-Tex suit is that even if you get wet, you can throw it on and walk your clothes dry.
3. Patagonia Houdini Windshirt — Goes on when I need a long sleeve when moving.
4. Outdoor Research Filament Pullover — Goes on during extended stops and in camp.
5. Seirus Hyperlite All Weather Gloves — Light and warm, the only time I needed my heavier gloves (see below) was drinking beer the first night, and then only on my beer hand (left the cozies at home).

Cooking System:

I already mentioned the stove and the two Nalgene canteens.

1. Neckerchief — I use it for wiping down the pots and mugs after cooking. Because I use Freezer Bag Cooking (FBC), the only cleanup I need is to dry up the water in the pots and clean out any hot cocoa residue in my mug. Also can be used as a cravat to splint a limb or apply a pressure dressing or tourniquet depending on the need.
2. TOAKS Titanium 1100ml Pot with Pan — I bring this whenever I’m cooking for two.
3. Snow Peak Trek 700 Titanium — Doubles as a mug and cook set. I can fit a small canister and Gigapower stove inside when the temperatures are warmer. I was looking at switching to a Snow Peak Ti-Double 450 Mug, but you can’t cook with it and it actually weighs more than the Trek 700.
4. PackTowl Original — Used to wipe out the interior of my tent. I’m going to start leaving this behind on sub-freezing trips. The condensation just froze and didn’t need to be wiped down.

Camp Bag:

1. SOL Emergency Bivy — I threw this inside my 20 degree sleeping bag and was sweating even though temperatures dropped into the single digits.
2. Big Agnes Zirkel SL 20 — The Big Agnes sleeping bags with integrated pad sleeves are so comfortable, I’ve had my wife ask me to set hers up in the house for napping.
3. Big Agnes Q-Core SL — it’s kind of a chore to blow up, but at 3.5 inches thick, annoying tree roots and pesky rocks disrupting your sleep is a thing of the past.
4. Big Agnes Camp Pillow — my buddy James tossed and turned and finally used his pack as a pillow Friday night. I didn’t hear any of this because I was sound asleep.
5. Wigwam Combat Boot Socks — bought these for Ranger School. Have rarely used them since because they are so thick, heavy and warm. They work great as camp/sleep socks.
6. Minus33 Allagash Men’s Lightweight 1/4 Zip — Worn in camp and for sleeping in. I used to keep this in my layer bag and throw under the Houdini when temperatures dropped enough that my short sleeve wasn’t cutting it. Then I thought, why am I bothering to take the Houdini off to put the long sleeve on and then put the Houdini back on? Now I just throw my OR Axiom over the Houdini if the shortsleeve and Houdini combination isn’t warm enough.
7. Minus33 Saratoga Men’s Lightweight Bottom — Worn in camp and for sleeping in. Same as with the top, I’m not taking my pants off in the middle of the trail just to put a warmer layer on. I just throw the OR Foray pants on if I’m getting that cold.
8. Outdoor Research Men’s Centurion Gloves — In late October I was out in the field doing Army stuff. It rained on us and temperatures were in the mid-30s. I didn’t have a pair of waterproof gloves and my hands were not happy about it. These were the first thing I bought when I got home. I haven’t been able to test them in cold and wet conditions yet, but I can vouch that they keep your hands warm in single digit temperatures while holding a cold beer.
9. Afghan winter shemagh — Afghans actually wear two different types of shemaghs: light and breezy summer ones and warm, heavy winter ones. This is a winter shemagh. Go to Afghanistan, befriend your own interpreter and get one as a gift. Or buy one from Combat Flip Flops and support sending an Afghan woman to secondary school.

So, that’s my packing list (not including food). I know you ultralighters out there are aghast at my nearly 26 lb base weight, but I’m not trying to be ultralight, just comfortably light. And after years of carrying Army packs, anything under 35 feels like a day pack.

Want to compare gear notes, make a suggestion or just humble-brag about how you’re lighter than I am? Drop a comment or hit me up on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.