Quirky gear unboxings

Are you ready for this? I am! In fact, I think I am more excited about this third Appalachian Trail thru-hike then I was my other two. That doesn't seem possible, but it sure is.

I have had so much fun buying new gear with Bruce, my hubby, my biggest fan, and my -as he likes to say - my sponsor. Fall shopping when sales were ripe for the picking depleated our pockets as well as our energy stores. We were mentally exhausted by the time we clicked purchase on our last order. We are not quite finished, but we are for now.

In the following days, I will be posting quirky videos to my YouTube Channel. Don't get to excited. I only have four followers there and only a few videos up and they are far from professional. I take that back. There is one that was professionally done. It is a reading of Black Bear's Adventure. For the rest, well, there is nothing grandiose about them except made from the heart and filled with fun with a sneak peak into what gear I have purchased for my hike.

Photo for attention only - isn't she adorable

Say hello to Sticks. She is one cute kitty. No, she will not be going on my hike. I wish I could take her but she is too heavy and would hunt all available wildlife. That would be great to keep the mice at bay, but she will stay home with hubby and the house sitter. She sat on her lounger watching as I opened my gear.

I did well restraining myself, we waited till all our orders came in before openning them. After Christmas festivities ended, we had an unboxing.

As much as I would like to be able to produce high quality content, that just ain't gonna happen. I don't know how, nor do I want to invest in video and sound equipment. I'd rather go hiking. But I also want to share our journey from start to finish. So if you like amateur stuff, stick around, if not, take a hike. But I hope you hang around, it'll at least be entertaining as you wonder how on earth has she hiked the trail two other times.

This first video is a sleeping bag liner I purchased from Amazon. I don't even recall the name of it. By the time I finished unwrapping it and messing around with it, I deteremined it was going back. A host of sensory issues plague my being and the need for a sleeping bag liner ranks high on my list. I despise the feel of santin-like and plastic-like fabric against my skin. Which means sleeping bags and sleeping pads make for a terrible nights sleep for me. I need a barrier. Cold weather surpresses the icky feeling since I wear layers to bed, but when the thermometer rises and layers are shed, I can't bear to have bare skin against my sleep system. So I use the liner as a sheet for my pad and snooze without my bag.

This item failed. It passed for weight and the price was great costing less than $20.00, but it was too silky-feeling. If your goal is just to have a liner to help keep your sleeping bag clean and don't mind the fabric, this would be a great choice. But it didn't make the cut for me. I will share it's replacement at another time, but I am still looking for a light weight alternative. If you know of any, let me know.

I hope you enjoy this unboxing series on my YouTube channel. I won't be posting all the unboxings here on my website. I will save most of them for my YouTube Channel. This series is meant to be more fun than informative and a chance for you to get to know me. Who knows, hopefully as I continue to post videos, maybe my skill in that area will improve also.

A.T. thru-hike 2026 gear unboxing #1 cheesy sleeping bag liner

Thanks for coming along with me on this next A.T. journey.

Happy Hiking,

Emily