The Pacific Crest Trail Gear Guide: Class of 2020 Survey

Written By: Mac

In the third part of this year's Pacific Crest Trail Thru-hiker Survey, we take a deep dive into Pacific Crest Trail hikers' gear. PCT gear lists vary wildly between hikers and (spoiler alert) it's impossible to find a perfect PCT gear list. That said, we can try.

I've organized this post in a way that I hope will give a comprehensive picture of what gear PCT thru-hikers are using. This post covers the highest-rated gear, most common gear, gear statistics based on different groups of hikers, the lowest-rated gear, hiker comments on gear, and finally, gear advice. The gear covered here includes backpacks, shelters, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, insulated jackets, rain jackets, stoves, water treatment, trekking poles, ice axes, traction systems, bear canisters, shoes, socks, fleeces, and PLBs.

Previously, I also included women-specific gear, but in the interest of both organization and getting this post published (and to keep this post from being absurdly long), I am going to be publishing follow-up posts on gear broken down by gender as well as gear used by couples hiking the PCT.

I am sure that some of you will come up with comparisons you would like to see that I have overlooked. I hope to make this a useful resource for PCT hikers, so if there's anything that you think is missing, please leave a comment below.

That being said, I hope you enjoy this year's PCT Gear Guide brought to you by the PCT Class of 2020.