How many of you guys and girls do that. As new here and been reading a lot i see some people go out with one packet coffee, a small freeze dry meal and a few cracker to eat and drink each day lol and worry about how heavy there stove is. If i had to eat that i would be gad to get home. Back in the 80s when at school we used hexi stoves took a blanket in the summer holidays, thats all we had. Can remember sleeping in the bus shelter near the woods we camped out in once when it really poured down one night, great fun. after leaving school and getting a job, money, then was able to get some gear. still got most of it, my rucksack is as good as the day it was made (some of the new light stuff looks like it would fall apart if it see a bush and a couple of trees), had to get a new stove as i lost my old one so i can cook real meals, so can not join the ultra light club. do lots of you like me like to have as many coffees you want and eat lovely meals 3 times a day. ps i am not some big fat guy btw lol 5'8 and 9 stone and has to eat good food.
ultra lighters
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i just cant do "ultralight" no matter how hard i try, i feel safer carrying all my water and like you say, there is no point in starving yourself when your out 
A nice big home made type curry and "bowl" of rice, not 3 spoonfuls if your lucky. a cup of food is no good surely, if i gave my 8 year old that for his tea he would cry.
Ha ha! I like to travel light, but can't do ultra light. The ultra light campers I see always look thoroughly p@@@ed off! I have a friend who goes away for six months with nothing more than a half full carrier bag! However, whenever we go away together he spends most of his time borrowing my stuff!!
I favour a mix of old and new equipment. Anything that is likely to take a kicking, I favour old/ex army. Anything to keep you warm and dry, usually new.
I favour a mix of old and new equipment. Anything that is likely to take a kicking, I favour old/ex army. Anything to keep you warm and dry, usually new.
Borrowers, going to nail my new stove down, not going to lose this one, best get some too mate lol. Yes new for stuff to keep you warm, my old sleeping bag has had it not been used for about 11 years and was new it late 80s. i got a few more bits to get before i can set off.
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Some aspects of ultralight work well. Minimal gear means you need more knowledge, which is no bad thing. And a lighter, more compact base-load means you can carry more food. Re. Stoves - my titanium DX is a great piece of kit, and lets me keep a well-contained twig-fire to cook on - or lets me use my penny-stove if I can't find dry twigs. Failing that, I'll flip the penny-stove over and use an Esbit... And it all collapses down and fits in my titanium mug, which doubles as a cooking-pot. A full cooking kit that weighs a fraction of a military cook-kit, and is just as tough, if not tougher.
Mix it up. If you can afford to try some ultralight kit, it could make room for bigger rations! (I always take home-made beef or pork jerky, air-dried ham or chorizo, potato-flour mix for scones, pasta, dried veggies, soup-powder, brew-kit, dried fruit or home-made power-bars...)
Remember, ultralight just means a <10lb base-pack. Not so hard if you've a bit of bushcraft knowledge.
Mix it up. If you can afford to try some ultralight kit, it could make room for bigger rations! (I always take home-made beef or pork jerky, air-dried ham or chorizo, potato-flour mix for scones, pasta, dried veggies, soup-powder, brew-kit, dried fruit or home-made power-bars...)
Remember, ultralight just means a <10lb base-pack. Not so hard if you've a bit of bushcraft knowledge.
some things are good to have small and light, but im more worried about cost, i dont really care what things look like as long as they dont break and cost very little, thats why i make most of my own stoves etc etc....
I could not go with just a mug, like to have a coffee when i am cooking. yeah will not pay silly money for stuff, £16 for a mug just because its got msr on it lol when its no better than any other plastic mug.
Really depends on what your doing do.
If your out the night close to the car then why not take everything and the kitchen sink, even if it's all too heavy to crry from the car at least you have it close by just in case.
If on the other hand your hiking 20 miles a day up the side of mountains then every single gram really does start to make a difference.
If i'm backpacking then i'll go so far as to cut my toothbrush in half and squeeze out the toothpaste i'm not likely to need.
No point lugging something your not likely to use up the side of a mountain is there.
If i'm camping with the kids with the car nearby then i'll just throw everything in the car.
Absolutely no way i could lug ALL that stuff when backpacking though.
So a compromise is reached depending on what i intend to do.
If your out the night close to the car then why not take everything and the kitchen sink, even if it's all too heavy to crry from the car at least you have it close by just in case.
If on the other hand your hiking 20 miles a day up the side of mountains then every single gram really does start to make a difference.
If i'm backpacking then i'll go so far as to cut my toothbrush in half and squeeze out the toothpaste i'm not likely to need.
No point lugging something your not likely to use up the side of a mountain is there.
If i'm camping with the kids with the car nearby then i'll just throw everything in the car.
Absolutely no way i could lug ALL that stuff when backpacking though.
So a compromise is reached depending on what i intend to do.
I dont know, i was interested in people skimping on food and cooking gear or not manly
I tend to use mostly dehydrated food as it has a great weight to calorie ratio and there are some really nice ones out there.As for cooking kit ,I now use an Msr titan kettle and mug.After doing a bit of research regarding cost,weight fuel efficiency and ease of use I use a Primus express spider gas stove.The stove weighs 198g which is double my pocket rocket and 5 times heavier than my meths burner.But the cost and efficiency far out weigh the weight issue.
