Ultralight Kit List

[TheMiniHiker]

Hi Guys and Girls,

I'm looking for a bit of advice I need to lighten my kit to include all food water etc to 6kg. I have a number of medical problems which means I'm unable to carry larger loads on my back for extended periods of time without causing serious pain and damage to my spinal cord. I've currently got it down to a pack weight of 4.8kg excluding food, water and fuel. My fuel weight is about 200 grams, I would be looking to carry a maximum of 1L of water at a time and filtering as I go and estimate carrying around 500 grams of food at anyone time. So I'm looking to lighten my load to accommodate an additional weight of approximately 700 grams.

The kit is designed for 2/3 season backpacking kit in the UK and Europe for up to 10 days, so nothing too obscure to worry about with adverse weather etc. Now before anyone points out I could carry a tent for a lighter weight, yes I could! Except 1 - I would need to spend many hundreds 2- the total weight of 1.2kg is including insulation/mat and more importantly I am not able to sleep on the ground due to medical reasons, mainly I'd struggle to get up unaided.

Category Weight %

Sleep 1959g 36%
Clothing 1626g 30%
Equipment 939g 17%
Electronics 603g 11%
Cooking 252g 5%
Toiletries 132g 2%

Total 5511 g
Worn 709 g
Consumable 0 g
Pack Weight 4802 g

Clothing

Beanie Hat 118g
Boxers 52g*
Boxers 52g
Buff 35g
Down Jacket 236g
Gloves 54g
Socks 32g*
Socks 32g
Softeshell Jacket 250g
Short Sleeved Shirt 76g*
Short Sleeved Shirt 76g
Trouser/Shorts 391g*
Waterproof Jacket 174g
Waterproof Trousers 148g

Total 1626g Worn Weight 551g (*)

Cooking

Cook Kit 252g

Electronics

GPS 96g
Kindle 168g
Phone 168g
Solar Panel Charger 171g
Total 603g

Equipment

Mini Filter 97g
First Aid Kit 211g
Pocket Knife 27g
Packcovers 76g
Treking Poles 158g*
Rucksak 210g
SitMat 28g
Headlamp 48g
Trowel 52g
Wallet 12g
Water Bladder 20g
Total 939g Worn Weight 158g (*)

Sleep

Hammock 1193g
Liner 104g
Peg Bag 5g
Air Pillow 37g
Sleeping Bag 620g
Total 1959g

Toiletries

Bite Relief Minispray 8ML 18g
Soap 90g
Towel 24g
Total 132

So if anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them,

Regards,

Julian

 

[bopdude]

From a quick skim through I can see a saving on....

Electronics, do away with the kindle and gps, get a smartphone that does the lot

Sleep, do away with the pillow and use clothing in a stuff sack, and depending on your size, go DD superlight hammock

 

[TheMiniHiker]

I could do away with those items but I wouldn't enjoy things as much, the drain on the Kindle app compared with a Kindle is huge and the battery savings will always outweigh the extra weight. As for the pillow that's something I found I need even in a hammock to ensure the alignment of my spine is correct, clothes would not work the same way as they are solid rather than air that can move around, the pillow I take with me is the same pillow I use at home. In some instances the GPS could go, but not all.

As for DD I'm not a fan and the HH Hyperlite is virtually the same weight as the DD one.

 

[Big G]

What about using something like this : http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=138795&p=1735349#post1735349

 

[TheMiniHiker]

Hi Gary,

It's certainly a different approach, however I'm not sure it would solve the problem if anything make it worse. I see 2 issues with it.

1- The weight would remain the same plus the weight of the trolley, all of which must use a direct force in order to move it, so instead of having the weight evenly distributed across my back instead it would require a single force pulling from my shoulder.

2- I can imagine this would limit me in terms of the speed I travel. A stile would prove problematical.

Of course I could be wrong on both of these.

 

[Big G]

I was just thinking of ideas, moving the pack weight from your bad back.

I can't give you advice on ultra light gear, as some of the gear i use is military issue gear, bomb proof but bulky & heavy.

Good luck on lightening your load & your health issues improve.

 

[Shewie]

It's always hard giving suggestions on a lightweight kit list, the owner is usually quite precious about the reasons for keeping stuff, I know I am

Personally I think you're carrying too much clothing, with my calculations you're carrying over a kilo of clothing, fair enough some of it's waterproofs but I think there's room for tweaking, do you need a softshell for 2/3 season, my preference would be a light windshirt instead.

I'd drop all the electronics apart from the phone, but that's just me, I try and get away from that sort of thing when I'm in the hills.

Dropping weight on hammock kit is always tricky, unless you throw lots of cash at it and go the cuben fibre route

My kit lists can be found here, take a look you might get some ideas

 

[Bishop]

Hi Gary,

It's certainly a different approach, however I'm not sure it would solve the problem if anything make it worse. I see 2 issues with it.

1- The weight would remain the same plus the weight of the trolley, all of which must use a direct force in order to move it, so instead of having the weight evenly distributed across my back instead it would require a single force pulling from my shoulder.

2- I can imagine this would limit me in terms of the speed I travel. A stile would prove problematical.

Of course I could be wrong on both of these.

I could go all geek start posting diagrams, formulae etc showing the benefits of hiking trailers but the most practical demonstration is to help an old lady with her shopping trolley. Some of those girls roll with loads that would make the pack-mule’s here weep. As for stiles yes these are going to be problematical but not impossible, are you familiar with the sport of Field Gun racing?

Looking down the gear list...
A cheap nylon poncho has a mass of about 335g and doubles as small hammock cover when camped or rain gear when hiking.
Alternatively ditch the waterproof trousers and go for bin-bag rain kilt for a small saving.

