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Backpacker Magazine – September 2012
Master Class: Lighten Your Pack
Drop 5, 10, or 15 pounds (or more!) by packing smart, planning ahead, and fine-tuning essentials.
Foods with more than 100 calories per ounce (Bydlon)
Upgrade Core Gear
You don’t need all-new equipment to shed another five pounds, but a few ultralight investments can add up to huge weight savings. Rethink your layering and sleep systems to drop double-digits.
Ο Dress Down
What do ultralighters wear? Use Mike Clelland’s three-season packing list as a guide to dropping your layering system below 4 pounds.
Wear while hiking
Short-sleeve baselayer top (4.3 oz.); sun hat (1.7 oz.); thin, synthetic running shorts as underwear (3.5 oz.); long, quick-dry pants (10.4 oz.); thin, shorty running socks (.6 oz.).
Carry in your pack
Long-sleeve baselayer shirt (7.5 oz.); windshirt (3.3 oz.); lightweight puffy (10.2 oz.); rain jacket (7.1 oz.); rain skirt (2 oz.); warm hat (1.3 oz.); liner gloves (1.1 oz.); one pair of thin, shorty hiking socks (.6 oz.); one pair of warm, sleeping socks (1.4 oz.)
Ο Wear Light Shoes
Build ankle strength to stay injury-free as you transition from overbuilt boots to trail runners. (Click Here.)
Weight saved 1.5 lbs.
Ο Reboot Your Sleep System
A tent/bag/pad combo can weigh 10 pounds. Here’s how to whittle that down.
Shelter
Potential weight savings 3+ lbs.
>> Light Ditch your tent’s inner canopy on mild, bug-free nights; pack and pitch the fly and footprint only. In bug season: bring a headnet.
>> Lighter Pack a waterproof tarp with reinforced seams like Brooks Range’s Ultralite Mini Guide Tarp ($115; 10 oz.; brooks-range.com).
>> Lightest Sleep under the stars. Set up on high ground in forests; depressions and meadows collect condensation.
Sleeping bag
Potential weight savings 3+ lbs.
>> Light Carry a bag that’s rated 10 degrees above expected lows, and wear insulating layers to bed to make up the difference.
>> Lighter Buy a premium down-filled bag with gram-saving features like a 15-denier shell, 1/2-length zipper, and efficient fit (click here).
>> Lightest Carry a single-sided blanket like GoLite’s RS 1+Season Quilt ($120; 1 lb. 7 oz.; golite.com) in temps down to 40℉.
Sleeping pad
Potential weight savings 1.5+ lbs.
>> Light Upgrade to a light pad that’s cushy and warm enough for a deep sleep. We like Therm-a-Rest’s NeoAir XLite ($160; 12 oz.; thermarest.com).
>> Lighter Cut the corners off a closed-cell foam pad and chop material extending below your knees. Cushion your legs with your pack.
>> Lightest Create a body-sized, six-inch-tall pile of boughs topped by leaves, moss, and/or grass. Cover with a Tyvek groundsheet.
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READERS COMMENTS
I can't help but detect a nagging twinge of hypocrisy wafting from this article: full-length socks or a full supply of water is too heavy, but it's totally cool to carry pouched salmon and some pesto?
To each his on on the grounds of how your trips come together, but there comes a point when the pursuit of lighter weight comes at the cost of common sense.
Why not advocate practical moderation of weight and regular training exercise?
Why not teach people how to reduce weight by dehydrating their own food and cutting out packaged foods that generate almost their own weight and bulk in waste?
And for the sake of mentioning, my core weight rarely reaches twenty pounds, and I'm by no means a UL hiker.
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Maybe my math is wrong, but the article says "these foods are more than 100 calories per ounce". So if the Fruity PB Rolls are 6.5 ounces, they should have more than 650 calories, yet it is listed at 522 calories.
And shouldn't the 8 oz of Salmon Pasta have more than 800 calories????
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WOW! I hike, used to hike alot, I do it ,ad did it because it was fun, I tried the UL method once, it wasnt fun, , I admire people who can afford to spens bukkoos on their gear, I figure 100 bucvks per pound to lighten the load, just do your bewst to get in shape, get gear you are comfortable with, if you need a trowel, take one, if a roll of tp makes you feel better, by all means take it. but dont tell someone else this is the only way, or a have to. as for the charcoal hammock and pine bows, lets not, most state and national parks would write you a hefty ticket for any and all, can you contain an open fire with three rocks? justify ripping limbs off a tree or tearing bark off a tree with a hammock? always check local laws. or you just migght end up off the trail all together.
Lots of attitude about TP. I'll carry a U-DIG-IT, TP and wet wipes incase the TP gets wet. Or you might wipe with Poison Ivy. Oops!
Hike YOUR Own Hike!
RealMan sounds like another BP "Ringer" to me..Been using a stick instead of a trowel for longer than I can remember or 20 or more years..The problem most people have is they pick up a round stick and expect to dig a hole with it...What I do, is pick up a stick and take out my trusty Victorinox Work Champ with the locking main blade and flatten out the end of the stick so it has a shovel type end instead of a round stick. So simple..Also regarding food, I noticed right away in the picture the following words screamed back at me,,Starches, Sugar and Salt equals Constipation and sugar moods swings time for me so I wouldn't need the Trowel anyway. I always carry dehydrated veggies and meats and beans I get from Packitgourmet to bulk up of meals and most of the time I make my own Stew which is a lot healthier for me than the garbage they have in the picture. Mullein leaves make great TP. Also have you tried taking Charcoal Briquetts with you instead of a Stove? The ones that already have the fluid saturated in them. Be surprised at how long one lasts and what you can cook on it. Experiment with at home first. take three small flat rocks, arrange in a triangle place the bricquette in the middle and light it off. You may have to blow on it some..Try it...
Opps, spelling error:
"Uncomfortable you're willing to be for a lighter pack."
In a similar article someone recommended using only water bladder and leaving the nalgeen behind. Stupid idea, it's a pain having to haul the damn bladder around camp, esp at mealtime.
I don't mind the extra weight for all my little extras, I just hike less/day. This is supposed to be FUN, not a marathon nor a test to see how unfortable you're willing to be for a lighter pack.
Super light weight sleep system: get a hammock and underquilt (top quilt is cool too). With my hammock and DIY under quilt, I have a 5 lbs system. Still trying to figure out my top quilt/sleeping bag situation (it's too hot with the warmth of my UQ!) but my total weight will still be under 10 lbs and hammocks are better than the ground most days
Camp shoes..I wear Merrill mids, wtrpf because I tend to go off trail and find all those little slips of water you trailees miss. These boots have gotten me into serious wild places and are an absolute must. They also weigh 2.5lbs (+ with laces!) and my camp is immeasureable more pleasant and refreshing without having to lug them around on my 58 years old feet after a 10 mile cruise in the outback. Leave your 2lb camera home, greenies, and pack the "extra" 10oz (mine are only 8oz, regular thin mocs, not 200$ suede or those ridiculous "fingers". Did you ever notice their actually toes?
"Real man" if this isn't your cup of tea no need to be petty, just skip this information. "Atmouse", the trowel was just a suggestion, a light weight alternative is a sea to summit lexan trowel that weighs less than three ounces.
The thing I'm concerned about is the pine bough idea. Please backpack don't encourage people to cut pine boughs and leave them in a pile to save 9 oz. (the weight of a 3/4 length ridgerest)
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