through-hike the Appalachian Trail

Once I knew that my old tent was far too heavy, I wanted a shelter that would be small enough for me to maximize body heat to interior airspace yet large enough to contain my pack as well.

I quickly decided on a medieval cloak, made out of lightweight green canvas, with a Tyvek interior to waterproof it, and a lightweight polar fleece lining. The picture shows the cloak layout at 9 foot diameter with a 4.5 radius. As I am 5’7 the cloak will end about midcalf.

I still intend to use my spear as a hiking staff, and it can also serve as a center pole as well. The support harness is made of a stainless steel ring just a little larger on the interior diameter than the thickness of my staff to allow it to slide over the bronze buttcap. It will come to rest on a thick rubber retention ring that stays on the staff/spear.

Once I am stopping for the night, I will lay out a circular piece of Tyvek for a ground cloth. This circle has a 2 inch hole in the exact center. Through this hole my spear goes into the ground and the support harness gets placed over and down the spear shaft, coming to rest on the retention ring.

Around the cloak’s neckline are 4 stainless steel D-rings, sewn on with green nylon strapping and permanently secured with a copper rivet. I take the support harness which has 4 nylon straps ending in steel snaphooks, and I hang the cloak from the spear by attaching the snaphooks to the D-rings.

Around the bottom of the cloak are 5 canvas stake loops, sewn and rivetted to the cloak. Using these and 5 lightweight aluminum stakes I secure the bottom of the tent, matching it to the edge of the Tyvek ground cloth.

The doorway secures by means of three cloak clasps (embroidery frogs) and a line of velcro stays that run the length of the door opening.

Inside goes my pack and my sleeping bag and pad. Over the top of the spear can also go a plastic baffle, 8 inches in diameter with a hole through the center to keep rain out of the tent.

I estimate the cloak weight to be under 4 lbs.

The Kelty Yukon 50 pack, weight approx. 4 lbs. Kelty Cosmic Down 20 sleeping bag: 2 lbs 3 oz. Sleeping pad and tarp, 1 lb. Cloak/shelter/raincloak: 4 lbs.

I am 41 now, and while I still feel much as I did twenty years ago, I am feeling time encroaching and want to do this before I turn 45.

I spent my teen years in Boy Scouts, hiking up and down in all directions here in West Virginia, and camping whenever I could. As an adult I do quite a bit of camping, and have no fear of being in the woods alone, day or night. I know how to survive in the woods, and how to use a compass. I pack reasonably light, but my gear is not “wimpy” – I learned at an early age to choose gear that could really stand up to whatever Nature could throw at it, even if it weighs more than other options.

I am beginning to gather my gear together now, in order that I can do some smaller hikes of about four days total in which to work out gear strategies and develop a expectation of my food and water needs on the AT itself. I use a cotton canvas duck military shelter that can be easily converted to an open sided “Baker” set up. It has no floor, but a simple 6×8 tarp solves that problem. My sleeping bag is a down-filled military mummy bag, rated down to minus 10 degrees. My pack is a vintage Italian military pack that I handbuilt a strong oak external frame for, enabling me to secure the tent across the top in a horseshoe configuration, and my sleeping bag at the bottom. My lashing straps are nylon webbing secured by a double D-ring tension configuration.

Essential gear also includes a hatchet, a folding camp saw, a folding shovel/pick combo, a cook kit of the Scout “messkit” variety, a large canteen, a lensatic compass, heavy-duty steel tent stakes, rope, tealight candles, a stout knife, a sewing kit, a telescope, first-aid kit, a gyroscopic induction flashlight, a firestarter and a rope suitable for making a fire bow from.

Also going with me will be the Roman gladius Cold Steel machete, my spear which will double as my hiking staff, and a light cuirass of leather Roman lorica. I intend to also use a waterproofed canvas cloak and hooded mantle, and tall leather boots with incorporated hardened leather greaves to lessen the threat of poisonous snake strikes.

Setting up camp should be for the most part, staking down the tent with one side open and up like a Baker lean-to, with a reflecting fire built on the open side of the tent, the tarp and sleeping bag laid out underneath, with more than enough room to store my pack at either end. My food goes in a waterproof, scentproof bag, hoisted into a tree some distance away to avoid bear issues.