PCT NOBO shakedown request

I would add baselayer pants at least. Unless you plan to sleep in your frogg toggs. Which you could do, but it wouldn’t be my first choice.

Another railriders fan I see. I love my ecomesh pants and used the same Journeyman shirt for a year before switching to a sun hoody.

Some weights seem to be off. The Large Xlite pad is only 470g according to the thermarest specs. That will save some weight right there. I'm 6'4" and sleep on the normal length pad. I actually like my heels hanging off, it sort of stretches them out. I thought wide pads were awesome but after sleeping on both types I realized I sleep the same regardless of the width so now I just use a normal width. They're also warmer.

Your choices are reasonable, you just need to decide what type of hike you're doing. Can you sleep in your underwear or hiking shirt? If so you save 11oz ditching the sleep clothes. Use your phone as a journal? Save 3oz by leaving the rite as rain journal/pen at home. I agree with u/ryanhikes that you need more training/experience and things will fall in line. For instance, you have no midlayer. When it's too cold to hike with just your Journeyman shirt your options are currently to hike in the ghost whisperer, which will almost assuredly be too hot, put on your rain jacket (might get sweaty in there) or wear your sleep shirt as a second layer.

And the wife is a wild card too. Does she have more or less hiking experience than you? If less, it's likely you'll be doing slow days for the first while. Do some backyard camping, every weekend go out and do a 20 mile hike. Don't have the gear yet? Just use whatever you have to try to get as close as you can. Experience counts for more than money many times.

That first aid kit could certainly be cut down with some small bottles from litesmith. For instance 2oz of zinc oxide paste seems excessive. Especially if you're hiking in long pants, long sleeved shirt, sun gloves and a wide brimmed hat. The only place left to burn is 6 square inches on your face which won't burn since you also have a sunscreen stick.

Whatever you do, buy the pack last. You don't seem to own most of this gear so now is the time to make changes before you end up buying it and then rebuying it.

You already know the luxuries and areas you could cut if you wanted to. Best thing you can do is train. Hike/walk with a fully loaded pack as often as you can.

I think the biggest places to save weight are your pack. My recommendation is Superior Wilderness Designs or Atom pack. I personally use the Atom. Also your solar charger power bank is a good idea in theory but they aren’t that useful. Rarely do you get the sun in a perfect position for it to charger hanging off your pack and you won’t be stopped long enough on breaks to get any real charge going. I’d switch to a Nitecore NB100000 and save like 13 oz. Everything else in your pack can be replaced to save an ounce or two but I’d recommend spending some time searching around this sub to figure out what would work for you. Ounces make pounds and pounds make pain

Cool to see someone else with the Cascade Mountain poles... lol

I defend them at every opportunity. They're great. Cheap so if you break/lose they're easily replaced, and they're sturdy as hell.

Do you use Tru Lime (straight up powdered lime juice) without any sugar added? Or the limeade packets?

On a serious note, why the full-sized instead of Garmin InReach mini?

Something like an Atom+ 50 liter is over a pound in savings, but maybe the ULA carries that much better?

That pad is real heavy, but maybe the comfort is worth it? Have you tried putting your pack under your feet on a reg Xlite? That's almost half a pound.

Not sure a cup is really necessary, for me cooking any meal except for dinner is a hassle so I just make coffee in the morning.

For the same weight as a pocket rocket, a Soto amicus has a regulator, so you'll save $ and weight on fuel canisters. Also better wind resistance.

Are you carrying any insulating gloves? I'd certainly consider adding that.

Could you mail your snow gear to a location you would need it? I wouldn't think you would need that to kick off the BP. I would also drop the cards and journal. Probably not much different than what others have said.

First aid kit is way overkill but it’s hard to tell someone to not take first aid items lol…so like, think about what you’d be willing to leave behind and make your own judgement.

You def don’t need bug spray until the Sierra tho. And you def will need more than 3L water capacity in the desert, so I’d recommend looking into a 2/3L cnoc or platypus type bladder for extra capacity.

The one big thing on there I see as totally unnecessary is a cup. If you’re going UL, you definitely don’t need it, esp when you have a pot & stove.

If you really want a cup, you could carry a to-go coffee cup which weighs next to nothing. I went stoveless and did this in Washington so I could bum a stove and make hot chocolate.

Lots of great suggestions here, which I won’t duplicate. Some things I noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned yet are some small reductions:

• 45g of cables seem heavy. Can you leave some cables behind with adaptors? For instance, I have a 3g lightning adaptor for a micro USB that allows me to carry a single cable for my phone and headlamp.
• A shock cord headband for your NU20 will save a few grams. I got my NU25 down to 38g with just some shock cord and a cord lock.
• A Lightload towel weighs 8.5g. If you’re just using it for condensation, it’s more than enough. For me, if I’m going into water for a swim, I’m making sure there’s sun so I don’t need anything more.