Kit you can lose?

[Phaestos]

Right, once again in search of a lighter pack, I figured I'd throw a question out to everyone: What is one bit of kit in your bag that you could easily replace/remove by either learning a skill or taking the small amount of time to implement it on camps?

 

[Man of Tanith]

pegs.
stove.

 

[bopdude]

Shelter
Fuel and as above

 

[sandbender]

Knife.

I can make a fire and shelter without one, but I wouldn't choose to do so.

 

[Fraxinus]

Do an overnighter with your current kit, take a note of everything you used then remove the remainder from the pack.
Second overnighter take note of what you really needed but were missing and add that back in.
Been working on this basis with my kayaking day trip kit but the tarp still stays in even though it has not yet been needed but as it may well be at a future point it stays as does the first aid kit.

Rob.

 

[mousey]

Tooth brush handle....

 

[petrochemicals]

Anything that you hardly use, but have to think about. Dry bags I do not like, I prefer carrier bags, wider mouthes and easier to pack, and with all the rain I've been through, the wettest has been one small corner, probably due to bad packing. Extra saucepans, axe unless you're doing serious woodwork,

Bearing in mind food fuel water clothes and bag are near virtually unchangeable, you have to think how light do you really need to go !

 

[John Fenna]

It all depends on what comfort level you are after - I have done overnighters with no more kit than would fit in one pocket and was reasonably comfortable... but I prefer to go with a lot more kit to enjoy the sybaritic luxury that I really enjoy.
Clothing worn
M42 cap
Wool Buff
Long sleeved T shirt
Home made wool shirt
5.11 combat trousers
Wool socks
Under Armour "Speed Freek" boots
M&S Grundies
Home made Gilet
Single skin Ventile SAS smock
MOD poncho
Gelert rain pants
gloves.


Pocket contents -
The tin measures some 6.5 x 4.5 x 2.5 inches (ideal for my smock pocket and as a boiling pan) with a sealing and locking lid and contains

2 x condoms*
1 plastic rain poncho
1 emergency blanket
1 small sewing kit*
Duck Tape (around lighter)
Utility Wire*
Wire saw
braided cord
Tinder card
Cotton wool
Fire Steel
Party candles
Lighter*
StarFlash signalling mirror*
Whistle*
Mini compass*
Coffee
Sugar (in sealed straws)
Chocolate
MOD Oatmeal biscuit
MOD Biscuits Brown
Mini fishing kit*
Tin foil
Poly bag (for foraging, water storage/collection or storing the kit when the tin is being used on the fire)
Mini first aid kit(adhesive dressings various sizes)*
Scalpel*
Pencil (packaging can be written on)*
Multitool
12 x 1 litre water purification tablets.
The items marked * were not used/needed and I was out for a full 24hours - a bit more food and I would have been fine for longer...
You can get away with leaving nearly everything behind if you WANT to...

 

[Bishop]

Hmm, tough one. Stove, Tarp, Pegs and to some extent food could be omitted but only under optimal conditions eg Permission for fires, sufficient vegetation & wildlife throwing themselves onto the traps.. However making your own soap for hygiene purposes would seem do-able.

 

[BlueTrain]

That's actually a pretty tough question. I can think of things I could do without if I had to and oddly enough, the one thing I use the least is a knife. I realize it's not politically correct to admit that but the other things in my outfit are there as much for convenience and time saving as anything else. In other words, they're there so I won't have to take the extra time but there are other good reasons, too. It does seem odd though, that you would do something to save time in the woods but you might have other things you'd rather be doing.

As a for instance, when camping with the scouts as an adult leader at a regular week-long scout camp, we only did campfire cooking one night. It takes a lot of time and there were lots of other things crowding the schedule. For a long distance hiker, you want to make good time on the trail, not busy yourself with camp chores. But others are out for different reasons. When I was little and camped with relatives, we were never in a hurry. We never seemed to use knives then, either.

 

[Teepee]

Sybaritic is my word of the week now John.

 

[bopdude]

For the others ( and I hope it's not only me ) that had to Google it

fond of sensuous luxury or pleasure; self-indulgent = Sybaritic

 

[Stevie777]

............Ooops.

 

[Hammock Hamster]

As has already been said I think it depends on your desired level of comfort and what you are planning on doing whilst out and about.
Many of my permissions have little or no water sources which means I have to tab in with a big pack and several litres whereas for those that have ponds or streams I will simple take a 1litre bottle and a purification device (lifesaver bottle in my case).
I tend to always take an axe, saw and knife with me as I like to carve and process fire wood easily but I could do away with one or more depending how much work I was prepared to do.
I take a fire lighting pouch with several lighting methods but again could just take a lighter, box of matches or ferro rod. Sometimes I will take fresh or tinned food for a bit of luxury (which comes at a cost to weight and space) other I will take dehydrated stuff.

