Light weight kit

[spoony]

Right my left knee is pretty much buggered,
so one thing i can do is make my gear light weight, less weight.
Prob means im going to have to sell a lot of my much loved kit,
Downside ill have to buy much more expensive lightweight kit.
Recommdations for light weight gear.
Looked at MLD rucksacks and tarps and tents
Also at BPL they have some good packs too
MARIPOSA ULTRALIGHT BACKPACK
So how else do i lighten the load??

 

[rik_uk3]

Serious here, not joking but how about

 

[greensurfingbear]

Serious here, not joking but how about

Met a elderly woman in Canada that had two male goats that carried her stuff after her arthritis got to bad. They had bells on and followed her as she walked. Kinda cool and inspiring


Orric

 

[spoony]

So i just need to find a billy to carry my gear?
Any offers

 

[Bowlander]

Cool idea. Llamas might be a better option as goats would fall foul of the animal movement regs!

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[TinkyPete]

carry less kit

but seriously trying weighing cook kits, depending on how you cook look to simplifying you kit ( 1 pan or pot ), 1 mug maybe instead use lightweight cup rather than a steel mug etc.

look to lighten sleep kit, mat,bag and cover (tarp or tent)

lighter fire lighting systems (small fero rod, or clipper lighters) use lighter tinder or find it out and about

use lighter cordage (dynema or new issue string or even stuff like plum line string)

water kit (use collapsible bottles or plastic stuff like issue water bottles or naglene bottles)

 

[muracada]

So i just need to find a billy to carry my gear?

And here's me thinking all bushcrafters already had at least one billy. Nevertheless, sorry to hear of your dilemma, but I'm sure you will find all the help you need here. I can only suggest that a good walking stick/staff can serve more than the obvious singular use. Bon chance.

 

[dave53]

lightweight ground sheet,( spork titanium /pegs/cups /cooking gear /stove/all titanium down bag just a few things/down underquilt if your hammocking

 

[Shewie]

The first steps in going lightweight should begin with the big 3. Pack, shelter & sleeping bag

Ditch spare clothing, just carry a change of base layers so you've something to sleep in if necessary.

 

[BigMonster]

There are 3 ways to go lighter:
1. Smaller, more skimpy kit like 2/3 pad or cut in half tooth brush - I hate this option as I really like some level of comfort and not just survivability in the outdoors (also I'm a big guy).
2. Shed load of cash on ultralight, space age, very hip gear - it's what I call "brute force" way. Money can help lighten your load but you need to find your sweet spot. For example I love my upgrade to a silnylon tarp (80 pounds) but I will never go cuben fiber (3 times lighter, about 250 pounds) because it's really prone to punctures and abrasion.
3. Carry less/only what you need - for example tarp/hammock combo will be much lighter than a tent (with comparable living space), most of the time you only need one pot and a mug for your cook kit (you can safely skip StS kitchen sink or primus coffe expres).


In other words pay some money for a decent kit with the right value (like down bag or silnylon tarp) and substitute the rest with experience.
Two techniques help:
- kitchen scales will help you get a grasp where those kilograms come from (just don't turn in to a gram junkie counting matches).
- make a note what have you actually used on each trip. Worst thing you can do is to read forums (sic! ) and think and then fill your bag with crap. Reality will always verify your setup.


My road to lighter load: Bushmoot 2013 and over 30kg (thirty kilograms) pack. After two weeks my bag was 2/3 empty and I have shifted most of my stuff in the swap shop. Now I'm upgrading what's left to better version.
Turns out you need very little to keep you alive and well:
-Sleep system (tarp, sleeping bag, mat, hammock)
-food (pot or two, stove, spoon/fork)
-maintenance kit (1st aid, washing stuff, kit repair bits)
-clothes (1 set of waterproofs, something warm like fleece or wool, underwear)

AND THAT'S REALLY IT! Maybe few toys for various activities like a knife, compass or gps. That's why the most experienced travellers are happy with a cheap tarp, a blanket and a pot of some shape and don't really care about gear.

 

[sandbender]

I can recommend the Crux range of rucksacks, very light and very tough, not too spendy either. They are designed for climbers but I like the simplicity of the design along with their indestructibility.

I have a Crux sleeping bag which is very light and packs small but is quite expensive. Mostly I use a Woodlore bag which is neither light nor compact but is comfy.

I have been using a Hilleberg Ultralight tarp for the past seven years, packs small, weighs next to nothing, is large and again, quite tough.

