The Big Three consists of your shelter, sleep system, and backpack. These are usually the heaviest items you carry, and also where you can save the most weight.

My backpack is Mountain Laurel Designs Prophet (463g). It's a 48L frameless pack (meaning, unlike generally, it doesn't have a frame inside) and carries really well. I've attached MLD's Bottle Pocket shoulder pouch to the right shoulder strap, and ZPacks Shoulder Pouch to the left where I keep my camera and camera accessories for easy access while hiking.

For shelter I use MLD's cuben fiber Patrol Duo (310g), coupled with cuben fiber Serenity Duo (310g) innernet. While ZPacks and Big Agnes are the most popular shelter brands on the PCT, I chose to go with the Patrol tarp for its modularity and openness. Unlike the ZPacks shelters, with the Patrol, you can pitch just the innernet, or the tarp, or both – depending on the weather and bugs. And unlike the fully enclosed tents from Big Agnes, the tarp offers a bit more "scenery" and allows you to be more connected with your surroundings.

For sleeping bag I use the ZPacks 10F sleeping bag (709g). Up until the last minute I was going to use my old 20F bag, but seeing how many of the 2016 thru-hikers complained that it was too cold, and looking at all the snow on Sierra, I ordered the warmer 10F bag. I should sleep nice and warm.

My sleeping pad is the good old Z Lite Sol (260g) from Therm-a-Rest. While I enjoy the comfort of inflatable pads, on longer hikes I get tired of inflating and deflating them. You can just throw down the Z Lite and you're ready to sleep, no huffing and buffing required. The Z Lite is also almost indestructible, which is great when you're crossing 800 miles of desert full of poky things looking to puncture your pad. I've cut the Z Lite to about torso length to save some weight and space.

I'll also bring a strip of tyvek (98g) for cowboy camping and GooseFeet Gear's down pillow (68g) as a luxury item.

Clothing I wear while hiking