struggiling to get gear down to 35 litres

[drewdunnrespect]

Cheers Simon for the advice now I agree and its what I am trying to do and in summer
I can fit everything in the 120 food and all but in winter I have no chance food has to come separate and this is why I am asking these questions

 

[calibanzwei]

Calibanzwei unfortunately not cos I don't like to ground dwell and I won't be taking a
Bivi bag

Lol - you missed my point. Stick the DD underblanket in a poncho roll?

 

[drewdunnrespect]

Lol - you missed my point. Stick the DD underblanket in a poncho roll?

Ah cool idea I might try that

 

[calibanzwei]

calibanzwei, I like your setup, is that a Maxpedition vulture that your using?

It's a Tactical Tailor 3DAP I picked up for a song during my airsofting days - http://www.optactical.com/3aspa.html

 

[spiritwalker]

its a bugger isnt it i was hoping to use a german army mountain pack got one and try to get my gear in and well it never happened so the mountain pack is now my day hiking bag hey ho what happened to know more carry less

 

[winger]

It's a Tactical Tailor 3DAP I picked up for a song during my airsofting days - http://www.optactical.com/3aspa.html

It looks good, really similar to maxpedition as well. I like the idea of something around that size that you can use for a short trip out but have the option of attaching stuff to it so it can be used for longer trips as well.

 

[calibanzwei]

Thats my outlook too - it ended up just being my daily user until I started using it for summer trips out; that MOLLE stuff is really handy

 

[Martyn]

Hiya gang

I am struggling to get my gear down to 35 litres the reason for it is my DD underblanket takes up all the room in the main compartment and that's after I squash it in a dry bag.
So I wondered would it be better to stick it back in its stuff sack then put it in a dry bag

Your advice please

You only have 2 options Drew, dont take the underblanket or get a bigger rucksack.

 

[gregor-scott]

from 120 down to 35 is a bit of jump drew, i think that as others have suggested maybe something in between the two might be a good iea. i used to use a PLCE bergen (120litres i think) for single nights out, these days i can get away with a shoulder bag and a bed-roll and be just as comfortable (if not more so) as i was with all the kit in the world. but as well as about 3stone and maybe 90litres difference there's also a good ten years between the two. don't try to go from one extreme to the other would be my advice, lose one item at a time from your pack until you can do away with the side pockets, once you've managed that you'll be down to 100litres. after that you can find an 80litres rucksack that you can add your bergan side pockets to so that you can bring it up to 100litres, then simply start again, lose one item at a time until you don't need the side pockets then you'll be down to 80litres, repeat.

IMHO (and i fully expect that the tree swingers will tell me i'm wrong here) 35litres is probably unatainable with hammock/tarp/underquilt/sleeping bag/blanket/gear hammock/enough cord to rig a tall ship/84 carabiners/all the shock cord in the western world etc. (did i miss anything that's essential to hammocking?). much easier with sleeping bag/bivi bag/tarp

stuart

It may be easier with the tiny setup you need to ground dwell but I can say one thing is that personally I can't sleep on the floor, I sleep on my side and am pretty heavy so ruin my shoulders and generally sleep poorly, hammocking is IMHO a million times more comfortable. As much as I envy the tiny packs some ground sleepers carry, us swingers are stuck with bigger load outs as a result.

 

[Lee Wright]

I'm trying to get everything I need for a full weekend in a 35+8(apparently) and its tight with food and water, bearing in mind I have a small packing ground setup and probably don't carry anywhere near as many sharps as you do but I am packing proper food. If it doesn't fit then don't stress, just use the pack for short trips to get some use out if it... And try ground dwelling for the lack of bulk

 

[Lee Wright]

Just read about sleeping on your side, me too but prepping the ground well makes for a very comfy nights sleep

 

[ged]

...prepping the ground well makes for a very comfy nights sleep

Leaves are good.

 

[Shewie]

Have you tried the hammock without the underblanket Drew ? For quick overnighters in summer I usually take a 3/4 Thermarest and use it half inflated in the hammock, they fold and roll down to about the size of a 1L Nalgene so freeing up loads of space. Insulation is the bulkiest part of your setup, if you can adapt that for the seasons then you've cracked it. When I was using the Snugpak UB it would only come out in October and then through until April time.