For clothing, and this can be a bit of a 'leap of faith', Buffalo gear, something like a Teclite shirt is all I have worn to walk the West Highland Way in October, it gets wet when it rains as do you, but it dries very quickly when it stops raining, doesn't chaff and most important of all keeps you warm, even in howling gales. However when you stop walking you will start to get cold quite quickly so it is important to have something warm to wear and crawl into at nights or during lunch. Putting on a damp Buffalo top on cold wet morning isn't pleasant, but you will warm up quickly enough.

If walking a long distance I will often carry just the one pot, an MSR 1 litre titanium one. I prefer a larger pot as it gives me more scope to cook what I might find or buy along the way, I can also carry crushable foods or items inside it.

If I'm roughing it in faraway places for a long time I'll take a stainless Zebra can, Titanium doesn't suffer being bashed too well.

I like the idea of a goat, I'm going to look into that.

 

[DR2501]

Taking things that serve 2 or 3 purposes is a good way to cut weight, but as said above in general your sleep system and rucksack are the easiest to cut down.

Alpkits range of downbags are inexpensive and lightweight - I have the sky high 600 and its good to -5 for 1.1kg
Osprey rucksacks are known to be cavernous while being lightweight - I have the Talon 33 and it holds enough for a week providing I can replenish food on the way, or for at least a weekend if I'm carrying in
Hammock/Tent - there are a lot of full tents that are lighter than hammocks - My Nomad hammock/tarp set is 1.3kg but my Lightwave G2 Ion 2 man tent is only 1.2kg (less now I've replaced the pegs with titanium ones). Terra Nova also do ultra lightweight tents - their Voyager Superlight is a 2 man tent that weighs around 1kg.
Mat - I have a 3/4 mat to cut weight but then I'm a short a55 so it suits me, I just put my fleece under my feet instead.

Evilbay is your friend with this btw.

Hope you find a solution soon so you can keep enjoying your trips

 

[BigMonster]

1kg tent is not a tent but a coffin. My siltarp is 600g with stakes, hammock 800g with suspension and acesories. Compare that to a tent with ground sheet, proper stakes and a small tarp as a vestibule. Also a bag for your kit because you have to keep it outside. Also if you want to compare 400 quid tent with a tarp hammock setup, you can go cuben fiber tarp and ul hammock that will go below 700g.

Rant over. Back to the topic

 

[ozzy1977]

Alpkit don't do sleeping bags now

 

[DR2501]

1kg tent is not a tent but a coffin. My siltarp is 600g with stakes, hammock 800g with suspension and acesories. Compare that to a tent with ground sheet, proper stakes and a small tarp as a vestibule. Also a bag for your kit because you have to keep it outside. Also if you want to compare 400 quid tent with a tarp hammock setup, you can go cuben fiber tarp and ul hammock that will go below 700g.

Rant over. Back to the topic

The Voyager superlight is a 2 man geodesic at 1kg with a porch - not a coffin, but I definitely take your point about the 1 man jobs.

I would never buy any tent brand new, hence my suggestion of evilbay - my £300 Lightwave (same size as Voyager) cost me £27 on there...

 

[DR2501]

Alpkit don't do sleeping bags now

Again, Evilbay - they come up for sale all the time...

I didn't realise they'd officially stopped selling them though to be honest, that's a shame as they're very highly regarded! Seems a strange decision to stop production?

 

[Salaud]

I dont know if you are a big guy or a tiddler? but, as someone who also has had a totally shafted left knee for some years I found you can spend many hundreds of pounds trying to save a kilo by buying the lightest kit possible......OR.... you can drop a kilo in bodyweight, it costs a lot less!!! This may sound glib, but I am speaking from experience, in my case bodyweight has proven critical for my knees to behave themselves.... upto 14 stone they are happy, even 1lb over 14 and they are absolute sh1ts. Of course if you are already a lean mean fighting machine then your kinda stuffed.. but if not , give it a go, it has made a lot of difference to me..

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[BigMonster]

For light sleeping bag option go with the latest trend and get a quilt. Lighter, cheaper and custom sized to you. I'm getting mine from ukhammocks (aka top quilt).

 

[Mesquite]

The other thing you can do to loose weight is to literally do that if you're personally overweight.

It'll help in your everyday life as well as your camping time (says me who's trying to do exactly that )

 

[spoony]

Cheers guys got a rab down bag,
Downmat 5 osprey aether for long trips and a vango f10 100
In winter lighter down bag for summer.


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