The John Muir Trail Gear Guide (2024 Survey)

In the second installment of this year’s John Muir Trail Hiker Survey, we dive into gear for hiking the JMT. John Muir Trail gear lists vary wildly between hikers, and (spoiler alert) finding a perfect JMT gear list is impossible. That said, we can try.

I’ve organized this in a way that I hope will give a comprehensive picture of the gear JMT hikers use. This post covers the highest-rated gear, the most common gear, base weights, gear advice, and more.

Continue reading to learn more, written by Mac.

Contributing Writer

Mac

Tyler 'Mac' Fox, the voice behind Halfway Anywhere, is a multifaceted adventurer, thru-hiker, bikepacker, ultrarunner, and van dweller, after a pivotal experience thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail in 2013. Embracing a philosophy where the journey outweighs the destination, Mac has thru-hiked iconic trails like the PCT and CDT, bikepacked across the Australian Outback, raced the Tour Divide, rowed the Grand Canyon, and trekked extensively all over the world from Nepal and Tasmania to Japan and Brazil.

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Cnoc’s ThruBottle also features a 28mm thread, allowing you to use it with filters such as the Sawyer Squeeze.

Mac

Contributing Writer

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Sawyer Squeeze + Cnoc VectoX 2L 28mm is widely considered to be the most reliable filter-bladder combo in existence, and we agree 100% with that sentiment.

Jaeger Shaw

Owner & Managing Editor

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I carry the Sawyer Squeeze in my day pack in case of emergencies and as a backup to my larger water filter on backpacking trips where I know I’ll be relying on streams.