Just weighed my kit MINUS a litre of water, some chicken and some rice.. And I'm at 10.1 kg. What you guys think? This good? This bad? Always room for improvement I guess..
I mean there are a few things I probably could take away like the 2 little books I have, The 2 small torches (just use head torch), 1 very small tarp (1m x 1m I think). I don't have best of gear but I like what I have.
10kg dry weight for a pack is bloody good going. Nought wrong with that. It could go lighter. Doesn't mean you have to.
The kit weight is relative to kit contents. Generally 10kg is a nice weight to aim for if trying to go lightweight. However if you have basically nothing in back except sleeping bag and tent then 10kg is a lot if you get what I mean.
What he says. In all these things it's all relative. Is this the summer weight? or the winter weight? etc...
I was starting to look at lightening my kit back in February which no doubt I would obsess over. Then someone on here made a comment on how much extra fat most of us carry which made me think. I went on a diet and so far I'm down 28 Lbs (12.7 kgs)
You lost 28 pounds? Did you check down the back of the sofa? (sorry I couldn't resist).
Spending £100's to lighten by a few ounces? In most cases this is a fools game.
Depends too on how far you are carrying that kit for. If I was aiming at 30 miles a day I would want to carry less than 10kg. If I was walking a couple miles from my car then twice or more is no big deal.
However If I was planning a trek at altitude where my lungs would scream at every extra ounce it would be very different.
The big money tends to result in big savings in weight. Replacing a Vaude Hogan tent with a Power Lizard 1-2p SUL tent, shaves 1.8kg off the pack weight.
Replacing my Berghaus Vulcan with an Exped Lightning 60, shaves 2.7kg off the pack weight.
That's nearly 5kg off the back. For an outlay of over 400 quid. *BUT*. If you have no pack to begin with, then buying said Exped pack is in the same ballpark outlay as any other decent backpack. My Vulcan was 80 quid second hand 12 years ago.
Conversely you can get good savings with modest outlays. I replaced my old lifeventure folding KFS set that was made from Stainless steel with a set of snap wires from Alpkit, this saved me over 150gm in weight. But each snap wire only cost me £6.5.
Today my replacement for the crusader mug arrived. It's an Evernew 400ml titanium mug. It weighs 50gm on my scales (manufacturer says 52g). Combined with my cat can stove, and my snap wires, I have a brew kit of 101.5gm. My crusader mug was 290gm (BCB's own weight, not mine). The Evernew has no non stick coating to come off like my old crusader did (the actual reason I gave up on the crusader) after 10 years of (ab)use.
If you had no tarp to begin with, you could go for any of these three:
- DD Hammocks Ultralight 3m x 2.9m - 460g (includes guy ropes in weight) - £62
- DD Hammocks 3mx3m - 790gm (includes guy ropes in weight) - £35
- RAB Siltarp 2.2m x 1.5m - 200g (ex guy ropes) - £49.99
The 3m x 3m sizing of the tarp is because in a hammock you want the tarp to come down further to the ground to give you some side protection. If ground dwelling, you don't need this and can get away with the siltarp 1's slightly smaller size.
Trying to make big leaps of weight is going to largely give you big outlays of expense. But if you have very little gear already, then you can make big savings by making an informed purchase.
I think you are both right. I use lightweight for the mountains and i use a fat pack when i go to a meet as i like my creature comforts. Ive spent a lot lightening the load but then the bulk of my trips are up mountains so it pays its dues. If i saw someone with an 8kg pack going 100 yards from their car i would laugh at them a lot
(kit testing aside)
Conversely I don't have a car, so even for a meet I am likely to be trying to get my pack as light as I can for the walk from the train station...
There doesnt need to be battleground between ultralight and more robust kit. It all works and if the person toting it can lift their pack and get to where they need to go then alls good.
what i hate is both camps rubbishing the other.
I agree with the rubbishing of kit. It's horses for course, if someone is happy with their kit, then leave them be. At the same time tho, I think that for many of the fat pack (nice term, I like it) users there is a certain machoness that means that their trips often verge more on type II fun, rather than being the pleasant hike in the back country it could have been.
"So there I was, on top of kinder, the wind blowing a gale, as I and my 100lb pack leaned into the wind to make progress"
I've been there, done that, I lugged a 45kg pack across Europe to Crete and back a few years ago. Lots of great stories for the pub, some lovely photos of pretty scenery, and it was a good trip.
These days tho? I reacon I would enjoy it more if I was ok walking further from the station with my pack...
Quick rundown on what I have in my bag.
Sleeping Bag (4 season BUT was very cheap doubt it actually would do 4 seasons)
Self inflating mat
DD Hammock
Tarp x2
Para cord
Good list, a couple of cheap weight savings you can make:
- Paracord - Replace with 2mm dyneema (I will do another group buy once the manufacture has it in stock again and I close the one that is in progress currently)
- Tarp - Take only one. With care, sense, and technique you can happily use the one tarp as both bedroom and admin area. Conversely if you leave the hammock at home, you can use a smaller lighter tarp. The hammock may be the more comfortable sleep tho.
Gas canister
Stove head
Cruisader Cup
Spork
Water Bottle (Empty at time of weighing it)
Cup
See above for replacing the crusader cup.
2 x Small torches
1 x Headlight
first aid kit
fire starting kit
another wee tub with cup of soups ,green tea, salt,pepper, sweeteners, tinfoil, etc
2 tiny books (the book of knots and living off the land)
Folding saw
Knife
scarf, gloves and a wooly jumper
and a wee bit of loo roll!
Its all packed away so thats me trying to remember from what I put in but thats everything I need (I think anyway)
what you guys think? got too much? not enough?
Why 2 torchs + headtorch ? Not criticising, just curious as to your thought process.
I personally use a
Petzl Zipka 2+ for all my camp lighting needs. It's a torch I love and has become my EDC, I even use it as a backup bike light.
Ive always wanted to try that but for some reason bottle it! What would I need underneath me to do that? Would I need a bivvy bag?
As with everything, "It depends".
In the middle of summer, you can probably get away with a sleep matt underneath you and just your sleeping bag. No need for a bivvi bag or even a tarp.
If it's not pissing it down, you could use a bivvi bag(Snugpak bivvi 340g, alpkit hunka bivvi 376g) to keep the dew off you, and to weather any gentle showers.
If it is likely to rain, you could use the bivvi bag, and throw a tarp over the top. It's horses for courses.
There are many in the ultralight weight community that see the ounces on the scale as something that must be chased at all costs, and you end up with the guys with a 2-3lb pack weight. But then you realise they are sleeping on bubble wrap, with a space blanket for warmth, and taking sleeping pills so that they sleep through the night. Part of the lightness cause is realising when to stop chasing grams. You get what I've seen called "Post lightweight". These are the people who realise yes they could go lighter, but actually taking an Exped Synmat 7 UL sleeping matt is going to be more comfortable than the bubble wrap, and a good nights sleep is worth the extra weight. The people who think "Yes I can cook, eat, drink out of just the one cup, but actually, for 50g, I can take a second titanium cup, and then I can be drinking tea while I wait for dinner to cook".
To me, it's not about how light everything is, or how durable, or how heavy or if it looks cool or the fashion. It's simply this:
"Have I thought about this properly?"
Carry what you like, just think about it for a few minutes first, you may find that actually, you can save weight, and increase your enjoyment.
Thanks
Julia