As for electronics the smart-phone is a must have item. The solar charger I'm less convinced about especially here in the UK and would favour either a spare battery pack/ charger stick for short hauls or a small hand-crank charger for extended trips.

 

[Fin]

Best piece of recent advice I received was to ditch all of waterproof outer layers in favour of an umbrella. No more strolling around in a sweaty crisp packet, I save weight and space and my pack stays dry, as a bonus. Also acts as a sunshade, part of an extended, enclosed, raised bivi and a tarp rigging pole - so multi use.

It depends on your terrain, of course. It's obviously not going to be any use on top of a mountain in horizontal rain. I went with a Euroshirm Birdiepal Octagon for its strength to weight ratio - and looking at your waterproof weights, you're only going to be saving around 20g as this brolly comes in at around 300g - but there are lighter options.

 

[Harvestman]

I'm seeing you list a peg bag but no pegs???

 

[MountainGhost]

I think you're doing pretty well. And as others have said, once we've pared our kit down to the bare minimum the items that remain do so because we are strongly attached to them. I personally would also opt for a 5.1 inch smartphone but again we all have personally preferences and if it's a must for you I wouldn't criticise that.

I personally would swap out the soft-shell, water-proofs, pack cover and tarp for a suitable poncho. I used my friend's 58 pattern poncho for an extended trip, which included the Larig Grhu x2, and fell in love with it. But not sure if this would equal less weight for you as I don't know the weight off-hand. I know poncho's come in for a lot of criticism as wind traps but I have no need to be on exposed ridges in high winds. Going in to the Larig Ghru there were storm force winds and rain in all directions and only at one point crossing the boulder field did I have to crouch down and stand on the edges to control it. I since learned a myriad ways of wearing the poncho to mitigate these effects. All gains come with losses and vice versa.

Really nice break down. I'm in the final stages of re-assessing my kit and as soon as my load carrying issue is resolved I'll post up. But what is essential to one is superfluous to another as has been said so I don't think it'll be of any use to you. While I am going for the bare minimum I think our intended purposes might be different.

Thanks again for the post.

 

[t1234]

Very interested in this post I too have a spinal problem stopping me carry much these days. Can I ask what rucksack you have only 200 grams, rucksack weight is one of my heaviest kit. I use an aarn pack as although it is not the lightest I can adjust it to avoid the more sensitive areas of my back.

Your list looks very good to me, I would ditch the solar charger and assume in a trip you'd be able to use a charger in a cafe or hut every few days. Switch off the smartphone, kindles last for days.

How about a poncho, got a breathable one from decathlon weights 283g to replace rucksack cover, waterproof jacket and trousers. Possibly double as a small tarp in sleep system. Cut down on the first aid , carry 0.5l of water ? Plan your route with water in mind can save a fair bit of weight.

Whilst those hiking trailers look like a good idea, I reckon many of the trails would be impassable with one of those. Long paths of rock steps wouldn't be much fun, river crossings, boulders, any bits of scrambling. Some paths have ladders. Not saying not to use one but would have to plan route very carefully.

I'll try and post a kit list too. Best of luck with getting out hiking ! We should start a group for bad back hikers, sometimes it is good to hear of other people in same boat as gives inspiration to keep trying

 

[Paulm]

I hesitate to suggest anything as I am the polar opposite to lightweight with gear, but I am slowly nibbling away it in my defense !

One thing that catches my eye though is the hammock at 1.2kg. A quick look at the warbonnet site, expensive I know, shows the lightest blackbird hammock in 1.1oz single layer fabric as being about 510g. They do different permutations on layers and fabric strength, so even going up the scale looks likely to yield some significant savings ? Other less expensive and UK sourceable makes may similarly show savings but I haven't checked ?

Don't know if you have chosen to go without toothpaste and brush or overlooked ?

Very interesting to read about.

Cheers, Paul

 

[Highbinder]

That hammock is the bit that stands out. Over a kilo is a lot of weight. Considered the Dutchwear Half-wit? 280g for a bug netted (albeit half) hammock is a BIG saving.

 

[GadgetUK437]

If you ditched the Hennessy you might be able to halve the weight of your hammock system.
A Dutchware single layer in Hexon 1.0 is 215g, add a fronkey style bugnet of another 147g. Push the boat out and get a Cuben fibre hex tarp, that would weigh in under 200g. All up that would around 500 grammes.
A good 850 -900 fill down top and under quilt would save you a few hundred grammes too.

 

[GadgetUK437]

Sounds like you would benefit from a trip over to the trek-lite forum.

--
Gadget.

 

[Dave]

My lightweight kit list for 3-4 season, mountain and moor, is 11 kilos, for 4 days hiking, which includes a litre of water, a 60 litre strong pack with a frame and a 2.6kg sleeping bag.
Thats light enough for me.

 

[Bhod]

Dispense with the sitmat and use your waterproofs instead, dispense with the trowel you can always sharpen a stick and use that, not huge savings (110g) I know but a saving nonetheless.

 

[Quixoticgeek]

Dispense with the sitmat and use your waterproofs instead, dispense with the trowel you can always sharpen a stick and use that, not huge savings (110g) I know but a saving nonetheless.

I would beg to differ on that one.

Sitmat: If you're wearing your water proofs then you don't have something to provide thermal insulation from the ground.

Trowel: You make the assumption that there is a stick you can sharpen. Up on the moors often there isn't a tree for miles and you need something that can cut through the heather roots to make a whole big enough to do your business.

Sometimes you can go too light...

J

 

[Corso]

I have little experience re ultralight camping

for bushcraft activities I've been playing with the 10 c's concept