I'm just getting into hiking so am in no way any sort of authority on the subject. I do enjoy watching and getting information from all the youtube vids and from forums and have learnt a lot.
I believe ultra light hiking is defined as a pack weight of 10 pounds max? There are a couple of even lighter categories but for me it is unrealistic. It is all about your comfort level and and what makes the hike enjoyable to you. In no way should anybody be pressured into a certain pack weight, do what makes you happy.
I see extreme UL hikers who take no stove, trim bits off their maps, cut their toothbrush down to a nub etc.. so as they can cover more miles and if that makes 'em happy kudos. It's not for me though as I like my comforts and enjoying the journey is more important than how long it takes.
I have just made up some ~2500 calorie 24hr ration packs with a mix of dehydrated foods and pre packed stuff and they come in at 1.5-2 pounds each per day. Water is extra so for a 7 day hike I'm looking at 10.5 -14 pounds just for food!! I imagine that body weight will still be lost hiking on this amount of calories but hey I need to shift some!
I guess for me a pack weight for a week would be about 20 pounds minimum. My sleeping bag, mat, tent/tarp and pack are all pretty light though and my cook kit is less than a pound.
Steve
I believe ultra light hiking is defined as a pack weight of 10 pounds max? There are a couple of even lighter categories but for me it is unrealistic. It is all about your comfort level and and what makes the hike enjoyable to you. In no way should anybody be pressured into a certain pack weight, do what makes you happy.
I see extreme UL hikers who take no stove, trim bits off their maps, cut their toothbrush down to a nub etc.. so as they can cover more miles and if that makes 'em happy kudos. It's not for me though as I like my comforts and enjoying the journey is more important than how long it takes.
I have just made up some ~2500 calorie 24hr ration packs with a mix of dehydrated foods and pre packed stuff and they come in at 1.5-2 pounds each per day. Water is extra so for a 7 day hike I'm looking at 10.5 -14 pounds just for food!! I imagine that body weight will still be lost hiking on this amount of calories but hey I need to shift some!
I guess for me a pack weight for a week would be about 20 pounds minimum. My sleeping bag, mat, tent/tarp and pack are all pretty light though and my cook kit is less than a pound.
Steve
Yes no rush to get anywere, nice slow walking and stopping to look around. walking as fast as you can to get from a to b as quick as pos, you miss all the good stuff out lol. Just the other month i was out just for a walk with the family and my mum came along too, keep walking fast she was and i kept saying your miss everything. i spotted a shake by the edge of a stream, little fish, a pheasant in some bushes and loads of other things i pointed out to my little boy, she see nothing. 10 pound max you say some take, tent or sheet, sleeping bag and rucksack got to be 6lb for really light stuff surly (i have a Berghaus Cyclops Roc i got back in 86, dont know how much it weights) 1lt of water a coulpe pounds, leaving 2lb for the rest and food. i couldnt do that.
I was looking around the shops yesterday for dehydrated food for the later days, eat all the bacon and nice grub on the first days
see they still sell vista meals, used them when i use to go shooting and noddles for lunch, fit nicely in your jacket pockets.yes, not so heavy you cant walk more than a 100 yards. i could fill my pockets with mars bars and pork scratching and carry a bivibag under my arm but that would be boring. got to have a real coffee and good food me.
I've never gone down the ulta light or the lightweight route nor have I been tempted to..
I don't skimp on meals, either for myself or the hound, so no freeze dried polystyrene for us. I've got nothing against discomfort as such but why go hungry or force yourself to eat something that you don't like just to save weight..?
I always carry more water than I need too, just in case, although there is usually a river of some kind on my haunts I would have to be pretty desperate to drink it even filtered & boiled, it's an active arable farming area & I'd like to keep functioning kidneys for as long as possible
I walk around 10 kilometres a day without anything on my back so I don't mind carrying a heavy-ish rucksack now & again, If I only had a few kilos on my back, I wouldn't feel that I was going anywhere or doing anything special,
Also the ol' saying " the more you know, the less you need to carry " really means the less you take with you 'into the woods', the greater your impact on the enviroment, I prefer to leave a place as I found it, everything I need or want is carried in on my back & not sourced from the surroundings & that implies humping around a certain weight.
I don't skimp on meals, either for myself or the hound, so no freeze dried polystyrene for us. I've got nothing against discomfort as such but why go hungry or force yourself to eat something that you don't like just to save weight..?
I always carry more water than I need too, just in case, although there is usually a river of some kind on my haunts I would have to be pretty desperate to drink it even filtered & boiled, it's an active arable farming area & I'd like to keep functioning kidneys for as long as possible
I walk around 10 kilometres a day without anything on my back so I don't mind carrying a heavy-ish rucksack now & again, If I only had a few kilos on my back, I wouldn't feel that I was going anywhere or doing anything special,
Also the ol' saying " the more you know, the less you need to carry " really means the less you take with you 'into the woods', the greater your impact on the enviroment, I prefer to leave a place as I found it, everything I need or want is carried in on my back & not sourced from the surroundings & that implies humping around a certain weight.
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Base weight - pack and kit, excluding water and food should be below 10lbs to be regarded as ultralight.
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