top of page
Evan Chartier

Big state, tiny pack: Hello Texas!

Updated: Aug 5, 2019

Every year friends and I gather for a reunion, this summer in Texas - a great opportunity to refine my packing list before spending four months in South America. I plan to bring a new 14 liter Gregory drift, originally designed for mountain biking, which apparently means it has features I LOVE for international travel. It comes with a three liter water bladder/reservoir to help keep me hydrated, and it collapses, which was great when I needed extra space in the pack for snacks on short hikes. It will be my smallest international travel pack yet!

Texas was 100 degrees all four days, making it the ideal environment to test the upper temperature range of my gear. Merino wool in three digit temps - why not?


The 4 day trip included 12 hours exploring Houston on foot and 3 days in state parks surrounding Austin. I was a little more strategic about packing for this trip - what did I bring?


For starters, here is a photo of me walking from downtown Houston to the "gayborhood." Check out my pack fully loaded on top of the explore sign!


Selfie of author Evan in front of metal statue of the word EXPLORE with Gregory Drift 14 pack balanced on top.
Walking Houston's bayou park with the Gregory Drift 14

Conditions

Boston (point of departure): 85 degrees and sunny

Houston & Austin (destination): 99-101 degrees and sunny


Clothing worn (see selfie above)

Running Shoes

Merino wool socks

Cotton T-Shirt


Carry Gear

Gregory 3 liter H2O reservoir (included with Drift 14)

Gregory 2 zipper tool pouch (included with Drift 14)




Extra Clothing

Synthetic boxers

Synthetic shorts

Cotton t-shirt

Extra sock pair




Toiletries

Nail clipper (Free giveaway)

Chapstick (Free giveaway)

4 strands dental floss wound around plastic tag from bread bag

Deodorant (in plastic bag with case removed)

Retainer and case


Electronics and Personal Items

Moto turbo charging block

Headphones

Kindle charging cord

Mini USB to USB-C adapter (white) to charge phone with Kindle cord

Wallet in homemade money band

Front door keys


Even with all of these items my pack had plenty of space for snacks (a granola bar, peanut butter pretzels, fruit leather, and beef jerky) and room to spare!


You may notice some significant changes from my trip to Georgia. I swapped the Patagonia R1 hoody to the Torrid APEX jacket from Enlightened Equipment, purchased for my upcoming South America trip (jacket review pending). So far I love it - it's warmer and packs smaller than the Patagonia R1. Although I didn't need it much in Texas, I did use it on the cold airplane and wanted to pack as much of my South America gear as possible.


The new backpack is 3 liters larger than the pack I brought to Georgia, but the included water reservoir tripled my water capacity compared to my old thermos. I reduced smaller items, like my deodorant, by removing the plastic container, and freed up space by changing from paper books to a new e-reader. I also left unnecessary keys at home and trimmed down my wallet. Overall these changes gave me more flexibility for day-long hikes and fit everything in the pack that I hope to use in South America!

25 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page