 

[Ogri the trog]

Drew, it has been mentioned already about changing one item at a time.
I recall reading on here a while ago about someone (sorry whoever it was) carrying a large, well-fitting rucksack, but using inflatable pillows or bubble-wrap to take up the space and secure the load close to your back and keep it from rattling around - you can then use the pillows / bubble wrap at your camp as insulation etc. Its kind of a halfway step and could lead to being a very flexible system.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[ged]

...I recall reading on here a while ago about someone (sorry whoever it was) carrying a large, well-fitting rucksack, but using inflatable pillows or bubble-wrap to take up the space and secure the load close to your back and keep it from rattling around - you can then use the pillows / bubble wrap at your camp as insulation etc. ...

Sounds like Barry (Xunil).

 

[Xunil]

Sounds like Barry (Xunil).

Guilty, as charged.

I got fed up ages ago of trying to whittle my gear down to a pocket sized rucksack - I have everything stacked against me. I'm 6' 4" and around 230 pounds, so any kit and clothing is correspondingly large and even when packed down tends to be much larger than most folks' gear.

My long back army bergen harks back many years to my mountain rescue days and I see no reason to change it. All I did was make a couple of bubble wrap 'pods' to take some of the extra space towards the outermost rear of the pack, which forces the rest of your load to stay snug to your back for better load carrying.

I change the bubble wrap pod size depending on how much kit I want to hump around, and remove it completely for winter when I take a lot of bulky cold weather gear.

Unless I'm out on my own for the day or perhaps for a single solo night with ground kit I won't entertain a small pack. If I have my daughter or better half with me I usually go for around 45 - 50 litres, so that spare clothes, coats, water for the pooch and drinks and snacks for us can easily by carried with room to spare for any nicknacks we might pick up along the way.

The long back bergen is a great fit and allows a lot of flexibility.

It follows my normal principle of 'over-gun and under-use', where I would far rather have more than I need and not need to use it (but reserve the right to if circumstances dictate). That's an oddity and contradiction when compared to my own take on bushcraft, which is extremely minimalist.

The big pack comes in very handy with young kids or when assisting others. Last year when Charlotte was only three she was tired and grumbly and I made a nest for her in the main pack compartment, shoved some gear into the empty side pouches and left the lid open with the top pulled down slightly. She thought it was a scream and ended up falling asleep curled up in it

On other occasions I've chucked other folks' daysacks into the main compartment of my bergen when helping them down off the tops. Or a fresh road kill Roe deer, or...

Makes carrying the additional load a breeze.

The only tricky part is rigging something suitable to secure your gear without it rattling around. I modded my pack with a couple of compressions straps and some additional inner straps to keep my gear stable, and the bubble wrap pod does the rest.

It's not a perfect solution but I've made it work very well for me and there is little to no faff involved, which has to be a good thing.

 

[Ogri the trog]

Ged, Barry, thanks for that and my apologies for forgetting earlier.

Ogri the trog

 

[wanderinstar]

Hi Drew, I definitely need to get my packsize down. Ask Simon. The poster earlier got it right, when he said stuff the U/B into your pack on its own. That is what Graham S does. He put the hammock, Quilt and U/B in together. Coiled them into bottom of his rucksack. They went in together and cam out together. Quicker setup. Cant remember the size but it was only a small sack.

 

[SimonM]

Hi Drew, I definitely need to get my packsize down. Ask Simon.

LOL...defo need to slim down your kit Ian! How many trips to the car did you make again? 3 or 4?

Simon

 

[shaggystu]

.....I recall reading on here a while ago about someone (sorry whoever it was) carrying a large, well-fitting rucksack, but using inflatable pillows or bubble-wrap to take up the space and secure the load close to your back and keep it from rattling around - you can then use the pillows / bubble wrap at your camp as insulation etc. Its kind of a halfway step and could lead to being a very flexible system......

i use a similar system with my sleeping bag/bivi bag. i've recently started using a "northern ireland patrol pack" which works really nicely for me, side pockets take; water, hobo stove, mug, billy, and brew kit. lid pockets take; FAK, knife, saw, tarp and guylines which leaves me with the main body of the bag to fit sleeping bag/bivi bag, spare clothes and food. what i can do is to pack my sleeping kit into a compression sack, spare clothes in another, and leave plenty of space for a couple of days food, by the end of a trip with no food left i can just stuff my sleeping bag/bivi bag combo and spare clothes in the main body of the sack without the compression sack to take up the space and keep everything comfortable. similar approach to xunil's but without the added bubble wrap pods.

a few people have touched upon body size as a factor, and it's a really important one. i'm a skinny bloke (5'11" and 10st3lb) so i can get away with a skinny sleeping bag, narrow mat, and my spare clothes take up very little space, hence little bag. bigger blokes can't do the same, if you're a 7 foot 300 pound all in wrestler then there's simply no way that you can get your kit down as small as your average racing snake type, it just can't be done.

stuart