Guidance about Gear

First, a few general principles to remember while choosing your gear:

• New gear is not important. Quality is important. Sturdy, quality gear and clothes can even be found at thrift and consignment stores (especially gear for growing young people).

• Diversity is important! Eastern Washington in early Fall can be anywhere from extremely hot and dry, to wildly windy, to cold and rainy with a little hail and snow mixed in! Please pack with that in mind, we will need to be able to be out and active in any and all of these kinds of weather conditions.

The Key Items and considerations:

Footwear: It is helpful to have some easy comfortable slip-on type camp shoes, as quite a bit of time, you’re just needing to make short trips to and from the circle to your tent or the facilities. And, for the occasional walks and wanders, or if the weather is wet and/or cold (it often is in the morning), a pair of sturdier outdoor walking shoes is also important. Given the possibility of rain, it would be nice if these shoes were fairly water resistant if not waterproof (we won’t be splashing in puddles). But you do not need full-on backpacking or mountaineering boots for this journey.

Bags for your stuff: We set up our basecamp walking distance from our vehicle so a full trail backpack is not required, though it makes it nice and easy to move your gear upon arrival, especially if you like to set up your tent a little further away for added solitude. It is important that you have a daypack so you can keep all your daily gear neat and organized so our camp doesn’t get to cluttered. And, it’s likely that you will have a longer walk to get to your solo site, so having a larger daypack or trail backpack can be very helpful in carrying the gear you will be taking for the solo, so you don’t have to take multiple trips carrying everything in your hands.

Tent: This is one of the most important pieces of your gear, as it will be your shelter for the experience (except for the times you chose to sleep outside), and waterproof is the most important criteria. Some of the family camping tents sold at the big box sporting goods stores or on-line have a very meager rainfly which often allows rain to hit the sides of the tent, which can then come through, getting things inside damp or even wet if they are up against that side of the tent. So consider getting a tent with a good rainfly that comprehensively covers the tent, sides too, and ideally even creates a vestibule area in front of the door, a covered spot where you can keep things covered from the rain, but outside the tent (mainly muddy shoes). Adventurous folks are welcome to try sheltering with a good tarp instead of a tent, to reduce the sense of being separated from the world around you, and if you go this route, make sure you’ve got plenty of parachute cord (~100ft) and chose a tarp (8’ x 10’ seems ideal) with plenty of grommet-holes / fastener points on the corners and the sides so you can stretch it out firmly. Also, bring 8 heavy duty metal stakes—10-12” long (not the flimsy short aluminum stakes). Galvanized nails this long from the hardware store work great and are much less expensive than fancy backpacking stakes (which are engineered to reduce weight, unnecessary for us).

Sleeping Bag: 

• Temperature Rating: Fasting and doing intense emotional and spiritual work can deplete our body’s reserves, and it can be more difficult to sleep warm than you are used to. So, the warmer the sleeping bag, the better. You can always unzip or sleep partially covered if it’s too hot, but it’s hard to make it warmer if you’re too cold. We recommend a 0-to-10 degree (Fahrenheit) rating.

• Fill Material: Because we are staying put, as long as your tent is a quality tent that keeps your bag dry, the fill material isn’t much of an issue. However, down/feather filled bags (which are nice and light and super warm) do dramatically lose their warmth if they get moist, and become useless when wet. So, synthetic fill bags are just fine, and avoid this problem. They are also generally less expensive than down bags. We don’t recommend the cotton filled square “Coleman-type” sleeping bags.

• Additional Wool Blanket: This can be extremely useful on this journey—for cold mornings or campfire sessions, as additional warmth if nights get very cold, and also to replace the sleeping bag for a more visceral experience during the solo vigil.

Sleeping Pad: For many, being able to sleep well is very important for mental clarity and emotional steadiness. Most of us are habituated to sleeping on substantial mattresses, so sleeping on the ground is a big transition. You sleeping pad, at the very least, needs to insulate you from contact heat-loss with the ground, and also will be your “mattress.” It can be very helpful to have a sleeping pad that gives your body enough support to sleep in it’s usual sleeping position so that you don’t get sore in your hips or shoulders. We recommend spending the night on the floor, sleeping on your chosen pad, prior to the trip, to see if it gives you enough support. If you have an inflatable-type sleeping pad, we strongly recommend you bring a repair kit with you, pads can and do get punctured.

Camp Chair: We will spend considerable time together in council, and also in conversation in pairs and small groups. Having a comfortable way to sit outside is very helpful. Foldable camp chairs are quite common and available at all sporting goods stores, and make it much easier to stay engaged with the experience. Or a good ground cushion if you like sitting on the ground (perhaps one with a back-rest!).

Knives. While we aren’t focusing on campcraft on this experience, a small camp knife can be a great tool, and is something many people carry everyday just to be prepared. We ask only that you leave the big Bowie knives at home, and also consider not bringing folding knives that do not have any locking mechanism, like most Swiss-Army knives. These have the highest incidence of injury, and we really don’t want to have to devote our precious time to easily avoidable first aid!

Clothing: While everyday cotton clothes are comfortable, and quite appropriate for late summer or early fall, please do make sure you have at least one set of clothes (preferably more) that work even when wet. This is for the unfortunate extreme of lots of rainy cold weather, when cotton becomes a big liability—when wet, cotton doesn’t just not keep you warm, it actively steals warmth from your body. So, at least one top and bottom that are substantially warm—generally people have polypropylene heavy-weight long underwear (Base Layer) with nylon shorts, and a fleece top. Fleece or wool pants are great as well, and even warmer, and silk Base layers work fine. All of these materials will continue to provide insulation even if they absorb moisture or get wet, and will dry out with continued use once you get out of the rain. Cotton won’t. Cotton kills.

If you have any gear-related questions, feel free to contact us. We would be happy to offer advice on good products and where to get them.

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go to the Trip Description Page

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