JOURNAL
GEAR
GEAR
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21 MAR 2025
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7 MIN READ
GEAR THAT DISAPPEARS: WHAT WE CARRY NOW
The best kit is the kit you stop thinking about. After a decade of eliminating and refining, here’s what makes it into our packs — and, more importantly, what doesn’t.
The best kit is the kit you stop thinking about. After a decade of eliminating and refining — through wet ridges, cold bivouacs, approach routes that turned into epics — here is what makes it into our packs. And, more importantly, what doesn’t.
Our starting principle is one that the ultralight community has articulated better than anyone: weight is always a trade, but it is not the only variable. Reliability matters more than lightness above a certain altitude. Warmth matters more than weight when the temperature drops unexpectedly. The goal is not the lightest possible kit; it is the kit with the highest ratio of capability to consequence.
THE SHELL
The hardshell jacket is the one piece of kit we refuse to compromise on weight. A hardshell that fails in serious mountain weather is not just uncomfortable — it is dangerous. We use a Gore-Tex Pro construction for anything above 2,000m in Greek conditions, where the rain can come in horizontally and the temperature can drop 15°C in an hour. The jacket should fit over a midlayer and a puffie. If it doesn’t, it’s the wrong size.
Cheap kit at sea level. No compromise above 2,000m.
FOOTWEAR
For anything up to moderate day sessions in dry conditions: trail runners with a substantial lug pattern. For anything wet, technical, or multi-day: a lightweight mountain boot with ankle support and a Vibram outsole. We have stopped using traditional hiking boots entirely — the weight penalty is not justified by the support gain at the grades we operate at. The transition from trail runners to mountain boots should happen around the point where ankle rolls become a consequence rather than an inconvenience.
WHAT WE NO LONGER CARRY
Two trekking poles, unless the terrain is genuinely demanding and descending under load. A separate sleeping bag liner — the weight savings from eliminating the liner and using a warmer bag are negligible; the simplicity gain is real. Any device with a charging cable that requires another device to be useful. Physical guidebooks above an approach route — the weight and bulk are not worth it. And — this took longest to let go — the emergency bivy that we never used, because we had stopped getting into situations where we needed it.
The gear list is a reflection of skill development, not just equipment preference. As your mountain competence grows, the list gets shorter. Not because you need less, but because you have become more capable of doing more with less.
