How AI worked out my hiking gear from my own photos
Claude read the camera data in my trip photos and what I say in my films to list the gear I carried on each route. 40 of my 62 hiking guides have it now.
My hiking guides are PDFs built with AI from my own films and GPS, one for each route I've filmed. I wrote about how the guides are made a few days ago, and back then they had no affiliate links. On October 10 I changed that. I asked Claude to put gear lists in every guide that would "help solve the problem of ... knowing what gear they need or if they want to film a similar video."
The hard part: most of these trips are years old. I didn't keep a packing list for each one. So Claude had to work out what I carried from what I'd already left behind: my photos and my films.
How AI worked out my gear, in 6 steps
- Read the camera data in my photos. Every photo stores the camera model and lens that took it. Claude read it, read-only, for the photos in my Photos library from each trip's dates.
- Read and watch the films. What I say about my gear in the narration, what's on screen, and the gear lists in the films' old YouTube descriptions.
- List only what's on record. If I said "my tent" but never which one, the guide says "my tent", with no brand and no link.
- Find today's version. Gear from 2019 often isn't sold anymore. The guide names what I used, then points to the current model or a similar one.
- One checked link per item. Each link is my own Geniuslink link. A script follows every one and flags any link that doesn't reach a store under my own affiliate tag.
- Build it into the guide. One data file per guide feeds both the PDF and the guide's web page.
The section always comes in the same order: what this route needs (no links, just advice), what I carried that year, what I'd take now, my filming kit from that trip, and what I film with now.
What the camera data says
My photos kept a record of my camera kit that I never wrote down. Here's what it says for twelve of the trips:
A drone doesn't write its own name into a photo. It writes a camera code. A Mavic 2 Pro photo says "Hasselblad L1D-20c", and an Air 2S photo says "FC3411". Claude matched each code to the drone.
Example 1: Hornstrandir, 2019
Hornstrandir is my most-watched route (the film, and the guide video I made after). In the guide video all I say is "I had a Sony camera on a tripod", plus the drone footage. The photos filled in the rest: a Sony a7 III with the 16-35mm f/2.8 GM, and a DJI Mavic 2 Pro.
The hiking gear came from what I said. I was, in my words, a "noob" hiker on that trip, so the guide lists "a small backpack" and "my old boots" with no links, because I never said which ones. Where I said what I wished I'd had, like a cap after I got sunburned, it goes under "What I'd take now". The Mavic 2 Pro isn't made anymore, and the guide says so instead of linking it.
Example 2: Everest Base Camp, 2021
On the Everest Base Camp trek (the film, and the narrated one) I mention a new lens. The film's captions have me saying "a sony 20 millimeter f 1.4". The camera data in my photos says FE 20mm F1.8 G. So the guide links the f/1.8 G, the lens I actually used.
Same with the drone. In the film I say I bought extra batteries "for the mavic 2 air s". There's no such drone. The photos say FC3411, which is the DJI Air 2S. The Air 2S is discontinued now, so the guide says "DJI Air 2S, now the Air 3S", and the link goes to the current one.
The hiking side of that trip is thin on record. My full list was on LighterPack, and my records don't have it anymore. So the guide says so, lists only the day bag, duffel, jacket and headlamp the films show, and puts my current cold-weather kit under "What I'd take now".
Example 3: Alta Via 2, 2021
In the Alta Via 2 film (watch it here) I say I shot it on a "Sony a7s Mark III with a 16 to35 F4". Sony has made two 16-35mm f/4 lenses. The camera data settled which one: FE 16-35mm F4 ZA OSS, in 67 photos from the trip.
Compare that with the Laguna 69 guide, from the same year. Its record only says "16-35mm f/4", so the lens is named without a link. Guessing would have been easy. It isn't allowed.
The same guide shows the other rules. My Brooks Cascadia 16 shoes are now the Cascadia 20, so the guide says that. My Patagonia Nano Puff is listed as what I wore, followed by "Similar:" and a jacket from my gear page. And the trekking umbrella stays in, because I said it in the film: "I am team umbrella I love it it's the best."