The largest and most bulky items are my shelter and sleeping set up, either a hammock and tarp or 1 man tent/bivi, along with a small down sleeping bag and thermarest. I always go with this set up as I am to do away with some luxuries but always want to be comfortable and get a good nights sleep. First aid kit is also a constant.

Cooking wise I have a selections of pots, pans, mugs etc... and it depends on what I am planning on doing as to what I will take.

If I wanted to really scale down I can get away with a 35 litre pack containing -
sleeping bag and thermarest
bivi or hammock
single stainless or Ti mug
lighter and/or ferro rod
FAK
water purifier
food
headtorch
- surprisingly I can always seem to find space to squeeze a knife, axe and saw but these are items that although not essential for get a lot of use.

I tend to make eating utensils, pot hangers etc... in the field as it is something I enjoy.

 

[BlueTrain]

In theory, we go places and do things after careful and detailed planning. In practice, I have found that plans often change due to things like road closures and late starts and apparently, Mother Nature operates with no knowledge of my plans. The thing is, one's requirements for different trips in only slightly different places can be remarkably different. In the places I'm thinking of, the differences are how high up on the mountain you are and on which side you're on. One side is dry, the other wet, the top is windy almost year round, but the view is spectacular. And sometimes it will snow up top. The main difference in the requirements are that no water is available in some places, so you have to bring along all you need. Good places to pitch a tent are scarce everywhere because of the thick brush. It's also entirely parkland and no fires are permitted.

As an aside, one of my favorite places is high atop a certain peak in Shenandoah National Park about, oh, a hundred miles as the car flies from my front door. I live near Washington, DC, and I've often wondered if I could see the fireworks in D.C. on the 4th of July. But I still don't know. Moreover, on one trip I was checking directions with my little compass and discovered that due East wasn't in the direction I thought it was.

Compasses don't lie, do they?

 

[Quixoticgeek]

How long are your trips? What I leave out for an over nighter, vs a longer trip differs. Tonight I'm going on an overnighter in Sussex, I'll leave behind all cookware, stove, and fuel. I'll take biscuits, and cereal bars as my food. Because it's likely to dip below freezing, I am leaving the water filter behind, and taking 1 x 1L coke bottles as water bottles.

I am currently umming and ahring about if I should take a thermos of tea or not.

When I get back, I'll see about writing a packing list along with the trip report...

J

 

[MikeLA]

How long are your trips? What I leave out for an over nighter, vs a longer trip differs. Tonight I'm going on an overnighter in Sussex, I'll leave behind all cookware, stove, and fuel. I'll take biscuits, and cereal bars as my food. Because it's likely to dip below freezing, I am leaving the water filter behind, and taking 1 x 1L coke bottles as water bottles.

I am currently umming and ahring about if I should take a thermos of tea or not.
J

I would take a flask (for the Just in case) or at least a mug and a handful of hexi blocks

 

[BlueTrain]

My trips were typically just overnight. When I was little, a camping trip could be from just a couple of nights to all week long and they were family affairs. The camp itself was not the center of attention, it was the river we camped beside. Even now, the camp is still not the main attraction but rather the hike itself. The purpose of camping was to allow a longer hike for the distance away from home it was, if you follow me. I didn't used to pay much attention to trying to get the load down on a backpacking trip. It was just something I didn't think about. But the decisions don't come easily, I'll quickly admit.

Some things are a given. I can't think of any arrangement more comfortable and more versatile than an ordinary sleeping bag. I mean one made of nylon, either down-filled or synthetic-something-filled. I have both. I find it hard enough to sleep when camping and since a night's sleep is presumably about eight hours, I don't want to cut corners there. Only in very hot weather will I substitute something for the sleeping bag. My tent and the accessories weights in at a little over four pounds. The tent keeps out most of the insects and keeps in some of the heat, so that's on the list for good. The biggest issue is water.

As I mentioned somewhere already, some places have plenty of water, other places maybe not that far away have none. So you either have to carry all you want in one case or come prepared to treat the water in the other case. The simple way is to boil it, since much of what you use is going to be warm anyway, especially in the winter. So you need a stove. The stove actually weighs very little but if you can get by with, say, an Esbit "cooker," the weight drops and it doesn't take up much room, either. But in the winter, it's probably worth having the stove. Here I am speaking of places where you can't have a fire. So ultimately, given what I do already, I haven't been able to really cut down pack weight very much. If I were going out more and had some extra cash, I should look for a lighter pack.

Someday, I should try for a real "Nessmuk" style lightweight tramp.