The Continental Divide Trail Gear Guide: Class of 2020 Survey

In the third part of this year's Continental Divide Trail Thru-hiker Survey, we take a deep dive into Continental Divide Trail hikers' gear. CDT gear lists vary wildly between hikers and (spoiler alert) it's impossible to find a perfect CDT gear list. That said, we can try.

I've organized this post in a way that I hope will give a comprehensive picture of what gear CDT thru-hikers are using. This post covers the most common gear, gear statistics based on different groups of hikers, hiker comments on gear, and finally, gear advice. The gear covered here includes backpacks, shelters, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, insulated jackets, rain jackets, stoves, water treatment, trekking poles, ice axes, traction systems, bear canisters, shoes, socks, fleeces, and PLBs.

I am sure that some of you will come up with comparisons you would like to see that I have overlooked. I hope to make this a useful resource for CDT hikers, so if there's anything that you think is missing, please leave a comment below.

That being said, I hope you enjoy this year's CDT Gear Guide brought to you by the CDT Class of 2020.

Find the complete guide written by Mac here.