Why my cameras changed, in my own words
My cameras have changed a lot over the years, but also kind of not. There are two- or three-year stretches where I use the same camera and the same lens. The trend has been toward easier to use, even at a little less quality, and now the iPhone. Right now I'm deciding between going iPhone or DJI; I'll probably use both for the time being, and I still have my Sony with its microphone and lens. I've always wanted the simplest, lightest rig that gets me the best footage, and that's been the trend over time. But the jump to the iPhone has been a big one for ease of use and compatibility. Being able to upload the footage to iCloud and have AI edit it in real time would be a game changer.
Where it started: Alta Via 1 and Lofoten
We tested it on two guides first, Alta Via 1 and Lofoten, on the morning of October 10, and they went live that day.
Lofoten shows the evidence rule. I filmed that trip on an iPhone, and the film shows my tripod breaking and me throwing it away. That tripod is in the guide, with a note that I bought the same one again. My tent, pad and sleeping bag aren't named anywhere in the record, so the guide says "my tent, sleeping bag and pad" and lists my current ones only under "What I'd take now".
Alta Via 1 showed what to do with gear that has no store to link. My Senchi hoodie and Territory Run shorts have no store I can link to. They stay named, because that's what I wore, followed by a similar item from my gear page.
From 2 guides to 40
After the test, the KraigOS worker took over. That's Claude running on a schedule, through the night, working down my guides by how many people watched each film. It did a few guides per run: read the record, wrote the data file, built the PDF, looked at every new page, and ran the link check. I said yes to each batch before it went live.
By the evening of October 10, 13 guides had the section. By the morning of October 11, 40 did, with about 130 different links between them. Every download was rebuilt, so anyone who already bought a guide gets the new version from the same link.
The 40 guides with gear lists: Acatenango Volcano, Adirondack High Peaks, Ak-Suu Traverse, Alta Via 1, Alta Via 2, Azores, Choquequirao, Enchanted Valley, Everest Base Camp, Four Pass Loop, Goat Rocks, Grand Canyon Rim to Rim, Half Dome, Haute Route, Hornstrandir, Huayhuash Circuit, K2 Base Camp, Laguna 69, Laugavegur Trail, Lofoten, Los Nevados, MacLehose Trail, Manaslu Circuit, Mardi Himal, New Zealand, Picos de Europa, Resurrection Pass, Salkantay Trek, San Juans 14ers, Santa Cruz Trek, Sawtooth Wilderness Loop, Saxer Lücke, Teton Crest Trail, The Enchantments, Three Fingers Lookout, Torres del Paine, Tour du Mont Blanc, Tour of the Jungfrau Region, Trans-Catalina Trail and West Highland Way.
About the links
They're affiliate links, and every guide says so before the first one: "Paid links: I earn a commission if you buy through these links, at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases." Each link also names its store, like "(Amazon)", so you know where a tap goes.
They go through Geniuslink, which I already use for the links under my films. A link fixed once on my gear page is fixed in every guide that uses it. And I didn't have to make many: almost every product already had a link of mine.
What I learned, and what's next
The camera data was exact where my own words weren't: a lens I named wrong in a film, a drone I mixed up, a "Sony camera" with no model. And "only what's on record" makes a shorter list than a made-up one, but every line in it is true.
Next: the other 22 guides, the same way, and keeping the links pointed at products you can still buy.
FAQ
How did AI know what gear you carried?
Claude read the camera model and lens stored in my photos from each trip, plus what I say and show in my films and the gear lists in their old descriptions. Nothing is listed as carried unless one of those shows it.
Are the links affiliate links?
Yes. I earn a commission if you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. Every guide says so above the first link, and each link names its store.
What if something isn't sold anymore?
The guide names what I used and says what replaced it, like "DJI Air 2S, now the Air 3S". If there's no store to link, it names a similar item from my gear page.
Which guides have a gear list?
40 of my 62 guides, listed above. The rest are next. My full current kit is on my gear page.
What do you film with now?
Since September 2026, a DJI Osmo Pocket 4 and a Mic 3 on the trail, and a DJI Mini 5 Pro in the air. Every gear section ends with that kit too.
Do I need the same gear to do these hikes?
No. Each section starts with what the route actually needs, with no links, before any product. The rest is what I happened to carry.